Margaret Knight
508-627-8894
The Chappy Ferry Book is hot off the presses, full of pictures and stories never before gathered into one place. Many people were involved in the making of this book, but the principals are Tom Dunlop, who wrote the story, and Alison Shaw, who took the pictures. The book was edited and published by Jan Pogue’s Vineyard Stories, and Peter Wells was behind it all. These facts alone make the book worthy of being coveted, even if it wasn’t written about such a fascinating topic — especially to those of us who live on Chappaquiddick.
But this is a book that will interest anyone who loves the Island; it’s full of history, told through Tom’s particularly readable, down-to-earth prose, through the many pictures, diagrams and old newspaper ads and articles. Each chapter contains the tale of the ferry, its various owners and their times, from Uriah Morse, circa 1807, to Peter Wells and Sally Snipes, present day owners. Mixed in throughout the chapters are insets containing ferry and Chappy facts for the last two centuries — for example, island population and ferry service hours, and anecdotes, like how Foster Silva sank the City of Chappaquiddick to save her during the hurricane of 1938, the role the ferry played in the movie Jaws, the sport of aquabiking, and how my niece Gabrielle Knight was born almost on the ferry.
The Chappy Ferry Book is a product of Tom’s deep affection for the ferry, which began with his first view of it from his father’s arms. In an article in the latest issue of the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine, Tom writes about his long obsession with the ferry and how, as a kid, he would save up money to ride back and forth. The story seemed destined to be his to tell, as lost historical files turned up unexpectedly, and important photographs literally fell to his feet.
Included with the book is a DVD, the Chappy Ferry Movie, produced by John Wilson, which contains great shots of the ferry present and past, and commentary by various people including Dick Ebersol, former captain Floyd Norton, present captain Brad Fligor, Edo Potter, and many others. You can try to find yourself or your vehicle in one of the many ferry shots. There are some scenes of Peter and of Brad talking about the ferry’s unique way of allowing only one-minute conversations, and how, over time, connections are built. A couple of shots of Peter are taken from a low angle so that his particular belly configuration is somewhat exaggerated. He said when his mother saw the DVD, she said, “Goodness gracious, Peter! You need to lose some weight.” Peter told her it was the camera, that it added 120 pounds. The film ends with a great song by Chappy songwriter Kevin Keady, called One Way Home, which he sings in his familiar bass voice.
Peter said making the book was a lot of fun, and that it will make great presents for anyone from age five up. You can buy the book from the captain on duty at the ferry, or if you’re not here and can’t wait until you get here, you can order it online from vineyardstories.com for $25.95.
Many thanks to Mary Spencer for her nearly two years of service as president of the board of the Chappaquiddick Community Center. She stepped down as of May 1. Among Mary’s many contributions to the center during her tenure is the oversight of the tennis and basketball courts construction, a long planned and awaited project. She will continue with her foreign film series during the summer. Marvene O’Rourke has taken over as interim president, and Sue Phinney continues as vice president.
From Roger Becker, chairman of the CIA transportation committee, comes this information: “Last summer the CIA had an open meeting to address some changes suggested for the ferry point. . . . The CIA transportation committee has decided to facilitate a community-wide planning process to address concerns about the safety, traffic flow, parking, and aesthetics at the ferry point.” They have scheduled a series of community meetings, open to anyone, to get input on many details so that eventually, if a plan can be agreed upon, it will be presented to the selectmen and the town. The meetings start Saturday, June 9, 8 to 9:30 at the Chappy Community Center when the committee’s design criteria list will be reviewed, and continue on June 23, July 14 and 28, August 11 and 25. If you didn’t receive an e-mail with information about the meetings, and several possible redesigns of the Point, you can write to the CIA at cia.org2010@yahoo.com. Other transportation committee members are Fran and Bob Clay, Bob Colvin, Chrissie Haslet, Ginny Murray, Gerry Ordway, Peter Rayner, and Peter Wells.
The CIA transportation committee is also considering establishing a taxi service to and from shopping destinations on the Edgartown side. If enough people commit financially, it will be economically feasible. You can get a copy of the proposed routes from Bob Clay at Rclay@claycars.com. According to Bob, “the service will help to relieve the ferry line, and save the users time and money compared to taking a car over for their errands.”
The tour of Chappaquiddick graveyards is scheduled for this Saturday, May 19 at 10 a.m. Meet at the community center to carpool. Liz Villard of Vineyard History Tours has been doing research into the sites and will lead the tour, along with Peter Wells.
Many thanks to Peter for writing the column the last two weeks. He has a unique view of the world that includes a great sense of humor and a deep connection to the island and its people.
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