Dylan Thomas
The birds of the winged trees flying my name Above the farms and the white horses I rose in rainy autumn And walked abroad in a shower of all my days. – Dylan Thomas
January 22, 2010
First Snowdrops
Tom Hodgson of Tiasquam road in West Tisbury once again reports the year’s first snowdrops, this time by e-mailing the news along with this photograph.
Hilary Minot Weds David Caputo
Hilary Russell Minot of Boston and David Anthony Capato of New York city were married on Saturday, June 13, 2009 in Edgartown, where they met at a clambake five years ago.
The couple said their special vows to each other on this sunny Saturday at the Federated Church, where the ceremony was performed…
NAACP Joins With Fund in Bid to Save First Church
Aiming to preserve the Denniston House, home to the Island’s first African-American church, the Island Affordable Housing Fund this week announced a partnership with the Martha’s Vineyard chapter of the NAACP to raise the money needed to pay off the mortgage on the Bradley Square property in Oak Bluffs in the next six months.
…
Wampanoag Leader Meets President
Chairman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) was a guest of President and Mrs. Obama at a holiday reception on Monday, Dec. 14, 2009 in the East Wing of the White House. She met the President and First Lady. “It was an extraordinary experience,” she said. “I was so proud and…
Casey McAndrews Wins Tisbury Geo Bee
Sixth grader Casey McAndrews defeated defending champion Barra Peak to claim victory in the 2010 Tisbury School Geography Bee. The deciding question was: “After the United States and France, which island country generates the most power from nuclear energy?”
The correct answer is Japan.
Casey met eighth grader Barra in the…
Author Paul Schneider to Speak at Vineyard Museum
Author Paul Schneider will discuss his approach to developing the narrative voice in nonfiction and his research for his upcoming book on the Mississippi River. This event is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum Speakers Series and will take place on Jan. 30, at 3 p.m., in the museum’s library at 59 School street in…
Organic Farmers
Organic Farmers
Massachusetts organic farmers and those in transition to organic production may sign up now for technical and financial assistance under the federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program organic initiative of the USDA. Farmers are encouraged to apply by March 12 for their applications to be reviewed and ranked for currently available funds.
NAACP Sees Dr. King’s Legacy in Youth
The theme this year was youth, including youthful viewpoints and honors for people who work with youth, at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. day brunch, hosted by the Vineyard chapter of the NAACP. The event took place at Deon’s Restaurant in Oak Bluffs on Monday and was attended by over 100 people. It was…
West Tisbury Sends Wind Rules to Voters
The West Tisbury planning board last week voted without dissent to endorse a new bylaw aimed at regulating the size and location of future wind turbines in town. The three-page bylaw was drafted by a special subcommittee and approved by the planning board last Monday.
The bylaw will now go to town voters…
Oak Bluffs Water Samples Trigger Warning
The Oak Bluffs water district has violated state drinking water standards for the second time in five months, although this time the contamination did not trigger an emergency boil-water order, as happened last September.
Schools Plan a Trust for Growing Benefits, Plan to Screen for Growing Body Mass
At a meeting early last week, the all-Island school committee agreed to move forward in pursuit of special legislation that would allow Island towns to form a trust agreement to cover post-retirement benefits for the school district.
“It makes more sense to do it together than to do it individually,” said Vineyard schools…
Garde Dogs in Court: Tisbury Family Appeals Board’s Ban
After almost two years of escapes, complaints, hearings, appeals and ever mounting financial cost to the town of Tisbury, town administrator John Bugbee dares to hope that the long saga of the chicken-killing Huskies belonging to the Garde family may finally end today.
High School Students Earn Academic Honors
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School principal Stephen Nixon announces the honor roll for the first quarter of the 2009-2010 academic year.
Grade 12 high honors: Marta Azzollini, Ashley Drake, Matthew Fisher, Shaelah Huntington, Dylan McCarthy, Leah Pachico, Tessa Permar, Hayley Pierce and Julie Pringle.
Grade 11 high honors: Molly Ciciora, Kristen…
Vineyard Visitor Who Reshaped America
Forty seven years ago in August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King made the I Have a Dream speech, a speech which I now know was heard all over the world. I have been learning about this speech since I can remember going to school. It was always meaningful, but I was never able to grasp…
Mind the Signs: Speed Limits Are Sincere
In the mid-1980s, after EduComp moved into its big brick building at the head of Main street, Vineyard Haven, I was a frequent visitor, either renting time on the store’s laser printers or buying office supplies. One big bonus, especially in summer, was the off-street parking in the sloping dirt lot behind the building. The…
Letters to the Editor
MOVING ON
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
The election is now over. Thankfully, the ridiculous television commercials will no longer play on every channel twice an hour as they were these last few days. Phew. To both Democrats and Republicans, I say this:
Two Islands, One World
Two Islands, One World
Here on this Island so often derided as home to the elite, many residents have long devoted energy and charity to help the people of Haiti, an island country so often noted for the being the poorest in the hemisphere.
Foreclosures, Joblessness Up
Despite the claimed end of the recession, the number of foreclosure proceedings on the Vineyard appears to be increasing, along with unemployment.
Analysis of the space taken up by foreclosure-related advertising in the Gazette shows that it took up more than twice the column inches in the December quarter of 2009, compared with…
Wind Rules: Making Up Is Hard to Do
A large group of Island planning and conservation officials gathered last week to debate what is expected to be a central dilemma in the months and years to come: how to allow and regulate large-scale wind turbines on the Vineyard while still protecting the Island’s unique culture, environment and economy.
Widely considered one…
Vineyard Veers Right but Votes Against Republican Victor
Vineyard voters stood decisively for Democratic candidate and state attorney general Martha Coakley in Tuesday’s special election, but it was Republican state Sen. Scott Brown who staged an unexpected surge to win the U.S. Senate Seat left vacant by the death of liberal leader Edward M. Kennedy.
Statewide, voters split 52 per cent…
A Century Later, Epic Sea Rescue Is Remembered
The Cape Cod Canal was still an idea. And it would be years before the advent of navigational tools that are taken for granted today such as radar and global positioning systems. Mariners could only communicate with each other and the shore by sight and sound, and they established their location in the huge expanse…
In Chilmark, Six Tickets to American Dream
A smiling sandy-haired toddler hung from his mother’s hip as he dipped his hand into a colorfully decorated box to pull out a hot pink card. “This one,” he said cheerfully as he handed off his selection to Chilmarker Todd Christy.
Mr. Christy glanced at the card. “Four Beech Grove,” he said.
…
Bill Is Called Not Fair Game
Don’t make striped bass a game fish. That was the message delivered last week by a group of Vineyard commercial bass fishermen who traveled to the state house in Boston to object to legislation that would do just that. The fishermen, most of them members of the Dukes County/Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Association, spoke out with…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
The cat population at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard is down to one: Pearl, our elderly white cat who has become the shelter mascot. She is happy and comfortable but we would love to find her a home where she can be loved and well cared for in her…
Gazette Chronicle: Devil’s Den
Devil’s Den
From a 1933 Gazette edition:
Many Vineyarders and many Island visitors have heard the name the Devil’s Den. And there are many Islanders and others who have visited the place when it was intact. Yet so great are the changes wrought by the activities of man and nature in…
Chappy Musician Makes Hay With Musical Take on The Raven
There are many iconic Vineyard lifestyles available for the dreaming, but Kevin Keady is living what might be the most romantic of them all: he is a singer-songwriter (his band, the Cattle Drivers, has a cult following here) whose dayjob is a farmhand on Chappaquidick. Yes, really.
Dinner and Dancing for Dede: Sultans to Swing at Saturday Gig
If there’s one thing that Vineyarders know how to do, it’s throw a good party.
Even when the occasion for the party isn’t the most uplifting.
Musical by Kids, For Kids: Bears Beware This Weekend
The musical play Bears Beware — Goldilocks Is in Your Town answers the question “What kind of world is it were little girls break into houses that bears own?”
Tisbury Supports Haitian Relief
Tisbury Supports Haitian Relief
The earthquake in Haiti has mobilized a global effort to help alleviate the suffering of those affected by that disaster, and this Staurday, the Island is invited to help. Organizer Chris Bahara says, “It is last minute, we know, but the time is now, and on Saturday, we’ll make…
Washington Workshop
Washington Workshop
Jan Buhrman of Kitchen Porch catering will host a workshop in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22 and 23 as part of Martha’s Vineyard Culinary and Agricultural Experiences.
When Science Hits the Pan: Cooking For the Heart and Soul will cover how to prepare meals using whole foods and fresh…
Tennis Tournament
Tennis Tournament
The Vineyard Tennis Center will hold a tournament on Valentine’s Day weekend to benefit Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard.
It will be a mixed doubles, round robin tournament, with competition on Feb. 13 and 14 at Vineyard Tennis Center Workout and Spa near the airport. Teams will be ranked by…
Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Aids Island Red Cross
The Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank Charitable Foundation has supported the American Red Cross, Cape Cod and Islands Chapter with a $1,000 grant to support its Martha’s Vineyard Preparedness Initiative, aimed at benefiting every resident on the Island.
The ultimate success of the initiative will be measured by having Red Cross volunteers trained, equipped…
Catch Angel Russell’s Triple Act In CD, Label, Magazine Launch
Like her on-stage vaudeville persona, Angel Russell herself is a variety act.
A barista, herbologist, florist and painter — most recently she has been painting large, close-up portraits of chickens — Ms. Russell is first and foremost a musician.
She currently lends her nimble fingers to four Island bands, playing piano,…
Basketballers Net Tournament Berth as Teams Hit Mid Season
The boys’ basketball team continued to roll this week, improving its record to 10-1 — the team’s best start ever under head coach Mike Joyce.
The team now stands atop the Eastern Athletic Conference with a record of 3-0, and already has clinched a berth in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament, with…
Application Time for West Tisbury Affordable Homes
The Island Housing Trust has begun the application and selection process for the seven houses at 250 State Road in West Tisbury. Prospective homebuyers are required to attend a training session scheduled for Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. at the Howes House in West Tisbury.
Applications are available at the Dukes County Regional…
Meet the Preacher: Mr. Seadale Settles In at St. Andrew’s
The Rev. Vincent G. (Chip) Seadale has been the rector at the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown only since last November and already the 49-year-old and his wife, Colleen, have immersed themselves in Island life.
“The whole thing is a blessing. I am in a honeymoon. Everything here is wonderful. Colleen and…
New Pastor at Assembly of God Offers Faith to Fill Island Void
When Joseph Dockter, 35, interviewed for the position of pastor at the Vineyard Assembly of God in Tisbury late last August, he talked about the spiritual story of Rev. Thomas Mayhew, who brought Christianity to the Vineyard in the 1600s. It was an inspirational story for him, and he couldn’t help but draw a connection…
Mars by Moonlight
The planet Mars is close on Tuesday, the closest it has been in two years. You’ll have no trouble finding it when it rises in the east shortly after sunset, for it is the brightest of “stars” in the eastern sky. Mars appears high in the east at 10 p.m. and almost overhead at midnight.…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Jan. 15 39 25 .00
Jan. 16 47 29 .00
Jan. 17 43 27 .00
Jan. 18 43 38 1.58
Jan. 19 39 30 .03
Jan. 20 40 31 .22
Jan. 21 40 29 .00
…
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT
508-627-8894
(margaret02539@yahoo.com)
Even people who live on the Vineyard and take ferries regularly wonder how we deal with a ferry on a daily basis. The Chappaquiddick ferry is an everyday part of life, but it also adds a little excitement. For a couple of minutes we’re at…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Community Baptist Church of Gay Head held their annual meeting on Sunday at the home of Rev. Roger Spinney and his wife, Sharon. Following our delicious luncheon, the business meeting convened. We were informed that Mrs. Kathryn B. Stewart had retired after being our…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
January on the Island reminds me of three o’clock in the morning. And I believe F. Scott Fitzgerald described this time of the wee hours best when he wrote, “In the dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.”
Welcome, Dylan
Welcome, Dylan
Rich and Kaysea Hart of West Tisbury and Boston announce the birth of their daughter, Dylan Isabella Hart, born on Jan. 5. Dylan weighted 7 pounds, 1 ounce at birth.
Tessa Arrives
Tessa Arrives
Emma Kiley and Justin Bryant of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Tessa Rae Bryant, born on Jan. 17, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Tessa weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth.
Lambert’s Cove Orioles
The question all the people that are sharing the Baltimore orioles on Lambert’s Cove Road, and now one in Oak Bluffs, are asking is, why are they still on Island? There are two answers, and they both have to do with genetics. Unlike many of the waterfowl that learn how to migrate from their parents,…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Kathryn DeBettencourt, a resident of Oak Bluffs, and a member of the class of 2010, has been named to the Dean’s List at Providence College for the fall 2009 semester.
Ecstatic for Erratics
Wilfred J. Caron was a quizzical man. He owned a Christmas tree farm in Old Mystic, Conn., right on U.S. Route 1. His ramshackle house was painted pink, with green signs out front, an old cemetery nearby, and new housing development crowding the land on all sides. When I met Mr. Caron, his Christmas trees…
