Tuesday was annual town meeting day for Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and West Tisbury. Voters came to The Old Whaling Church, The Martha's Vineyard Performing Arts Center, and The West Tisbury School gym to vote.
Tuesday was annual town meeting day for Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, and West Tisbury. Voters came to The Old Whaling Church, The Martha's Vineyard Performing Arts Center, and The West Tisbury School gym to vote.
The calendar points to the moment of Tuesday midnight, to the tolling of the Island bells, to that time in our lives when old becomes new and we wonder what lies ahead.
The year began with an emergency birth, as six-pound, 15-ounce Solstice Hannagan came into the world just short of the Tisbury drawbridge - the first Vineyard baby of 2019.
The Beach Road music festival and the Martha's Vineyard book festival lured hundreds of Islanders to panel discussions and one-on-one discussions with favorite authors.
In 2019 the Vineyard said goodbye to beloved Islanders.
Winter avian residents arrive and the occasional rare birds move through the Island in December, as winter begins.
The moods of the Christmas season are many and wondrous. They speak of joy and of hope, of laughter and of love, of warmth and of peace on earth, good will to all people.
We know this season in our bones. In the days around The first snowfall stripped down those few leaves that were left as a valiant but futile rear-guard on the gray branches of trees, and winter coats came out to stay. Beaches are lonely and wind-pierced places.
The Minnesingers closed out Christmas in Edgartown as night fell on the town, filling the pews of the Old Whaling Church with carols, the young voices lifting off and making their way through the empty streets of town, all aglow with storefront windows, lampposts and the warmth of Christmas cheer
The rain stopped just in time for the Christmas in Edgartown parade. Santa, smiles and holiday spirit were everywhere.
Chilmark Chocolates sent shock waves across the Island with their intentions to close, and on Dec. 18, they will close for good after 33 years.
Snow fell on the Island this week. Though still early December, it was beautiful, frosting oaks and pines with fluffy white snowflakes just as town workers and shopkeepers on the Vineyard began their annual labor of festooning streets and store windows with holiday lights.
Even as the days grow shorter and darker and the first day of winter approaches, Edgartown turns brighter and depends on the lovely strings of seasonal lights and decorations to illuminate the coming of Christmas in Edgartown weekend.
The wonders of snow falling up-Island fascinates and enchants us. Henry David Thoreau perhaps phrased it best: "How full of creative genius is the air in which these [snowflakes] are generated. I should hardly admire them more if real stars fell and lodged on my coat!"
The pace of life always quickens as Christmas draws near. To-do lists grow longer and days grow shorter, and the spirit of the season is often lost amid the flurry of activity that marks a Vineyard December.
The Island is full of bright light and spirit, and everywhere on the Vineyard the message is the same. The holiday season on the Vineyard begins. Travel the brightly decorated main streets of our villages and you will find the rhythm of Island life changing.
A large holiday crowd of kids wearing red antlers and parents sipping hot cocoa filled Post Office Square Wednesday evening for the annual Oak Bluffs tree lighting.