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
July 13, 2012
75 Martha’s Road, Edgartown
75 Martha’s Road in Edgartown sold for $400,000 on July 2.
151 and 161 Litchfield Road, Edgartown
151 and 161 Litchfield Road in Edgartown sold for $493,500 on July 6.
124 and 128 Old County Road, West Tisbury
124 and 128 Old County Road in West Tisbury sold for $480,000 on July 3.
20 Orran Norton Way, Edgartown
20 Orran Norton Way in Edgartown sold for $770,000 on July 2.
65 Canonicus Avenue, Oak Bluffs
65 Canonicus Avenue in Oak Bluffs sold for $565,000 on July 2.
16 Atlantic Avenue, Oak Bluffs
16 Atlantic Avenue in Oak Bluffs sold for $560,000 on July 2.
8 Four Way, West Tisbury
8 Four Way in West Tisbury sold for $585,000 on July 2.
7 Clover Hill Drive, Vineyard Haven
7 Clover Hill Drive in Vineyard Haven sold for $462,000 on July 2.
0 Black Point Beach Lot, Chilmark
0 Black Point Beach Lot in Chilmark sold for $312,500 on July 3.
Slow Food Potluck
Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard is hosting its annual potluck dinner on Tuesday, July 17 at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury at 6:30 p.m. Oran Hesterman, a leader in sustainable agriculture, will be the special guest. Attendees are asked to bring a potluck dish for six people, as well as their own dinnerware and cups.…
Soldier Cinema
On July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Library, there will be both a screening and discussion relating to the issues of returning soldiers. Two short films begin the evening. American Standard, written and directed by David Henry Gerson, follows a troubled veteran returning home from Afghanistan to his waiting undocumented immigrant girlfriend.…
Vineyard Cup
Keep your eyes on the water today where hundreds of sailboats, from schooners to catboats to modern design racers, are partaking in the Vineyard Cup. Races are based out of Vineyard Haven harbor, but you also can catch a glimpse of the action from the East an West Chop Lighthouses, Eastville Beach, State Beach and…
Four Blasts
The Steamship Authority’s vessel Martha’s Vineyard now sports a vintage whistle, the pleasing sound of which harks back to a time of proper ships, staterooms and service to Nantucket and New Bedford. We listen for the departure whistle from Vineyard Haven as the Martha’s Vineyard sets sail to go about her appointed rounds, including her…
Songs for Peace
Words of John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower and many folk singers echo around this troubled world.
Holly Near is on a nationwide tour including San Francisco, Chicago, Concord, Nantucket and here in The Old Whaling Church on Sunday, July 22. Her songs of peace have inspired many for over 30 years. Our 50 to…
Losing Faith
I was enjoying your editorial, Common Purpose, until I got to the paragraph that expressed your support of ObamaCare. I could not disagree more.
When the deeply-divided Supreme Court ruled ObamaCare constitutional, it became the biggest tax increase in U.S. history. The new health care program, now dubbed Obama tax, signals the largest expansion of…
Needs Reporting
The Gazette has been pretty fearless in exposing dredging errors, environmental threats and the like on the Vineyard, but I wonder if you would consider also covering the lawsuit against Pie in the Sky Bakery in Woods Hole that the Martha’s Vineyard Saving Bank is carrying out?
Summer Spectacle
Very often I consider in private how idiosyncratic Island people and culture are. The shark tournament held in Oak Bluffs every year is a case in point. How can Island people, surrounded and sustained by the ocean itself, how in the world we can sponsor a shark-killing tournament with bloody carcasses for all the world…
Tournament of Shame
Shark populations worldwide are in grave peril. Many species of open ocean sharks are in danger of extinction. The spectacle of the Annual Oak Bluffs monster shark tournament unnecessarily contributes to declining shark populations and is an assault on the natural world. This unremitting display of cruelty and disregard for clear conservation imperatives undermines the…
Land Bank Revenues: July 6
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $717,932 for the business week ending on Friday, July 6, 2012. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions. Much of the land bank revenue last week came from the town of West Tisbury, where six…
Dreamland Returns
Nectars? Hot Tin Roof? Yesterday’s news.
Tonight, Friday the 13th, Dreamland returns.
The brainchild of the man behind Sharky’s and the Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company, Dreamland is stepping into the music void and welcoming all comers. Phil daRosa is onboard as the entertainment and talent buyer for this 5,300 square foot…
Lobster Boat Rescue Averts Large Oil Spill
After nearly two days of foundering in the surf near a remote coastline in Aquinnah with hundreds of gallons of fuel on board, the Sherry Ann, a 46-foot offshore lobster boat out of Westport, was freed from her unwanted rocky berth and towed to a nearby salvage barge Thursday afternoon.
Mashpee Signs Casino Pact; Vineyard Tribe Announces Plan to Sue
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) yesterday announced its intention to file a lawsuit against Gov. Deval Patrick, and possibly also the town of Aquinnah, to protect its right to build a casino in southeastern Massachusetts and on the Vineyard.
Scott Crowell, a Washington state attorney who represents the Vineyard Wampanoags, said…
Two Crash Victims Remain in Hospital
More than a week after a two-car accident on the Fourth of July that proved fatal, two people involved in the accident remain in Boston hospitals.
Seth Jones, 26, of Dummer, N.H., was listed in serious condition at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston on Thursday, a hospital spokesman said. His mother, Margaret Jones,…
Rare Toxic Algae Found in Tashmoo; Pond Closed to Shellfishing
A rare algal bloom has shut down shellfishing in Lake Tashmoo during a week where other Vineyard swimming spots were closed because of bacteria.
Seth’s Pond, the popular swimming hole in West Tisbury, has been closed to swimmers for more than a week because of high levels of enterococcus bacteria. The same bacteria…
Lyme Disease Initiative Seen as State Model
Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness that has been documented at epidemic levels on the Vineyard, is now the focus of a growing public health initiative that involves Island doctors, boards of health and university researchers.
The initiative, which aims to zero in on prevention, education, and improved data collection, is seen by at…
Lyme Victims Depend on Each Other
Kristen Kusama-Hinte arrived on-Island in early June. A couple of weeks later, her son had a fever. She tended to him, sleeping on the floor by his side. She checked her own and discovered a 100-degree temperature and didn’t pay much attention. She got a stiff neck and again didn’t pay much heed. When a…
Cottagers Tour Strides Through Island’s African American History
The Highlands, as they are familiarly known, are located on East Chop, the general boundary being laid out like the Methodist Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs, with a central circle ringed by house lots along curving avenues.
Please Adopt Us
The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard has some beautiful cats available for adoption. They are: Butter and Chloe, two beautiful tortoiseshells; Deacon and Mango, two handsome ginger tiger cats; Panchie, a gray and white whose owner died recently; Thor, a big, older gentleman who really needs to have a home of his own. The shelter…
Ground Zero for Lyme Disease
If you live on the Vineyard and haven’t had Lyme disease, it’s a good bet you know someone who has. The risk of contracting the disease while hiking, gardening or just headed to the beach is at its peak right now, when the nymphal deer tick that carries it is most active.
Sand in My Shoes: The Soothing Sounds of Oak Bluffs at 2 a.m.
Oh what fresh hell is this?
Those were Dorothy Parker’s words, and who knows to what original hell she referred? Her wry brand of anguish has entered the lexicon of familiar quotations; we can invoke it for any horror, from a splash of red wine on a white shirt to a six-car pileup…
Through the Ages
From the Vineyard Gazette edition of July, 1945:
The Lambert’s Cove Methodist Church, atop its rise of high ground in one of the beautiful parts of the Island, is one hundred years old this year.
Landing on Vineyard Ponds Could Be a Turbulent Issue
At first glance it would seem that allowing folks in seaplanes to zoom into any of our great ponds is a bad idea. And maybe it is. But, according to a knowledgeable bush pilot friend, the pilot who landed recently on Edgartown Great Pond, Thomas Miozzi of Rhode Island, was within his rights. Most water…
The Long-Lasting Influence of Common Sense
Six months ago marked the 216th anniversary of the publication of Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, a book that reshaped American thought at that time and helped provide the foundation for the United States.
A Model Initiative Against Lyme Disease
After more than two decades of living with Lyme disease, communities in the commonwealth are becoming fed up; many residents are finally saying, “We need something done now.”
Well, something is being done, much of it on the Vineyard. The Martha’s Vineyard Tick-Borne Disease Initiative is one of two promising initiatives against Lyme…
Selectmen Hope to Sell State on Bridge-Jumping Precautions
The time-honored Vineyard tradition of jumping off the Big Bridge into Sengekontacket Pond has now been joined by a yearly concern about the safety of jumpers — not for their daring leaps into the water below, but for the time they spend sitting and standing on the bridge as traffic whizzes by.
Low…
Marina Fuel Station Ordered Closed
The fuel station at Church’s Pier in the Oak Bluffs harbor will remain closed following a gas leak on the Fourth of July.
Oak Bluffs fire chief Peter Forend said that because of old fuel lines, the station at the harbor — the only source of fuel at the busy marina — will…
Hello, Henry
Amy Sabin Barrow and Scott Murray Barrow of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Henry Emmett Barrow, born on June 25, 2012 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Henry weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces at birth.
Martina Thornton Named New Dukes County Manager
The Dukes County commission voted Wednesday to name their executive administrative assistant as the new county manager.
Martina Thornton, who has held the number two staff position at the county for the past four years, will now negotiate a contract with members of the commission next week.
The vote to offer…
Two Arrested on Drug Charges
A Boston man and an Oak Bluffs woman were arrested on drug charges over the long holiday weekend.
Corey A. Crump, 35, of Boston, was arraigned July 5 on charges of possessing to distribute class A drugs (heroin), possessing to distribute class B drugs (cocaine), and conspiracy to violate drug laws.
…
Maryland Man Arrested As Fugitive from Justice
Fugitive from Justice
A Maryland man wanted by police on several charges was arrested on the Vineyard on the Fourth of July as a fugitive from justice.
Charles Evans 3rd, 44, of Annapolis, Md., was arraigned in Edgartown district court and held without bail pending rendition to Maryland.
Porch Rockers in Chilmark
They are sometimes called porchers, the people who flock to the porch of the Chilmark Store at noontime each day throughout the summer. The focus of the congregation is usually on the right-hand side as you walk up the front steps. While food — pizza, wraps, coffee and chips — is their common bond, this…
Vineyard Haven
Nancy Gardella
508-693-3308
(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)
Pamela Brock and her friend Docia Reed, both neighbors in Waltham, spent a glorious week over the Fourth visiting Pam’s mom, Leigh Smith. The weather was perfect, yet hot, as you well know. The ladies got plenty of things done and caught up with Pam’s…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark will hold a special town meeting on August 6 at 8 p.m. at the community center. The subject to be discussed and voted on is the replacement of docks in the Menemsha harbor. We hope all interested voters will turn out and hear…
West Tisbury Town Column: July 13
People and cars are everywhere. The weekend weather was superb, hot and dry. Mary Blake’s pie stand has been very busy, and Mary is struggling to keep up with the demand. She has kept her husband, Gary Ellis, busy selling pies in the gazebo every day.
Oak Bluffs Town Column: July 13
OgkeshKuppe (the wet or damp woods) was the name the original people gave Oak Bluffs, whose original settlement was in the Farm Neck/Eastville area. The first white man living in Oak Bluffs was Joseph Daggett, whose father came to the Island with the revered Mayhews. Joseph married the sachem (chief) of Sanchakantackett’s (Sengekontacket) beautiful daughter…
Ruth Metell Honored at State House
Ruth Metell of Oak Bluffs was recognized by Rep. Tim Madden at the 28th Annual Heritage Day of Portugal celebration at the State House on June 5. Heritage Day recognizes members of the Portuguese American Community who are role models and outstanding contributors to their local communities. Ms. Metell is a Martha’s Vineyard native who…
East Chop
Sixty-five years ago Eddie and Irene Pacheco left Rhode Island in pursuit of a dream. They wanted to own a grocery store. They chose to locate the store in Oak Bluffs because they believed it to be a special place. East Choppers have greatly benefited from the fulfillment of that dream.
Edgartown Town Column: July 13
We could not ask for better weather than we have had this past week. Warm days and cool nights is something we all pray for. But from a garden person’s view, we do need some rain to help the plants grow.
Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go…
Announcing Gabriela
Eudilene and Marcos Barros of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Gabriela Menengazzo Barros, born on July 4, 2012 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Gabriela weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces at birth. She joins big sister Lorrayne.
Welcome Madelyn
Cera Monique Garvin and Wesley Jared Gilpin of Aquinnah announce the birth of a daughter, Madelyn Elizabeth Garvin, born on July 6, 2012 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Madelyn weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces at birth.
Vineyard House
Vineyard House
The Vineyard House, a safe and sober living environment for Vineyarders in early recovery, has announced the addition of Jack Shea to its all-volunteer board.
Mr. Shea is a native of South Boston and a graduate of Stonehill College. He has spent more than 40 years in the communications…
Flag Disposal
Boy Scout Troop 91 will be collecting worn, frayed and unserviceable U.S. flags so that they may be properly and honorably retired.
Flags may be deposited in the storage containers located outside of the following locations: American Legion Post 186, Edgartown; Chilmark Fire Department; American Legion Post 257, Vineyard Haven; Aquinnah Fire Department;…
The Moomaw Method: Live Simply
The climate change activist Bill Moomaw believes Henry David Thoreau had it right — living deliberately and simply makes a difference. And like Thoreau, “we have to confront the essential facts of life,” Mr. Moomaw told an overflow crowd at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury on Monday night.
And it starts with…
Winner at Sundance Chases the Icy Side Of Climate Change
When James Balog first photographed glaciers for National Geographic in June 2007, they filled his camera frames. Incomprehensibly large and imposing blocks of frozen history, most were decorated in a brilliant sheen resulting from a constant stream of melting ice on the glaciers’ surfaces. The glossy finish made for great photography, but it also hinted…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
July 6 83 64 .00
July 7 88 70 .00
July 8 88 66 .00
July 9 88 69 .00
July 10 82 62 .00
July 11 84 64 .00
…
Moon in the Morning
There will be a pretty scene early in the morning this weekend, for those who rise and can watch dawn. The thin crescent moon will pass by two of our brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter.
Chappy Town Column: July 13
Anybody who knows Nelson Jones knows what a stickler for details he is. But you have to ask yourself what he was thinking about while cutting hay in the roadside field at Pimpneymouse Farm. He left that uncut half standing intentionally to provide habitat for bobolinks and grasshopper sparrows. During mating season the male bobolink…
Trustees President Blazes Her Own Trail
Growing up on a ranch in Wyoming, Barbara Erickson received an early education in the importance of open space.
“You get an appreciation for nature that sticks with you,” the newly-appointed president of The Trustees of Reservations said on Friday during a sun-splashed walk through Long Point Reservation in West Tisbury. “Then you…
Soldier Cinema
On July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Library, there will be both a screening and discussion relating to the issues of returning soldiers.
On July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Community Library, there will be both a screening and discussion relating to the issues of returning soldiers.
…
Exploring Island Shipwrecks
Shipwrecks, although awful in their reality, become through the ages mythical events. Majestic storms, pirates, the mysterious cargo forever lost at the bottom of the sea, combined with the individual narratives, so many strands of stories played out both on deck and at home where widows walk; there’s a reason movies and books abound with…
Recent Island Real Estate Transactions
Tisbury
Donald R. and Paula J. Jacobs purchased 7 Clover Hill Drive in Tisbury from Marc T. and Cheryl A. Rogers for $462,000 on July 2.
West Tisbury
Katherine G. Macelhannon purchased 8 Four Way in West Tisbury from Patricia J. Mello and Gary Dexter Haven, trustees of the…
Asclepia Ardor
Asklepios, the Greek god of healing and medicine, was known for his life-savings abilities.Ironically, the genus of his botanical namesake, Asclepia, contains plants that can be killers.
Languishing in the Heat
I’m desperate for rain. I don’t mean a tiny sprinkling or a passing thunderstorm with a five-minute downpour. I need two or three days of a steady soaking. When I was a child, I remember many summer days of rain. We either played happily outside getting thoroughly drenched or spent hours of board game fun…
Merlins Return
Great excitement on Norton Point and also on Chappaquiddick!
Kids’ Writing Workshop
Kids’ Writing Workshop
Child writers unite. Mathea Morais, Island author and head of the writing lab at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, is offering two reading and writing workshops for kids age 9 through 14 at the West Tisbury Library. The first weeklong workshop is July 16 through 20 from 10:45 a.m.…
Merry Marionettes
Spindrift Marionettes bring out their lively marionette puppets to perform The Magic Teakettle at the Grange Hall on July 17 at 3 p.m. The Magic Teakettle is an adaptation of a Japanese folk tale about a tenuki, a magical creature who can turn into anything.
Attic Sale
Attic Sale
The West Tisbury Congregational Church’s annual attic and barn sale takes place on the church grounds Saturday, July 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
All year long church members collect, sort and clean sale items in preparation for this busy day. Collectibles range from enamelware to English bone…
Dreamland Comes True Again
Dreamland Comes True Again
Some thought it would never return, put to rest some 100 hundred years ago by forces unknown and many. But it never died. It simply waited, quietly and patiently, biding its time for new blood to be pumped into its walls and floors and ceilings and speakers. The time…
Holly Near
Holly Near
Singer, songwriter and activist Holly Near performs with pianist John Buccino and guitarist Coleen Kittau at The Old Whaling Church on Sunday, July 22, at 7:30 p.m.
Ms. Near has a long history of using music for social activism. She was a 2005 nominee for a Nobel Peace Prize…
Menemsha Fish House
There is a resurgence of activity in Menemsha this summer, and it is all related to getting seafood from the boats to the consumer. Every morning, visitors to Menemsha find fishing boats going in and out of the harbor. In the late morning they return from the fishing grounds laden with product
Author Series
On Thursday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. the 2012 author lecture series begins. This year’s summer lineup includes Pulitzer Prize winners Richard Russo and Jennifer Egan, also Peter Beinart and Henry Louis Gates Jr.
The series is designed to celebrate and support the authors and independent bookstores. The price of admission is free…
Drawing, Like Life, Takes Many Forms
Dana Nunes perched naked on a pedestal of pillows and blankets inside a studio at Featherstone Center for the Arts.
“I get a kick out of the flea market go-ers who look through the window and back up . . . and then look again,” she said.
Ms. Nunes was the…
Kitty Pilgrim Blends Life and Literature of Intrigue in Latest Novel
At the end of the dock in Menemsha Harbor sits a stately white yacht. At 75 feet, it can’t fit anywhere closer in the harbor. Inside the yacht, a woman often sits cross-legged in a bright sitting room, imagining far-off worlds full of romance and historical intrigue. She’s Kitty Pilgrim, CNN correspondent-turned-novelist, and she’s been…
Taking a Walk on the Quiet Side
Many overlook Martha’s Vineyard in the off-season, when beaches no longer accommodate bikinis, business owners stow away their cash registers, and the Flying Horses cease to fly. But Phyllis Meras, author of In Every Season, recently released by Schiffer Publishing, has a great appreciation for this time of relative hibernation, for humans at least. For…
Page Turner Meets Stomach Rumbler
Best-selling author and Chilmark resident Linda Fairstein has said that one of her greatest pleasures is the moment she holds in her hand a copy of her latest book. Fans will feel the same way on July 10 when Dutton publishes Night Watch, the latest of Ms. Fairstein’s engrossing crime fiction novels.
Vineyard Native Turns Biking up Wrong Tree into Cinema Spectacle
Lucas Brunelle is a man on a mission. The 41-year old Vineyard native wants to take people where they’ve never been before. That’s exactly what he does in Line of Sight, his first full-length film, a compilation of footage shot over the past 10 years from Mr. Brunelle’s unique vantage point: a two-camera set-up atop…
Sometimes Art Soars, Other Times it Strolls
Those attending the Arts Stroll in Oak Bluffs tomorrow, July 14, can expect paintings, sculptures and prints, naturally. But be prepared for capes and crowns, too.
Lucinda Sheldon of Lucinda’s Enamels, located at 11 Vineyard avenue, has dedicated a whole corner of her studio to decorative fabric capes and complementary felt crowns.
…
