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
July 5, 2013
Moon, Venus and Menemsha
A thin crescent moon next to the bright planet Venus will appear above the horizon right after sunset on Wednesday. If the weather is fair, one of the best spots on the Vineyard will likely be Menemsha after the sunset. Menemsha is the ideal spot to watch as it offers an unencumbered view of the…
The Naked Truth on Historical Fiction
In 1040 AD a Danish king by the name of Harthacnut took control of the English throne through a massive display of military force. He then sustained his power as king by re-instituting an oppressive war tax, called the “heregeld.” The heregeld drove England into poverty and, when towns around the country began to revolt…
Vineyard Says Happy Birthday To America
With two hours to go until parade time, the sun shone on the lines of brightly-decorated floats that filled the parking lot of the Edgartown School Thursday afternoon. Their occupants, which included members of organizations from across the Island, milled about. When the time came to begin, the parade started with a bang — literally.
Relocation of Main Schifter House is Complete
After several days of inching forward along a deep, wide sandy trench, a Chappaquiddick home arrived late Tuesday at its new location farther away from a rapidly eroding bluff. It’s been less than a year since emergency actions began to save the Wasque home of Richard and Jennifer Schifter. The key part of the project…
History and Science Tell of Cycles of Rapid Erosion at Wasque Point
On a misty, windy morning in April 2007 Chris Kennedy, Martha’s Vineyard superintendent for The Trustees of Reservations, had just returned from the part of South Beach in Edgartown known as Norton Point. The night before Katama Bay had filled to overflowing by the flood of an astronomical high tide, topped off by the overwash…
Filming Wrapped, Stage Now Set For The Vineyard Reality Show Debut
Wake up at 6 a.m., head to hair, makeup and wardrobe, and you’re off to the beach. Sounds like a typical summer on the Vineyard, right? That was the regular routine for the cast of The Vineyard, a reality show set to premiere on ABC Family on July 23.
Land Bank Has Small Windfall, Otherwise Flat Fiscal Year
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank is reporting another year of relatively flat revenue, with one notable exception: a mid-year bump in income thanks to uncertainty in the federal government. In December concern about pending tax changes because of the so-called fiscal cliff led to a flurry of transactions and a sizable windfall for the land…
Moving Day on Chappaquiddick
Early summer fog blew across the moors at Wasque Reservation last Saturday morning, a soft blanket of dampness settling over tiny, salt-blasted wildflowers. All was quiet. A short distance away was the place where fishermen once stood famously shoulder to shoulder, casting deep into the rip tides for blues. But few fishermen come to this…
Celebrating Freedom of the Heart
I want to take a couple of moments before we go on with the service and share with you some current thoughts of mine, after so many years of so many thoughts on the subject of marriage which received a lot of press in most parts of the country this last week. As most of…
Look Homeward, Angel; To the Vineyard
It’s just after five o’clock on a potholed stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. I’m in the slow lane, moving along a concrete wall between the road and a back row of mostly dark apartments. Beyond those apartments are more apartments, a long line of giraffe-shaped cranes, and the very beginnings of a New York city…
For Millie Briggs
To Millie: Good-bye my friend I know I’ll never see you again. Our time together through all the years Will take away my tears. Good-bye my friend.
Community Jump Start
Last Friday after buying bird seed at SBS I went to my car and it wouldn’t start. Assuming the battery was dead, I returned inside and asked if I could use the phone to call AAA. Katrina Nevin, who works at SBS, asked what the problem was and offered her jumper cables to charge the…
Can’t Hear You
At a wedding that I recently attended, the deejay explained to me that from his position behind the speakers it was hard for him to judge how loud the music was in front of the speakers. It is also distinctly possible that hearing impairment is an occupational hazard. Would it not be sensible for every…
Humanitarian Idea
The situation in Syria is indeed very troubling. I can understand why President Obama first hesitated to send even light weapons to aid the rebels against the Assad government’s cruel treatment of its own people. I am distressed that the president has changed his mind in this matter but perhaps it is not too late…
Smart Gold
I hope the giant utility poles springing up around the Island are not a fait accompli. It seems we are going to have to bury our power lines at some point anyway, so waiting may just be a false economy. (Can you imagine the poles growing by that much again some day?)
Sixty Years of Camp Jabberwocky
Camp Jabberwocky, a summer camp for children and adults with disabilities, is enthusiastically looking forward to celebrating its 60th anniversary this summer. The celebration will also give fellow campers and me the opportunity to thank the residents of Martha’s Vineyard for helping make camp possible. For the past six decades, your generous support has succeeded…
Vineyard Inside Out: And It Stoned Me to My Soul, Those Sights Along Middle Road
Middle Road wears an Island necklace in shades of gray. Allow the car behind you to pass and drive just slowly enough to glimpse it hiding behind a blur of trees and vines, or follow after it as it lends definition to the landscape on either side of the road from West Tisbury to Chilmark.
New Utility Poles Get Rough Reception
The clash between Island aesthetics and improved utilities has come to a head on the Vineyard over the last several weeks as new, larger utility poles started popping up on Vineyard roads. Residents and town officials have criticized the new poles as unsightly and out of keeping with the Vineyard’s character, referring the project for…
Nothing Soft About This Tree Hugger, Airborne Is His Style
Workwise, Josh Scott is an ultra-marathoner. On a sunny, brisk spring morning, the arborist and owner of Beetlebung Tree Care walks around a spectacular 70-acre property on Squibnocket Pond with caretaker Tim Rich. Visually, they are quite a pair. Tim is tall, maybe six-six with a long, lumbering stride while Josh has the wiry build…
Chilmark Town Column: July 5
Chilmark holds many emotions as the biggest holiday of the season comes upon us. I don’t have to list them; we each can face our own as we get all the parts in order for a smooth and happy Fourth of July with our family and visitors. Cheers to us all as we spend another…
Aquinnah Town Column: July 5
Roxane Ackerman returned home on Saturday after a brief stay in Brooklyn, returning with her daughter Naushon and eight-month-old granddaughter Nanawusuwee, who will be visiting family and friends for the week in Aquinnah.
Vineyard Haven Town Column: July 5
Don’t tell me there is no climate change going on when Martha’s Vineyard has been experiencing monsoons like Southeast Asia. Anyone allergic to mildew? Well, in spite of the iffy weather, the Berman clan has made it to the Island for their 15th summer on the water in Vineyard Haven. Alan and Michele Berman are…
West Tisbury Town Column: July 5
Welcome to summer and all the people it brings with it. Traffic is heavy everywhere, even over at the landfill. The weather has been muggy with rain two or three times a day leading up to the holiday. Just about every building in town is now occupied. The Blake pie gazebo reports a brisk business.…
Chappy Town Column: July 5
By the time you read this the Schifter’s house will be hovering in its new location. All that remains is to fill the space between the ground and the house with concrete blocks, then remove all of the steel beams and wheels that provided the levitation. Then the dirt goes back around the house and…
Oak Bluffs Town Column: July 5
Records of black people on Martha’s Vineyard go back to 1703. Documents identified by Jacqueline Lois Jones Holland (10/25/25 to 8/15/07), one of the first people to write about African Americans on the Island (The Dukes County Intelligencer, August 1991), described black people as live-in servants who took care of homes and families and mariners…
East Chop Town Column: July 5
Amos Gaylord enrolled in a college last fall that was 12 miles from his home in Waitsfield, Vt., but it could have just as easily been on another planet. When his mom, Beth Huss Young, called on Sunday afternoons to see how he was doing, she was given five minutes. There was even less communication…
Edgartown Town Column: July 5
We have had enough rain and now it is on to the heat. If the weather is going to be as warm as they say, I think we are in the right place. But please be careful and wear sunscreen and drink lots of fluids. Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past…
Keeping Legacy of John Belushi Alive in Real Life and On Film
It was the summer of 1974 and John and Judy Belushi pulled up to the Woods Hole ferry terminal with a guidebook, a sense of adventure and no ferry reservation. The two were working for National Lampoon at the time and were enjoying a real vacation for once in New England.
No Hiding on the Backstreets, Aaron Carter Keeps Swinging
Aaron Carter has a deep, gravelly voice. This may not be what you remember coming from the gangly, thirteen-year-old blonde kid who rapped about his block “party of the year” and his dream game of one-on-one against Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s. “Everyone will start to see that I’m not going to be the…
Margaret Marshall Headlines Union Chapel
On Sunday, July 7, Margaret H. Marshall, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, will be the featured speaker at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Her talk begins at 10 a.m. and is entitled Immigration and Justice.
Songs of Faith, Courage
The Unitarian Universalist Society hosts guest preacher Rev. Arlene Bodge this Sunday, July 7, at 11 a.m. Ms. Bodge is a longtime Islander and a retired Methodist minister who formerly served in Chilmark and Edgartown.
Gazette Releases Second Annual Real Estate Yearbook
The Vineyard Gazette this week announced the publication of its second annual Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate Yearbook, a free resource guide for anyone interested in buying or selling property on the Island. Published in partnership with LINK, the primary multiple listing service for Martha’s Vineyard, the yearbook provides a comprehensive look at property transactions by…
Hot Fun
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of July, 1968: The Vineyard sizzled yesterday as it seldom does. The maximum temperature recorded at Edgartown was 91, and of course the high where heat gathered in streets and other places was way above 91. This is really hot for the Island. Last summer 85 was the maximum. The…
Art of the Island Has Many Interpretations
As long as Gigi Horr Liverant has been visiting the Island she has been painting it. For 30 years, she has studied the landscape, the archetypal and the commonplace of the Vineyard, and committed it to canvas with pastels, acrylics and oils. While she’s here she takes photographs, makes sketches and brainstorms ideas about what…
Artist Finds Comfort, Inspiration Amidst Nature and Solitude
How often in nature do we see a single standing beetlebung tree? Not often, thinks Kara Taylor. “A beetlebung alone is a really unique sight to see,” Ms. Taylor said last week in her new Chilmark gallery space. “Alone, the tree takes this amazing shape. I can only remember one place where I’ve seen this.”…
One Woman Show Mixes Humor, Tragedy
Award-winning writer and performer Ann Randolph brings her spin on life’s little challenges to the Vineyard with her solo show, Loveland. Ms. Randolph takes the audience along on a cross-country flight described as both hilarious and deeply human. She will offer two shows at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven, one this Saturday beginning…
Summer Institute Features Distinguished Panel of Speakers, Films
For many, life on Martha’s Vineyard revolves around the beaches. But those seeking a little more stimulation than the sand under their feet should look no further than the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center’s Summer Institute. Every year the Summer Institute presents a variety of films and speakers and this year’s series begins this weekend. On…
Full Moon Fever, Chronicling Horseshoe Crab Couplings
At approximately 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, the tide in Lake Tashmoo reached its highest point and began to roll back. Susie Bowman, a naturalist and teacher at Mass Audubon’s Felix Neck wildlife sanctuary, was there to mark the change with her husband, Woody. After Mrs. Bowman marked the tide’s apex, she began measuring…
June 28: Heavy Showers, Dark Skies, Fog
Friday, June 28: Heavy shower in the morning. Dark skies. Foggy. Low altitude clouds overhead. A damp afternoon. Light rain on Main street in Vineyard Haven doesn’t stop shoppers from filling the sidewalks and coming out of the stores. Stores are busy. Ferryboat horn. Skies lighten in the late afternoon.
Holmes Hole Sailors Shine on Sunday
Masquerade (Division A) and Avanti (Division B) took advantage of a shortened Sunday schedule to win their respective divisions on a foggy, humid day. Commodore Dan Culkin made the early morning call to cancel Sunday’s annual Tarpaulin Cove race and keep the fleet closer to home on Course 1, which was run in reverse —…
Lavender Love
“We’ll keep the lavender blooming,” guarantee the folks from Sequim, Wash.
On Starlings and Sparrows
There are a couple of birds that I actually do not like, amazing as it may seem. The two are the European starling and the house sparrow. Why, you ask? Well, neither species is native and both are overly aggressive. This aggression is detrimental to many of our native songbirds.
Feeling Blue
It has been my habit for the past several years of column waiting to jot down points of interest as I drive around. This past week, it has been nearly impossible to point out beautiful plantings because there are so many. Holy Hydrangeas! They are everywhere in full and glorious bloom. I’m not a slave…
Rules of Civility Author Talk
Summer on the Vineyard, riding the wave of July 4th with the traffic, the roundabout and the endless cashing in on another winter of Island absence with three platefuls of fun, one wonders sometimes whether civility has been jettisoned. Perhaps then an evening with Amor Towles the author of Rules of Civility is in order.…
Charlie McDowell Reading
Charlie McDowell knows how to wear pastel, effortlessly. He also knows how to eavesdrop which is how he came upon this new skill. But most importantly, the young author knows how to write. Mr. McDowell will read from his new book Dear Girls Above me, a roman à clef about how thinking like a couple…
David Crohan Performs at Old Whaling Church
Pianist David Crohan will share the stage with summer resident Caroline Sky as they perform a concert to benefit the Island Elderly Housing’s Quality of Life programs on Sunday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is at the Old Whaling Church on Main street in Edgartown. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and a meet-the-artist…
Keeping It Real With the Kid Critic
Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evening at the Chilmark Community center. The films begin at 6 p.m. but the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets under way.
Agency Expands
Kelleher Real Estate announces the addition of Kristin Zern of West Tisbury to their staff as a licensed sales associate. Kristin brings more than 20 years of experience in the travel industry as executive director of Travel Marketing Executives where she was responsible for event planning, membership, fund raising, education, marketing, technology and social media.…
Historic Lithographs Unveiled at Oversouth
I was asked to go to Chilmark to interview Jane Slater at her antique shop in Menemsha about an upcoming art show and sale of original ink washes by Adolph Dehn, a Chilmark summer visitor during the 1930s and a regionalist painter. Recently a large body of his work became available to include his Chilmark…
Dispatch’s Chadwick Stokes Performs
Chadwick Stokes, lead singer and guitarist for alternative rock bands State Radio and Dispatch, will perform at Flatbread on Friday, July 12. The concert is a benefit for his organization Calling All Crows, which provides assistance in coordinating service projects for musicians and their fans.
Andrew Carroll Uncovers America’s Forgotten History
Did you know that America’s deadliest maritime disaster was not the Titanic? Or that an African-American woman refused to give up her seat on a bus 11 years before Rosa Parks did the same? How about that the government directed a massacre against Mormons in Missouri, the first non Native American to climb Pike’s Peak…
Land Bank Revenues: June 28
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $226,754 for the business week ending on Friday, June 28, 2013. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.
Disbarred Attorney Faces Federal Charge of Bank Fraud
A disbarred Edgartown attorney has been indicted on federal tax and bank fraud violations. John C. McBride, 64, has been charged with allegedly recording or attempting to record false tax lien releases on properties including his Edgartown home. Mr. McBride, who lives in Edgartown and Braintree, was indicted June 26 on one charge of endeavoring…
Summer Reading Celebration
Remember when summer meant reading for fun just because you wanted to? The Martha’s Vineyard Library Association likes to perpetuate that feeling every summer with the launch of its summer reading program.
Find the Mannequin
Where In The World Is Agatha? That’s the question and the contest Lorraine Parish is currently engaged in. Agatha is the vintage mannequin she uses to model her clothes on her website lorraineparishclothing.com. The site is a travelogue where Agatha wanders the world wearing, you guessed it, Lorraine Parish clothing. Agatha is just back from…
Please Adopt Us
The Animal Shelter has been fulfilling its mission to place needy animals in good homes relentlessly of late. Our canine supply is now depleted with the departure of the little Maltese to a new family.
Student Achievements
Anna (Zen) Hughes of West Tisbury was named to the spring 2013 dean’s list at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Janelle Fortes of Vineyard Haven, Lucas Pisano of Vineyard Haven and Taylor Stone of Edgartown have been named to the spring 2013 dean’s list at Savannah College of Art and Design. Mariah HallBilsback of West Tisbury was…
Pie Chicks Business Has Recipe for Success
On an unseasonably chilly Friday evening in Vineyard Haven, Juliska on Main street is packed, though oddly quiet save for the occasional “yum… this is good” and a persistent scrape of silverware on plates. Odd sounds for a store devoted to tablewear. Behind a table Chrissy Kinsman stands beaming. In front of her are the…
Upcoming Polly Hill Events
Polly Hill Arboretum is everywhere this week. From pizza for plants at Flatbread to artistic renderings of nature, the arboretum promises to have you covered. On Tuesday, July 9, a portion of all the evening pizza sales at Flatbread will benefit the arboretum. Polly Hill staff will be there and a chance to win a…
Adrenaline Music Project
Dreaming about becoming the next American idol? The summer Adrenaline Music Project (AMP) comes to the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard this summer from August 5 to 9. The five-day intensive workshop is geared to teens ages 13 to 18 who are interested in pursuing a career in the music industry. AMP provides the expertise via…
Stars and Stripes Will Fly at Weekend Martha’s Vineyard Music Festival
Derek Davies and Lizzie Plapinger always dreamed of hosting a music festival on Martha’s Vineyard. As best friends spending summers at the Chilmark Community Center, they shared a love of music and the Island. As they grew up, they never lost sight of their passions or their goal.
Planting for the Future, Norton Greenhouse in Welcome Addition
Jamie Norton is looking forward to having his house back next winter. For years now his roommates — starter trays of peppers, eggplants, melons, cucumbers, gilo and other vegetables — have taken over his home each winter and spring, covering nearly all available space.
Keeping the Cormorants at Bay, With Help from Daddy Long Legs
Cormorants are often considered the avian rats of the coastal streams and ponds. They can be seen lining the jetties and drying their wings in wait before going heading out into the waters to compete with local fishermen.
James Arrives
Mrs. Louisa Gould and Mr. James Beecher Lamont of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, James Maxwell Gould-Lamont, on June 8 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. James Maxwell weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches long.
Martha’s Vineyard Streetball Classic Returns
The 11th annual Vineyard Streetball Classic, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, is Wednesday, July 3 at Niantic Park in Oak Bluffs. Opening rounds begin at 10 a.m. Participants can register at the Niantic courts tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and at same-day registration beginning at 8 a.m. tomorrow in the tent next to the…
Out of Studio, Into Outdoors, Artists Capture Trustees Properties on Canvas
Chris Kennedy, Martha’s Vineyard superintendent for The Trustees of Reservations, has spent the past 25 years touring Trustees properties on the Island. He’s seen Wasque, Mytoi, Norton Point and Long Point in all seasons and all types of weather, watching the landscapes shift and transform over time.
Falmouth Academy Eighth Grade Graduation Party
The parents and students of the Vineyard contingent of eighth graders attending Falmouth Academy held a graduation party for themselves at the Chilmark Community Center on Friday night, June 7. As perhaps the largest class ever of students commuting to the mainland for two school years, they gained a reputation among fellow commuters for their…
Oak Bluffs Considers Banning Food Trucks in Downtown Area
Food trucks likely will never be permitted in downtown Oak Bluffs, according to draft regulations presented at a public reading at Wednesday night’s selectmen’s meeting. At the well-attended meeting, the public and the selectmen spoke out passionately on both sides of the issue — in support of the allowance of food trucks in the downtown…
