Chief medicine man Luther T. Madison blessed the latest ambulance of the tri-town fleet in a ceremony held on the lawn of the tribal administration building on Sept. 17. Present were tribal members, members of tribal council, tribal staff, tri-town emergency medical technicians, Aquinnah selectmen, Aquinnah fire chief Walter Delaney and Aquinnah police chief Randhi Belain.

Mr. Madison stated that he was appreciative of all the help from tri-town, yet added that he did not really look forward to riding in the ambulance in the future. He wished those attending good luck and wished them all well. He then related the story of how he specifically owed this to Chilmark executive secretary Tim Carroll for all his years as Tim’s school bus driver.

Mr. Madison had everyone laughing as he related the story of years ago going off-Island on one occasion to obtain a new ambulance with the late West Tisbury police chief George Manter. As they were driving the new ambulance back to the Vineyard, a mile or two down the road they realized they were heading in the wrong direction with the signs indicating they were headed toward Holyoke. Much to his surprise, Chief Manter decided to turn the ambulance around and they cut over the center divide on the highway to get them back to where they needed to go.

The tribe obtained the 2002 Ford E-450 ambulance with 58,000 miles through an Indian Health Service program. This spring, the Aquinnah ambulance failed state inspection requirements, leaving the three-town system with only two ambulances for the summer months.

Due to the fact that the vehicle was still mechanically sound, it was donated to the West Tisbury fire department for use as a dive rescue vehicle.

— June Manning