Most everyone knows the Minnesingers can sing and put on a great show. For years they have held concerts that enthrall. But they can bring home the bacon, too.

David McCullough Jr. had been for a long time quietly going about his business as a teacher of English at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts.

“I’ve built a grand castle with turrets and towers. And parapets, arrow slits, keeps, and a moat. I’ve battled the seagulls and land crabs for hours; The coastline is littered with seaweed I smote.”

On Friday evening at the Vineyard Playhouse, board member Arnie Reisman asked everyone to raise their glass of champagne. “We have reached a milestone,” he said. “We are going to dedicate this stage to Patricia Neal.”

An energetic Portuguese water dog named Ruby greets all visitors as if they were longtime friends. In the vegetable garden, sugar snap peas are ripe and tasty. But owner Joanne Hubschman’s favorite part of her house is the outdoor shower. And she hopes the Obamas enjoy it.

Near the end of the school year my son had a field trip to the Boston Museum of Science. As I drove him to the ferry I put on some traveling music, Billy Bragg singing Woody Guthrie tunes.