Bring your own picnic grills are provided.

Take the kids and have fun at the annual Memorial Day picnic on Monday, May 29, from noon to 4 pm at the Tashmoo Waterworks. And perhaps take a few minutes to help our veterans put up and take down the memorial flags in our cemetery on Monday. I ask you to take a minute yourself, to give thanks for our country and our own families and lives. I didn’t understand much in those days, but the need to acknowledge those who give their lives to preserve our “land of the free and the brave” still resonates in my heart this time of year. I was only a toddler during the last years of World War II when I first attended. It was held at sunrise, with a trumpet awakening the dawn with “Taps.” There were short prayers and tributes to the few soldiers or veterans from our town who had died in the past year. But to my father’s mind, the important event was a brief service at the Soldier’s Monument on a nearby hill. We might go to a parade and share a picnic with friends. When I was a kid, my mother sort of ignored Memorial Day. Students in grade 8 will be helpers on the pier. The students leave school at 12:15 pm, marching with the School Band along Spring and Main streets, ending at Owen Park. The children in grades K through 8 carry flowers to toss in the harbor, to honor those who gave their lives for our country. This has been one of my favorite events over the years. Tomorrow, Friday, May 26, the Tisbury School students will take their annual Memorial Day March to the Sea. At this point the ferry ride is something else I’m looking forward to, because it has been so long. Now I’m planning a trip off to see my grandchildren, because my son has offered to take me there and back. I’ve only been off-Island once since before COVID, and for various reasons have been housebound for almost a year. It was a delight, a lot of odd jobs were taken care of, and exciting plans were made. Once I’d ordered the chocolate mousse cake from Black Dog, my daughter decided she’d also come for Sunday. I was sorry my kids could not be here for Mother’s Day, but very pleased when my son came home for his birthday last weekend.

The Dogs Who Saved Me by S. Kay Murphy