The original name was "The Martha's Vineyard Historical Preservation Society". Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr (who had purchased and thereby saved the Dr. Daniel Fisher House) filed for a tax-exempt nonprofit organization and placed the Fisher House into that fledging tax-exempt organization. Two years later, the MacKenty family gave their Vincent House to the same entity. However, the IRS rules dictate that to be granted permanent tax-exempt nonprofit status, the provisional organization has only five years in which to prove that it was being supported by many people (not one or a few) and could prove it had attained one-third funding from the general public, which it had not done. Therefore Mr. Dickinson and a few friends decided to work to secure broad support so the Society could be permanently tax-exempt. I was hired to do that in 1980, just before the five-year provisional status ran out and, fortuitously, the gift of The Old Whaling Church just two months after my being hired garnered immense public support and "saved" the tax-exempt status. The rest is history. And I am relieved that the term "Preservation" is once again back in its name, as it should be forever.

On you go Previd ...your first steps are in the right direction; now get rid of the orange and bring back the dark green