Harvard professor Charles Ogletree hosts a "social event" for the President...President Obama took a break from his summer vacation reading list for a fete at the Martha's Vineyard home of Harvard professor Charles Ogletree on Saturday. The late afternoon shindig at Ogletree's Oak Bluffs home was closed to press, but White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the outing as a "social event." Ogletree was mentor to Mr. Obama when he was President of Harvard Law School's Law Review while earning his degree. (Above: President Obama in the motorcade on the way to Ogletree's home; Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, who also owns a home on the Vineyard, is in the foreground)
Among the guests were former Massachusetts Chief Justice Margaret Marshall and her husband, Anthony Lewis; film director Spike Lee; political power broker Vernon Jordan and his wife Ann Jordan; Harvard professors Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alan Dershowitz, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter; author Rose Styron; fishing guide Buddy Vanderhoop; and singer Kate Taylor.
During the party, President Obama’s daughters, Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, visited the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair with friends. Trailed by Secret Service, they went on rides and sampled the local delicacies, according to local media.
Oak Bluffs is home to a large African American community, particularly in the summer. Ogletree is the founder and director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. First Lady Obama also earned her law degrees at Harvard. The event was the second evening social outing of the ten-day vacation: On Friday night, the President and Mrs. Obama dined at Beach Plum Inn and Restaurant in Menemsha, which is located close to their 28.5-acre rental estate. (Above: The President's motorcade on the way to Ogletree's residence)The pool report:
At 5:20pm, POTUS arrived in Oak Bluffs for what principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest described as a “social event” at the home of Professor Charles Ogletree. It is a quiet neighborhood of shingled homes near the intersection of Alpine Ave and California Ave. Small crowd with lawn chairs has gathered along Alpine Ave. At least one of the homes along Alpine had a white tent in the backyard. Many of the homes were shingled cottages in the classic Vineyard style. In some cases, porches were decorated with pots of hanging petunias and other flowers.
Near the event, which appeared to be between Hudson and California Ave on Alpine Street, one group had set up a sign that said: “Welcome Mr. President to Alpine Street.” Past Ogletree's home, closer to Hudson Ave, larger crowds had gathered to try to take pictures from a distance.
The motorcade left Blue Heron Farm at 5:03 PM, heading east in the direction of Oak Bluffs. No members of the family were visible as the motorcade passed or at any point during the trip. There was at least one van marked “Guest” in the motorcade.
The early part of the drive was mostly along the rural and wooded stretch in the middle of the Island so there weren’t many people along the route. After the motorcade turned on Barnes Road traffic held by police at the four way stop, at least one woman craned her neck out the window as the motorcade passed.
Earlier the pool was swept at one of the nearby farms in a barn area that housed some enormous John Deere tractors. Dutch Belted cows grazed in the distance (they are black and white with a distinctive white stripe). Lots of swooping birds (that appear to be swallows) between the barn and the herd.
Larger crowds along the route as the motorcade left the Oak Bluffs neighborhood.
At 6:27pm, the President's motorcade left the home of Professor Charles Ogletree in Oak Bluffs, and returned to Blue Heron Farm.
##
*Pool was Maeve Reston of Los Angles Times. Pool photos.