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
May 22, 2009
News Update: Wednesday, May 27 – Vineyarders win again: Girls Lacrosse team powers into second round
The undefeated Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School girls lacrosse team defeated Oliver Ames at home on Wednesday by a final score of 8-3 in the first round of the Division II state tournament. The game was especially physical and played in the rain on a wet and sometimes slippery field. With the win, the number-one…
Unitarian Talk
Unitarian Talk
Tom Hale, who joined the Unitarian Church in Vineyard Haven in 1961, will speak at the church this Sunday, May 24, at 11 a.m. in a talk entitled: I am a Unitarian: What am I?
New Chilmark Police Chief Begins Tenure
A veteran patrolman with long ties to the Island will take over as Chilmark police chief on July 1.
Brian A. Cioffi, 34, was named chief at a meeting of the Chilmark selectmen on Tuesday night.
“I am both honored and humbled to get this position,” Mr. Cioffi said yesterday.
Bands, Boats and Barbecue at Tisbury Picnic
On Memorial Day, May 25, from noon to 4 p.m., the entire Vineyard community is invited to the annual Memorial Day picnic at the Tashmoo Spring Pumping Station on State Road in Vineyard Haven. Formerly known as the old Tisbury Waterworks, the Tashmoo Spring Pumping Station is now included in the National Registry of Historic…
Kayakers and Walkers Raise Over $7,000 for Alzheimer’s
Neither rain nor wind along State Beach could dissuade more than 70 stalwart walkers from participating on Sunday in the annual fundraiser sponsored by Alzheimer’s Services of Cape Cod and the Islands. Urged on by a half-dozen kayakers paddling alongside the walkers, there was a sense of camaraderie in this event which is not just…
Lighthouse Walk
Lighthouse Walk
The National Senior Health and Fitness Lighthouse Walk will be held this Wednesday, May 27, at 10 a.m. A nationwide event, the walk is meant to promote active and healthy lifestyles through physical fitness. Those interested may register with Cathryn at the Edgartown Council on Aging by calling 508-627-4368. Three routes…
Public Hearing For Cellular Tech Proposal
A public hearing will be held in West Tisbury at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the public safety building on State Road on the proposal from American Tower Corporation to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns.
The town last year signed a memorandum…
Nantucket Football Coach Vito Capizzo Steps Down
The Island Cup, the storied inter-Island battle between the Vineyard and Nantucket high school football teams that comes around every November, will have a markedly different feel this year. Nantucket coach Vito Capizzo, who is as storied as the rivalry, announced this week he is retiring after 45 years.
Life Coach Debbie Phillips Inspires at Women’s Lecture
The women of Martha’s Vineyard were ablaze with enthusiasm as they gathered at the Old Whaling Church on the night of Tuesday, May 19, to hear a talk entitled: Seven Secrets of a Woman on Fire.
The Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Network year-end event welcomed life and executive coach Debbie Phillips to promote her…
Construction Begins for New YMCA
Rain and drizzle forced volunteers, staff and supporters for the new YMCA building into a huddle beneath a small tent at Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony. At the center of the huddle was a scale model of the new 38,000-square-foot facility.
Beat Therapy: A Different Kind Of Drummer Helps the Aged
Unusual sounds are coming out of the normally sedate Up-Island Senior Center at Howes House this Monday afternoon in May. Shortly after a barefoot man jumps out of a van to unload a set of conga drums, the rhythms from palms and sticks start to reverberate throughout the building.
The Big One
One morning in 1934, when Nelson Bryant was eleven years old, his father bought him a twenty-gauge shotgun. He took it out to the marsh at the head of a great salt pond near his house to look for birds. The landscape around him had changed little in the past five thousand years. He could…
A Night to Remember
It was a mixed group that gathered in the Polly Hill Arboretum Saturday night about 5:30 p.m. From this aging grandmother to a six-month-old baby boy, and in between stood six lovely teenaged girls in their colorful prom gowns, contrasting shawls, wrist corsages, makeup, and recently done hair styles. As they stood together in front…
Letters to the Editor
call to arms
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
The following letter was sent to the New England Fishery Management Council Herring Advisory Panel on May 11:
Memorial Day 2009
Memorial Day 2009
What will the summer bring? This has been on the minds of Islanders throughout the long winter. As sidewalks and farm fields lay frozen beneath endless layers of snow and ice, as the economic downturn cast dark shadows across the nation, as Islanders pulled in their collective horns and counted…
Launch of the Klang II
By MEGAN DOOLEY
Budget issues, administrative responsibility and educational philosophy were all topics of discussion at the final interviews for three Chilmark head of school candidates this week.
Hosted by Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss and the up-Island regional school district committee, the interviews took place on Wednesday and…
Unitarians Host Meditation Retreat on Saturday
A daylong meditation retreat with Mark Hart will be held on Saturday, May 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Society chapel on Main street in Vineyard Haven. The retreat will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Comsog Greenhouse Open
Comsog Greenhouse Open
The COMSOG greenhouse lets all of us know that spring is finally here on the Vineyard! The Mother’s Day sale will continue for the whole month of May during the mornings. Stop in for lots of your gardening needs — lovely gift baskets, heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, annuals, pepper plants, herbs,…
Piano Concerts
Piano Concerts
Rebekah Nivala, an 18-year-old pianist from Vineyard Haven, will be presenting two piano concerts this Memorial Day weekend, and both are open to the public.
The first performance is at 4 p.m. on May 23 at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven, with a reception to follow. Donations accepted.…
Lyme Disease Book Author Urges Vigilant Stance on Risks of Ticks
As a senior editor at Discover Magazine, science journalist Pamela Weintraub had covered myriad scientific dramas throughout her career. But it was her own family’s medical odyssey with Lyme disease — and the book she wrote about it, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic — that brought her to speak on Monday to about 60…
Girls’ Lacrosse Finishes First Undefeated Season in History
There aren’t many opportunities in life to achieve the elusive standard of perfection. And some people spend their whole lives trying. But as a wise man once said, “When you aim for perfection, you discover it’s a moving target.”
Foreclosure Nets Edgartown Inn for Island Resident
The former Tuscany Inn in Edgartown sold for $2.7 million yesterday in a foreclosure auction at the historic property on North Water street.
An Island resident reportedly has bought the former inn, which currently houses l’etoile restaurant. The name of the new owner has not been disclosed. Michael Brisson, owner of l’etoile, said…
Consumer Watch
Gas
Prices for regular unleaded gas as of May 18:
Edgartown
Airport Mobil $2.939
Depot Corner $2.899
Edgartown Mobil $2.999
Oak Bluffs
deBettencourt’s $2.929
Jim’s $2.999
Vineyard Haven
Citgo $2.939
Tisbury Shell $2.939…
Possible Conflict of Interest For State-Funded Nonprofits
It is a violation of the Massachusetts Ethics Law for a member of a town community preservation committee who also sits on a private nonprofit board to participate in a decision that grants Community Preservation Act funds to the nonprofit.
This is the opinion of Edgartown town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport, who was…
Aquinnah Town Meeting Postponed Until June
An Aquinnah special town meeting was postponed for lack of a quorum Tuesday and is rescheduled for Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m.
The meeting came on the tails of a busy political week for the town, with the annual town meeting and election which both saw solid voter turnout.
Failed Oyster Project Cleanup Deadline Extended For Tribe
The Wampanoag tribe has another 30 days to clean up the mess at Menemsha Pond left by an oyster propagation project abandoned over two years ago.
Aquinnah selectmen voted Tuesday to grant the extra grace period on top of an original 60-day cleanup deadline. In exchange, tribal leaders were asked to prepare a…
Benefit for Tom Osmers Draws Hundreds
Tommy Osmers’s behavior at the benefit function thrown for him last Sunday night belied the dire state of his health. He cruised the party, chatting, joking and checking out the women. He danced, played a little boogie woogie piano, and even used the occasion to give a little talk on the state of the marine…
Fishermen Gather to Celebrate Revival of Home Port, and Point Their Future
Hope for an ailing Island commercial fishery was on the menu at the Home Port restaurant in Menemsha Wednesday night, along with some hearty chowder and fresh herb-crusted swordfish.
Most of the Island fishing community was on hand for the first annual meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Dukes County Fishermen’s Association, along with…
The Great Chase: Opening of the Pond Attracts Herring, Bass and Fishermen
Paul Bagnall has seen many cuts, the trenches of sand dug to connect pond and ocean, but they’re all a little different.
As shellfish constable Mr. Bagnall oversees the opening of Edgartown Great Pond between three and five times a year. The opening resalinates the pond, purges nutrients and allows shellfish to thrive.…
Three Finalists Are Interviewed For Chilmark Head of School
Budget issues, administrative responsibility and educational philosophy were all topics of discussion at the final interviews for three Chilmark head of school candidates this week.
Hosted by Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss and the up-Island regional school district committee, the interviews took place on Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Chilmark…
Chief Cashin Is Ousted; Selectmen Order Review
Tisbury selectmen have ordered a comprehensive report into operation of the town police force, driven by internal conflicts which this week forced Chief John Cashin from his job.
Mr. Cashin stepped down from the position on Wednesday, less than a week after he labeled his department dysfunctional and accused selectmen of undermining his…
Harbor Fuel Dispute Erupts in Oak Bluffs
With a series of lawsuits between two well-known Island businessmen threatening fuel service for boaters in Oak Bluffs harbor this summer, town officials are scrambling to build and operate their own filling station near the Island Queen dock by the Fourth of July.
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
May 15 61 54 .10
May 16 62 49 .05
May 17 65 56 Trace
May 18 60 48 .14
May 19 51 41 .05
May 20 65 49 .00
May 21 75 54 .00
…
Crescent Moon
A thin crescent moon will appear low in the western sky early in the evening on Monday. Only those with an excellent view of the western sky have a good chance of seeing it then, so consider a beach stroll at Menemsha, an ideal spot.
Gazette Chronicle: That Stockbridge Crowd
That Stockbridge Crowd
From Gazette editions of May, 1984:
Tom Thatcher of West Tisbury signed papers that officially sold the Lillian Manter Memorial Youth Hostel on the Edgartown-West Tisbury road to American Youth Hostels, Inc. of Washington and the Metropolitan New York Council in New York city. Mr. Thatcher has owned…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
The boat schedule changed on Tuesday, and you can already tell from increased traffic on the roads and in town that new visitors are here, with more expected this weekend which is the official start of the summer season. Many a backyard grill will…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
There was joy in the Weisman household earlier this month when Hugh and Suzanne announced the engagement of their daughter Ali to Malcolm McDowell. Both are educators in New York city who became engaged one recent spring day on Windy Gates beach. They are…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Would you believe, more than three days in a row of sunshine? The lilacs are in full bloom, the shad are bursting with buds, beach plum bushes are also blooming, and mayflowers are found along ancient paths. Spring has perhaps finally arrived.
The…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-9239
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
You know you live in a democracy when a truly good idea can still attract a small vocal minority coming out against it. Such is the case with the projected pharmacy slated for the past two years to occupy the old library space at the…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
This is the weekend that starts it all. You can see the increase of cars, the Stop & Shop is crowded no matter what hour you go, the college kids have arrived looking for jobs and I saw the Jamaican ladies walking into town. So…
Chappy
MARGARET KNIGHT
508-627-8894
(margaret02539@yahoo.com)
Chappaquiddick is in the midst of spring — very green at ground level, the blueberry, beach plum and wild honeysuckle flowering at the midlevel, and the oaks and sassafras covered with pale green young and inexperienced leaves up overhead. Even the late beetlebung are releasing…
Russell Arrives
Russell Arrives
Kristen and Will Coogan of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Russell William Coogan, on May 14 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Russell weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces and is welcomed by big sister Aedan.
Hello, Christopher
Hello, Christopher
Geismar Furtado and Gilson da Silva of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Christopher Furtado da Silva, on May 18 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Christopher weighed 5 pounds, 5.6 ounces at birth.
Welcome Laina
Welcome Laina
Alyssa and Eli Dubin of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Laina Elizabeth Dubin, on May 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Laina weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was welcomed by big brother Caleb.
Leela Joins Malika
Leela Joins Malika
Jenik Khelalfa Munafo and Hocine Khelalfa of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Leela Khelalfa, on May 12 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Leela weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces at birth and joins big sister Malika.
Balancing Isn’t Just for Chakras at CircusYoga
Juggling kids over the long weekend? Take them to The Yard, where actress, dance theatre artist and certified Kripalu yoga teacher Anita McFarlane will lead Circus Yoga, a blend of yoga, creative movement, theatre games and circus skills — designed (and tested) to engage all ages.
Benefit Art Show at Agricultural Hall This Weekend
Benefit Art Show at Agricultural Hall This Weekend
What is art? Find out at the annual Friends of Family Planning art show benefit this weekend at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury, where featured Island artists and craftsmen will show and sell paintings, sculpture, photography, jewelry. The weekend-long event began with an opening…
Volunteers Needed
Volunteers Needed
Volunteers are very important people at the Polly Hill Arboretum. As the Arboretum grows, volunteer opportunities grow as well. On Thursday, May 28 from 10 a.m. to noon spend a morning with volunteer coordinator Nancy Weaver, executive director Tim Boland, and other staff for this across-the-board introduction to the many ways…
Garden Gloves Off for Summer Talks at Polly Hill Arboretum
The Polly Hill Arboretum has announced its summer lecture series, which will include programs on gardening, conservation and sustainability — all topics important to the Island community. Support for the programs comes from local sponsors Bartlett Tree Experts, Donoroma’s, Eden Market & Garden Center, Heather Gardens, Jardin Mahoney, Middletown Nursery, and SBS: The Grain Store.…
A Garden Where Dawn Greeley’s Artistic Legacy Can Grow
A Garden Where Dawn Greeley’s Artistic Legacy Can Grow
Dawn Greeley’s art flowed from her love of color, and when she died of cancer last year at age 59, her former art teacher, Skip Lawrence, wrote: “I know full well I am a better person for having known Dawn. [Her work] fills my…
Farm Institute Ramping Up Its Summer Programs
The Farm Institute has a number of new programs planned for the coming summer.
Who Calls it Lazy Man’s Lobster?
Who Calls It Lazy Man’s Lobster?
Not the folks who prepare the lobster rolls every summer Friday night for the Grace Church sale in Vineyard Haven, otherwise known as the best dinner deal (and worst weekly parking and traffic snag) on the Island. They work hard for your money.
Fresh Art
While much of the world is donning masks at the thought of a certain airborne contagion, the swine will soar with pride this Saturday, when the Eisenhauer Gallery holds a special exhibit, When Pigs Fly, from 6 to 8 p.m., at 38 North Water street in Edgartown.
Owner Elizabeth Eisenhauer explains, “We are…
Island A-Go-Go: Dancers Leap Ashore
As spring cracks open our winter stillness, the natural world appears to speak one unified, coherent command: Dance!
This summer season on the Vineyard, dance will break off the stage, with performances in the field at the Farm Institute, at Polly Hill Arboretum, and even on Main street, Vineyard Haven. The season will…
Summer Preview
After a season in which the world first heard the song of a Scottish villager named Susan Boyle, perhaps it goes without saying that phenomenal talent can be found in out-of-the-way places.
Long Family Line Keeps Pizza Line Short
You might say that the restaurant business is in their blood. Perhaps success is a family trait, passed down through the generations by the grandfather who opened the Vineyard institution where they now spend all of their summer hours. Whatever the reason, as the Vineyard approaches an uncertain summer season, brothers Wilfred (Buster) Jr. and…
School Library Celebrates Media Month With Reading
The Tisbury School library celebrated School Library Media Month with a special reading incentive program called Worlds Connect @ Your Library. As well as reading literature set in varied locales, from Penda Diakite’s I Lost My Tooth in Africa, to Eric Carle’s saga of 10 Little Rubber Ducks, students have had the opportunity to read to…
A Corny Story: New Book Harvests History From Morning Glory Farm
Sometime in the summer of 1970, a young Jim Athearn stood on Main street in Edgartown and faced one of the most important decisions of his life. The 22-year-old aspiring farmer had just received a few stern words from a market owner who had told him that his corn — the first crop he had…
Island Alpaca Company Introduces New Program
The Island Alpaca Company is introducing a new Sunday morning program called Island Alpaca Junior Discovery, wherein children ages 8 to 18 can learn all about this most noble creature. Participants will find out all where the alpaca come from and why they are important to humans. Educational opportunities include hands-on activities, such as barn…
Art is Long and Summer is Short
Across the Vineyard, art galleries stand ready to start the summer with new shows and new ideas but seem united in anticipating a successful season. A sampling of gallery offerings reveals work from around the corner and around the world.
Old Sculpin Classes
Old Sculpin Classes
The Old Sculpin Gallery and Studio School, located on Dock street near the Chappy ferry in Edgartown, will open for Memorial Day weekend with a show featuring selected works from the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association’s permanent collection of Vineyard art. Works from 1890 to the present will be on display,…
Louisa Gould Show
Louisa Gould Show
The Louisa Gould Gallery welcomes all to its renovated space, for an artists’ reception for a group show on Saturday, May 23, from 6 to 8 p.m. Live music and refreshments will welcome returning artists to the gallery’s seventh season: John Holladay, Alan Eddy, Howard Park, Maya Farber, Ovid Ward,…
Dragonfly Gallery Hails Beginnings With Reception
A new show at the award-winning Dragonfly Gallery in Oak Bluffs, entitled Beginnings, offers a sampling of the broad range of work from the 25 regional and national artists that the gallery is representing throughout the summer and into the fall. An opening reception with refreshments and beverages will be held on Saturday, May 23…
Ensemble of Favorites to Open at Carol Craven
The Carol Craven Gallery, located off Holmes Hole Road in Vineyard Haven, will be opening for its 14th season today, Friday, May 22.
Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday and Monday.
This first show features new work by John…
Setting the Stage for Summer: Theatres Prepare for Premieres
People’s tones shift to reverential when the Vineyard Playhouse is introduced into the conversation, as was demonstrated at last week’s fundraiser at Friederike and Jeremy Biggs’s Manhattan penthouse (they also reside in Lambert’s Cove).
Summer Reading List, Home-Grown
What better way to kick off a new summer chapter than by plunging into a new book?
On the Vineyard summer reading is more than just a pastime, it’s an experience. Well-read bookstore employees help guests make their perfect literary match. Book-signing events sprinkled throughout the season invite guests to engage their favorite…
Get Set to Join Holmes Hole Sailboat Races
The Holmes Hole Sailing Association announced its schedule of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven Harbor for the 2009 summer season. The association will be sponsoring a series of 26 races, in a variety of formats, commencing with a tune-up race in Vineyard or Nantucket Sound on June 14 and concluding with the annual George…
Messing Around in Boats in Menemsha Pond
From the July 26, 1940 Gazette:
Racing in Menemsha Pond was unknown until seven or eight years ago. The early settlers of the Vineyard had a more utilitarian use for their boats, which were built for stamina not speed. One hardy family had always sailed on the pond, however, and it is to…
Quarterboard Lecture
Quarterboard Lecture
Sail MV’s final spring maritime presentation of Quarterboards with J.P. Uranker is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m. The presentation will take place at Mr. Uranker’s studio at 179 County Road in Oak Bluffs where he will demonstrate and discuss the different designs of quarterboards and the techniques for…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Marauding Mustard
Europe has given us many great food and drink specialties — prosecco and spumoni from Italy, triple cream brie and wine from France, sangria from Spain and Guinness (need I say more?) from Ireland.
There is at least one culinary gift from Europe that we can do without. Botanists, butterfly lovers, and plant…
A Catboat Finds Her Way Home to the Sea
A boat has a life of its own. This is the story of one boat whose lineage goes back through Vineyard history; one boat who gracefully carried a Vineyard family as it grew up; one boat that I, a sailor and waterfront reporter, had watched in wonder as she sailed these waters, until she ended…
Chapter 53: The Chase (aka Final Chapter)
To Date: A native Islander (“Call me Becca”) has returned home after many years away, to help her unstable Uncle Abe keep his landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. Abe has a monomaniacal fear and loathing of Richard Moby, the CEO of an off-Island wholesaler, Broadway Nursery. In early 2009, Moby unscrupulously took over one Island landscaping…
Bobwhites Among Bird-a-Thon Sightings
The results of Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary’s annual Bird-a-thon tops the news for this week. A total of 119 species were observed from 6 p.m. on Friday, May 15, to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Twenty-three birders participated in this marathon Massachusetts Audubon Society event, scheduled to coincide with the peak of the northward…
