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
January 2, 2009
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
My chickens have not given me an egg in almost a month. I have a small flock — one elderly rooster, 11 assorted hens and three teenagers who are too young to begin producing. Hens lay according to the light and since I refuse to force the issue and add…
Resolve to Let Kids Play in Creative Drama Class
Phyllis Vecchia will be holding a winter creative drama workshop for four-and-a-half to ten-year-olds at the Oak Bluffs School. Classes will be held on Thursday afternoons from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. beginning on Thursday Jan. 22 and continuing until March 19.
Eat for Luck
Las Vegas is not in my near future or recent past, but I did win big with an auspicious invitation to a special new year’s day dinner. It is not lucky that I got the invitation, although I am thankful to have attended a meal of fortunate foods.
In my house, we generally…
Nantucket Christmas Bird Count
Whoa, Vineyard birders have quite a challenge ahead of them. The Nantucket Christmas Bird Count was conducted last weekend and the unofficial total was 134 species! Ouch — we are going to have to work long and hard to match or hopefully beat that total. We are definitely at the mercy of the weather, so…
Silent Film Annabel Lee Shows an Old Menemsha
In Paul Schneider’s 2001 book, The Enduring Shore, there is a photo of Menemsha, courtesy of the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society, from the silent film, Annabel Lee.
Chapter 33: Turning Over a New Leaf
In this serialized novel set on the Vineyard in real time, a native Islander (“Call me Becca”) returns home after years in Manhattan to help her eccentric Uncle Abe keep his landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. Abe loathes Richard Moby, chief of the off-Island landscaping business Broadway. He is irrationally convinced that Moby wants to destroy…
Go Beyond Books at Island Libraries
My granddaughter Shealyn Smyth attended the West Tisbury story time recently. She loved the other children in the group, sat quietly while the story was read and appreciated the friendly atmosphere. At two, she’s already a book-happy person.
See Education in Action When MVTV Show Airs
Tonight, Jan. 2, at 7 p.m., MVTV will air a half-hour video special about the winter session of the Adult and Community Education Program (ACE MV) titled Learn and Grow — ACE MV Adult Education. The program was created by BZ Riger.
Library Displays Art
Library Displays Art
Selected works from the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association’s Permanent Collection will be exhibited at the West Tisbury Library during the month of January. Artists include Vaclav Vitlacil, Julius Delbos, Fred Messersmith, Ruth Appledorn Mead and Mary Drake Coles.
Counselling Course
Counselling Course
Curry College at Plymouth offers a certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling. This program is for those who are interested in careers in substance abuse services, or work in areas where an understanding of substance abuse is a critical part of job performance, such as nursing, health care, social work, psychology, law…
Hob Knob Hosts Foodies For Locally Grown Series
A new culinary series begins this weekend with Elizabeth Germain’s workshop Work. Play. Eat. at Hob Knob in Edgartown. This is the first of several winter weekends teaching sustainable cuisine.
This first event pays homage to the Vineyard’s sustainable roots, inspiring busy working people to find fun and function in the kitchen. Ms.…
Letters to the Editor
staying sober
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
We are writing in response to your recent story concerning a teacher in the West Tisbury school who allegedly provided alcohol to students and hosted parties where young people drank. We have no knowledge of the facts in this particular case but it seems clear that…
There are No Islands Anymore, Only a State of Mind
This is out of the world, but this is America: this is our country. Picture an Island of triangular shape, a hundred miles in area, lying seven miles off the southeast coast of Massachusetts; an Island which is all things to men. This is Martha’s Vineyard, described as a place of old towns, new cottages,…
Gazette Chronicle: Ship to Shore
Ship to Shore
From Gazette editions of January, 1934:
Many who did not expect to be awake to see the New Year ushered in, were aroused from their slumber at a little before 12, midnight, with the blowing of whistles by steamers and tugs in Vineyard Haven harbor. A general “hustle…
Try a Little Earth Time in 2009
I enjoyed the story by Cooper Davis that appeared in the Gazette on Dec. 5 titled “Naturalist Rose Treat on the Art of Living at 100.” I have come to know Rose over the last few years and have made time to visit with her for an occasional lunch. My visits are always rewarded with…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Dec. 24 42 22 Trace
Dec. 25 55 41 .25
Dec. 26 47 30 .00
Dec. 27 47 35 .02
Dec. 28 52 46 .02
Dec. 29 53 34 .00
Dec. 30 44 27 .00
…
Setting a New Agenda
Setting a New Agenda
At about this time last year the Cape Cod Times, our respected daily counterpart across the Sound, laid out an ambitious editorial agenda for the year ahead. It was well-written and thoughtful and the very idea of such a thing was at once impressive and daunting.
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT
508-627-8894
(margaret02539@yahoo.com)
After some of the very cold days of late fall, the warm temperatures around Christmas were a nice surprise. At my house, we’re still picking kale and some less hardy greens from the garden, and the lawn, while probably not actually growing, is still somewhat…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
Several parties were held around town on new year’s eve. The trend in recent years seems to be more toward family or neighborhood gatherings to welcome in the new year.
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark is setting off into 2009 looking surprisingly like she has for the past 100 years! The big changes don’t show, so it is comforting to enjoy looking at what hasn’t changed. Our roadside stonewalls are still being cleared and repaired; our harbor is…
Island Lives Lived Well, Lost in 2008
The year just past brought its share of mourning for the well-known Islanders who died.
On Jan 5 Robert T. Morgan died at the age of 84. Perhaps most widely known for his role as Island legislative liaison from 1985 to 1992, he was a ubiquitous presence around the place, a farmer, swordfisherman,…
Film Documents Journey to World’s End
When the National Science Foundation sent acclaimed film director Werner Herzog to Antarctica to shoot a documentary, they may have been hoping that he might return with a message of oncoming global climactic disaster, evidenced in the swift melting of the great icebergs that cluster the shores of this barren consistent, or a sad picture…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Happy New Year to one and all. May we enjoy a year of peace, forgiveness, prosperity, and especially the best of health for one and all.
Oak Bluffs
CHARLIE NADLER
508-687-9239
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
I was at the Portuguese American Club the other night when an old classmate tapped your guest columnist on the shoulder. She told me that she and her friends, while on their way to the PA Club, were vacillating on whether or not they were…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
Happy new year! This is the time we all make our new year’s resolutions and see how long we can keep true to them.
Mercury
Mercury is one of the most difficult visible planets to spot, always close to the glare of the sun. In the week ahead there is a rare opportunity to see Mercury. The planet is low in the west southwestern sky, above the bright planet Jupiter, soon after sunset. The two are a pair amid the…
Institute Names Director of Education
The Farm Institute has hired longtime Island educator Sidney Morris to fill the new position of year-round manager of education programs, aiming to improve its connections with Island schools and full-time Vineyard residents.
Executive director Matthew Goldfarb described Mr. Morris as dedicated and passionate community educator with over 30 years of experience working…
Boys’ Hockey, Basketball Teams Play Over Holiday
Vineyard sports fans who love edge-of-your-seat contests had a good holiday week as both the boys’ hockey and boys’ basketball teams went down to the wire in thrilling but ultimately disappointing games.
The basketball team lost 55-54 to Harwich in the final seconds of the second round of the Cape and Islands Christmas…
Whole Food for Families in Need
There is no more gratifying sight than a well-run community outreach program. In operation for only a few years, Family to Family, the branch of Serving Hands (nee The Surplus Food Program) on the Vineyard, which dispenses turkey dinners to families in need before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, outdid itself on Friday, Dec. 12.
Islander Honored for Meritorious Service
Vineyarder and National Guardsman Chris Brown was honored last Friday with the highest award given in the state, the Massachusetts Medal of Merit Award, for saving a life in recent ice storm.
Specialist James Norman Christopher Brown 2nd — known in the Guard as James, though Islanders know him as Chris — was…
Want To Quit Smoking? No Excuses, Class is Free
If your New Year’s resolution is to quit smoking, Jay Schofield has an offer to help you do it.
For free.
Mr. Schofield, a West Tisbury resident and retired high school teacher and coach, has been hosting smoking cessation classes since 1974. He has helped over 1,000 Islanders quit smoking.
…
Headmaster’s List
Headmaster’s List
At the End of a Long Dirt Road Lies New Land Bank Property
Adding another gem to its emerald necklace of properties on Chappaquiddick, the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank announced this week that it has purchased 22 acres of native sandplain off Quammox Road. The property includes 550 feet of beachfront on the extreme eastern end of Katama Bay.
Saltwater Licenses on Hold
A plan to require all saltwater recreational fishermen to obtain either a state or federal license has been postponed a year to January 2010. The notice by federal fisheries authorities came out recently; a plan to establish a Massachusetts recreational fishing license has also been postponed.
Paul Diodati, director of the state Division…
New NAACP Officers
New NAACP Officers
The Martha’s Vineyard NAACP has elected new leadership. They were sworn into office on Dec. 9, 2008, by Police Chief Erik Blake. Officers and committee members are: Laurie Perry-Henry, president; Marie B. Allen, first vice president; Carrie B. Tankard, second vice president, and executive committee members Francine James, Rev. Marcia…
Hearing Asks: How Big Do Bay Scallops Have to Be?
The question of what is a harvestable sized bay scallop will be the subject of a public hearing next week on the Cape. The state Division of Marine Fisheries is hosting the hearing at 3 p.m. on Jan. 6 to gather input, following emergency action they took last fall to quiet a dispute between fishermen…
Ocean Park Drilling Fails to Nail Problem
Answers remain hard to come by about the septic grids buried underneath Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs, after a round of drilling at the park conducted earlier this month failed to shed any light as to why treated effluent is seeping to the surface of the popular public park.
Oak Bluffs wastewater superintendent…
Packer Breaks Fuel Contract to Help Island Towns, Schools
Amid sinking consumer confidence nationally, Island towns and schools have received some rare good news: the RM Packer company agreed to renegotiate their fuel contract based on lower oil prices, saving them as much as $300,000 this winter.
Methodist Cooperative Splits, Three Churches to Pool Services
While Methodists once came by the hundreds to worship on Martha’s Vineyard, now they come by the handfuls. The congregation that helped shape the Island’s history is grappling with such declining church membership that three of the four United Methodist congregations on Martha’s Vineyard have voted to consolidate into a single congregation.
No Injuries in Christmas Collision
An Edgartown woman was issued a citation following a two-vehicle collision on Christmas day at the intersection of Old County and State Roads in West Tisbury.
Police said the accident caused major front end damage to both vehicles but no injuries to either driver.
Islanders Hold Fast to Hope in Hard Times
On July 8, four days after the devastating fire that burned Café Moxie and the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Tisbury defiantly held its summer street fair. Gazette photographer Jaxon White captured the event with a shot of an eight-year old girl on Main street, beaming through new front teeth and swirling a balloon. Her name…
