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
September 14, 2007
Belted Kingfishers
It was 5:30 a.m. and still barely light over Tisbury Great Pond. I noted motion over the pond and saw two birds chasing one another. Then I heard a distinctive rattle and realized that the silhouettes I was watching were two belted kingfishers. I put the kettle on and settled in to sip my tea…
Brittany Andelin-Baker Receives Degree
Receives Degree Brittany Andelin-Baker of Edgartown earned her associate degree in culinary arts from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., on June 15. Ms. Andelin-Baker is a 2005 graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
Preservation Trust Honors Aquinnah Cultural Center
The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust on Wednesday celebrated the Aquinnah Cultural Center and its supporters with a prestigious award for their outstanding effort in restoring the Edwin Devries Vanderhoop Homestead, which sits atop the Gay Head Cliffs. It was no easy task, and it involved a partnership between a lot of organizations. The old house…
YMCA Program Builds Healthy Teen Girls
Free horseback riding, kayaking, ice skating, swimming lessons, African dance classes and tennis lessons. That would sound good to a lot of people on the Island, but it’s being offered to girls 11 to 14 years old. The program is called ABLE — Adolescent Balanced Living Experience — and it is part of the YMCA…
Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS I have no business writing a garden column. I should be doing a political blog, as if I knew how to blog. I can barely Google in a pinch. There. I have set the stage.
Gazette Chronicle: 50 Years Ago
50 Years Ago From the Vineyard Gazette editions of September, 1957:
Town Withdraws $18,300 Fence Penalty
A brief but acrimonious legal battle over a fence around an auto repair shop on Worcester avenue ended last month when the town of Oak Bluffs agreed to withdraw over $18,000 in fines previously levied to Allan (Buddy) deBettencourt, owner of Buddy’s Auto and Truck Repair.
High School Moves Forward on Sewer Plan
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School committee approved money this week to hire an engineer to take the next steps toward connecting the school to the town of Oak Bluffs’ wastewater treatment plant – a project estimated to cost the school $1.5 to $1.8 million.
Search for Answers in Darfur Leads Film to Past Atrocities
Four hundred thousand dead civilians and 2.5 million displaced refugees. Hundreds of undefended villages razed by government-funded marauders on horseback. People living in camps with poisoned wells. Starving two-year-olds who look like they’re 102. Mothers who send their daughters out to collect firewood, knowing they will be raped. The violence in Darfur makes the early…
Chilmark’s 313th Birthday Slips By With Strangely Little Hoopla
The town of Chilmark has a birthday today, but it will pass quietly with no fanfare. Thirteen years ago, when the town marked its tricentennial, it was a different story. A town picnic at the Allen Farm and a parade were part of the celebration.
Flextime Plan Sparks Oak Bluffs Debate
In a return to form of sorts, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday clashed over what seemed like a relatively harmless plan to allow principal assessor Dianne Wilson to work a three-day work week with longer days instead of a traditional five-day work week.
School Lunch
Charter School Monday, Sept. 17: Spaghetti with tomato sauce, meatballs, green beans, garlic bread, pears and milk. Tuesday, Sept. 18: Chili with beef or vegetarian, grated cheese, corn bread, fruit smoothie and milk. Wednesday, Sept. 19: Bagels with cream cheese, tuna salad or melted cheese and tomato, Greek salad, pineapple and milk. Thursday, Sept. 20:…
Sept. 7: Hot and Humid
Friday, Sept. 7: Hot and humid. Summer keeps a hold on the Vineyard. Swimmers gather at the Bend in the Road Beach, under fast moving clouds. Yellow roses are in full bloom on South Water street in Edgartown.
Sleeper Hit of Summer Music, Ballyhoo Heads for Squid Row
Now that Labor Day has come and gone, Islanders are reclaiming Circuit avenue parking spots, swimming at Squibnocket and finally savoring the Menemsha sunset. Brad Tucker, front man for the Island band Ballyhoo, the sleeper hit of the summer music scene, is thrilled Vineyarders are taking back the Island. Mr. Tucker and his band mates…
Oak Bluffs Sends Garage – Project to Commission
In the latest move in what has become a prolonged legal chess game, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday unanimously agreed to refer the much-maligned three-story garage built by Joseph G. Moujabber on the North Bluff to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for review as a development of regional impact.
Crescent Moon and Planets
Tonight after sunset, the thin crescent moon hangs low in the southwestern sky. The moon is moving from the zodiacal constellation Virgo to Libra.
Bait Boat
Capt. Wayne Iacono and a number of other Menemsha lobstermen are having a better autumn this year because of the help of a local draggerman, Capt. Craig Coutinho of the fishing boat Viking. “If it wasn’t for Craig we’d all be in trouble,” Captain Iacono said.
Chilmark Zoning Board Mulls Home Wind Turbine Placement
For the second time this week, Chilmark residents confronted increasing demands to reduce personal energy usage when the first proposal for a residential wind turbine in town came on Tuesday before the zoning board of appeals. Chilmark resident Robert Green appeared before the regular monthly meeting of the board with his proposed contractor, Gary Harcourt,…
Police Corner Suspect After Car Chase
Oak Bluffs police on Wednesday arrested a man for operating under the influence and driving a stolen car after a brief high-speed chase on Wing Road. Officer Jeff Trudel pulled over Clemens Fraize, 38, of Amesbury around 1 a.m. on Wing Road and approached his vehicle on foot. As he neared the driver side window,…
Forget About Verdant Links; Get Out Those Clam Rakes
The solution to the problems facing our great ponds is so simple that I can hear the slapping of foreheads as I write this — the Martha’s Vineyard Clam Club. Why not? If we’ve got clubs for folks to chase tiny balls and produce nothing better than figures on a scorecard, can’t you imagine a…
Harvard Scholars Debate Middle East Strategies
A panel discussion featuring the founders of the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiating Partners, moderated by Shula Gilad, is set for Sunday, Sept. 30 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, 130 Centre street in Vineyard Haven. On the panel will be Nisreen Haj-Ahmed Abbas from the Kennedy School of Government, who holds a…
Solar Thermal Pool Heating Proposal Draws Mixed Review
Local pool builders, contractors and Chilmark selectmen showed up to a public hearing of the planning board Monday afternoon to discuss a proposed amendment to town zoning bylaws. The amendment would require heated swimming pools built in the town to use solar thermal heating systems as the primary source of energy to heat that pool.…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip. Day Max. Min. Inches. Fº Fº Sept. 7 72 61 .00 Sept. 8 81 67 .00 Sept. 9 80 66 .00 Sept. 10 83 64 .00 Sept. 11 72 65 Trace Sept. 12 73 60 .53 Sept. 13 75 50 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 71º F.
Return to Tivoli Day
Return to Tivoli Day The town of Oak Bluffs, planning a new celebration at the end of summer in 1978, turned to its own history and took the name of Tivoli from the community arcade building that was the pride of the town and the center of its nightlife at the lively turn of the…
Hairy Pillagers
You have to crawl before you learn to fly if you are a tussock moth. Don’t have a hairy fit if you find one of these creepy, crawly, furry caterpillars. In the Island world of caterpillars, finding a tussock moth caterpillar should not ruin your day. At least, it isn’t a winter moth caterpillar and…
Oak Bluffs
BETTYE FOSTER BAKER 508-696-9983 (bdrbaker@comcast.net) If Boston landscape architect Robert Morris Copeland were alive today, he would be pleased that the town he laid out and planned during the 19th century building boom in Oak Bluffs is holding fast to the heritage he created along with the Oak Bluffs Land and Wharf Company as one…
Boat Finds Pleasant Berth in Author’s Yard
By JACOB KRAMER Theories abounded when David Merry began pouring sand and shells in a plot in the backyard of Cleaveland House, the home of Island author Cynthia Riggs, “There was all kinds of speculation — was it a bocce green, a tennis court, a place where I could burn brush, a garden, a memorial…
En Plein Air
Nineteen Martha’s Vineyard artists have been working outside this week, en plein air, to take full advantage of the exquisite September light and crowd-free vistas. The artists’ media range from oil and acrylic to pastel, watercolor and pen and ink. Each artist will exhibit views of Menemsha, the Edgartown Lighthouse and the Tisbury Waterworks as…
Oak Bluffs Invites Preservation Proposals
The Oak Bluffs Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is pleased to announce that application forms are now available to request funding for projects for historic preservation, affordable housing and open space/recreation for the fiscal year that begins in July 2008. Requests for proposals are being accepted through Oct. 5, 2007.
Vineyard, State Housing Strategies Grapple With Seasonal Workforce
A $5 million funding bill before the Massachusetts House of Representatives would provide relief for Island businesses and their seasonal employees struggling with chronic housing affordability problems. Although the proposal’s political fate is uncertain, it would be a welcome buttress to disparate housing and retraining strategies already playing out on the Vineyard, where employers spend…
Famous Unknown Makes Unforgettable Images
Stephen DiRado’s photographs taken on the Vineyard have hung in galleries in New York city, Houston and London and belong to prestigious museum collections in Boston, Berlin and Toledo, Ohio. There was even a play inspired by his summers photographing on the Vineyard, performed at the New Jersey Repertory Company in 2003. Yet here on…
Landowners May Fund Dredge For Use in Edgartown Great Pond
Landowners around Edgartown Great Pond are looking at buying a half-million-dollar dredge to improve the water quality of their pond, and potentially that of other fresh and salt water ponds on the Island. As a first step, they will put up between $50,000 and $100,000 to lease the small, easily transported machine to conduct test…
Building Code Changes May Increase Construction Costs
Island town building inspectors are bracing for a run of new building permits over the next three months in advance of a new state building code regulation which could raise building costs on average by five per cent and as much as 10 per cent. The news comes as renovation and addition permits have driven…
Derby Mania Continues
Remember to pick up Tuesday’s Gazette for the latest on the fishing derby and other weekend events.xxxxx x xxxxx xxx xx xx xxxxxxx x xxxxxxxxx x
Hello, Nicola
Hello, Nicola Heather and Joseph Capece of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Nicola Josephine Capece, born Sept. 8 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Nicola weighed 7 pounds, 7.5 ounces at birth. She was also welcomed by sister Lucia.
Achieving Peace, at Least for the Winter
Being a seasonal Island resident, when I return to my other homeland I am often asked what do people on Martha’s Vineyard do in the winter? My most immediate impulse is to react to this probing inquiry by saying that they, the entire Island population, immediately after the last seasonal resident or tourist has disappeared…
Benjamin Hannigan Receives Degree
Receives Degree Cadet First Class Benjamin Hannigan of Vineyard Haven graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in June with a bachelor of science degree in marine engineering.
Finella Arrives
Finella Arrives Shelagh and David Smilie of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Finella Hackett Smilie, born on Sept. 6 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Finella weighed 15 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. She was also welcomed by big sister Fiona.
Kids Catch Derby Fever, Prizes At Annual Contest in Oak Bluffs
With the 62nd annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby now at full speed, two events are running along on the side. One is for youngsters. The other is a kayak fishing contest. Both start on Sunday. While plenty of big fish were caught by grown adults in this first week of the derby,…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING 508-645-2574 (lthslnks@gis.net) The Aquinnah Community Programs Committee will be sponsoring a flea market and bazaar on Sunday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the town hall. There will be vendors with antiques, artwork, books, clothing, collectibles, a giant free box, handcrafted items, jewelry, Native American arts and crafts, pottery, and…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) The ducks and geese have begun their trek south. For years, that has included a brief rest stop in the Mill Pond to relax and refresh, but the pond has become a stagnant mess no longer worthy of a visit for most of them.
Tivoli Day Sends Off Summer Season With Circuit Avenue Party and Parade
Tomorrow calls for an all-Island end of summer celebration and Oak Bluffs is the host. Organizers of the 30th annual Tivoli Day want the rest of the Island to know their party belongs to the whole Island. Nothing better would please Dennis daRosa and Bob Glover than to see their friends from around the Vineyard…
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT 508-627-8894 (margaret02539@yahoo.com) This past Monday I started to hear occasional little animal scrambling sounds from inside our chimney. I couldn’t, or didn’t want to, imagine what kind of critter it could be, and I hoped it would go away on its own.
Letters to the Editor
TEAR IT DOWN Editors, Vineyard Gazette: A building permit is given to an individual in 2003, to construct a garage to replace an existing 200-square-foot garage. The proposed cost for the replacement garage was to be $22,000. Instead, the project grew to a three-story building with balconies, sliding glass doors and a roof deck. The…
Sengekontacket Fine Is Planned
It has taken them 12 years to do it, but the Edgartown board of health is finally getting tough over a breach of health and planning regulations which threatens the health of Sengekontacket Pond. For the first time, the board is looking to impose a substantial fine on a homeowner who twice has breached undertakings…
Peace Rally
Peace Rally The Martha’s Vineyard Peace council is organizing a peace rally at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, at what the council calls Peace Corners (Five Corners) in Vineyard Haven. It will coincide with rallies across the U.S. For details, call Chris Fried at 508-693-7741.
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER 508-645-3378 (slaterjn@comcast.net) Chilmark’s weather remains summery and dry in spite of some threats of rainy days . . . still no real amount of rainfall. One day of showers can’t make up for the long dry summer. However, the derby fishermen are hard at work and the late vacationers are enjoying the…
Open House Scheduled Saturday for Former Denniston House
An open house at the former Denniston House on Masonic avenue in Oak Bluffs is scheduled during the Arts District’s Art Stroll on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 4 to 7 p.m. The public will be able to meet the architects and members of the design committee who are renovating the property, which now will be…
Thomas Ricks Anticipates War in Iraq Will Drain U.S. Lives, Funds for Decades
As Thomas Ricks was writ ing his definitive account of the planning and execution of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, he would sometimes look out his window and see children walking home from the kindergarten down the street, and have an awful premonition. “I would look at those kindergartners and think ‘one of those…
Not a Lighthouse in Sight In New Featherstone Show
Featherstone likes to take chances. Several years ago Featherstone Center for the Arts introduced a gallery show featuring out-of-the-mainstream art, filled by artists who practiced what they felt was important, not what sold. The show proved a success, and now Featherstone devotes one gallery show to the unconventional art created by Island artists. Titled The…
Announcing Anina
Announcing Anina Ninon and David Garvin of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Anina Marie Garvin, born on Sept. 11 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital.
The Public Park that Never Happened
The Public Park that Never Happened For two decades, so-called Boch Park on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven has sat in a limbo made of court battles and subsequent, drawn-out negotiations between the Boch family and the town of Tisbury. The scruffy condition of the parcel, which overlooks Vineyard Haven harbor, is a sad and…
Keith Gorman Takes Up Museum Director Role
The Martha’s Vineyard Museum has named Dr. Keith Gorman, the museum’s director of programs and archivist and librarian, to the new position of museum director. With the creation of the new position, Mr. Gorman will be responsible for the museum’s operations, programs, staff, capital campaign, and the proposed museum move from Edgartown to West Tisbury.
Linda Greenlaw Talk
Linda Greenlaw Talk Lobster boat captain and author Linda Greenlaw speaks on fishing and lobstering issues at Tisbury Waterways Inc’s 2007 annual meeting. It is Friday, Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tisbury Senior Center 5:30 pm. Free admission and all welcome. For details, call 508-696-1893.
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE 508-627-5349 (kcase1@verizon.net) We welcomed the rain on Tuesday, even if it was not enough. It actually felt good having the rain running on your face. Now we are into the chilly weather that everyone loves.
Tasman Arrives
Tasman Arrives Samantha Look and Kristian Strom of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Tasman Kristianson Look Strom, born on August 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Tasman, who weighed eight pounds, six ounces at birth, is the grandson of Carly Look of West Tisbury, Allen Look of Providence, R.I., and Jack and…
Information Session Set On Proposed Wind Farm
The Vineyard Haven Public Library evening lecture series will present a public information session on the proposed Cape Wind project on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Katherine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven. Mark Rodgers of Cape Wind, the project proponent, and Audra Parker of the Alliance to Save Nantucket…
