Mary Oliver
The wind wags its many tails. And in the evening the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way. —Mary Oliver
November 2, 2007
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) The weekend weather was seasonable with cold mornings. As you have noticed, daylight recently has been arriving at nearly 7 a.m. But that will change Sunday. Please don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour Saturday night, because when you awake Sunday morning, we will be operating on standard…
Edgartown Book Fair
Edgartown Book Fair The Edgartown School Book Fair is next week, offering everyone in the Island community the opportunity to find new and classic books for children and adults for sale at the school’s library. The fair begins with a preview day, Monday, Nov. 5, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the fair is…
Oldies Night
Oldies Night Because he believes classic rock n’roll is ageless, deejay and James Dean impersonater Ray Whitaker hosts a night of boppin’ to the oldies on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Outerland. Called Burgers, Brew and Bop, the benefit event begins at 7:30 p.m. The guest with the best costume wins dinner for four at Gigs…
Kitty Dukakis Tells How Shock Therapy Overcame Her Depression
Kitty Dukakis is a passionate advocate of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a treatment she says allowed her six years ago to overcome clinical depression that had also triggered alcoholism and drug abuse. She believes shock therapy returned her life to her. “When Michael came into my room after my first treatment, I was smiling. I hadn’t…
Hello, Sydney
Hello, Sydney Holly and Erik Bruguiere of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Sydney Priscilla Bruguiere, on Oct. 29 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Sydney weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth.
Moon and Planets
The moon passes by three planets in the week ahead, the first tomorrow morning.
President Requests States Give Striped Bass Game Fish Status
An American president rarely speaks on a fisheries issue, but George W. Bush did so two weeks ago. President Bush recently came out with an executive order directing the National Marine Fisheries Service to prohibit the commercial harvesting of striped bass and red drum in federal waters. A moratorium already is in place on the…
Equestrian Benefit
Equestrian Benefit An auction and party with food, music, raffles and Clarence (Trip) Barnes 3rd will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at the agricultural hall in West Tisbury to benefit American Horse Trials Foundation and Olympic equestrian hopeful Robyn Hanover. Admission is by a $15 donation. More information is available by calling 508-693-3922.
Students Send Painted Message To Help Protect Vineyard Waters
It happened Halloween morning. Thirty youngsters picked up cans of blue spray paint and went downtown in broad daylight into Oak Bluffs to use them. But the messages they painted on the streets weren’t graffiti. Plus, they had the full support of grownups. The youngsters painted stenciled words next to storm drains under the supervision…
Class of 1967 Slates Reunion Dinner at Oyster Bar Grill
Class of 1967 Slates Reunion Dinner at Oyster Bar Grill The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School class of 1967 is planning its 40th anniversary reunion dinner at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17 at the Oyster Bar Grill, Circuit avenue, Oak Bluffs. The class has invited high school friends from 1963 through 1970 to join 1967…
Creeping to the Top
There is something in the woods creepier than the ghosts, goblins, and witches that have been wandering around our neighborhoods. This creeper won’t scare you (unless you have allergies — more on that later.) More likely it will delight you with its brilliant blaze of crimson color and its forest acrobatics, leaping from plant to…
Derby Catch Rises Over Last Year’s Tally
Total catch and catch by species during the 2007 annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby recorded large increases over last year’s derby. The catch was the best since 2004 and among the best in the past eight years for all of the four species. The total catch of 3,099 fish was 35 per…
Mother, Daughter Craft Homemade Aid
Marsha Winsryg first went to Africa over a decade ago. She went armed with curiosity and a passport. She came back with friends, photographs and a big box of carved figurines she had promised a young merchant she would sell in the United States before sending the profit back to his small crafting village in…
Speed Limit Lowered Around Drawbridge As Work Begins on Temporary Bypass
Work began this week on the Lagoon Pond drawbridge — a project estimated to cost a total of $31.5 million and reach completion in 2013. State highway officials plan to first build a temporary bridge for $9 million on the pond side of the current drawbridge, then demolish the existing bridge and build a permanent…
Aquinnah Town Column: Nov. 2
Community Baptist Church of Gay Head will host the Martha’s Vineyard Neighborhood Convention on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 10:45 a.m. at the tribal building on Black Brook Road. The topic will be Keepers of Our Ancient Cliffs. Please feel free to bring your brown bag lunch to the discussion. Dessert and beverages will be provided.
Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS You would be hard-pressed to find someone further politically left than me. However, the other day I was potting up some plants and listening to old bluegrass tapes (Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.) They have a song called Let’s Keep Old Glory Waving and Never Let It Touch the Ground.…
Preservation vs. Legal Nightmare
Preservation vs. Legal Nightmare As the clamor grows louder in Oak Bluffs around the Veira Park baseball project, a few key points are important to keep in mind. It is not illegal for the town to spend money to restore its Little League Park, and Oak Bluffs voters have twice said yes to the project,…
Apollo Moon Walkers Shine In Film Screening Tonight
Between 1968 and 1972, nine American spacecraft voyaged to the moon, and 12 men walked upon its surface. They remain the only human beings to have stood on another world. The film In the Shadow of the Moon brings together for the first, and possibly the last, time surviving crew members from every Apollo mission…
Harbor View Undertakes Next Improvement Phase
Harbor View Undertakes Next Improvement Phase In the second phase of a $77 million multi-year renovation plan for the historic Harbor View Hotel and Resort in Edgartown, the Harbor View, the Coach House restaurant and the Carlos Fuente Club House closed Oct. 21. All hotel, restaurant and catering operations have shifted to the Kelley House…
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT 508-627-8894 (margaret02539@yahoo.com) A community center potluck dinner conversation about road names caught the attention of Tim Leland, who has a house at Wasque. Evidently his brother, Steve Leland, had been lamenting the corruption over time of the name for the pond near where they both live at the end of the island.
Black-Chinned Hummingbird
A few weeks ago in this column I wrote that other than by contributing photos, I had not ever reported an unusual bird sighting to the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee, the authority for such matters in our state.
Last Draggers in Menemsha
Last Draggers in Menemsha The Quitsa Strider II sits rusting at the dock in Menemsha. Her skipper Jonathan Mayhew, who has devoted his life to commercial fishing, has sold his days at sea. A Gloucester fishing cooperative has bought the permits that allow him to fish in federal waters.
Auditions This Weekend For ITW Winter Musicals
Island Theatre Workshop will hold auditions Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. at the Federated Church parish hall in Edgartown for two coming musical productions. Amahl and the Night Visitors, by Gian Carlo Menotti, a one-act opera directed by Lee Fierro and Peter Boak, will be performed for two weekends in January 2008. Needed are…
Hearing Talk
Hearing Talk Audiologist Lesley Segal Pallas will be the guest speaker this month at the Parish Visitation’s meeting of the United Methodist Cooperative Ministry at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7. The topic for discussion will be Hearing and the Elderly. The talk will focus on communicating effectively with hearing-impaired people. At Vineyard Audiology, Ms. Pallas…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER 508-645-3378 (slaterjn@comcast.net) Chilmark still boasts mild weather and sunshine into November. In our hearts, however, we know this is the month that always changes things. Better get the last of those bulbs in and any outside chores done soon. The changing leaves were pretty on all the roadsides but there seem to…
Neighborhood Convention
Neighborhood Convention The next meeting of Neighborhood Convention is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 10:45 a.m. at the tribal council headquarters, 20 Black Brook Road, Aquinnah. The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) will host the program, which is titled Keepers of Our Ancient Cliffs. Please bring a bag lunch. Dessert and beverages will…
Street Art With Heart
Street Art With Heart In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy asks perhaps the most famous scarecrow of all, “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?” He shrugs, “I don’t know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?” The scarecrows appearing around Vineyard Main streets these days…
Chilmark Cranks Through Big Agenda
Acting with dispatch, Chilmark voters at a special town meeting Monday night amended zoning bylaws, approved design money for a building on the Menemsha harborfront, endorsed a complicated conservation land swap and paid some miscellaneous bills.
Nature Conservancy Seeks Volunteers to Clean Seeds
Nature Conservancy Seeks Volunteers to Clean Seeds The Nature Conservancy is seeking volunteers to help with seed cleaning at the organization’s Hoft Farm field station off Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury. Three two-hour sessions of seed cleaning are scheduled in November. Session times are Thursday, Nov. 8 from 3 to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov.…
Correction
Correction A story in the Gazette last Friday on the Vineyard schools superintendent’s proposed budget gave an incorrect date for the upcoming meeting of the all-Island school committee. The committee meets on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. in the regional high school library to vote on the budget. The Gazette regrets the error.
Receive Degrees
Receive Degrees Two Vineyard residents have received degrees from Western New England College in Springfield. Erik G. Blake of Oak Bluffs, who is the police chief in that town, received a bachelor of science in law enforcement degree with magna cum laude honors. Margot N. Parrot of West Tisbury received a master of laws in…
Letters to the Editor
GLAD HEARTS Editors, Vineyard Gazette: We write to express our appreciation for the Martha’s Vineyard community’s support of our daughter, Virginia, during her life, and for its recognition of her inspiring qualities following her death on Oct. 5.
Oak Bluffs Will Offer Citizen’s Police Academy
The Oak Bluffs Police Department will host its first Citizen’s Police Academy from late November through January. The academy will give Oak Bluffs residents the opportunity to observe the daily operations of their police department. Officers will conduct training in their areas of expertise, allowing participants a practical view of policing and its complexity.
Vineyarders Gather to Celebrate Virginia Hackney’s Love of Life
A town gathered on Saturday to commemorate a much-loved Islander whose vivacity and self-determination affected members of the many different areas of the Martha’s Vineyard community she moved between.
Molly Arrives
Molly Arrives Amy and David Crawford of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Molly Elisabeth Crawford, born Oct. 25 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth. Molly joins big brother Jack, Island grandparents Sally and George Cohn of Edgartown and Tad and Judy Crawford of West Tisbury,…
College Students Will Help Build Island Habitat House
College Students Will Help Build Island Habitat House Students from Lasell College in Newton are scheduled this weekend to help Vineyard Habitat for Humanity continue to build a house off Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Vineyard Haven. The organization welcomes volunteers to join with the Lasell students to help construct the house. Habitat invites volunteers to…
A Nice Wave Is Worth a Thousand Words
I come from a family of wavers. We wave at each other (brothers, aunts, sisters in law), acquaintances (neighbors, businessfolk, fishermen), and strangers (you know who you are). I also come from a town of wavers. Pittsfield, though geographically located in Massachusetts, shares more personality traits with Fort Wayne than it does with Boston. Waving,…
Gallery Exhibits Artwork By Washington Ledesma
Lively, strong pieces that reflect the flair of Oak Bluffs-based Washington Ledesma and his Uruguayan heritage are on display until Wednesday at Featherstone Center for the Arts. Mr. Ledesma’s striking style is exhibited here in two mediums, ceramics and oils. He is teaching both styles at Featherstone this fall.
Oldest Living Creature Found To Be Quahaug
The next time you sit down to a steaming bowl of clam chowder, consider this: your meal may be older then you are. Much, much older.
Indeed ocean quahaugs, often used in chowder, are probably the longest-lived animals on the planet. Earlier this year, researchers dredged up a 405-year-old quahaug from the frigid…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE 508-627-5349 (kcase1@verizon.net) A lot of people are walking around with the same dazed but happy look on their faces. After all the late nights watching the Red Sox games and their victory in the World Series, the looks are worth it. Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big…
Aquinnah Tests Energy DCPC
The town of Aquinnah, known for being progressive in planning, this week moved a step closer to adopting a townwide energy conservation district. Town selectmen on Wednesday submitted a nomination to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to designate Aquinnah as an energy district of critical planning concern (DCPC). The nomination was filed by Camille Rose, chairman…
Teachers Learn Lesson About Difference
In this wild and scary world there are numerous challenges facing teachers. There are so many aspects to being an effective teacher that begin with mastering content and developing a strategy for how to teach it, meeting ever-increasing state mandates, dealing with the mass of paperwork and finally, meeting the learner in the classroom. There…
Marie Allen Honored
Marie Allen Honored Marie B. Allen of Oak Bluffs has received the Soaring High President Award for exceptional service as president of the Martha’s Vineyard Branch NAACP. The award was presented at the NAACP New England Area Conference’s 69th annual meeting held on Oct. 13 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Natick. Mrs. Allen accepted…
Samilly Arrives
Samilly Arrives Kamilla and Gilkleber Guimaraes of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Samilly Guimaraes, born on Oct. 22 at Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital.
With Edgartown Buffs
Jake Sylvia had the good fortune of making Annie Murphy his bride recently.
Edgartown Harbor Marina Idea Floats Past the Selectmen
The Edgartown selectmen two weeks ago quietly gave a nod of approval to a plan which would convert an area of the inner harbor between the Reading Room and the Edgartown Yacht Club into a marina with up to 100 slips. A provisional plan for the marina was presented to the selectmen by Edgartown resident…
Human Rights: Caring Matters
Last week nearly 500 religious communities around the country screened the movie Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, a film that raises such questions as: how did torture become an accepted practice at Abu Ghraib and what governmental policies allowed it to happen? Here on the Island, it was shown at the Hebrew Center on Oct. 24…
Soldier’s Memories
Soldier’s Memories Islander Mev Good will present his recollection of his teenage experience in World War II — when he enlisted in the 10th Mountain Division which fought in Italy — at a talk on Monday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. at the Tisbury Senior Center, 34 Pine Tree Road in Vineyard Haven. All are…
Breaking News: Sunday, Nov. 4 – Strong Northeast Storm Lashes Island
Surf breaks near home along Beach Road
East Chop
RICK HERRICK 508-693-8065 (herricklr@verizon.net) An ancient belief in the Tibetan spiritual tradition holds that one dies as he or she has lived. Elizabeth (Mahat) Guest died peacefully at her home in Amherst on Oct. 16. She was 95.
Bay Scallop Season Opens Across Island With Predictions for a Decent Harvest
Early reports indicate a solid but not spectacular bay scalloping season on the Island this year, and shellfish constables report a healthy crop of seed for next year’s harvest. Commercial scallopers are enjoying early success outside town harbors in Edgartown, Vineyard Haven, Chilmark and Oak Bluffs, and near-record opening prices of $18 per pound for…
Sophomores Speak Out
We are this week’s editors for Sophomores Speak Out. We are sophomore members of the class of 2010. This week we have a range of topics. All of our writers have strong opinions: Abbey Etner is passionate about dancing, Troy writes about Island restaurants, Haley Pierce explores the motivations for kids to do their work,…
Fuel Assistance Program Will Accept Applications
The fuel assistance program of the South Shore Community Action Council began accepting applications Thursday, Nov. 1. The council encourages those who did not receive an application and believe they may qualify to apply. Applications will be accepted through April 30, 2008. Senior citizens on the Island may get in touch with their local councils…
Gazette Chronicle: 25 Years Ago
25 Years Ago From the Vineyard Gazette editions of November, 1982:
Veira Park Plan Remains Magnet for Controversy
A group of Oak Bluffs residents filed a lawsuit against the town last week to block the release of $200,000 in Community Preservation Committee funds approved at town meeting for the Veira Park expansion project.
If These Trees Could Talk: Naturalist Tells
Mysteries of Vineyard forests were revealed in a walk last Sunday afternoon at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. More than 10 naturalists took a walk with Beth Schwarzman, a Falmouth writer, geologist and savant who, like a detective, can read the hidden tales within ancient landscape. Every forest has a tale, Ms. Schwarz-man said, though it…
Underground Effort Challenges Cottage City Historic Protection
A small and largely unknown group of Oak Bluffs neighbors are circulating a petition calling for the abolishment of the Cottage City Historic District, claiming that the historic district commission routinely violates homeowners’ property rights and is driving down property values.
Harvest Fair
Harvest Fair The annual Harvest Fair and Luncheon at the Methodist Parish House in the Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair will display gifts, hand-knit articles, jewelry and baked goods. A luncheon will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.…
Museum Director Resigns; Building Campaign Silent
The sudden resignation of Martha’s Vineyard Museum executive director Matthew Stackpole has shaken the 85-year-old county historical society as it plots a move from its home base in Edgartown to West Tisbury.
West Tisbury Library Hosts Community Poetry Reading
West Tisbury Library Hosts Community Poetry Reading The West Tisbury Public Library invites poetry lovers of all ages to listen or to read aloud at an open poetry reading on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 5 p.m. Organized and hosted by Shelton Bank, these twice-yearly library poetry readings are a longstanding West Tisbury tradition.
Island Red Sox Fans Thrill to Team’s Latest World Series Championship
Red Sox fans from the Vineyard to Presque Isle, Me., celebrated a second World Series championship in four years this past Sunday as the hometown nine defeated the upstart but ultimately vulnerable Colorado Rockies in a four-game sweep of the fall classic.
It wasn’t long ago that Red Sox Nation was a Third…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER 508-693-3880 (sunporch@vineyard.net) How do you like this scenario: Man gets hired to ghost-write the memoirs of a former prime minister of England who fell out of favor with the public for helping an American president (who may have been a none-too-bright sociopath; don’t forget, this is fiction) wage a disastrous war against terror.
Mary-Ashley Lincoln Weds Kyle Charles Cohagan
Mary-Ashley Lincoln Weds Kyle Charles Cohagan Mary-Ashley Lincoln married Kyle Charles Cohagan on July 14 at the Castle Hill Inn in Newport, R.I. The bride is the daughter of Patricia J. Lincoln of Madison, Conn. The bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dean Cohagan of Duxbury and of Greenville, S.C. Peter Regan officiated.…
Island Housing Is a Roll of the Dice
The Island was on a roll Friday night at the Viva La Vineyard casino night at Outerland sponsored by the Island Affordable Housing Trust. Money was raised for an Island family needing a few thousand dollars to get over the top of their mortgage needs, a hard-working single mom won the $500 Hinckley’s gift certificate…
Hair Cutting Event Will Benefit Montessori School
The Vineyard Montessori School’s fifth annual Haircut-A-Thon is planned for Sunday, Nov. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wave Lengths Hair Salon on Main street in Vineyard Haven. Now in its fifth year, the event will include face and nail painting, beverages and snacks.
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip. Day Max. Min. Inches. Fº Fº Oct. 26 56 52 .00 Oct. 27 63 55 .13 Oct. 28 68 50 .16 Oct. 29 60 32 .00 Oct. 30 50 33 .00 Oct. 31 62 41 .00 Nov. 1 65 45 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 59º F.
Seawalls, Jetties, Groins Starve Beaches, Marine Scientists Say
The irony of Oak Bluffs is that people so loved its beaches, they set about destroying them. They built so close to the ocean’s edge they had to defend their development with a seawall. And the seawall prevented the natural replenishment of the sand, so the beach eroded away.
Preschool’s Lantern Walk Lights Up the Winter Dark
On Sunday, Nov. 11, children and their parents will bring homemade lanterns to gather at North Tabor Farm for the annual Lantern Walk. This is a seasonal festival celebrated by Waldorf communities, honoring ancient traditions of carrying light into the darkness of the coming winter.
Island Bicycle Event Will Protest Global Warming
Island Bicycle Event Will Protest Global Warming The Cycling Club of Martha’s Vineyard and the Martha’s Vineyard Peace Council have scheduled a Bike to Fight Global Warming event for Saturday, Nov. 3. Participants will meet at the Vineyard Haven Lagoon Pond boat ramp by 10 a.m. and proceed on a leisurely ride to Ocean Park…
Vineyard Haven
NANCY GARDELLA 508-693-3308 (vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)
School Lunch
Charter School Monday, Nov. 5: Whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce or meat sauce, baked delicata squash, pesto bread, apple sauce and milk. Tuesday, Nov. 6: Kale soup with meat or vegetarian, French bread with butter, mixed fruit and milk. Wednesday, Nov. 7: Sub sandwiches (meatball and cheese, tuna salad or roasted veggie and cheese),…
Ireland’s Ones to Watch Can Be Spotted in Tisbury
Two leaders of the new generation of very talented Irish musicians — pipe and flute player Louise Mulcahy and fiddler Oisin Mac Diarmada — perform a concert of traditional music at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3, to finish off this year’s outstanding Irish music series at Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard…
Cross Country Teams Build Dynasties
Unlike the world of professional sports, the concept of a dynasty is not often associated with high school athletics. Because students filter through the system every four years, the success of any high school team changes from year to year as players graduate and underclassmen move up take their place.
