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
July 8, 2008
In Fireman’s Boots, Bookseller Finds Tears
She stood outside and watched, numb with disbelief. And Ann Nelson — whose name is still synonymous with the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore even though she turned ownership of the store over to her son Jon three years ago (she stills owns the building) — wanted to go inside.
Reader Feedback from the Web
What follows is an edited selection of reader comments from the Gazette Web site responding to the stories on the Independence Day fire.
My heart goes out to the owners of Bunch of Grapes and Cafe Moxie. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I’ve spent countless hours in Bunch of Grapes over…
Edgartown Parade Marches On With Flags, Fireworks and Fog
The National Basketball Association champion stood tall on an old red fire truck and gripped his golden trophy in the air. Screams and cheers erupted from the crowds lining the road as the fire truck slowly rolled along the parade route in downtown Edgartown. In town on vacation, Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen slapped and…
Putting Together Island Life, Piece by Piece
No one would call the new book Island Lives a rip-roaring read. Certainly not its authors, Allan R. Keith and Stephen A. Spongberg. “It’s dry as toast,” said Mr Spongberg the other day, talking about it, sitting beneath the trees at Polly Hill Arboretum. “Dry as toast,” he repeated. “The bibliography is the most important…
Building Was First to Rise After 1883 Fire
Café Moxie was, ironically, in the first building to be rebuilt after the devastating Vineyard Haven fire of 1883. Ben Dexter, an extraordinary woodcarver and ice cream entrepreneur, was hard at rebuilding by November, just a few months after the August fire swept through Main street. He was back in business for the 1884 season.…
Naturalist Calls Island Life Book Eye-Opening Resource
ISLAND LIFE: A CATALOG OF THE BIODIVERSITY ON AND AROUND MARTHA’S VINEYARD. By Allan R. Keith and Stephen A. Spongberg. Published in cooperation with the Marine Biological Laboratories, Woods Hole, Mass. 2008.
Bunch of Grapes Owner Vows to Rebuild Beloved Bookstore
Bookstore owner Jon C. Nelson Jr. said he will rebuild. “Absolutely. I am committed to rebuilding the Bunch of Grapes,” said Mr. Nelson on Sunday afternoon. That commitment was one of the few certainties Mr. Nelson had two days after the Fourth of July fire that heavily damaged the landmark Vineyard Haven bookstore. Mr. Nelson…
Kid Critics Review Summer Films: Cinematographer’s Special Night
Truth comes from the mouths of babes — or rather kids, or young adults, or the future of humanity. Whatever you label them, these pint-sized pulse-takers of youth culture are back this summer with their own reviews of movies for young viewers screening every Wednesday at the Chilmark Community Center. The organizers of the Summer…
Business Owners Rally After Deep Losses
It was warm and cloudy this year on the Fourth of July. And as celebrations got under way, two of Vineyard Haven’s anchor businesses burned. Emergency services shut down power along Main street, cordoning off the heart of downtown. And in the aftermath, business owners commiserated, lent their support to the devastated owners of Café…
Lucy Fossil Apostle Gives 3 Million Year Old News
One of the most accomplished paleoanthropologists of our time, Donald C. Johanson, will give a talk called What’s New in the Last Few Million Years tomorrow, July 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on Centre street in Vineyard Haven. Dr. Johanson has produced some of the field’s groundbreaking discoveries, including the…
Holiday Moped Accidents Cause Injuries
Island police yesterday reported a busy but relatively smooth Fourth of July holiday weekend. The biggest story, of course, was the devastating fire on Main street in Vineyard Haven that destroyed the Cafe Moxie restaurant and caused extensive damage to the landmark Bunch of Grapes bookstore, which cast a pall for many over the usually…
Picture This: Author Molly Bang Ignites Arts a la Carte Discussions
Arts a la Carte, a new children’s arts discussion series at the Featherstone Center for the Arts, will kick off this Thursday with a bang: a Molly Bang, that is.
Town Retrieves Lumber Taken Home by its Harbor Master
The town of Tisbury has repossessed two small truckloads of timber left over after work on the Owen Park pier and taken home by harbor master Jay Wilbur. The action followed a heated scene at last week’s selectmen’s meeting, in which Gene Decosta accused Mr. Wilbur of having “defrauded the town.” Mr. Decosta accused Mr.…
Tashmoo Benefit
Tashmoo Benefit The second annual Tastes of Tashmoo fundraiser to benefit the restoration of the historic 1887 pumping station at the head of Lake Tashmoo will be held on July 17 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the waterfront home of Denys and Marilyn Wortman. The event will include a silent auction as well as…
Trustees Official Resigns as Chappy Superintendent
Sarah Mello has stepped down as superintendent of the Chappaquiddick properties of The Trustees of Reservations to return to her former position as director of education at the organization’s Island properties. Chris Kennedy, Islands regional director for the trustees, said Mrs. Mello relinquished the post for personal reasons.
Blue Wave, Cristo-Style, to Wrap Owen Park Today
Environmental artist Terry Bastian will be on Island July 8 to install the Blue Wave Project, his temporary public art installation about global climate change. Mr. Bastian’s artwork is a Cristo-like piece of blue fabric arranged to look like a wave, marking where the sea may be in these communities 100 years from now if…
Farming on the Water
At first glance, Rick Karney does not appear to be a farmer. He works on the water and is usually more damp than dirty. But to watch him in action is to be sure that the work Mr. Karney does at the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group is hardly different from the work Island farmers do…
J.W. Jackson’s Last Adventure: From Phil Craig’s Vineyard Chill
Island readers anticipated Philip Craig’s annual mystery novels like their first summer swim. The author died this year, leaving one last novel finished. Here is an exclusive excerpt from that book, Vineyard Chill, printed with permission from Scribner.
It was a bright, snowless mid-January day, chilly but not cold, Just right for a…
Dean’s List
Dean’s List Krista Renee BenDavid made the dean’s list for the spring 2008 semester at the University of New Hampshire, majoring in biology, pre-med. She is the daughter of Rene and Mel BenDavid of Oak Bluffs.
Despite Bug in His Ear, Singer Rallies to Perform With Group
First it was Owen Bennion’s two front teeth vs. a steel basketball pole. Then it was Matt Ungaro’s left ear vs. a moth of undetermined species.
Friday Conversation
Friday Conversation On July 11, Jim McLaurin, a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, will speak in the Friday Conversations program from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Oak Bluffs Senior Center. He will show a video about the group’s service in World War II. More information is available by calling 508-693-9771.
Works in Bronze by Don Wilks Capture Fluid Figures in Motion
Around the Farm Neck links, Don Wilks likes when fellow golfers find out he’s an artist. “They always say, ‘You’re not the kind of guy I expect . . .’ ” This may be, Mr. Wilks points out, because he is neatly turned out and he does not have long hair.
Dean’s List
Dean’s List Two Vineyard residents have been named to the dean’s list for the spring 2008 semester at Connecticut College in New London, Conn. They are Fiona L. MacLean of Oak Bluffs and Max J. Currier of West Tisbury.
Fire Long Has Stalked Vineyard Haven
The face of Main street in Vineyard Haven has changed more by the act of fire than any street in any other Island town. The town is like a Greek mythological phoenix, always turning the negative into the positive, and rebuilding bigger and better than before. Main street in Vineyard Haven has a history of…
Hop in With the Kids
Hop in With the Kids Frogs and Their Habitats, a crafts and nature activity for kids at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8, is the first in the Edgartown Public Library’s series of summer reading programs. Children will learn about frogs, including the Vineyard’s own famous pinkletinks, in this program, and in the crafts activity…
Vineyard Volunteer Firefighters Risk Life, Limb for Community
Tisbury assistant fire chief Tom Colligan was showering in an outdoor shower on Friday morning at his home in Edgartown when his pager went off. Prior to that moment, he had plans to spend the day with his cousins and relatives. Less than a half hour later, he was inside the basement of Cafe Moxie…
Computers and Art
Computers and Art Computers have been used to analyze works of art and have helped clear up controversies in the study of art. David G. Stork, a computer and image scientist at Stanford University and with Ricoh Innovations, presents When Computers Look At Art, a free talk on Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 6…
From the Ashes
From the Ashes They were ready. Austin Racine and Katrina Yekel, who had bought the Cafe Moxie restaurant on Main street in Vineyard Haven in May, were prepared to work sixty-three straight days — all of July and August — to survive and succeed in their business, to make money during the Vineyard’s all-too short…
Fourth of July Fire Cripples Vineyard Haven Over Holiday; But Town Vows to Rebuild Quickly
A disastrous Independence Day fire completely destroyed the Café Moxie restaurant and left the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore badly damaged, shutting down Main street Vineyard Haven for the entire day and leaving the town, its business community and much of the Island in a state of shock at the outset of peak summer season. But…
A Fire Rages, and Tears Flow
First published on the Gazette Web site Friday morning.
The wheels on his bike stopped abruptly on Centre street behind Cafe Moxie when the pantry chef saw flames breaking through the roof of the restaurant around 9:40 a.m. on the Fourth of July. “I guess I don’t have work today,” he said sadly,…
Ready for Season’s Start, Café Moxie Owners Watch Destruction in Shock
On the night before the Fourth of July, little cards were placed in the center of each table. There were 16 in all and they announced the night’s special: a fig-encrusted rack of lamb. It was the start of the busiest holiday weekend on the Vineyard and the tiny dining room of Café Moxie was…
Letters to the Editor
THANK YOU, COMMUNITY Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
