Unofficially the first poet laureate of the Island was Dionis Coffin Riggs, who began hosting a poetry group at the Cleaveland House in West Tisbury in 1960.
Here is Dionis’s poem Wait, Spring, which was published in the April 19, 1996 Gazette:
Photography
Now that the derby is over, the talk of the Island is about change, about a time of year when the pace of Vineyard life slows enough to enjoy the seasonal gifts of autumn, a period of noble days and cool nights. Our year is in transition, caught before the first hard frost.
October 17, 2018
The pressure is on as the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby heads into the final weekend of fishing.
October 11, 2018
So now another seamlessly run derby, another competition that cements the Vineyard derby's position among the pre-eminent events of its kind on the whole East Coast, is over. But in a way, this derby celebrates a game whose most wondrous characteristic is that it is never ending.
October 11, 2018
October 9, 2018
An Edgartown dredge crew is in charge of the dredge work in the Tashmoo channel. Using finely-tuned teamwork, the crew makes the sand flow.
October 9, 2018
The Vineyard's shore passed into the distance as Mark Lovewell took the helm of Sea Chantey for a fall sail.
October 8, 2018
This is the last big weekend of the Island year, a time when autumn points toward Thanksgiving and the holidays beyond.
October 7, 2018
The talk of the Martha's Vineyard Bass and Bluefish Derby in the third week of the tournament has been as gloom and doom as the weather, but over the weekend the skies cleared and fishermen lined the shores casting for that elusive keeper.
September 30, 2018
Kathy Domitrovich, the owner of Lola’s Southern Seafood in Oak Bluffs, had a closing party to wish farewell to longtime friends as the restaurant closes its doors for the last time after selling the business.
September 29, 2018
Before the sun rose on Saturday morning more than 200 people gathered at Bend in the Road for the first annual Darkness Into Vineyard Light Walk.
September 29, 2018
The year moves on and the season turns, heading out as if on a shifting tide. September forms a boundary between summer in its waning days and the approach of autumn. The glory of September is that it blends two seasons into one of unusual beauty on the Island.
September 28, 2018
As the season turns from summer to fall, summer bird residents start to depart for their winter homes while others visit the Vineyard as they fly southward. September is also peak season for southbound migrants that pass through and join the other birds in their annual migration.
September 27, 2018
Angels Helping Animals, held a dog adoption day on Saturday at the Black Dog in Vineyard Haven. Adoptable dogs found new owners, and founders Leslie Hurd and Lynn Shepardson shared their experiences in saving many rescue animals.
September 25, 2018
Demolition began last week and continued through the weekend on plans to raise the historic Edgartown Yacht Club two-feet to combat sea level rise.
September 24, 2018
It does not take the autumn equinox to tell us why the the first swamp maples and elms are turning in Island woodlands.
September 20, 2018
Heading into the second week of the Derby, the word was all about good news, fair weather, and busy weigh-ins.
September 18, 2018