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The Trump era is something new in American politics, and only a new approach can counter it.

It’s as if state lawmakers owned an amusement park with a roller coaster that chucks a few riders to their deaths every month: We should fix that, they say periodically.

Texas state officials and legislators refuse to fund the state’s child welfare system, then try to shift the blame when it fails….Read More

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When a crushing defeat occurs, a window of opportunity opens where criticism is more easily countenanced and reorientation is possible.

Anna Donlan We’ll be talking about what just happened for the rest of our lives — why it happened, how it happened, and what the consequences were. It’s t…Read More

Boycott Boycotts

It’s easy to boycott a place you visit never, a state you imagine to be full of bumpkins and hicks. Much harder: working to create change in red states….Read More

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Christmas Floral Arrangements – InfoBarrel

Christmas floral arrangements really focus a lot on just the greenery instead of actual flowers. This can be a budget friendly and economical way to decorate but you can also bring in actual flowers. This can be the base of a holiday wedding or just a way to set an interesting table.

You don’t have to go with red flowers. Almost any flower is going to be different just as long as you display it properly. For instance if you wanted pink roses then go with a rich gold vase. Then you can decorate the table with a lot of spray painted gold berries and charger plates. Another option would be just to go with an all white table which is very appropriate for the holidays because it can remind some people of snow. You’ll want to avoid really fresh looking blossoms that seem a little bit cheesy or springlike and instead just go for more substantial flowers. Going with the larger flowers can also save you money because you might just need a few of them even though they will probably be more expensive per stem.

You can save a lot of money just by adding in non-floral elements along with your flowers. This can include anything from evergreen to berries. You can still have beautiful white roses for a very romantic kind of look. You can also just head to the dollar store and pick out some of your favorite decorations such as ornaments or just even small statues. You could even wrap a few boxes to look like presents then use this as pedestals for your centerpieces. You could possibly even just wrap a square base to look like a present for a very unique and fun poinsettias for christmas kind of motif. This ensures that you fully get your holiday theme across.

Your flower arrangement can also be a symbol. A lot of holiday cards have doves on them to really represent peace. In this case, you can go for a very graceful look with lots of white. You can also find lilies in deeper burgundy or even chocolate kinds of colors. This is going to be one of the more expensive flowers that you can get but it’s very elegant. It’s also a way to really grace your table with a modern touch. It’s very simple but it does make a huge impact because it has a sculptural element to it. Even if you can’t afford these blossoms live you may be able to get a few of them in a high quality faux flower.

One thing that you want to consider when you go with Christmas floral arrangements is your presentation because this is really what’s going to differentiate your party from everyone else’s party. Even if you go with something very basic like a poinsettia then try changing it up. Take off the basic foil wrapper that you might find on the outside of it. Then you can just really place the pot in a beautiful ceramic or even a metallic urn which is going to give it a much more opulent look. This is also a way to give your own personal touch to hostess gifts that you might receive throughout the season.

Tips Within Decorating Your Own Centerpieces Pertaining To Thanksgiving

a vintage, classic look in absolutely no way runs out of style.

Symmetry- if you tend to be planning to always be able to use a fall table decoration which you could purchase in any retailer near LSL kW for Thanksgiving and a couple of extra much more decorations associated with centerpieces, you will need to stability out everything, therefore it will not appear empty on either side in the table. Providing associated with carefully selected presents is a gesture associated with gratitude.

. Here are few ideas that you can easily follow.

Vintage centerpiece- the use of your wood trencher or perhaps maybe an old bowl associated with dough creates an excellent low centerpiece of art which you’ll end up being in a new position to fill using pine cones, gourds, pumpkins along along with a few regarding several flowering branches. You may also add edible Thanksgiving food to create it appear a lot more enticing.

Mix and also match – if you are usually the kind involving homeowner that wants to mix along with match furniture along with decor maybe think about centerpieces that are traditionally produced while you celebrate Thanksgiving along along with your family. Including the particular crafted pumpkin to your centerpiece can be one with the ways to savor conversations as well.

Making associated with gifts as being a manifestation of adore along with thanksgiving

Who does not enjoy gifts? everyone does! Whether Or Perhaps Not you’re celebrating together together with your family or perhaps buddies upon this particular duration of year. Tips Inside Decorating Your Own Centerpieces Pertaining To Thanksgiving

Setting the actual mood regarding Thanksgiving, for example lighting up scented pumpkin spice candles to create the ambiance of your house relaxing can be one with the ways with regard to one to start decorating your complete household. from hanging decors, wall paintings, floral arrangements including wreaths, and additionally the most critical among every one associated with the decors are the centerpieces whether or not to your dining table as well as inside your living room. A Person either can order through online stores or at retailers such as in Primary kW for Thanksgiving centerpieces. most of the decorations tend to be quite simple which usually are made from organic resources which are an easy process to find plus this ensures the seasonal and beautiful Thanksgiving display.

Finding the greatest http://houstonlocalus.tumblr.com/ concept for the centerpieces might certainly not be that will stressful as there are thus many innovative suggestions which you can browse more than via the internet such as social media within Pinterest, Instagram and also with Twitter. Any heartfelt, hand-made bit of Thanksgiving token symbolizes the wedding and how they have made a great impact in your life. This kind of became the tradition too in order to the majority of households which finds it intriquing, notable and fun at the identical time. An Individual may possess the alternative to determine on possibly you need in order to go traditional, modern as well as formal. That will be very best as well to end up being able to ask for that sales clerks as to what they can recommend. The rustic decoration could fit the style and also style such because the use involving beeswax candles having a touch of autumn colors, wooden boards, gourds, flower vases in which contain dahlias, roses, sprigs regarding greenery, amaranth flowers plus some grasses as well as berries.

Crafting – Thanksgiving wouldn’t be in which memorable in the wedding you weren’t able to carve pumpkins together with your loved ones. The Actual excitement regarding decorating gives a mind full of tips and also to create everything in organized; you have in order to program it carefully

12 of the world’s most spectacular Christmas trees

Story highlightsNever mind the baubles — one of these Christmas trees is made of macaroons Another, in Rome, is festooned with luxury handbagsSome go for glitz — like the crystal-star-topped Rockefeller Center tree in NYCBrazil’s gaudiest floats on water

Twinkly lights and tinsel?

That’s so last Christmas.

Christmas trees don’t have to be traditional to look spectacular.

In fact, some of the most memorable ones this year are anything but.

How about a Christmas tree made from Lego?

Or macaroons?

Even the odder entrants in this selection of the world’s most amazing Christmas trees on public display tend to be big and bright.

And there are still plenty of sparkly stars to be found and photographed.

They’re just much bigger and much brighter than the ones on the tree in your living room.

1. Vilnius Christmas tree (Lithuania)

The well-preserved old town in the Lithuanian capital looks like just the sort of place that needs a Christmas tree.

Now it’s got one — and it’s 25 meters tall.

It’s not so much a tree as a metal skeleton covered with fir tree branches.

Lithuanian fir tree branches, though — they’re not made in China.

Vilnius Christmas Tree, Cathedral Square, Vilnius, Lithuania

2. Lego Christmas tree (Legoland Malaysia)

Asia’s tallest Christmas tree is in Malaysia, but even more striking than its height is that it’s made from Lego.

The nine-meter tree at Legoland Malaysia is made from 400,000 blocks of the child’s toy.

More than 300 Lego baubles, including candles and slightly kinky multicolored chains, have been snapped on.

It’s not a tree, either?

C’mon — where’s your Christmas spirit?

Legoland Malaysia, Bandar Medini Iskandar Malaysia, Nusajaya, Johor, Malaysia; +607 597 8888

3. Rockefeller Center Christmas tree (New York)

The unveiling of this 23-meter Norwegian spruce was a star-studded affair — Mariah Carey, Leona Lewis and the Goo Goo Dolls performed.

Weighing 12 tons, the tree is decorated with 45,000 LEDS and topped with a 3-meter-wide Swarovski crystal star.

The tree was donated to the Rockefeller Center by the Vargoshe family, who planted it in the gardens of their Connecticut home 20 years ago.

And eventually wanted to get rid of it.

Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York; +1 212 588 8601

4. Galeries Lafayette Christmas tree (Paris)

At 20-meters tall, the world’s highest in-store Christmas tree is an intricate, horology-themed affair standing in France’s chicest department store, Galeries Lafayette.

Celebrating its 30th birthday this year, Swiss watchmaker Swatch helped design the tree, including the toy village at its base that springs to life on the hour.

Batteries not included.

And try getting the thing home.

Galeries Lafayette (French site only), 40 boulevard Haussmann, Paris; +33 09 69 39 75 75

5. Floating Christmas tree (Rio de Janeiro)

Rio advertizes its superlative seasonal contribution as “the world’s largest floating Christmas tree.”

Turns out it may be the world’s only notable floating Christmas tree, save those dumped in various water supplies when the celebrations are over.

Nonetheless, its stats are pretty impressive.

More than 100,000 people turned out to see the 85-meter, 540-ton behemoth lit up for the first time in the waters off Rio.

Bradesco Seguros Christmas Tree, Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, Rio de Janeiro

6. National Christmas tree (Washington, D.C.)

Last year, the Obamas were criticized for decorating their home with an apparently excessive 54 Christmas trees.

This year, they have only 24.

Modest.

Barack Obama was tasked with switching on the 10-meter Colorado blue spruce known as the National Christmas http://enchantedfloristblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/beautiful-purple-roses-magical-choice.html Tree, which stands outside the White House gates in President’s Park South.

The tree is a permanent fixture, looked after by the National Park Service — which keeps that itchy foliage from getting everywhere when it comes time to trash most trees, post-Christmas.

National Christmas Tree, 17th and D Streets NW, Washington, D.C.; +1 202 354 6460

7. Brandenburg Gate Christmas tree (Berlin)

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Norway has given the German capital a Christmas tree every year as a sign of peace and solidarity with the reunified country.

The decorations on this year’s tree, located as always beneath the Brandenburg Gate, are a bit of a contrast.

They’re a freebie from Wintershall, Germany’s largest crude oil and natural gas producer.

Nothing ironic there.

Brandenburg Gate Christmas tree, Pariser Platz, Berlin

8. Macaroon Christmas tree, Ritz-Carlton (Charlotte, North Carolina)

The Christmas tree at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina, is edible: it’s made from 8,000 colorful macaroons.

Using 10,008 egg whites, 110 cups of sugar and 57 cups of almonds, the hotel’s pastry team took 58 hours to create — or should that be bake — the tree.

Ritz-Carlton Charlotte, 201 East Trade Street, Charlotte, North Carolina; +1 704 547 2244

9. Umbrella tree, Goring hotel (London)

Luxury umbrella brand Fulton made the tree outside London’s Goring hotel, so it’s not hard to guess which popular winter accessory features heavily.

Mirrored baubles designed to represent raindrops are interspersed with miniature umbrellas set with sequined crystals.

One of the brand’s trademark birdcage-style umbrellas — supposedly a favorite of the British royal family — replaces the traditional star at the top of the tree.

Good thing Trojan doesn’t make a Chrismas tree — they don’t right?

The Goring, Beeston Place, London; +44 7396 9000

10. Opera Christmas tree, Grand Hotel de Bordeaux & Spa (Bordeaux, France)

Decorated with elaborate opera costumes, yards of lace and hundreds of crystals, the Christmas tree at the Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa is the fruit of a collaboration with L’Opera National de Bordeaux.

The hotel and the opera house share a baroque style, as does the tree — which sings in a nice soprano.

Not really.

Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa, 2-5 Place de la Comédie, Bordeaux, France; +33 5 57 30 44 44

11. Fendi Christmas tree, Hotel de Russie (Rome)

A creation of the Italian fashion house Fendi, the Christmas tree at Rome’s Hotel de Russie is unsurprisingly hung all over with the brand’s plexiglass “bag bug” handbags.

The tree at nearby Palazzo Fendi (the fashion house’s headquarters) has a similar theme, but with miniature Fendi baguette bags being used instead.

Can’t help imagining that’s one itchy tree.

Hotel de Russie in Rome, Via del Babuino 9, Rome; +39 06 328881

12. Recycled bottle Christmas tree (London)

Humble in origin but still impressive, the Christmas tree outside Ealing Town Hall in London was crafted from 900 plastic bottles collected by local school children.

Made by artist Ashley Phillips, the tree has a serious message: that more waste is produced over the festive season than at any other time of year.

Possibly including these bottles when everyone’s done with the tree.

Recycled bottle Christmas tree, Ealing Town Hall, London; +44 20 8825 5000

Have you seen Christmas trees more spectacular than these? Is your own better in its own special way? Let us know in the comments below.

What Is Floral Tape?

OK, you have a general idea of what industries use floral tape but that still doesn’t explain what people use it for.

Floral Industry:

In the floral industry it’s used the most in making corsages and boutonnieres. The tape seals moisture into the very short stems or even the petal ends of the flowers used in corsages and boutonnieres as well as binding them together in the case of multi-flower styles.

Floral tape can also be used to extend the stems of short stemmed flowers by sealing their ends and attaching them to sticks, tubes, or wires. It can be used to somewhat camouflage wire wrapped around stems used to strengthen weak stems or to shape those stems into a particular and rigid shape. It can also be used to camouflage a water source such as a tiny plug of floral foam, a tube of water, or even damp cotton used to keep very short-stemmed flowers fresher somewhat longer than short stemmed flowers would last out of water. It can be used those ways for use in hair decorations on combs or veils, on cakes, in wedding bouquets, or in any number of special occasion arrangements.

Floral tape can be used in conjunction with sticks, tubes, metal flower picks, or floral wire to add length to artificial flowers. It can also somewhat camouflage things such as silvery metal spikes used to anchor silk flowers or dried botanicals into arranging foam.

Crafts:

This versatile adhesive ribbon works well in a variety of craft projects. Brown, ivory, green, or yellow varieties can be used to form the bodies of butterflies made with pantyhose material, pipe-cleaners, and glitter.

sympathy flowers

White or other pastel colored floral tape can be used to wrap coat hangers which are bent to form costume fairy wings and to bind those wings together at the center to give something to attach them to clothing with pins, ribbons, or strings.

Floral tape can be used to make crafty flowers using strings or wires of beads, paper, lace, fabric, tissue, panties, or cellophane.

flowers shops

I’ve seen white or ivory floral wrapped around wires and sticks to look like skeleton bones. The black variety can be wrapped around wires to and used with black crepe paper to make spiders or bats for Halloween decorations.

The brown versions can be wrapped around wires to make fake branches you can bend anyway you want.

92.Insuficientes pistas

 Una vez vimos al destello nos apresuramos en ir en donde el pequeñin se encontraba,espero que no se vaya a asustar de nosotros…

  Daisy:Vamos,esta alli!

  Luigi:Aja,y parece que no nos ha visto

  Mario:Como sea,deprisa,no tenemos tiempo que perder,esa cosa es nuestra ultima esperanza!

 Mario tenia razon,aquel destello era el unico que podia saber en donde podria estar Rosalina.

 Una vez nos acercamos a el,parecia estar como aterrado y al mismo tiempo agitado y tratandose de esconder,daba pena.

  Daisy:D-destellito?

  Destello: !!?

 

 Se sorprendio mucho al vernos y se escondio rapidamente detras de una pared,estoy casi segura que penso que nosotros veniamos a hacerle daño,que por supuesto,no era asi.

  Daisy:Pequeño n-no!Nosotros no venimos a hacerte daño…

  Destello: *se asoma un poco,mirando a los demas*

  Mario:Aja,vinimos a hablar contigo,es muy urgente

  Luigi:Chicos creo que esta asustado..

  Daisy:Debe de creer que venimos a hacerle algo..

  Destello:*sigue mirandolos fijamente*

 Luigi se acerco al destello cuidadosamente y este retrocedio,mientras Mario y yo solo le mirabamos,parecia tratar de. We would love to learn how to create flower arrangements.mostrarle que nosotros eramos de confianza y no veniamos con malas intenciones.

  Luigi:Tranquilo,prometo que no te hare nada..

  Destello:*deja de retroceder y lo mira*

  Luigi:(Vaya,el pobre parece muy pequeñito, debio de haberlo pasado mal…) *le acerca la mano*

  Destello:*observa su mano* ?

  Luigi:Yo soy Luigi,hermano de Mario,y ella es Daisy

  Destello:*se aceca un poco hacia él*

  Mario:Bien,lo esta consiguiendo

  Luigi:*se agacha para poder observarle mejor*Queriamos preguntarte una cosa,y esperabamos que tu nos pudieses ayudar…

 Luigi le miró por unos instantes,luego se giró hacia nosotros y una vez volvió a dirigir su mirada al pequeño destello,finalmente le preguntó por Rosalina y los demas destellos,le preguntó si los habia visto cuando les raptaron y que si lo vio,si podia recordar quienes fueron los que lo hicieron,aunque bastante claro ya estaba…

 Al terminar su pregunta,el pequeñín nos miro a los 3 con una cara triste y se hecho sobre Luigi,a quien tenia mas cerca.

  Destello:Mama!!!!

  Luigi:Q-que?!

  Destello:A mami Rosalina se la han llevado gente mala!A ella y a los otros!

  Daisy:Entonces si lo vio…!

  Luigi:*pone una mano sobre el destello* Pequeño,me temo que debo pedirte que me digas como eran los que se la llevaron,y si tienes alguna idea de en donde pudiera estar ahora…es muy importante

  Destello:N-no se,aquella persona iba toda tapada,no se la veia,y con la persona habia una persona que parecia Mamá!

  Luigi:Dark Rosalina….!

  Daisy:Pero quien podria ser la otra persona!?

  Mario:Aun asi..no nos es de gran ayuda si no sabe en donde esta…

  Destello:Tengo miedo!

  Luigi:Tranquilo…Daisy,Mario,no es seguro que se quede aqui,Dark Rosalina podria volver en cualquier momento,sera mejor que le llevemos al castillo de Peach hasta que todo vuelva a la normalidad

  Daisy:Me parece buena idea,esta bien,vayamonos pues,si viene,sera un problema

  Mario:Bien pues esta decidido,vayamonos!

 Yo y Mario nos dirigimos hacia la nave,mientras que Luigi terminava de tranquilizar al destello,hasta lograr convencerle de que se viniera con nosotros ya que si se quedaba aqui,estaba expuesto a poder ser tambien capturado si Dark Rosalina volvia,y si descubriese que nosotros tambien estuvimos alli,terminaria con todos nosotros,pues ella era muy fuerte,espero que cuando debamos enfrentarnos a ella,tengamos toda la fuerza necesaria para hacerla,no sera oponente facil.

 

  Luigi:Perdona que te hayamos asustado antes,enfin sera mejor que nos vayamos ya,como veras tenemos muchisima prisa

  Mario:*subiendo a la nave,de lejos*Luigi hermano ya vamonos,no tenemos todo el dia!

  Daisy:Ay,no le des prisa Mario

 Unos minutitos despues ya habiamos subido todos de nuevo a la nave,la verdad esque no estaba muy emocionada,al recordar lo rapido que iba esta cosa casi me mareé.

 

 Mario pulso unos cuantos botones y se sento en el asiento,junto a nosotros y nos abrochamos fuertemente los cinturones de seguridad,el Destello al vernos,se sujeto muy fuerte a la gorra de Luigi.

  Mario:Bien,esta cosa ya esta a punto de marchar,agarraos!

 

 La nave dió una rápida cuenta atrás y despegó.

 

 Fue a la exacta gran velocidad a la que fue antes,asi que,unos minutos mas tarde,cuando llegamos,tanto yo,como Mario y Luigi,nos sentimos algo mareados y pues como que no queriamos volvernos a subir (sobretodo Luigi,se veia de nuevo bastante pálido…pobre).

 Lo único bueno que tenia es que asi,era mas rapido el viaje y llegabamos mucho mas pronto.

 Una vez aterrizamos bajamos de la nave,como tambaleandonos un poco,del mareo tuvimos que apoyarnos sobre una pared nadamás bajar.

  Daisy:A-agh…

  Mario:Demonios esto no..no mola

  Luigi:Y-y que lo digas..yo no me vuelvo a subir ni a las malas!

  Destello: Ugh…..

 Al escuchar ruidos,el mismo Toad de antes,se nos acercó y nos preguntó como fue todo.

 Mientras Luigi se fue a sentar un rato,tanto Mario como yo le explicamos todo y le dijimos que por suerte a parte del pequeño destello no habia nadie mas.

 Le agradecimos que nos hubiese ayudado y luego se marchó hacia su taller.

 Una vez se fue,Mario y yo fuimos junto a Luigi al salon del castillo.

 Me sente junto a Luigi y lo abracé un poco,él me sonrió.

  Daisy:Te sientes mejor?

  Luigi:Si,solo fue un pequeño mareo,y vosotros?

  Mario:Ya bastante mejor

  Luigi:Hah…bueno saberlo

  Destello:*sonrie un poco*

  Daisy:Oye por cierto chicos…

  Mario & Luigi:Si?

  Daisy:Y ahora que se supone que debemos de hacer…?

  Mario:No lo se…estoy seguro que alguna de las secuaces de Bowser fue la culpable

  Luigi:Pero no podemos aparecer asi sin mas en el castillo de Bowser..

  Daisy:Es verdad,esa Dark Rosalina es muy fuerte y podria acabar con nosotros rapidamente

 Al escuchar el nombre de ‘Dark Rosalina’ el destello se escondio en la gorra de Luigi.

  Daisy:Vaya,incluso él le tiene miedo

  Luigi:Hey pequeño no tienes porque tener miedo,aqui estas completamente a salvo!

  Mario:Si,es verdad,nosotros te protegeremos

  Daisy:Y haremos lo que sea para rescatar a tu mama y a los demas!

  Luigi:Solo necesitamos pensar en que hacer,pero aunque no sea facil,se que lo lograremos,no podemos dejarles salirse con la suya!

 

 Algo animado tras escuchar eso,el destello salio de su gorra y se puso a revolotear a su alrededor felizmente.

 

  Daisy:Heh,ahora parece un poquitin mas contento

  Luigi:Si jeje

  Mario:Umh,por cierto,cuando nos vayamos será mejor que no venga con nosotros

  Daisy:No si ya,eso era lo que ibamos a hacer,se quedará a aqui en el castillo con el resto de los Toads hasta que regresemos y todo haya vuelto a la normalidad,seria peligroso para él salir

  Mario:Agh me pregunto que sera lo que podamos hacer..

  Luigi:No sera facil,pues no sabemos en donde tienen a Rosalina

  Daisy:No se,quizas si este con Bowser,pero debe tenerla oculta en algur lugar..a saber que traman hacerle…ojala tuviesemos las pistas suficientes para poder encontrarla

  Mario:Ah…todo se complica…

  Luigi:Eh?

  Mario:P-primero Peach..*mira hacia abajo* y ahora ella..

  Daisy:Mario…

 El sabía bien que Peach estaba ahora en buenas manos,y que ahora debian estar haciendo todo lo necesario para ponerla a salvo,no podian permitir dejarla morir…pero aun asi le entristecia y mucho,como a mi,pues en parte me sentia culpable,porque yo quise haberla protegido y fallé.

  Daisy:Mario,se que todo esta dificil,quizas no sea facil,lo se!Pero debemos tener fe!Debemos confiar en que la salvaran,yo se que lo conseguiran,y tambien se que lograremos que todo vuelva a la normalidad,esto no puede quedar asi sin mas!

  Mario:L-lo se lo siento..

  Daisy:No te preocupes,entiendo que te sientas asi,yo tambien estaria asi en tu lugar,bueno..y en el mio,yo tambien siento mucho lo que pasó…

  Mario:N-no importa Daisy tienes razón,debemos confiar en que van a poder salvarla,y volvera sana y salva!

 Él,yo y tambien Luigi sonreimos,sabiamos que no seria fácil,pero lo último que debiamos hacer…era rendirnos!

 Decidimos descansar un poco y luego tratariamos de pensar en que hariamos,el destello mientrastanto,fue junto a uno de los Toads que estaba en el jardin de afuera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrities fit right in on Martha’s Vineyard

Wow, this is wonderful information! We think this will work perfectly!

When then-undercover couple Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal strolled holding hands and playing with her children on private Lucy Vincent Beach here the summer before last, Jeffrey Ross debated whether to snap a photo of the stars with his cellphone.

“I could have sold it to the tabloids for hundreds of thousands of dollars,” says the regular Martha’s Vineyard summer visitor and former TV production executive. But of course, he didn’t.

Though celebrities are fixtures on the low-key island south of Cape Cod, they’re generally not hounded. “You respect their privacy,” says Ross, 57. The late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sheltered from paparazzi on her remote compound on the western side of Martha’s Vineyard and shopped unbothered at Alley’s General Store.

Bill Clinton raised the Vineyard’s profile in the ’90s and keeps returning. (He was spotted this week.) Last month, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. escaped to his summer retreat in racially diverse Oak Bluffs here after police in Cambridge, Mass., mistook him for a burglar in his home.

Now the spotlight is shining even brighter on the 23-mile-long, summer-home haven: President Obama is due to arrive Sunday for a week’s family vacation at a rented estate.

Some locals are dreading the traffic and media mania surrounding what has been dubbed “Obamarama.” But many are excited.

Even the rich have cut back on spending this year, says Susan Mercier, manager of Edgartown Books, a genteel shop in a former whaling captain’s home on Main Street. She hopes increased exposure will bring more visitors to the Vineyard. “It has been a hard year.”

Obama T-shirts already are on sale, threatening the Black Dog Tavern tees emblazoned with a proud canine as Martha’s Vineyard’s souvenir status symbol. Amid the hoopla, Mercier, 45, hopes prospective visitors understand that the Vineyard — named for a 17th-century British explorer’s daughter but bereft of wineries since Chicama Vineyards closed last summer — is “a very down-to-earth and normal place to be.”

Indeed, the island is no Hamptons. Velvet ropes, flash, franchises and traffic lights are virtually non-existent. There’s not even a Starbucks. Many residents never lock their doors. While “McMansions” have gone up, typical Vineyard digs are discreet gray-shingled houses near bicycle trails, ponds and beaches. Visitors are expected to follow island customs such as paying on the honor system for flowers or produce at unmanned roadside stands.

Jan Pogue, co-founder of the Vineyard Stories publishing firm and a transplant from the mainland, understands the appeal for celebrities. “The island’s so special, and the people are special. You come for your privacy, because the Vineyard will give it to you.”

Stars who have sought that seclusion have included former CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite, who died last month; John F. Kennedy Jr., who was killed in a crash while flying to the island 10 years ago last month; and comedian John Belushi, who is buried here in Abel’s Hill Cemetery. Princess Diana quietly visited.

Not that the Vineyard doesn’t have a grapevine. In fact, it’s active. There’s talk that Oprah Winfrey is on the island, and stories persist that Chelsea Clinton may marry her longtime beau here.

Stars and other well-heeled summer residents can send the population soaring past the 100,000 mark. Offseason, the island’s six towns — Edgartown, West Tisbury, Tisbury, Aquinnah, Chilmark and Oak Bluffs — have 15,000 year-round residents, who include farmers, fishermen, artists, writers and descendents of early settlers. Most everyone you meet is interesting: Volker Kaempfert, the muscular co-owner of The Farmhouse B&B who serves you coffee, for instance, once guarded three secretaries-general of the United Nations.

In her weathered, shingled home called Cleaveland House, white-haired, 13th-generation Vineyard resident Cynthia Riggs writes mysteries and rents rooms to authors and artists. She shows a visitor the wooden crib fashioned by sailors on her great-grandfather’s ship to cradle the children his teen bride bore and raised on long voyages. With carved posts and a sailcloth bottom, it’s open on the side where it attached to the captain’s bunk.

Riggs enjoys living “up island” in West Tisbury, away from the store-lined streets of Edgartown, Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs. You probably won’t see her at celebrity-studded events such as the annual Possible Dreams charity auction, where you bid on a boat ride with serenade from resident Carly Simon ($10,000 this year) or a round of golf with Clinton and pal Vernon Jordan ($2,250).

Each Vineyard town has a personality. West Tisbury is farming country. Oak Bluffs is a more boisterous former Methodist summer camp whose bright-hued Victorian “gingerbread cottages” — as well as its bars — are tourist draws. Oak Bluffs also is one of the oldest African-American vacation destinations in the USA. Obama has visited it before.

Edgartown is filled with the stately white-clapboard former homes of sea captains, upscale restaurants and boutiques. It was a filming site for the movie Jaws and adjoins Chappaquiddick Island (locally called “Chappy”), where Sen. Ted Kennedy drove a car off its bridge in 1969, resulting in the death of a campaign worker. Edgartown and Oak Bluffs are the only towns with bars.

Vineyard Haven, part of Tisbury, has a harbor with hundreds of sailboats bobbing at anchor.

“Up island” towns are on the island’s less-populated west side. Chilmark — where Obama is bound — hosts Gyllenhaal’s family. Rich residents live behind hedges at the end of long driveways. Westernmost Aquinnah, formerly known as Gay Head, is home to the Wampanoag Indians, spectacular cliffs and a clothing-optional beach. Juli Vanderhoop hosts pizza fests Wednesday nights at her Orange Peel Bakery’s outdoor fireplace. Bring $10 and a topping, and join locals for a slice or three.

A tour of the ‘real’ Vineyard

Tourists spilling off ferries in bustling Vineyard Haven or Oak Bluffs often miss the island’s essence, says L.A.-guy-turned-Miami-metals-broker Ross, savoring fresh-caught halibut and Sancerre white wine at Chesca’s Restaurant in Edgartown. He offers to give a tour of “the Vineyard most people never see” the next day.

So at 9:50 a.m. on a recent Tuesday, Ross, towheaded son Lucas, 2, and former father-in-law Bill Coleman, 66, await on the porch of Alley’s General Store, an island meeting place that stocks everything from old-fashioned penny candy to fishhooks. Coleman, a professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, proffers a cup of Alley’s perfect coffee, and the tour begins.

First stop: Blue Heron Farm, where the Obamas are due to stay. On the short drive on South Road past meadows, farms, hand-stacked stone walls and weathered houses flanked by hydrangeas, Ross enthuses: “Look at this … it’s like living in a Norman Rockwell painting. Everything leaves my body here: doubts, anxiety, the (outside) world.”

I love tulips! They are my favorite type. My favorite color is pink.

He turns onto a dirt driveway indistinguishable from others. The car creeps down it, passing a tennis court and large barn. Suddenly, Blue Heron’s sprawling white frame house with wraparound porch and American flag flying come into view. So do a state trooper, local policeman and a black SUV of the sort used by the Secret Service. Ross tells them he’s looking for Larsen’s Fish Market — miles away. They don’t bite. Time to leave.

Sample the seafood, savor the sun

The next tour stop indeed is Larsen’s, in the village of Menemsha, where fishing boats pull up to the pier at the back door. Inside, Betsy Larsen efficiently filets striped bass and sole, which are snapped up by customers in line at the counter. Sit out back with a steamed lobster and glimpse the yacht of Maurice Tempelsman, Onassis’ former companion, which is moored at the far dock. Locals also flock to Menemsha with beer or a bottle of wine to watch the sun go down.

After a swirly soft ice cream cone at The Galley, where summer resident Ted Danson waits in line like everyone else, the energetic Ross points his car back toward Chilmark, where piglets suckle a giant sow at Allen Farm Sheep & Wool Company, and shoppers finger woollen blankets.

The day is fading, so Ross’ tour of Vineyard insider haunts continues the next morning.

At Morning Glory Farm, a local institution and subject of a new Vineyard Stories book, tanned visitors politely battle for fresh-picked corn (85 cents each). Down the road at Wednesday’s West Tisbury Farmers Market, the longest line is for Thi Khen Tran’s $5 Vietnamese spring rolls. When word gets out that she’s out of the island favorite, Ross reluctantly settles for an egg roll. At a communal picnic table, New Jersey visitor Tabby Block, 11, clings to one of the last spring rolls and smilingly refuses to sell it. “So good,” she says teasingly. Her granddad offers the disappointed Ross a stock tip.

But there’s really no need to fret.

Whether it’s the succulent lobster rolls sold by some island churches to raise funds, Mad Martha’s madly popular ice cream cones, Morning Glory Farm’s beet soup or the majestic lighthouse guarding the cliffs in Aquinnah, a treat of some sort is sure to be around the Vineyard’s next tree-shaded, hedge-shrouded or wind-blown corner.