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
March 21, 2008
On Island Tables: A Spring Palate
A Spring Palate The arrival of spring promises a fresh new palate of colors, tastes and textures, and plates as pretty as pictures. Fading from the canvas are the earth-tone stews and roasted root vegetables. Tender crisp is now de rigueur, not fall-off-the-bone, fork tender. Reflecting these seasonal tastes, Easter dinner heralds spring with a…
Officials in Oak Bluffs Debate Seawall Solutions
A meeting at Oak Bluffs town hall on Wednesday was as much about a plan to mend the crumbling town waterfront as it was to mend frayed relations between certain town officials who disagree over what approach should be taken after a 30-ton retaining wall along Sea View avenue suddenly collapsed nearly a month ago.
Shellfish Report Foreshadows Strong Chilmark Scallop Season
The Chilmark shellfish industry can expect a bumper 2008 scallop season and a broader revitalization, given the early successes of its experimental shellfish propagation program launched last summer, town selectmen heard Tuesday. The town’s shellfish propagation officer, Isaiah Scheffer, presented selectmen with a 34-page report of his work to date.
Equestrian Therapy Center Solicits Volunteer Help
Do you love horses and helping people? Rising Tide Therapeutic Equestrian Center is having a volunteer recruitment day. The center, based at Red Pony Farm in West Tisbury, needs help from anyone aged 16 or over in many areas: grooming and tacking up horses, barn cleaning, side-walking in lessons, pasture raking, public relations, and more.
Spirit of Place
Spirit of Place Living with the Spirit of Place is the title of a slide show and talk set for Thursday, March 27, at 6 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs Public Library. Dr. Patrick MacManaway, holistic therapist, author, and current president of the British Society of Dowsers, will present a slide show and talk about…
Climbing Fuel Prices, Unexpected Cost Overruns Bedevil Steamship Authority
Oil prices sitting stubbornly at more than $10 per barrel above budget forecasts. Cost overruns on capital projects totaling almost $3 million. It was a sober March meeting for the governors of the Steamship Authority this week. The good news was that the actual and projected traffic on SSA ferries remains strong. But it was…
Fireside Chat Tells Whaling Tales of Sailors Found, Money Lost
The whaling era is a Vineyard story. Martha’s Vineyard whaling captains and their crew traveled the globe. They went to New Zealand, to Japan, north into the frigid seas of the Arctic, and as far south as the ice-filled waters of Antarctica.
Seminar Offered on Relaxation Therapy Techniques
ShareCare, a one-day seminar for the general public that teaches cranio-sacral therapy techniques to relieve pain and promote relaxation, will be held Sunday, April 6, at Vineyard Complementary Medicine in West Tisbury. The workshop accommodates those who have no background in anatomy or physiology.
Celebrating the Egg
Next week, I will put all of my eggs in one basket.
Visiting Nurse Service Readies Plan to Shift Island Patients
The Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA) and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services met this week to develop a transition plan for the care of 66 patients now served by the Community Services Visiting Nurse Service. Officials of both groups said real progress has been made in developing a plan to provide service continuity followed by an unexpected…
Dean’s List
Dean’s List Westfield State College in Westfield recently named William Bishop and Jenna Zadeh of Edgartown to the dean’s list for the fall 2007 semester.
Evening Fundraiser Will Benefit Heather Jardin
An evening of music, dancing and a raffle to benefit Heather Jardin, an Island leukemia patient, will be held Saturday, March 22 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Portuguese-American Club on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs. Music will be provided by The Mercy Beat and Sugar Bowl bands. Donations of $20 are requested, and…
Personal Bird Watching
“You got to be in it to win it” and “You can’t win if you don’t play” are lottery slogans that also ring true when it comes to birding. The nice thing about birding on the Vineyard is that, if you can get out the door, you can find birds, and find them in a…
Roger Wey Tosses His Hat in Ring for House Seat
After serving 21 years as Oak Bluffs selectman and eight years as Dukes County commissioner, Island political mainstay Roger Wey this week announced his intentions to run for the soon-to-be vacated seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives now held by Eric Turkington.
Squibnocket Walk
Squibnocket Walk On Sunday, March 30 from 1 to 3 p.m., The Trustees of Reservations will sponsor a Squibnocket Point walk. The walk will feature two miles of scenic shoreline and more than 140 acres of dunes and maritime habitat which have been protected by a conservation restriction. No dogs will be allowed. The walk…
Earns Honors
Earns Honors Elizabeth Edwards, a member of the class of 2008 at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., earned highest honors for the fall semester. She is the daughter of John and Mary Edwards of Edgartown.
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS It is an uphill climb from every direction to my hometown of Rew. It is one of the highest points in the state of Pennsylvania. It was a typical rural village in the northern Appalachian mountain range. We had an elementary school, gas station, mom-and-pop grocery store, beer joint, and a fire…
Farmers Provide Woman’s Touch to Island Land
In the summer months, Island cook Jan Buhrman starts her days early. After waking her two sons, feeding her two pigs, checking on her 12 ducks and saying goodbye to her one husband, Ms. Buhrman gets into her car. Rather than head straight to work, many mornings she seeks out the farmers who sell to…
Neighborhood Convention
Neighborhood Convention On Tuesday, April 1, the Neighborhood Convention will meet at 10:45 a.m. at the Good Shepherd Parish Center at the corner of School street and Pacific avenue, Oak Bluffs. The Rev. Michael Nagle will conduct the worship service. Jane P. Hawkes will present the program, Vineyard Village at Home. Bring a bag lunch;…
Hello, Guthrie
Hello, Guthrie Rosemary and Nathan Davis of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a son, Guthrie Floyd Davis, born March 10 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Guthrie weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth.
Riot of One-Acts: Plays Provoke Deep Thought and Plain Fun
A suicidal husband, a vaudeville act down on its luck, a pair of commedia dell’arte clowns, two morbidly sensitive shepherds, and a train passenger trapped in the loo with an idiot conductor on the far side of the door. What do these characters have in common? Well, brought together in one-act plays under the aegis…
Receives Degree
Receives Degree Sandra Fowler, of Vineyard Haven recently graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga. Fowler received a bachelor of fine arts degree in metals and jewelry.
Brazilian Church Worships With Fervor
It’s 8 p.m. on a Sunday inside the brand new World Revival Church — a colorful, million-dollar building on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs. Weeping men, women and children are belting out popular Brazilian evangelical songs. At the pulpit, a dozen harmonizing singers are accompanied by electric bass guitar, keyboards, and a full…
Man Pleads Guilty to Trespass for Crashing Presidential Party
A former chief of staff for a U.S. senator who crashed a Chilmark fundraiser for then-Presidential candidate John Edwards in August pleaded guilty last Wednesday to two charges of trespass and a misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering and was sentenced to two years probation in Edgartown district court.
Performer Will Sing, Tell Of Nantucket Whaling
Storyteller and sea shanty singer David Coffin (of the Nantucket Coffin clan) will present his concert program Life at Sea: A Voyage in Song, on Saturday, March 29, at 1 p.m. at the West Tisbury School.
Crowd Wowed by Chilmark Film Festival
A young filmmaker perched on a stool in the Chilmark Community Center Saturday afternoon, microphone in hand. An Island woman born and raised, she waited for the lights to flicker on and then watched, her eyes twinkling, as the members of the audience joined in steady round of applause for her film about her Island…
Town Meeting Time
Town Meeting Time Next Tuesday evening, Tisbury residents will gather in the gymnasium of the Tisbury School for an activity that goes back to the days of British colonial rule and yet remains as fresh as the latest Island controversies, whether large or small. Should enough citizens turn out, town moderator Deborah Medders will declare…
Hospital Work Shifts Traffic Access
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is ready to pour the foundation for construction of its 90,000-square-foot expansion. The site has undergone nearly six months of preparation for the construction, a project for which more than $46 million has been raised. The expansion is on schedule for completion in late 2009. The project aims to renovate, expand…
Habitat Seeks Applicants for Edgartown House
Habitat for Humanity of Martha’s Vineyard, in conjunction with the town of Edgartown, will be building a two-bedroom home in Edgartown beginning this summer. Habitat is seeking a qualified family to join in the building of the home. An informational meeting will be held on the selection process Saturday, March 22 at 9 a.m. at…
Spring Full Moon
Tonight’s full moon is the first full moon of spring. The moon is right on the celestial equator.
It’s the Rhythm of Life: Students Do Music Therapy at Windemere
Three questions came to mind as I headed out this past Friday to see Berklee College of Music students and faculty work their therapy magic on the Island. One, can you ever get high school kids to sit around and pay attention? Two, is there a career in music therapy? And three, can nursing home…
On Stage
On Stage Cue the lights, please. In rooms small and large, some even sporting curtains, children are filling stages all over the Vineyard these days. Many debuted not long ago at the Vineyard Playhouse through its wonderful fourth grade theatre project. Others are finding their spotlight in spring productions staged in school gyms or cafeterias.…
Island Homeowners Find Target for Anger in FAIR Plan Chief
The state-backed home insurance provider of last resort for most Vineyarders is called the FAIR plan, but most Island residents readily complain that their ever-increasing premiums and deductibles are anything but fair. In fact, at a special public forum at the Tisbury Senior Center on Monday, many Vineyarders were crying foul about their FAIR plan…
Sewer Proposal Delayed Again
By SAM BUNGEY A $1.5 million wastewater proposal for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School hit the skids once again Monday night when the high school committee decided it was not ready to send the matter for vote at pending Island annual town meetings. The proposal to link the high school with the Oak Bluffs wastewater…
Land Ho! Island Forms in Wake of Storms
First there was one opening and now there are two at Norton Point Beach. The second, closer to the Chappaquiddick side, occurred on the weekend of March 8 and 9 during the height of a windy storm. Between the two openings, there is a 150-yard little island. It already has the name Charlie’s Island. “You’ve…
Studio Sale Saturday
Studio Sale Saturday Doors open tomorrow 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Vineyard Playhouse for a one-day studio sale of overstock, seconds and samples from Island artisans.
Letters to the Editor
SUPPORTING DIVERSITY Editors, Vineyard Gazette: The Island community recently suffered a tragic loss with the death of a young woman. No one denies this. But in the aftermath of the accident, some members of our community began to talk in disparaging and mean-spirited terms about other members of our community.
Tisbury First to Tackle Energy Co-Op Plan
Though it is brief and stated without much detail, an article on the warrant for Tisbury’s special town meeting on Tuesday puts forward a radical idea. The proposal foresees an energy future for this part of the world in which the people would own the means to produce their own electricity. All the article seeks…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE 508-627-5349 (kcase1@verizon.net) With Easter on Sunday, all the lilies are out, as are the hyacinths, daffodils and pansies. The smell of the melody of aromas is such a reminder of Easters past. Then there are the chocolate bunnies, colored eggs and the Peeps. Somehow the baskets were not complete without them.
Island Photography Book Debuts
A large format, hardcover coffee table edition of the book Secret Spaces, Martha’s Vineyard Beyond the Landmarks, has been featured this past week at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International trade show in Las Vegas by the book’s manufacturer, GraphiStudios. The book showcases a collection of Vineyard images by former Martha’s Vineyard resident and Gazette…
Gazette Chronicle: Lobsters and Ewes
Lobsters and Ewes From the Vineyard Gazette editions of March, 1983:
Correction
Correction An obituary and news article in last Friday’s Gazette about Herbert Putnam 3rd incorrectly reported a piece of written verse given to him by a friend during Mr. Putnam’s battle with cancer. The piece was not the Prayer of St. Francis as printed, but rather a Sanskrit poem of hope. The Gazette regrets the…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) As you have noticed, the days are getting longer. We now have more than 12 hours of daylight each day and the thermometer climbed to nearly 42 degrees at noon on Saturday, though the wind made it seem much colder. Bea Whiting reports that she is now caring for newborn…
Library Screens Stories of Sustainable Fisheries
The Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund presents the award-winning documentary film, Fisheries: Beyond the Crisis, followed by a discussion of sustainability and community-based fisheries management on Wednesday, March 26, at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.
Cape Wind Continues to Stir Debate
A LESSER EVIL Editors, Vineyard Gazette: I had to miss the Cape Wind hearing. I support Cape Wind. For me it is an indication that we are learning to dream differently, and think differently, and act differently. I have no quarrel, however, with those who oppose it. It is what it is to each of…
Report on Fatal Car Accident Cites Alcohol, Speed as Causes
The blood alcohol level of 20-year-old Island woman Brandy Gibson was over twice the legal limit when she was killed in a motor vehicle accident at the intersection of Edgartown-Vineyard Haven and County Roads on Jan. 29, according to a toxicology report released this week by the Oak Bluffs police.
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT 508-627-8894 (margaret02539@yahoo.com) Last week I arrived home to a message on my machine from Tim Leland who has a house at Wasque — something about a bomb. Naturally, my interest was piqued, so I called him right back. He told me he’d come down to his house on Thursday, done some yard work,…
Dig Out Those Old Photos For New Restoration Class
A four-part, hands-on digital photo restoration class begins next week at the high school. Participants will learn how to digitally restore and reprint damaged, fading snapshots; scan and make enlargements from negatives and slides of all sizes and formats; learn how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3 to digitally retouch and restore images; master the use…
Island Energy Cooperative Offers Benefits
Vineyarders will enjoy arguing for many more years about when the world will run out of oil, about the causes and effects of climate change, about the safety of nuclear power and about the politics of our dependence on imported fuel. We like to argue. But increasingly, many of us are coming around to the…
Tisbury Woman Charged With Attempted Murder
A Vineyard Haven woman was arrested and charged with felony attempted murder Saturday night after she allegedly attacked and violently choked the girlfriend of her infant’s father in a fit of jealousy. Silvana Dias deCampos, 31, was arrested by Tisbury police after she reportedly went to the home of a 20-year-old woman on Lagoon Pond…
Matilda Arrives
Matilda Arrives Tehya Annabelle Backus-Clement joins her parents, Jeannie Clement and Rod Backus of Vineyard Haven, in announcing the birth of her little sister, Matilda Adelai Backus-Clement, on March 11 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Matilda weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces at birth.
Even the Kids Approve of this Carrot Soup
In the summer, when there is an abundance of produce available from our 28 Island farms, it’s easy for Vineyarders to plan meals based on local, seasonal food. But even with the vernal equinox upon us, winter is still maintaining its hold on our gardens, so making a meal based on Island food can be…
Sophomores Speak Out
Hey to all our readers, this is Troy (85) Small. Every week I edit the Sophomores Speak Out and I enjoy it because I get to read what the other kids in my class are talking and thinking about. We have a lot to say this week. I particularly related to Haley Rossi’s piece about…
Forget the Frogs: Nothing Says Spring Like the First Soft Serve
It’s bigger than butterflies, changing clocks, crocus, or — arguably — even pinkletinks. Nothing marks the coming of spring quite like a gang of kids running at full bore for the Edgartown Dairy Queen. In this Island’s version of Pamplona’s running of the bulls, children pelt down from the Edgartown School to be first in…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING 508-645-2574 (lthslnks@gis.net) The Easter morning sunrise service will be conducted by Rev. Roger H. Spinney at 6 a.m. Sunday, March 23 at Community Baptist Church with organist Kathryn B. Stewart. Special music will be performed during the service. All are welcome to attend. Thank you to our friends at Chilmark Chocolates for their…
Mocha Mott’s Cook Shows How to Make Feijoada
The Vineyard Haven Library Lecture Series will present a free cooking demonstration, Cooking with Bella: Feijoada the American Way, on Wednesday, March 26, at 4 p.m. This will be the first of a new series of lectures planned for the afternoons. From a long line of excellent cooks, Bella Felipe will teach participants how to…
VNA Plans to Meet Vineyard’s Needs
To our community and those in need of homecare: On Wednesday, March 12, just a day before the notice went public, the Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA) learned that Martha’s Vineyard Community Services will be closing the doors of their Visiting Nurse Service (VNS) effective June 30. The news was received with concern for the patients…
Family Planning Clinic Finds a Home
A new home has been found for the Family Planning of Martha’s Vineyard clinic, which provides Islanders with reproductive health and family services on a sliding fee scale. Earlier this month, the Friends of Family Planning, a community group which supports the clinic, purchased a condominium at 517 State Road Condominiums in Vineyard Haven. Renovations…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER 508-645-3378 (slaterjn@comcast.net) Chilmark is enduring March with some ease as every gray day is followed by a couple of stunning sunny days . . . all promising a green and leafy April, we hope. We know the farmers and gardeners welcome these rainy days, so we try to see the silver lining.…
Food Safety Classes
Food Safety Classes Starting Tuesday, March 25, ServSafe food sanitation classes will be held for anyone who requires the certification to meet the rules to be a person in charge in a restaurant or other food service establishment. Cynthia Barletta and Alice Robinson of Public Health Network Services will teach the classes, which are sponsored…
Decision to Shut Down Service Draws Concern, Sorrow, Anger
Unfortunate Move Editors, Vineyard Gazette: The terrible news that the Visiting Nurse Service is closing is causing distress in the minds and hearts of many Vineyard residents who have come to rely on the services provided by this agency. Particularly troubling is the loss of a uniquely dedicated team of nurses who have demonstrated a…
Voters to Hear Pitch for New Ballpark Site
The applicant for a controversial proposal to expand the baseball facility at Veira Park has officially shifted its focus to a new site, adjacent to the Oak Bluffs wastewater plant, which might be expanded into a town-wide recreational facility with a playground and basketball courts as well as a pair of baseball diamonds.
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER 508-693-3880 (sunporch@vineyard.net) On Tuesday, Ms. Parrot lost her chickens. That may sound like a title for a new children’s book, but it was very much a minor crisis in the domestic life of Margot Parrot who, along with her husband, Bob Osborne, will be opening the new store, Shibori, in the space that…
Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche The curtains go up next Friday night for a one-night-only performance of Cupid and Psyche, a 2,000-year-old love story. Spindrift Marionettes will present their most ambitious production yet, a full-length puppet show for adults as well as children over ten. It features marionettes, life-sized goddess puppets and shadow puppets re-imagining the ancient…
Town Approves Lower Values
The West Tisbury assessors have made public their first round of real estate abatements, applying reductions in valuations from 10 to 60 per cent on seven of 57 properties in the Tisbury Great Pond and Seven Gates Farm neighborhoods, the areas in town hit hardest by revaluations. Abatement applications are taxpayer requests for lower valuations,…
Flying Horses to Open
Flying Horses to Open The Flying Horses Carousel will open for its 133rd season on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Easter Bunny will be visiting on Sunday with treats for the kids. Catch a brass ring and win a free ride! The carousel will also be…
Vineyard Haven
NANCY GARDELLA 508-693-3308 (vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com) I’m going to blame it on Freud. The Father of Psychiatry convinced everyone to talk about sex and now no one can shut up. I am disgusted with the news coming from my Old Country, New York, about the former governor and, yes, the current governor. Being from the tri-state area,…
