Margaret Knight

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

As the grass greens and the honeysuckle and autumn olive start to leaf out on Chappaquiddick, the feeling of spring is firmly established despite cool and windy days, and nighttime frosts. On warm nights the peepers’ chorus can be heard, but there have been many nights of silence this past week. Thanks to those who thought to plant daffodils near their mailboxes or other spots along the road, to give us a lift on a gray or chilly day that hasn’t quite realized it’s spring.

The annual rite of spring — town meeting — was more lively and thought-provoking than usual. The warrant articles didn’t seem to stream by quite so fast, with fewer of Jeff Norton’s booming “unanimous” declarations drowning out the less-convicted votes in opposition. There was actual debate, with ideas and questions raised, and even though in-depth discussions didn’t happen, there was the sense that it could or should happen at some point. For example, what is the relationship of affordable housing to the preservation of character of the Island; and why can’t we have both?

The new Edgartown library was voted in with a nearly five million dollar appropriation, hopefully approved by ballot yesterday. Questions about the Carnegie building (present library) and the Warren house next door were asked but will not be fully resolved until later. Purportedly, the Preservation Trust wants to turn the Carnegie building into a marine museum and welcome center. It is now up to the selectmen to deal with the Warren house, which they plan to sell. Thanks to Peter Wells for giving all those who attended town meeting a free ride home on the Chappy ferry when the meeting ended just before 11 p.m.

Chappy lost another longtime resident and supporter when Katharine (Kappi) Bunker Getsinger died last Saturday. Kappi spent summers here beginning in 1927 when her parents bought their house, Whitherwind, along Katama Bay. She moved here fulltime with her husband, Gordon, in 1987, and brought her enthusiasm and talent to many areas of Island life, including Featherstone Center for the Arts, of which she was a founding member. You can read about her early years here in the Chappy recollections book, in stories told by her sister Joanne Patterson. As her son Peter says, “Chappy was the center of mom’s universe throughout her life, and art was the medium through which she expressed her creativity.” As a teenager she painted with Julius Delbos in Edgartown, and had fond memories of driving Thomas Hart Benton as he painted his way around Martha’s Vineyard during the 1940s.

Peter also writes about his mother, “Though she never sought to bring attention to herself, her moment of fame occurred when she appeared on the front page of the Gazette standing on the ferry which was stuck, frozen in the middle of the channel between Chappy and Edgartown.” Kappi, on her way from town by foot and dressed for a social event, was out in the cold for about 45 minutes. When the ferry finally got back to Edgartown, after not being able to land at Chappy, Kappi was given a ride home in a police cruiser over Norton Point.

Kappi was independent, determined, and always kindhearted and optimistic. Peter writes, “Several months after my father died, she said ‘You know I loved your father more than anything else in the world, and I will always miss him, but I am determined to have a happy life.’ And she did.” A memorial service and celebration of her life is planned for late June on the island.

The Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living is holding the third in a series of popular cultural luncheons on Saturday, April 21, from noon to 2 p.m. at The Grill on Main in Edgartown. The luncheon will honor, highlight, and examine the history of the Martha’s Vineyard Campground Meeting Association of Oak Bluffs. Ticket are $25; call Leslie Clapp for reservations at 508-939-9440.

The next potluck at the Chappy Community Center will be on Wednesday, April 18 beginning at 6 p.m., and Dot and John Dropick will be hosting. All are invited.

The promised tour of Chappy graveyards and stones by Peter Wells may take place the first weekend in May; check the column for a definite date.

In an e-mail from Chris Kennedy of The Trustees of Reservations, he said gray seal pups have been coming ashore, as will harbor seal pups in the next couple of months. They ask that people leave them alone, as they are just resting and enjoying the sun. He says, “Be forewarned, even young seals can deliver a nasty bite. Over the years, I’ve witnessed well-meaning beach visitors offering seal pups peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples and potato chips. Trust me, they don’t eat sandwiches, fruit or processed snacks.” If someone comes across an obviously sick pup, you can call the Trustees at 508-627-7689, and they’ll notify the Marine Mammal Stranding Network,

The Trustees have begun to delineate potential shorebird nesting with a fence running down the length of Leland Beach, marking areas they wish to protect. Chris says they have started to see returning piping plovers and oystercatchers looking for nest sites on both Chappy and on Norton Point, earlier than usual.

Thanks to Brian Kennedy and the Dukes County Community Correction workers for clearing much of Leland Beach of the trees and roots. Norton Point on the Edgartown side is currently closed to vehicles because portions of the trail have washed away. The Trustees hope to move the trail in the next few weeks. The breach is now right off the southwest corner of Chappy, and Chris says erosion there and at Wasque Point is six inches to several feet per day in spots, although the swimming beach is growing wider.

Chris also commented on my April Fool’s column: “Oh come on . . . really . . . a footbridge crossing the breach? Why would we use a footbridge when a zip-line amusement ride would be so much more fun?”