Dylan Thomas
The birds of the winged trees flying my name Above the farms and the white horses I rose in rainy autumn And walked abroad in a shower of all my days. – Dylan Thomas
August 29, 2008
Holmes Hole Sailors Post Race Results
The Holmes Hole Sailing Association continued its summer season of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven Harbor with a Thursday night race on August 14 and a Sound race on August 17.
Great Pond Algae Bloom Cause for Serious Study
Experts are mystified by the bloom of an unknown type of algae this summer on the Edgartown Great Pond that has covered acres of the pond’s surface, choking out light to eelgrass beds and then sinking onto shellfish beds. A sample of the algae was sent this week to the Smithsonian Institution after attempts to…
Veggie Planet: Ribbons for Brazilian Growers
It’s inevitably hot and hectic, dusty and bit tersweet — these four days of waning summer on the Vineyard during the agricultural fair held in West Tisbury.
Sex Offender Bylaw Sees Town Grappling With Tricky Issues
West Tisbury selectmen on Wednesday revisited the idea of creating a town bylaw that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living or loitering near public spaces like schools and playgrounds — but tabled the matter after emotional debate. Selectman Richard Knabel questioned the need for the bylaw, stating he preferred a preventive rather then reactive…
Faith Church Speaker
Kristin Johnson, executive director of One by One, will be guest speaker at the Faith Community Church outdoor service on Sunday, August 31. Ms. Johnson’s talk is titled Leaving Lesbianism. She is a graduate of Anderson and Columbia University and Gordon-Conwell Seminary in South Hamilton. Having taught at the Savannah School of Design and Boston…
Beans in a Jar, MVC Convenes to Begin Key Talks for Future
When it comes to divining the will of the people, it is hard to think of anything simpler than the latest method employed by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for gathering opinions on future development on the Island. Beans and coffee jars at the Agricultural Fair. If you wanted no more development, you put a bean…
Gazette Chronicle: Buried Treasure
Buried Treasure From the Vineyard Gazette editions of August, 1983: West Tisbury salvager and treasure hunter Barry Clifford says he’s found proof, at least to his own satisfaction, that he’s discovered the pirate ship Whidah, sunk with its vast treasure off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717.
Enrolls at Bates College
Enrolls at Bates College Liane R. Fitzgerald of Chilmark is among 530 new students and 19 transfers who are starting at Bates College in Maine this fall. A 2007 graduate of the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School, she is the daughter of Charles Fitzgerald and Kathryn Cerick.
Soldier, Summer Visitor Stuns Crowd At Iraq Veterans Against the War Event
The cost of war can’t be measured solely in dollars and cents, nor only in lives lost. These numbers don’t tell the whole story because they don’t reflect another cost, the emotional scars war leaves behind. And often these scars are never truly revealed, and the stories behind them are left untold. This was not…
Wind Turbines: Popular and Unregulated
With so much attention focused on global warming and surging gas prices, interest in windmills is now at an all-time high across the nation — and also here on the Vineyard. But renewed interest in wind turbines has brought with it a number of planning and logistical concerns. Much like the pre-zoning era of the…
Good Tools, Nickel Rides: Nothing Stays the Same
The trowel bent in my hand; I was afraid it might. There was one last year that did the same thing. Thinking it a piece of junk, I pitched it aside. The trowel I used for years is lost somewhere in this garden, probably green bushes grew large over it or the ivy buried it.…
Community Invited to Toast Mr. Turkington
All Vineyarders are invited to a community party at the agricultural hall in West Tisbury on Sunday, Sept. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m., for Rep. Eric T. Turkington. The celebration will not be a fund-raiser or a political campaign event, but the Island’s way to honor Representative Turkington for 20 years of service in…
Cutting CDs from Che’s Candlelit Cool
During the day Che’s Lounge is a quiet coffee shop with second-hand sofas and deep, sometimes springless armchairs situated at the back of an alley off Main street Vineyard Haven. In the summer months some of this furniture is dragged out under a canopy where a few regulars nurse lattes. But by night it is…
Main Street Vineyard Haven Still Adjusting Following Fire
The Vineyard Haven July 4 fire gutted Main street’s center of commerce in a few hours, destroying Cafe Moxie and decommissioning the Bunch of Grapes bookstore on the traditional start date of the summer retail rush. And as the final weekend of the season begins, store owners in and around Main street Vineyard Haven are…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip. Day Max. Min. Inches. Fº Fº August 22 77 56 .00 August 23 78 55 .00 August 24 77 55 .00 August 25 77 63 .00 August 26 80 60 .00 August 27 73 55 .00 August 28 75 56 .00
Water temperature in Edgartown harbor: 75º F.
Paul Munafo Appointed Station Manager at WVVY
Martha’s Vineyard Community Radio station WVVY, broadcasting at FM 93.7, has appointed Paul Munafo as station manager. Paul brings experience in many community organizations. He has been an active member in the development of the Vineyard Playhouse where he served on the board for over 12 years; he served as chairman of the Tisbury Cultural…
Poetry for Survivors
Poetry for Survivors Registration has begun for Sound/Body/Love/Poem, a six-session series of gently erotic writing workshops with Samantha Barrow for survivors of sexual abuse. Sessions run Saturdays from 12:30 to 3 p.m. Registration required; space limited. Classes begin Sept. 6. Sliding scale fees range from $185 to $250. For details, call 215 605-7752 or e-mail…
Shotgun Success for Wedding Industry: Smaller But Still Swish
Island visitors and residents may have cut back on many extravagances as the economy slowed this summer season, but weddings were not on the list. “The economy does not seem to be affecting the desire and the interest in destination weddings to Martha’s Vineyard,” said Sue Curley, event coordinator at Tilton Rentals, a company that…
Rain Fails to Dampen Summer Soiree
Even though the heavens opened up and poured soaking rain, complete with thunder and lightning, hospice angels were plentiful on a recent Monday night at Farm Neck. I would like to say thank you to every guest, volunteer and to all the businesses and artists that made the evening such a wonderful success. It truly…
Chapter 15: Quincas Invents His Father
In this serialized novel set on the Vineyard in real time, a native Islander (“Call me Becca”) returns home after many years to help her eccentric Uncle Abe keep his landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. Abe has a paranoid hatred of Richard Moby, the chief executive of an off-Island wholesale nursery. Convinced that Moby wants to…
Rev. Edward W. Rodman To Celebrate at Trinity
On August 31 and Sept. 7, Trinity Episcopal Church will welcome as priest and celebrant the Rev. Dr. Edward W. Rodman. For the last 22 years he has served Trinity as a member of its team of clergy during the summer season. The church is located in Oak Bluffs across the street from the Steamship…
Seals Rebound In Waters Here, Scientists Agree
An abundant food supply, safe habitat and management protection that began years ago has contributed to the resurgence of seals in Island waters. Gray and harbor seals are back. Though marine experts at the federal level don’t have actual numbers, there have been many reports this summer of seals around the Island. In short, not…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING 508-645-2574 (lthslnks@gis.net)
Wild Cherry
It has been a berry fruitful season. We have been blessed with a bounty.
Bringing Up Baby Begins Vineyard Haven Series
The Vineyard Haven Public Library begins a new evening movies series on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m. with the screwball comedy Bringing up Baby. starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn.
From the Streets of Philadelphia, City Kids Find Peaceable Island
For nine city kids, a recent Island experience was formed less by the wind-sculpted terrain of Aquinnah and the storybook houses of Oak Bluffs than by the peaceful nature of the Island.
Daybreak Volunteers Clean Up Vineyard Haven
The Daybreak clubhouse has joined with Tisbury beautification volunteers to clean up and improve Vineyard Haven. Beginning August 13, members of the clubhouse could be seen wearing fluorescent vests, wielding poles with nails on the end and picking up trash — discarded diapers, bottles, newspapers, soda cans and discarded cigarettes. Clubhouse members will continue to…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS My friend Sharlee has done it again. She came up with another great food tip. Last summer in the peak of the tomato season, I shared with you her simple freezing method. Core the tomatoes, bag them, and pop into the freezer. In the dead of the winter running the fruit under…
It’s a Bird, It’s a Photographer: Artist Launches Virtual Gallery
Lanny McDowell is having an opening this week that can take place in anyone’s home or office. He has opened a gallery on the Internet showing his fine art avian photographs. Anyone can go there by pressing a few buttons on the computer. Most Vineyard artists have openings at galleries. They schedule a day in…
Tisbury Sows Seeds for a Community Garden
The Tisbury selectmen are accepting letters of interest in a community garden. Tisbury has had numerous parcels of land left to the town with various restrictions placed on them. One of the allowable uses for any of these properties would be a community garden. Town administrator John Bugbee said in a statement released to the…
Welcome Talulah
Welcome Talulah Jennifer Maxner, Todd Powers and big sister Josephine Scout Powers announce the birth of a daughter, Talulah June Powers, on August 22 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Talulah weighed 6 pounds and 8 ounces at birth.
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation Names New President
Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is pleased to announce that it has welcomed four new directors to its board and has elected new officers. At the foundation’s annual meeting on August 15, Emily Bramhall of Chilmark was elected president. A longtime board member, Ms. Bramhall had previously served as vice president and treasurer. Former president Steve Crampton…
The Flying Elbows Will Throw Down Hoe Down
It’s time for old-time fiddle music tonight, when The Flying Elbows Fiddle Band performs at 8 p.m. at the Katharine Cornell Theatre. Known to deliver light-hearted, high-energy performances, the Flying Elbows will present both original and traditional songs with humor and three-part harmony in addition to their familiar fiddle material.
Free at Last, Wrongly Jailed Man Fights for Others Inside
Darryl Hunt spent 19 years and six months of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit. But he is not angry, never was. “I was never angry because I knew I was innocent,” Mr. Hunt said Wednesday during a conversation with the Gazette. He was visiting the Island for the first…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE 508-627-5349 (kathleencase@comcast.net) The street sweeper has been by the house, the painters have painted the trim, next will be the grass cut and then it is official, school is open. How fast the summer went. Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week. Big balloons go out to Linley Dolby…
Ruddy Turnstone
By SUSAN B. WHITING There are so many bird sightings this week there is no room for more. So enjoy Lanny’s photograph of a ruddy turnstone (and see it in color on mvgazette.com) and head out birding. The migration is beginning for land birds, but there are still shorebirds to delight beachgoers. Bird Sightings: Tara…
Plein Air Registration
Plein Air Registration Register now to take part in the third annual Open Call Vineyard Plein Air Painter’s Show. Forms are available from noon to 7 p.m. daily at the Dragonfly Gallery on Dukes County avenue in Oak Bluffs. The fee to enter is $30 and the deadline to register is Sept. 6. Show opens…
Young Bald Eagle Recuperates but Cause of Trauma a Mystery
An emaciated juvenile bald eagle is getting special care and eating well on the Island after being captured on Chappaquiddick on Saturday, August 16. Gus Ben David, who runs World of Reptiles and Bird Park in Edgartown, has the bird in a cage. He is feeding the animal road-kill rabbits and laboratory mice, and so…
Vineyard Haven
NANCY GARDELLA 508-693-3308 (vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)
Blue Mussel Test
The initial success of the Island’s offshore blue mussel aquaculture efforts could lead to real new jobs on the Vineyard, at a time when costs are up for fishermen but seafood prices are not keeping pace. The Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group hatchery in Tisbury showcased the collaborative project Tuesday when one of the top federal…
Lagoon Music
Lagoon Music Jazz pianist John Alaimo will give a sunset serenade on Sunday, August 31, when Pam and Jim Butterick open their home at 359 Barnes Road for a benefit evening of music on the Lagoon. From 6:30 to 10 p.m., there will be great music and light refreshment and, with luck, a lovely sunset…
Moon and Planets
Monday night, Labor Day, offers an opportune time to see three planets and the moon huddled close together in the west southwestern sky right after sunset. Binoculars will help.
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY 508-693-2950 (alleys@vineyard.net) Today is the start of the holiday weekend. Labor Day is on Monday, marking the end of the high summer season; all municipal buildings and the post offices will be closed. It has been excellent weather-wise but all good things must come to an end, as school starts next Thursday.…
August 22: Hundreds Gather for the Draft Horse Pull
Friday, August 22: Hundreds gather at the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society fair for the draft horse pull. The air is dry. The sounds and lights of the carnival rides dominate the grounds late in the afternoon. Fireworks over Oak Bluffs are visible from Edgartown to Vineyard Haven. Afterward lines of headlights and brake lights dominate…
All Invited for Aquinnah Entertainment on Saturday
The Aquinnah Public Library will be host to a community celebration on Saturday, August 30, from noon to 3 p.m. The event is free and will be held on the grounds of the library on State Road in Aquinnah. In case of rain, the event will be held inside the old town hall across State…
Habitat Breaks Ground On Sixth House: Edgartown
Habitat for Humanity of Martha’s Vineyard held a ground-breaking ceremony on Saturday, August 9, for the sixth house the organization has built on the Island. Thirty people gathered at the build site on 11th street in Edgartown to mark the event.
Chappy
JO-ANN TILGHMAN 508-627-7669 (tilghmanjb@aol.com)
Saving the Last Wooden Whale Ship
She is the only one left. The Charles W. Morgan is the last surviving wooden whale ship, and while she has rested at a shipyard in Mystic, Conn. since 1941, her Vineyard ties are long and as intricate as a clove hitch knot. Built at a New Bedford shipyard that was owned by a Chilmark…
Kenny Lockwood to Play At Old Whaling Church
Kenny Lockwood and Red Road are making a rare appearance on the Island at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown, Saturday, August 30, at 8 p.m.
Permanent Endowment Is Taking Grant Applications
The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard is accepting applications for its fall grant cycle. The endowment welcomes inquiries from Island nonprofit organizations seeking funding for programs and initiatives that will benefit the Vineyard community. In the past, the endowment has provided support for the arts and culture, civic affairs and community development, education, the elderly,…
East Chop
RICK HERRICK 508-693-8065 (herricklr@verizon.net) Three weeks ago the Edgartown Yacht Club hosted a regatta for 12 metre boats, and our own Wally Ross was the senior judge for the event. Wally has been refereeing races at the EYC for more than 30 years. The race committee sets the course and monitors the start and finish…
Encircled in Sorrows of War’s Detritus, Artist Creates Helmets Honoring War Correspondents
War is a force that gives her meaning.
Readers: Clean the Beach, Get Deal on Bonobo Book
It’s a whole new, clean green spin on trashy books: on Saturday, August 30, Island author Mathea Levine will sign copies of her new definitely not trashy book I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo at Riley’s Reads in Vineyard Haven — but kids will receive a 20 per cent discount…
Too Quiet Downtown
Too Quiet Downtown Walking down Main street Vineyard Haven, you can still smell the smoke. It’s in a single spot directly in front of the Bunch of Grapes bookstore and before the site of Cafe Moxie, just a whiff of the charred smell that lingers long after a fire. It is an olfactory trigger that…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER 508-645-3378 (slaterjn@comcast.net) Chilmark‘s summer buzz is over. Now the roads, beaches and shops are quiet and welcoming to the visitors who enjoy this time of year. The community center has closed, the Home Port will close this Sunday and the mail will no longer be delivered to the Menemsha Post Office. All…
Cindy Kane: The Artist as Accidental Islander
Growing up in a liberal community outside of Washington, D.C., Cindy Kane began her artistic life as a drawer. “I always had my hand on a pen,” she said. She is now a painter, but said aspects of her early art are still present in her work today. “My art has always been narrative, never…
Characters in The End Come to Life on Cape
For four years, Salvatore Scibona has been shepherding new writers at the Fine Arts Workshop in Provincetown through readings of their work at local libraries and other cultural venues. Saturday at 5:30 p.m., at the West Tisbury library, Mr. Scibona will read from The End, his own first novel, that already has generated luxurious reviews…
Riding on Empty
Riding on Empty Somewhere between the stable dirt and the saddle, girls who love horses find the women they will become. Up there, it’s not about being a girl. Riding requires toughness and gentleness, strength and smarts — characteristics that do not always sit easily together in a young girl’s world.
Oak Bluffs
BETTYE FOSTER BAKER 508-696-9983 (bdrbaker@comcast.net)
My Dad, My Life: Sharon Robinson Talks
Sharon Robinson, author of Stealing Home, a memoir of her family life with baseball dad Jackie Robinson, held court last Friday at what’s becoming the Island’s clubhouse, The Oyster Bar & Grill. From weddings to fundraisers, the trendy eatery at the top of Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs, with high wooden booths and brown satin…
Othello in Chilmark: Actors, Singers, Dancers Tour the Moor
Verdi on Middle Road? You wouldn’t think anything almost subversively original in the arts could possibly be percolating up this country road. You think you might come upon a corn patch or a pen of prized goats, but not a synthesis of dance, theatre and opera combining Broadway actors, celebrated choreographers and, well, Verdi.
Letters to the Editor
LYME SCIENCE Editors, Vineyard Gazette: Despite what your story (Uneasiness Over Lyme Disease Spreads, August 15) suggests, the science behind the Lyme disease guidelines issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has never been in question and the guidelines remain in place today.
Oak Bluffs Waterfront Walkway Leads to Political Discontent
An ongoing political fracas over a plan to repair the Oak Bluffs waterfront spilled into public view on Tuesday when selectman Kerry Scott accused one member of one town board of delaying repairs to the beach along Sea View avenue.
