The Beer and Wine Question

Tisbury, also the port of Vineyard Haven, remains a town divided over whether to allow the sale of beer and wine in restaurants. The question will be decided by voters at the annual town election on Tuesday, and a strong voter turnout is expected on this crucial issue that may well mark a turning point in the life of the town.

Two years ago Tisbury split down the middle in an unprecedented tie vote on the beer and wine question. And now the question is back again, promoted heavily by town businessmen who believe that allowing the sale of beer and wine in restaurants will spark an economic revival in a town that has seen doors shuttered this winter during the deepest economic downturn in recent memory.

On the other side of the argument stand many longtime town residents who oppose the beer and wine question just as passionately as those who back it, raising deeply felt concerns about the character of the town and believing that the sale of alcohol in restaurants will open the door to an avalanche of unwanted change.

Letters on both sides of the question appear on the Commentary Page in today’s edition. All are thoughtful and deserve the careful attention of readers, both in Tisbury and beyond.

So what’s the big deal, some may say; after all, the world will not stop spinning on its axis if beer and wine sales are allowed in Vineyard Haven restaurants. True enough.

But in the final analysis the opponents of beer and wine continue to offer the most persuasive arguments, broadly drawn and made with the best interests of the town at heart. The proponents tend to follow a far more narrow track; beer and wine sales are needed to jump-start business in this town that is suffering, they say. But all Island towns have been suffering from the economic recession — the whole country has been suffering. Put in that context, the beer and wine boosters appear to be reacting in knee-jerk fashion to a problem of the moment. And what of the longer view? Consider Edgartown this winter — a town that allows all alcohol sales. It’s been mostly shuttered and dark — even more so than Vineyard Haven. That’s something to think about.

On Tuesday, voters in Tisbury carry a great weight on their shoulders; it is the weight of responsibility for deciding the future of their town at a pivotal time in its three-hundred-year-plus history. And of course, only history will be able to judge the outcome.