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
July 10, 2009
Island Historian Reveals New Book
Island Historian
Reveals New Book
David McCullough, Pulitzer-prizewinning author of The Path Between the Seas, Truman, John Adams and 1776, is working on a new book, set for release in 2010. The as-yet-untitiled tome chronicles the remarkable history of innovation and achievement in the fields literature, medicine, design and the arts…
Borough Bard Slams at The Yard
Borough Bard Slams at The Yard
Tony award-winning Def Jam poet Lemon Andersen brings his one-man spoken-word show, Excerpts from County of Kings: The Beautiful Struggle, to the intimate barn theatre at the Yard, July 10 and 11. It’s a jarring and poignant coming-of-age stage memoir that flows from hard-edged drama to urban…
Summer Performance Schedule Heats Up at The Yard
The New England Choreographers Project brings together two artists for one show on Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Yard in Chilmark: the theatrical, idiosyncratic and profoundly musical Lise Brody and Nicole Pierce.
Ms. Pierce brings her multi-media dance/theatre company EgoArt to share her ongoing exploration of Mozart’s Requiem, and performs her solo,…
Island Antiques Become Functional Furnishings
Richard Dumas, a custom furniture builder and master upholsterer working with Julie Robinson Interiors, has created a line of hand-crafted children’s furniture using recycled Vineyard antiques. With over 30 years experience building furniture, Mr. Dumas was able to save reusable parts from older pieces and creatively rework them into lovely wing-back chairs, loveseats, rocking chairs…
Sports Camp Opens
Sports Camp Opens
It’s good sports, and good sportsmanship at Eagle Sports Camp, open to school-age boys and girls every weekday morning this month. Taught by a second grade teacher at the Edgartown School, this camp offers a wide variety of sports and games with an emphasis on understanding the rules and etiquette…
Riding With Dr. Dave and Treating All Creatures, Mice to Miniature Horses
While packing the car for a family vacation early in his college years, Dave Tuminaro spotted a skunk in distress. The animal had gotten its head stuck inside an empty yogurt container while attempting to lick the carton clean. He sprang into action, hoping to free the distressed skunk without triggering its defensive spray. The…
Great Pond Under Pressure from Pollution
A s another summer opens, here we sit and watch as the coves of Edgartown Great Pond again breed their floating islands of glutinous algae, thriving on the cocktail of nutrients coming from the watershed. Are we faced with yet another summer of wading through stinking black goo to get to the pond?
…
Confronting Adult Responsibility On Underage Drinking
W hile the color has barely faded from the silk flowers left as a tribute to Brandy Marie Gibson, we are now faced with the shock of another devastating accident, an accident that sadly took the life of yet another lovely young woman, Jena Pothier, and forever will traumatically impact the life of Kelly McCarron…
There is No Frigate Like a Bookstore
I fell in love with the Vineyard 25 years ago on Main street Vineyard Haven. My late husband, our three young children and I came over for a day trip We rented a car on Beach Road and asked where we should go. We were told the Flying Horses was a must as were the…
Renaming Grand Old Party With a Title More Fitting
Since the election of President Barack Obama the Republican Party has embarked on a singular mission to come to the aid of the American people. The main, and perhaps only, thrust of their action is to rename the Democratic Party as the Democratic-Socialist Party. True the loonier elements of Republicanism, if such distinctions hold, had…
Gazette Chronicle: Howard Hughes on Trial
Howard Hughes on Trial
From Gazette editions of July, 1934:
Letters to the Editor
TIMMY’S TREE
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Regarding Mrs. Whipple’s tree named for her son Timmy, which was mutilated by the construction of a parking space, and displayed on these pages — perhaps not life and death as Mrs. Whipple so delicately states, but certainly front page news in the hearts of those…
Robert Strange McNamara: 1916-2009
Robert Strange McNamara: 1916-2009
He was without doubt the most powerful and controversial American secretary of defense in the twentieth century — and the most scorned. He served as defense secretary under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson from 1961 to 1968 and his name soon became irretrievably linked to the long and tragic years…
Habitat for Humanity Needs Some Volunteers
Willing volunteers, no experience necessary, are needed to help on Habitat of Martha’s Vineyard “build days” every Friday and Saturday at a home site at 250 State Road in West Tisbury. Help frame walls and begin interior partitions; the work day begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs until about 4 p.m.
Late Summer Gardens
Late Summer Gardens
Chanticleer horticulturalist Dan Benarcik presents Fashionably Late: Ideas for the Late Summer Garden, a talk on Wednesday, July 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Polly Hill Arboretum’s Far Barn.
Island Theatre Workshop Performs Summer of ’42
The musical Summer of ’42 will open Thursday, July 16, at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring street in Vineyard Haven.
Based on the novel and screenplay by Herman Raucher, the story takes place on a small island in New England in the infamous summer of 1942. America is at war, and 15-year-old…
Clean Energy Symposium Cycling to Spread Message
On Monday a team of college students from across Massachusetts and around the world bicycled into Edgartown to engage the community to push for bold solutions to the climate crisis. The students will host the Awakening the Dreamer symposium, a workshop that will engage local community members in the fight for clean energy, on Saturday,…
Scientist Says Lobster Hatchery Viable
A top lobster scientist told a gathering at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday night that the Massachusetts Lobster Hatchery in Oak Bluffs should become operational again. With new advances in the understanding of how lobsters live, the use of hatcheries can be far more effective, said Jelle Atema, a professor and Boston University marine…
Like So Many Grains of Sand: Buddhist Monks Visit Vineyard
Unknown to many of the thousands of people on the Island this week, an important group of visitors arrived bearing a special gift. It comes in several forms. In one regard, it is a piece of artwork, a stunning visual display of painstaking intricacy. It also spans educational and therapeutic services, music and dance presentation,…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard has a few nice animals who need good homes.
Owl is a purebred, white Persian cat who is spayed and up to date on all her shots. She is declawed and needs to be an indoor-only cat. She is shy but with…
Young Farmers Voyage on Vintage Mabel to Put Organic Food on Vineyard Tables
In the 1800s, Vineyard farmers moved their goods to market in very different ways than they do now, by cart and buggy or, in some cases, by seacraft, a mark of the Island’s bustling maritime service economy. This week young Islanders and visitors revisited those vintage ways.
“We’re doing a pioneer thing,” said…
Jakob F. Palches Earns Degree, Dean’s List Place
Jakob F. Palches was awarded an associate of science degree in general studies at Massachusetts Bay Community College in Wellesley on May 28, 2009. He was placed on the dean’s list in recognition of superior academic achievement for the spring semester 2009.
He will enter the University of Massachusetts Amherst in September 2009…
Dig in at Clambake, It’s Good for Nurses’ Health
The Vineyard Nursing Association (VNA), a provider of home healthcare on Martha’s Vineyard, will host its popular annual Clambake Benefit and Auction on Wednesday, July 22, at 6 p.m. at the inspirational Field Gallery in West Tisbury.
The VNA leverages donations to fill the critical gap between the cost of home medical services…
Consumer Price Watch
Gas
Prices for regular unleaded gas as of July 7:
Edgartown
Airport Mobil $3.399 Depot Corner $3.399
Edgartown Mobil $3.459
Oak Bluffs
deBettencourt’s $3.359
Jim’s $3.439
Vineyard Haven
Citgo $3.359
Tisbury Shell $3.359
…
West Tisbury School Windows Rotted
Water damage and termites have caused extensive damage at the West Tisbury School, sending town officials scrambling to make repairs before the start of the school year in September.
Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss said this week it was too early to tell the extent of the damage or cost of…
Fuel Flowing in Oak Bluffs, Town Stays Plan for New Pump
Boaters can again buy fuel in the Oak Bluffs harbor after the gas station owned by businessmen Mark and Mike Wallace at Church’s Pier reopened last week, just in time for the Fourth of July weekend. Meanwhile, a town-sponsored proposal to build a new station near the Island Queen dock has been put on hold,…
Documentary Film Follows Luis Tiant To Cuba Homeland
As part of the deal to get into Cuba to make his movie, producer Kris Meyer had to take part in a baseball game, an all-ages, goodwill game with a Cuban team in Cuba.
He did not play well.
“The gentleman that struck me out was 75,” he told a packed…
Bill Lee Hurls Verbal Curves For Big Hitters
As a popular and sometimes controversial pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Bill Lee, also known as the Spaceman, spoke up on just about every subject that popped into his head: Maoist China, population control, school bussing in Boston, Eastern philosophy, double-headers on Sunday and the legalization of marijuana.
Lucy Vincent’s Disappearing Act
For Martina Mastromonaco, Chilmark beach superintendent, the horseshoe she found recently on a dune at the west end of Lucy Vincent Beach is no lucky charm.
On the contrary, she thinks the ancient-looking piece of metal is a bearer of bad tidings. The game of throwing horseshoes at the beach has not been…
Bend in Road Beach Done, Redone
Bumps were smoothed out in a sand renourishment project at Bend in the Road Beach in time for summer. Unfortunately this meant that part of it slid in to the ocean.
Complaints from a set of retired town leaders at a selectmen’s meeting in May argued that dune restoration had diminished the size…
Dredging at Little Bridge
The Oak Bluffs conservation commission this week received a waiver from the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act that is expected to fast-track plans to dredge Sengekontacket Pond. The dredge project is intended to improve tidal circulation and reduce bacteria levels.
Bacteria counts recorded in 2007 by the Division of Marine Fisheries during an annual…
Community Services Reports Budget Shortfall in Needy Times
Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, the Island’s sole provider of many essential human services, unveiled a budget this week for fiscal year 2010 calling for a $500,000 — or 10 per cent — reduction in spending. The budget calls for cuts in salaries, benefits and hours as well as the outright elimination of two programs.
Putting Wind in Sails of Island Children
It may come as a surprise to some that growing up on an Island does not always ensure access to sailing. The water is always within reach, but there have long been socio-economic barriers to Island kids interested in learning the sport.
In the early 1990s, a group of Edgartown residents teamed up…
Books: The Dark Minds of Money Men
For anyone who has ever wondered how Wall Street hedge fund managers sleep at night and look themselves in the mirror in the morning, having spent the preceding day bilking clients, Men of Gain by Hunter McClelland (Strategic Book Publishing, $12.95) will give you a good idea of how this feels from the inside out.
Film Knows Where Its Going, You Don’t
The comedic drama Noodle, the third film in its summer film series, screens on Sunday, July 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.
One reviewer called it an Israeli film about grief and loss that takes the form of a crowd-pleaser: “That’s an odd combination. It works pretty well because…
Mr. Dresser Offers Tommy’s Tour of the Sixties
IN MY LIFE. By Thomas Dresser. Red Lead Press. Spring 2009. $17, softcover.
Young love in the sixties. These five words summarize In My Life, the brief, quirky and charming novel by local author Thomas Dresser. Set against the backdrop of the turmoil of the bygone decade, In My Life tells the story…
Film Noir Father Leaves Book To Library, Ending Up to You
When authors die, some of their work lives after them. In or out of print, it’s bound and sitting on shelves. But another chunk of inventory survives the author, often to the chagrin of his or her heirs: unpublished or unfinished manuscripts. What to do with this material?
Writer, director and theatre maestro…
Four Planets
The ringed planet Saturn appears high in the western sky after sunset. Saturn outshines all the stars in the west; it is in the zodiacal constellation Leo and is moving toward the constellation Virgo.
Forget Aging, Teen Creates Logo for Living
The former Island councils on aging, now called Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living, has a new logo. A contest among Island high school art students drew 32 entries. Will Fligor, a freshman, is the winning artist; runners-up were Ethan Himel and Megan Pettit.
The center is a nonprofit organization funded through grants, donations…
Read for the Bears
Read for the Bears
Ward Just to Read from New Novel
The prolific and critically-acclaimed Island author Ward Just has a new novel, Exiles in the Garden, which he will sign and discuss tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven.
East Chop
RICK HERRICK
508-693-8065
(herricklr@verizon.net)
East Chop was crowded with fun activities over the Fourth of July weekend. The beach club held its annual July meeting on Friday the 4th at 10 a.m. President Caryl Dearing presided over a businesslike and rather brief meeting. Affairs are running well at the…
Welcome Maria
Welcome Maria
Rosiane De Freitas and Marcos DeFreitas of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Maria Rita DeFreitas Pinto, born on July 2, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Maria weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.
Announcing Claire
Announcing Claire
Claire Angell Deren was born at Cambridge Hospital on June 26, 2009. She is the daughter of Elizabeth Wilson Deren and Kevin Deren of North Quincy. Her maternal grandparents are Susan and David Wilson of Oak Bluffs, and one of her great-grandmothers is Claire Gibson, also of Oak Bluffs.
Greetings, Grace
Greetings, Grace
Ellen McMahon and Arik Goff of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Grace Kyra Goff, born on July 7, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Grace weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces at birth.
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
We had good weather over the long holiday weekend. Roger Blake, of North Tisbury, reports that business has been quite brisk at his pie gazebo, where he sells homemade pies daily. He reports that on Saturday he started out with 100 fresh baked pies…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark has suffered some awful weather in July for a summer resort, but the days seem to offer a little of everything, with rain either first or last but always rain! Everyone is still speaking to each other, and the plans for all the…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
The Manning modular homes arrived on site from Huntington Homes in Vermont on Tuesday amid great fanfare, as our family and friends and very special neighbors all cheered the day along. Luncheon was served for builder Dave Gampfer and his crew, who will work on…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
We could have not asked for a better Fourth of July. The sun was shining, the people were happy, the parade was great and the fireworks beautiful. Who could ask for more?
Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week.…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
July 3 71 63 .04
July 4 75 60 Trace
July 5 78 56 .00
July 6 77 59 .00
July 7 79 61 Trace
July 8 72 60 1.25
July 9 73 60 Trace
…
Tennis Tournament, Art Party to Help Haiti
The Haitian Art Sale will be held Saturday, July 18, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Resort, 111 New York avenue in Oak Bluffs, sponsored by the Martha’s Vineyard Fish Farm for Haiti Project.
There will be live music by Haitian artist Didi Jeremie, hors d’oeuvre and wine. The suggested…
Operafest Brings the Love
Operafest Brings the Love
An intensive two-week training program for talented young singers culminates at 8 p.m. this Saturday at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, when students from the Claudette Peterson Vocal Studio’s OperaFest 2009 will don make-up and costumes for a gala performance entitled Summer of Love: Passionate Arias and Romantic Scenes…
David Crohan and Friends Play from the Heart at Tabernacle
David Crohan and Friends Play from the Heart at Tabernacle
Pianist David Crohan will present a benefit concert in the Tabernacle Monday, July 13 at 8 p.m.. The concert is to benefit Compassionate Care ALS and Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard. David’s friends include Katie Mayhew, Hugh Taylor, Merrily Fenner, and Tom Billitto. Three…
Friday Conversations
Friday Conversations
On Friday, July 10, the guest speaker at the Oak Bluffs Senior Center will be Ralinda Lurie, of the Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard, a fund supporting Island scholarships and financial grants to Island nonprofits. will discuss the aims & goals of the fund, and some of their recent activities. The…
Seashore Ramble
Seashore Ramble
Chilmark native Conrad Neumann will present a free program titled Geo-rambles at Sea and Ashore in Pictures, Poems and Yarns: A Geologist/Oceanographer’s Travels at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday, July 15, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Neumann, who summers in Chilmark and lives in Chapel Hill, N.C.…
Author Enters Existential Life of Tragic Idol, Albert Camus
CAMUS, A ROMANCE. By Elizabeth Hawes. Grove Press. July 2009. 304 pages. $25 hardcover.
As an undergrad, Elizabeth Hawes became fascinated with Albert Camus and embarked on an exploration of not only the work but also the world of the brilliant, handsome and charismatic writer and philosopher. Although she was physically half a…
See Those Flickers from the Tabernacle?
As filmmaker Roman Polanski once said: “Cinema should make you forget you are sitting in a theatre.” He clearly never saw a film screened at the Tabernacle. As riveting as the movie may be, it would be next to impossible not to appreciate the open-air theatre in which it was shown.
Sam Feldman Gives the Gift of Music
or the first time in its nearly 40-year history on the Island, the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society will open its summer concert series by offering free admission to the first two shows. The series is a gift from Sam Feldman to Vineyard music lovers in honor of his late wife Gretchen. The performances of…
Friday, July 3: Mostly Sunny
Friday, July 3: Mostly sunny. Deep blue skies overhead. Changing clouds overhead. Temperature rises to the mid-70s. Crowds of vacationers come off the ferry Island Home in Vineyard Haven late. Long lines of headlights speed up State Road.
The Fishermen
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Tomorrow morning at 12:01 begins the 10th annual Fluke Fishing Tournament, hosted by the Veterans of Foreign War Post 9261. The two-day fishing contest is expected to attract more than 100 anglers.
There were 170 fishermen in last year’s contest, and with fluke in abundance, there is…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
I was working in Edgartown last Thursday during the rather impressive storm. We did not experience hailstones but ran for cover anyway. I don’t recall being so terrified of thunder and lightening. We were on the harbor in a big open space. That, combined with the news of a 42-year-old…
This Weather is for the Birds
Rainy weather — ah, let me see — a good book and a comfy couch are my tickets to staying dry and passing the time. But what do birds do? They also seek shelter but instead of a house they use leaves of shrubs, bushes and trees as a roof. If there are none of…
Hail to the Chief
It was a Hail Mary pass.
Last Thursday, the gods or goddesses of storms played a long shot, and took the opportunity to deliver a bit of ice in the midst of summer.
