Mary Oliver
The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way. —Mary Oliver
December 21, 2012
31 Beacon Avenue, Oak Bluffs
31 Beacon Avenue in Oak Bluffs sold for $251,000 on Dec. 14.
5 Upper Meadow Lane, Oak Bluffs
5 Upper Meadow Lane in Oak Bluffs sold for $635,000 on Dec. 10.
27 Jason Drive, Edgartown
27 Jason Drive in Edgartown sold for $275,000 on Dec. 14.
79 North Neck Road, Edgartown
79 North Neck Road in Edgartown sold for $450,000 on Dec. 11.
48 High Street, Edgartown
48 High Street in Edgartown sold for $1,460,000 on Dec. 10.
29 Morse Street, Edgartown
29 Morse Street in Edgartown sold for $2,050,000 on Dec. 10.
1 Quansoo beach lot, Chilmark
1 Quansoo beach lot in Chilmark sold for $307,500 on Dec. 14.
0 Quansoo beach lot, Chilmark
0 Quansoo beach lot in Chilmark sold for $310,000 on Dec. 13.
265 and 277 North Road, Gosnolds Way and Brickyard Beach, Chilmark
265 and 277 North Road, Gosnolds Way and Brickyard Beach, in Chilmark from Holly Farm LLC. for $4,100,000 on Dec. 10.
Christmas Eve Pageant
On Christmas Eve, the West Tisbury Congregational Church will hold its annual Christmas pageant and carols service at the Agricultural Hall. The event is open to everyone and begins with a re-telling of the Christmas story. The Rev. Cathlin Baker presides over the tableau which is a cross-section of the Island community, with church school…
Christmas 2012
The Island is wrapped in the quiet of December. Shortened days are cast in mild drizzle with fleeting breaks of sun through a low ceiling of gray clouds. Long nights are inky and blustery beneath starry skies splashed with meteor showers. Is the sky higher overhead at night? It seems so. Main streets twinkle and…
Council Delays Cuts to Groundfishery
The New England Fishery Management Council delayed a decision yesterday on drastic cuts to the ailing groundfishery, amid impassioned testimony from fishermen who said the deep cuts would spell the end of their livelihood. “[The fishery] has been declared a disaster . . . this will make it a reality,” said Frank Mirarchi, a Scituate…
Before There Were Pews, Christianity Washes Ashore
The story of Vineyard Christianity begins in 1642 with Thomas Mayhew Jr.The younger Mayhew, as he is often referred to in Dr. Charles E. Banks’ three-volume history of Martha’s Vineyard, stepped into the role of Island minister after nobody else could be found to take the job. There were few settlers at the time…
Holiday Support Is Greatest Gift
For me, perhaps for you, this is a time for giving and getting. It’s mostly getting for children and mostly giving for adults. As we grow in years, we mature to more giving and less getting. At age 76, I don’t need any “thing,” but I doubt that I’ll outgrow my need to be hugged,…
Letters of William Styron Reveal Heart and Soul of Writer at Work
After William Styron died, his wife Rose was cleaning up their Connecticut house in preparation for it to be sold when she discovered an enormous pile of letters in her husband’s old writing room. The letters had been sent to him from family, friends, colleagues, old girlfriends, literary luminaries, nearly everyone he had come in…
Grace McDonnell, 7, Loved Her Summers on the Vineyard
Grace Audrey McDonnell, age seven, died tragically on Dec. 14 at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Grace came to Edgartown with her family every summer; her dream was to be a painter and live on the Vineyard. A beautiful and artistic soul, Grace was a gift from God and represented all that…
Tisbury Proposes Mooring Fee Increase, Pump-Out Changes
Mooring fee increases and pump-out program changes are on the horizon in Tisbury. At the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, the harbor management committee proposed a 20 per cent fee increase for private mooring holders for next year, and two 10 per cent increases to take effect over the next four years. Harbor master Jay Wilbur said…
Catch Reduced For Menhaden
In what fisheries experts are calling an historic measure to curb overfishing, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission voted late last week to reduce the fishing of menhaden by 20 per cent in the coming year. The 20 per cent reduction takes effect July 1, 2013.
Casino Rights Argued in U.S. Court
The attorney for the Wampanoag Tribe of Mashpee told a federal judge in Boston Monday that the tribe is in active negotiations with Gov. Deval Patrick over a compact that will allow it to open a casino in Taunton by 2014.
Howard M. Cooper said the Mashpee Wampanoags hoped to complete negotiations with state in…
Johnny (Seaview) Perry Will Be Missed
Johnny (Seaview) Perry, an iconic Vineyard character, home-grown philosopher and friendly street-walker in a cowboy hat, died Dec. 12 at a care center in Malden where he had been living in recent years battling cancer. He was 84 and his real name was Oliver Perry, although he never used it. His nickname was earned in…
New Course Helps Police Train On-Island
Island police officers began adding a new tool to their arsenal this month as a small group participates in a state-approved instructor development course. Jack Collins, counsel for the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, and Oak Bluffs Lieut. Jim Morse have been leading the officers in a six-day training session, which resumes in January.
Budget Increase Approved For Up-Island Schools
The up-Island regional school committee voted this week to certify a budget for the coming fiscal year of $9.1 million, a 3.5 per cent increase over last year. Increases can be tracked to money that must be set aside for post-retirement benefits for school workers and funds for Chilmark school renovations. Schools are now required…
Security Concerns Surface at Up-Island School Meeting
An up-Island school committee meeting to discuss and approve the annual budget Monday spilled into a heartfelt discussion about security in the public schools following the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., last week.
Land Bank Revenues: Dec. 14
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $182,333 for the business week ending on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.
Chilmark Proposes Big House Bylaw, Reactions Are Mixed
A small but vocal group of residents, builders, realtors and members of town land use boards turned out to express their opinions this week on a proposed Chilmark bylaw that would regulate house size. Some quibbled over specifics of the plan, while others argued that the proposed regulation is not strict enough. The town planning…
Commission Approves New DRI Checklist
After heated comments from community members about potential regulation of “community character” — and lots of debate within the commission itself — the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week approved changes to its checklist of criteria for developments of regional impact.
Send in the Solstice
Tonight, Dec. 21, is the winter solstice. This, of course, is an annual event but this year, if one glances at the Mayan calendar, which many are doing, there is a special significance. To put it bluntly, today is the end of the Mayan calendar, something that has existed for 5,000 years.
Free Christmas Dinner
Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven is inviting one and all to its annual Community Christmas Dinner held from noon until 2 p.m. on Christmas Day. The traditional feast includes roast turkey and ham with plenty of side dishes, sweets and pies. Volunteers prepare and serve the food, which is donated by Grace Church parishioners…
Winter Begins
Winter officially arrived this morning at 6:12 a.m. and from here on the days will grow longer. There are two more weeks of sunrises that are the latest of the season, but this will change. Sunsets have already begun to get later, about a minute every other day. Sunrises will be earlier in the morning…
Oak Bluffs Town Column: Dec. 21
SKIP FINLEY 508-696-3742 (sfinley@mvgazette.com) On Friday, Dec. 22, 1978 literary genius Dorothy West wrote: “Now our town glows with Christmas, the lampposts along Lake Anthony are beautifully garlanded, the main street arched with rows of colored lights, and in the center of the mall a shining tree, the shops bedecked, too . . . In…
Chappy Town Column: Dec. 21
MARGARET KNIGHT 508-627-8894
Vineyard Haven Town Column: Dec. 21
Not very merry, are we? It is time to speak about the unspeakable. I detest the New Age sounding phrases: “It’s time to have a national conversation” or “dialogue” about the state of weapons in our states. I can handle that conversation in one sentence: “Too many guns, too many disturbed people.” No more conversation…
West Tisbury Town Column: Dec. 21
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) Well, all is nearly prepared in most homes for Christmas on Tuesday. However, there is still time for a tiny amount of last minute shopping. Reliable Market is busy making fruit baskets for last minute gifts. Peter Simon’s yearly Vineyard calendar masterpiece makes a swell gift. The Holiday Shop in…
Chilmark Town Column: Dec. 21
Chilmark welcomed Santa to town on Wednesday last . . . a warm and mild day for December, but filled with the wonderful joy of young children and their enthusiastic parents — the way it should be for all our towns. We send many messages of condolence to all the grieving people of Connecticut and…
Aquinnah Town Column: Dec. 21
Candlelight services will be at Community Baptist Church of Gay Head at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve with services conducted by Rev. Ellen Tatreau and with traditional lessons, Christmas carols and lighting of candles. Rev. Tatreau will then conduct candlelight services at First Baptist Church in Vineyard Haven at 7 p.m, which includes A Simple…
Gifts for All, Good Tidings for Vineyard
Cruising around in the pre-Christmas sky St. Nick and his reindeer always fly Over the waters of Vineyard Sound, Over the ocean where the waves pound, Over the bluffs and the cliffs and the sand Of Martha’s Vineyard, seeking to land
Bottom of Food Chain is Top Priority
On behalf of a little baitfish that’s not consumed by humans, it was amazing to witness 350-plus fishermen gathered in a Baltimore hotel conference room on Dec. 14. The 15-member Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) had come together to decide, at long last, whether to regulate the annual harvest of Atlantic menhaden. Over 150…
Save the Planet, Eat More Shellfish
Christmas is a time for sharing, and with that in mind, it’s been a holiday tradition for me to share with you my obsession with all things shellfish. My gift to you is this essay wherein I hope to make some sense of the current state of the world in the context of our shared…
Flat Point Farm
It is now public knowledge that our family has received an offer for a 12.9-acre parcel of land at the end of Flat Point Farm on Tisbury Great Pond. The land is currently in open pasture and grazed by the farm’s cattle and sheep — a view that we, other pond residents, boaters, painters and…
For Capt. Bob Weiss
Few had knowledge of the waters surrounding the Vineyard like Capt. Bob Weiss. With years of experience he could keep his clients and guests busy catching fish and listening to a lifetime of stories. He was gifted at doing both. As fellow captains and mariners we were always kept on our toes with Bob’s quick…
Red Stocking Verse
’Twas the week before Christmas, the elves worked in shifts At generous Grace Church wrapping thousands of gifts. The children we served totaled 425 With Barbie and Batman and Baby Alive The ones we cared for without using their name, Last year, added up to exactly the same.
Grace Notes
From the Vineyard Gazette edition of Dec. 23, 1909:The “corner store” in Edgartown is the center of attraction for all shoppers just now. Everybody is enthusiastic over their magnificent stock of Christmas goods, the largest, finest and handsomest in this portion of the Western Hemisphere. If you once permit yourself to see their goods you…
Life Is a Cassoulet, Old Goose
In his essay, Movable Feast, Henry Beetle Hough writes: “People talk of the good old days on the Vineyard — the nineties, when croquet and bicycles were fun . . . Someone was young then, and for him who was young it was the golden age.” Mr. Hough, the late editor of the Gazette, is…
Religious Services for Christmas
Aquinnah, Community Baptist Church of Gay Head in Aquinnah: Christmas Eve candlelight service, 5 p.m. Call 508-693-1539. Chilmark, Chilmark Community Church at 9 Menemsha Crossroad: Christmas Eve, 5 p.m. Call 508-645-3100. Edgartown, Faith Community Church (reformed and evangelical) 316 Meetinghouse Way off Herring Creek (Katama): Christmas Eve, 5:30 p.m. Call 508-627-4421.
Engagement Edition
It is by far the oldest thing I own, and its antiquity will certainly beat anything else I could acquire in my lifetime. While new to me, this brilliant object’s origins likely go back around three billion years, making this gem two-thirds the age of the earth. Though I am not convinced that diamonds really…
Migratory Mingling
What is the South American country which is bordered by Brazil on the northeast and Argentina on the northwest, west and south? This country has a population of three million very mellow people and twice as many cows (and sheep). Uruguay is the country and Montevideo is their capital city.
Winter Garden
What is happening? Back in the 1970s there was a rainy Christmas day with temperatures in the mid-50s. It was so unusual that we recorded it on a tape recorder. Rain pounding with sounds of little children. Now Christmas has what I call Halloween weather.
Please Adopt Us
The staff, volunteers and especially all the animals at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The shelter would like to share the Prayer for Animals by Albert Schweitzer.
MVC Eases Ruling that Could Have Blocked Relocation of Erosion-Threatened Home
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday approved changes to a 22-year-old decision regarding a Chappaquiddick subdivision, removing an obstacle to possible relocation of the Schifter house. In 1990, the MVC approved O. Stevens Leland Jr. and Timothy Leland’s application to divide a 27-acre parcel of land adjacent to Poucha Pond into a four-lot subdivision. One lot…
