Jane Kenyon
I am the stone step, the latch, and the working hinge. I am the heart contracted by joy, the longest hair, white before the rest.-Jane Kenyon
March 28, 2008
Denniston House Renovation, Expansion Generates Debate
As many as 100 people attended an often emotional public hearing held by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday, March 20 to hear a proposal to transform the old Bradley Memorial Church in Oak Bluffs into a multi-use building with affordable housing, artists’ workshops and a museum.
Firefighters Battle Winds to Quell Katama Flames
Edgartown firefighters were able to contain a quickly moving brush fire in Katama Friday morning March 21 despite strongly gusting winds that reached as high as 25 miles per hour and fanned the flames.
Joins McLean Trustees
Joins McLean Trustees Vineyard Haven resident Dr. Auguste (Gus) Rimpel Jr. has joined the board of trustees for McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School. A retired managing partner from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mr. Rimpel has an extensive background in international consulting, business and government relations.
High School Singers to Get Early Operafest Experience
Soprano Claudette Peterson, formerly with New York’s City Opera, and renowned bass-baritone David Kline, will present a master class for singers at the Martha’s Vineyard High School on Monday. Dan Murphy, director of music at the high school, arranged for the class to give interested students the opportunity to work with these world-class artists and…
Police Plan Charges After Car Plunges From Chappy Ferry
A sport utility vehicle carrying three people fell off the Chappaquiddick ferry into the frigid waters of Edgartown Harbor late Tuesday night, prompting a hasty rescue of both the passengers and vehicle. Following the incident, police said they plan to issue a summons to the driver for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and operating…
Find a Candle for Lights Out Night
San Francisco is turning out the lights on the Golden Gate Bridge. Chicago is switching off Sears Tower. The Sydney Opera House will go dark. Here, the concession booth at the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven might stop the popcorn maker. Martha’s Vineyard is David in a list of Goliath locations — from Bangkok to…
Farming the Land
Farming the Land The agricultural renaissance on the Vineyard has shown the Island not only is a fertile place to raise crops and livestock, but also a place where a thriving informal network of woman farmers has grown. The resurgence, in fact, taps some very old roots. When Vineyard men went to sea in past…
Program Offered to Girls
Program Offered to Girls The Adolescent Balance Living Experience (ABLE) offered through the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard for girls ages 11 to 14 is seeking referrals for the spring session which begins Monday, April 14.
Tisbury Annual Town Meeting Voters Will Confront Rising Operating Budget
Tisbury voters will consider a budget of almost $20 million, as part of a 44- article annual town meeting warrant on Tuesday. The total is an increase of 7.6 per cent on last year. Education costs make up almost 40 per cent of the total, and the biggest single cost increase is the town’s contribution…
Jaws Author’s Widow Pleads for End to Shark Tournament
It was 35 years ago that Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws, about a great white shark that terrorizes a resort town, was first published, starting a run of 44 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and inspiring the Steven Spielberg film of the same name, filmed off the shores of Martha’s Vineyard. This week…
Finding Common Ground
Finding Common Ground Dr. Martin Luther King said it forty-five years ago: “At eleven o’clock on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation. This is tragic. Nobody of honesty can overlook this.”
Springtime Return
Run, herring, run! Or, rather, swim, herring, swim, to your natal stream. River herring — harbingers of spring — should be back soon, if they are not already.
Bus to Run on Burger Grease as School Mulls Ban on Cars
A ban on cars. A moratorium on fossil fuels. A bus that runs on cafeteria burger grease. These are among the many projects in discussion or already under way at Island schools seeking to lead environmental action on the Vineyard. With support from private donors, West Tibsury’s green-minded design and building firm South Mountain Company…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) The weekend weather was anything but springlike. But spring flowers are making an appearance in any event. The days are getting longer and the sun stronger. Soon, we trust, it will warm up and spring will burst upon us. Another sure sign of spring was the stocking of the Mill…
Pretty Man is One They’d Like to Meet
I’m the very model of the modern man. And I proved it recently when I made my debut as a model at a women’s jewelry show.
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS I love Easter. Not only is church filled to capacity, but it is the real turning point between winter and spring. It doesn’t seem to matter that it is particularly early this year. Main street is getting its annual makeover. Especially lovely is the store front of the Two Susans. There is…
Secret to Smooth Town Meeting? Smart Townsfolk
Long before Texas gave the world its better-known gift to democracy, George W. Bush, it gave the Vineyard Deborah Medders. It was 1988 when Ms. Medders came to the Island from the Lone Star state, and saw for the first time that unique New England exercise in participatory democracy which is town meeting. She was…
High Honors
High Honors Headmaster Jay Stroud of Tabor Academy has named Edgartown student Alex Nugent, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Nugent, to the high honors list for the first semester of the 2007-2008 academic year.
My Hide and Seek Pencil
My Hide and Seek Pencil
Even tho’ I keep a pencil by my phone Ready to use in case of need I find that I should have had its clone Since a readied pencil is a Special breed. Ring Ring Hello! Yes I’ll get a Pencil Oh! Where is it? Oh Where? I…
Migrating Small Birds
Between now and mid-April, occasional migrating small birds arrive on the Island exceptionally early.
Denniston House Once Served as Spiritual, Educational Center
It may be hard to tell now, but there was a time when the Bradley Memorial Church was arguably the spiritual and social center of Oak Bluffs.
Aquinnah Property Owners to See Lower Tax Bills
Aquinnah taxpayers will open their mail eagerly next week. Most will see up to a 19.4 per cent reduction in taxes. The town’s tax rate is falling from $4.03 per $1,000 assessed valuation last year to $3.25 per $1,000 for the current year. Assistant assessor Angela Cywinski received verbal approval from the state department of…
Gazette Chronicle: Fearless Whaler
Fearless Whaler From the Vineyard Gazette editions of March, 1908: The bark Wanderer is being fitted for a whaling voyage and will be commanded by Captain George Fred Tilton, the hero of the long walk from the Arctic, bringing the news of the disaster of the whaling fleet, the winner of horse races, and the…
Breaking News: Sunday, March 30 – Edgartown Man’s Body Recovered in Harbor
The body of an Edgartown man who reportedly drove off a cliff along East Chop in Oak Bluffs Thursday evening was recovered Saturday morning after being spotted by a woman aboard a Steamship Authority ferry in Vineyard Haven harbor. Oak Bluffs police started their search for Benjamin Viera, 35, late Thursday evening after receiving a…
Mainland Signs of the Times Offend Vineyard’s Identity as Place Apart
There it is, Five Corners — our Five Corners. It’s not the most elegant intersection on the Island. It’s rather scruffy, in fact. But, recently, in an effort to clarify where cars should go, the Town of Tisbury added a highway directional sign, actually two signs, one above another, atop a field of concrete brick…
Yoga Takes Sherry Sidoti to Full Stretch
Tucked into the corner of the Woodland Business Center in Vineyard Haven, between the bakeries and offices in this off-the-beaten-path part of town, is an office door. On a recent Monday, just shy of 9 a.m., workers passed right by it in their beeline pursuit of morning coffee. Not one paused to look in. Had…
Multiple Sclerosis Video Offers Brain Tools
Hold That Thought! Cognition and MS is the title of a video screening Sunday, April 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Tisbury Senior Center, 34 Pine street, Vineyard Haven. This 30-minute video about multiple sclerosis that explores the effects of cognitive difficulties on people’s lives. Cognition includes learning, memory, problem solving, information processing,…
Dean’s List
Katherine Campbell of Vineyard Haven has been named to the dean’s list at Emmanuel College in Boston for the fall 2007 semester.
Want a Hot Ticket? Fund the Arts
We won’t clam up. We oppose the 31 per cent cut of high school performing arts classes. We offer proposals that will hold off those cuts and strengthen performing arts without raising our taxes. Will you help us?
Moon and Planets
The moon visits with a bright red star and two of the brightest planets in our southeastern sky in the week ahead.
Featherstone Exhibits Student Artworks
See them first at Featherstone: now in its second decade as the Island’s only year-round art center, Featherstone Center for the Arts is preparing the walls for a pair of gallery shows from Island’s best young artists. Paper and Pottery opens on Sunday to showcase work by students of Janice Frame and Scott Campbell at…
Letters to the Editor
LIGHTS OUT Editors, Vineyard Gazette: Tomorrow, Saturday night, March 29, is Lights Out Martha’s Vineyard from 8 to 9 p.m. We encourage every Islander to participate by turning out lights for this one hour to raise awareness about energy conservation.
Tisbury Special Meeting Voters Postpone Two Zoning Proposals
In nine years’ experience running Tisbury town meeting, moderator Deborah Medders has noticed one type of warrant article which really gets people going is proposed changes to zoning bylaws. And so it was again this week. The Tisbury special town meeting on Tuesday went pretty smoothly for the most part, until it came to two…
Safe Haven Camp to Kick Off with 5K and Cocoa
Chocolate, a pair of running shoes and you: the first Hot Cocoa 5K Run and Walk for the Safe Haven Project, an event where all proceeds go directly to the spring camp, is set for April 20. The run will be the kick-off event of this year’s Safe Haven camp, which brings children with HIV…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER 508-693-3880 (sunporch@vineyard.net) Because New Englanders are both clever and crazy, we’ve come up with ways to nudge spring along more quickly, at least in our own minds. One method is to coax friends in warm places to come home sooner than they’d planned (not that this ever works).
As Governor’s Plan Falters, Sheriff Still Faces Unsettled Financial Waters
As it has the past few years, the department of Dukes County Sheriff Michael McCormack will continue to face budgetary uncertainty this year. So said Sheriff McCormack this week after news leaked that the effort from Gov. Deval Patrick to assume budgetary control of the seven county sheriffs still elected independently in the state appears…
Island Farm Program Seeks Participants
If the winter season has left a desire for anything, it is fresh produce. With spring seeds already in the ground, the first harvests are practically around the corner. But, there is still time to sign up for a full or seasonal share with the Whippoorwill Farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. For a flat…
Film Producer Seeks Historic Photographs
Film Producer Seeks Historic Photographs The producer of the documentary about the legendary Vineyard schooner captain Zeb Tilton is seeking the loan of pictorial elements. J.B. Lamont, the film’s editor, reports that the production already has some 500 photographs that have been contributed by museums, libraries, newspapers, family members and collectors, in addition to motion…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER 508-645-3378 (slaterjn@comcast.net) Chilmark enjoyed a sunny Easter day but the temperature was cold and the winds were blowing . . . all typical of early spring, we have to remind ourselves. And I guess we can be happy that there will be no Easter this early again until 2223.
Override Decisions Await Oak Bluffs
When Oak Bluffs voters go to town meeting on April 8, they will consider for the first time in six years an override of Proposition 2 1/2, the state law which limits the annual increase in a community’s tax levy to 2.5 per cent.
Lily Reid Arrives
Lily Reid Arrives Skye MacDuff and Richard J. Kerns of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Lily Reid Kerns, born March 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Lily weighed 8 pounds and 9 ounces at birth.
Goodness Gracious Great Gulls of Spring: They Bring Birders a Rare Challenge
It’s easy to take seagulls for granted. Dyed-in- the-wool birders cringe when they hear that word, as in, “I saw the cutest little seagull from the ferry last week.” Picture William H. Macy in Fargo, that “Geez” look of desperation. It’s because there is so much diversity in the large and global group of birds…
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT 508-627-8894 (margaret02539@yahoo.com) Early on Wednesday morning, Sidney called me from the charter school asking if I knew what had gone on last night while we were asleep. A car had driven off the Chappaquiddick ferry around 11 p.m. He had heard it from Claudia Ewing at the front desk, who’s married to Steve,…
Commissioners Interview Manager Finalists
Having gone without a county manager for the past seven months, Dukes County will continue on without one for yet another few weeks. On Saturday, March 22, the county commission interviewed two finalists for the position but ultimately decided to wait until April 4 to discuss the candidates or take any action. The finalists are…
Top Window Cleaner
Top Window Cleaner Zachary White, co-owner of Sparkle Window Cleaning, and resident of Edgartown, recently won the medley competition held at the annual conference of the International Window Cleaning Association in California. The medley is a contest of perfection and the contestant with the least amount of mistakes wins.
Head Over Tail for Margot Datz
The temperature in Florida Tuesday was a goosebump-raising 58 degrees, but Island artist Margot Datz was riding shotgun in a convertible and was not about to let the weather foil her plans of a road trip with the top down. “I’m on a teenage adventure at 54,” she crooned into her cellphone while en route…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE 508-627-5349 (kathleencase@comcast.net) I know what they mean about writer’s block. When I tried to start this article, I could not think of a way to start it without being repetitive. So when I woke up this morning, Mother Nature left me her sign by leaving a coat of frost on the roof. And…
Clarification
Clarification John Clese, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard YMCA, wishes to clarify his position as reported last week in a Gazette news article concerning a proposed sewer line tie-in for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Mr. Clese says the YMCA, through discussions with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, agrees that tying the high school to…
High Rating
High Rating Jennifer W. Marlin, a personal advisor with the office of Ameriprise Financial at 12 Mariner’s Way in Edgartown, has received high marks from her clients in the top percentage of 2,608 participating advisors who scored at least 92 (of a possible 100) based on two key ratings: clients’ overall satisfaction with the advisor…
New Book Shares Stories from Slavery to Seventies
On April 5, beginning at 3 p.m., the Martha’s Vineyard Museum will host a special afternoon honoring those Vineyarders who fought on the front lines of the Civil Rights movement. On exhibit in the Council Room Gallery is The Civil Rights Movement on Martha’s Vineyard: A Public History Mobile Museum. Funded by the Mass Foundation…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING 508-645-2574 (lthslnks@gis.net) The osprey have arrived — Bettina Malonson Washington photographed a pair at Lobsterville on Monday. While there, she was also delighted to get a close-up photograph of a rather plump grey seal. Just some of the first signs of spring in Aquinnah which will soon be followed by the blossoming of…
Three Years Into Moratorium, Island Herring Runs Still Slow
Herring are harbingers of spring. The first of them usually appear in Island waters now. But there is serious concern about the health of the fishery across the region. Although Massachusetts is in the third year of a moratorium on the harvesting of these small fish, the fishery has failed to rebound. Fishing prohibitions are…
Dean’s List
Dean’s List Three Vineyard students were named to the dean’s list at Emory College in Atlanta, Ga., for the fall 2007 semester. They are Molly Rovin and Alex Parker of Chilmark and Robert Hale of Vineyard Haven.
Walkers: Warm Up as the Weather Does With Fitness Program Made by Nature
Spring can be a time of reawakening, recharging and renewing: time to reevaluate exercise goals and get in shape before summer. Walking is an enjoyable and easy way to get moving. You cannot pass a magazine rack without seeing headlines extolling the values of walking. We are fortunate in that the Vineyard features a number…
Vineyard Haven
NANCY GARDELLA 508-693-3308 (vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)
Oak Bluffs Offers Citizens Police Academy
The Oak Bluffs Police Department is hosting a citizens police academy. The academy will give Oak Bluffs residents the opportunity to observe the day-to-day operations of their police department. Officers will conduct training in their areas of expertise. Topics to be discussed are constitutional law, criminal law, motor vehicle law, applied patrol procedures, firearms, domestic…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip. Day Max. Min. Inches. Fº Fº March 21 48 32 .02 March 22 43 29 .00 March 23 48 28 .00 March 24 46 22 .00 March 25 50 34 .00 March 26 46 32 .00 March 27 56 30 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 45º F.
Best Animated Short Films Screen Saturday in Tisbury
All five of this year’s Oscar nominees for best animated short film — including the winner, Peter and the Wolf, plus a bonus offering — are on the big screen for Island movielovers this Saturday, March 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven. This program includes:
Tricky Real Estate Market Sees Home Sales Down, Commercial Demand Up
The gradual two-year decline of residential home sales now resembles a bobsled run: it’s picking up speed but has some interesting twists and turns. Sales of residential homes were off 18 per cent in January, worsening in February with sales declining by 33 per cent and the value of sales that month off more than…
Truck Delivers Trout
Truck Delivers Trout Recreational freshwater fishing got a boost on the Vineyard on Tuesday when state officials delivered more than 1,100 healthy, hearty trout, all of them over a foot in length, to four Island ponds. Using a special hauling truck that holds a lot of bubbling water, the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife…
Tisbury Business Association Schedules Annual Meeting
Tisbury Business Association Schedules Annual Meeting The Tisbury Business Association will hold its annual meeting on April 1 at the Black Dog Tavern on Water street in Vineyard Haven. The buffet breakfast will start at 8 a.m. This year’s speakers will be the candidates for Tisbury selectman, incumbent Tom Pachico and challenger Jeff Krystal.
Klutzy Fairy Comes Good in Magical Kids Musical
More magic from the Oak Bluffs School drama department, which this weekend premieres the original one-act musical Waking Beauty, A Fairy’s Tale. This play tells the true story of Sleeping Beauty and the fairy who was not invited to the princess’ christening. The fairy, named Mathilda (pronounced with the “h”), was not evil but more…
