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
October 16, 2009
Crop Walk
Crop Walk
The 19th annual CROP Walk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 18, beginning at 2 p.m. at St. Augustine’s Church in Vineyard Haven.
Island Affordable Housing Fund Names New Executive Director
He is a family man, father of three, physically fit with a passion for cycling, and a bit of history buff. And now T. Ewell Hopkins, who has been commuting from his year-round home in Oak Bluffs to work in mainland metropolises for the past 10 years, is happy to have more time at home…
Water Talk
Water Talk
William E. Marks will give a presentation on water this Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Public Library. Mr. Marks is the award-winning author of Water Voices from Around The World, and was founder of both the first state-certified water testing laboratory on the Vineyard, and the…
Love and Letters: Rose and Bill Styron
It’s easy to be cynical about love these days. Divorce rates seem always on the rise and tabloid fodder makes a public mockery of marriage and commitment. But some people are still able to hold on for a lifetime, or longer.
A Friday night event at the Bunch of Grapes bookstore, billed as…
An Appeal to Islanders to Get Organized
A fter the recent hearing and learning what others are doing and thinking regarding the state plan to locate at Noman’s Land (already designated by the federal government as a bird sanctuary) and Cuttyhunk, up to 166 turbines over 450 feet high generating enough electricity to power over 200,000 homes, the following thoughts occur:
Letters to the Editor
TO SEWER, OR NOT
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Regarding the selectmen’s rush to include the Island Grove sewer article on Edgartown’s Oct. 27 special town meeting warrant, I suggest we all take a moment to consider a few pieces of the puzzle before committing ourselves to more debt.
For one…
Sometimes, the Goal is in the Process
My five-year-old son, Hardy, and I were kicking the soccer ball around the backyard and for the first time Hardy seemed engaged in the game rather than frustrated with the rule of not being able to use his hands. This was big progress. Up until the age of four, Hardy was a city boy, and…
Complications of Flu Clinics
Complications of Flu Clinics
Public health officials on the Island, as elsewhere, have been working feverishly in recent months to devise a plan to vaccinate Islanders against seasonal flu as well as the novel H1N1 flu virus before the winter, as theses viruses thrive in cooler temperatures and lower humidity. Both viruses can…
Island Selectmen Call for Taxi Metering Regulations
Like traffic lights and fast food restaurants, taxi cab meters have traditionally been a verboten topic on the Vineyard.
But following a string of complaints this summer about taxi companies overcharging customers, selectmen from all six Island towns have now agreed on the need for uniform taxi regulations.
The problem was…
Menemsha Crowd Raises Sunken Sailboat
A 23-foot sunken sailboat in Menemsha harbor was hauled up on Wednesday morning by a crew that included Menemsha Coast Guard, the town harbor master and the captain of a fishing boat and his mates.
Chet Wisniewski, 88, of Menemsha, said his sailboat, called Water Music, sank at noon in its slip on…
Work Will Close Part of Lambert’s Cove Road
A small stretch of Lambert’s Cove Road in West Tisbury will be closed to motorists for two weeks beginning Nov. 2 to repair a portion of the roadway as well as the bridge over Blackwater Brook near the town beach parking lot, highway superintendent Richard Olsen told selectmen last week.
The work will…
Neighbors Say Oak Bluffs Congregation Is Using Planned Church Commercially
At first glance the building at the corner of Ryan’s Way and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs doesn’t look much like a church. The lawn is dotted with piles of wood chips, a lawn mower and a scattering of children’s toys; through the upstairs windows people can be spotted cooking in a room that…
Sengekontacket Reopens To Shellfishing After Test
Sengekontacket Pond was reopened to shellfishing on Monday morning, after water testing came back negative for significant levels of bacteria. David Grunden, Oak Bluffs shellfish constable, said shellfishermen were back in the pond in search of quahaugs and steamers not long after the reopening.
The 745-acre pond shared by the towns of Edgartown…
Women’s Network Presents Talk on Social Networking
Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, have become household terms. And everybody seems to have their own blog these days. But despite the fact that everyone from age one to 100 seems to have joined the digital revolution, using it to effectively promote products and businesses is not yet common knowledge.
African Arts
African Arts
Oak Bluffs Admits Water Crisis Mistakes
At their first meeting since a state order was issued banning residents from drinking their tap water for nearly a week, Oak Bluffs selectmen acknowledged the town did a poor job informing the public during the crisis and vowed to do better in the future.
Hello, Jason
Hello, Jason
Denitsa Gancheva and Mark Alton of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Jason Donovan Alton, born on Oct. 12, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Jason weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces at birth.
In Vineyard Skies
Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Oct. 16 6:54 5:59
Sat., Oct. 17 6:55 5:57
Sun., Oct. 18 6:56 5:56
Mon., Oct. 19 6:57 5:54
Tues., Oct. 20 6:59 5:53
Wed., Oct. 21 7:00 5:51
Thurs., Oct. 22 7:01 5:50
Fri., Oct. 23 7:02 5:48
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
Clarification
Clarification
In a story in last week’s Gazette about the invasion of tunicates in Island ponds, Mary Carman of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution blamed the importing of shellfish from the Sea of Japan for the introduction of the animal. She said further this week that the restaurant industry is responsible.
Edgartown Dredge Gets Busy; Town Mulls Mass Texting Plan
Because Oak Bluffs has not secured the proper permits necessary to enlist the Edgartown dredge for a planned project in Sengekontacket Pond, the town dredge is set to begin another project in Anthier’s Pond on the Edgartown side, dredge committee chairman Norman Rankow told the Edgartown selectmen on Monday.
“We were kind of…
My Kingdom for a Sock Puppet: Antony and Cleopatra
There are few plays in history that attempt as much spectacle on stage as Antony and Cleopatra, a romantic tragedy of war, lust, politics, lust, betrayal and lust. “This script is frequently quite over-the-top, and the lead characters so histrionic about their feelings for each other that it borders on farce,” explains Nicole Galland, who…
Oyster Bags Stacked as Tribe, Town Mull Future Pond Lease
In the aftermath of a drawn-out cleanup project for a failed oyster hatchery on Menemsha Pond, selectmen have asked the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to develop a detailed plan for future use of the site before they will consider a new lease on the pond.
English Learners
English Learners
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Oct. 9 63 45 .00
Oct. 10 68 59 .01
Oct. 11 68 38 .01
Oct. 12 65 45 .00
Oct. 13 57 41 Trace
Oct. 14 62 40 .02
Oct. 15 53 34 Trace
…
Gazette Chronicle: Fun in the Sun
Fun in the Sun
From an October, 1994 Just a Thought, by Art Railton:
At least a dozen times since Labor Day I’ve been asked, “Did you have a fun summer?” I never know how to respond. How would I know? Those of us who live here don’t spend much time…
Two-Stop Flu Clinic Will Offer Two Vaccines if State Delivers
After much debate about logistics, and delays caused by vaccine shortages, it appears likely that all Vineyard residents will be offered vaccination against both swine flu and regular flu, at a single big clinic, on Nov. 11.
A meeting of the Island’s various town health agents, school nurses, tribe and other public health…
Dredging Debate Splits Mill Pond Planners, Town
To dredge or not to dredge? That is the question currently being bandied about in West Tisbury.
A specially-appointed research committee has split over whether to dredge Mill Pond, the historic man-made pond that graces the entrance to town on the Edgartown-West Tisbury Road adjacent to the police station. Two of the committee…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
The weekend weather was delightful, if on the cool side. Pumpkins now grace many front lawns, and it is perhaps the last weekend to mow your yard before putting your lawnmower away until spring.
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
After another summer of hearing visitors to the Island utter the dreaded words “Oaks Bluff,” I’m beginning to think we should just throw in the towel and change our town’s name. This is not an attempt to capitulate to the tourists any more than we’d…
Cue the Violins: School’s Chief Puts Strings Program on Block
Music, arts and enrichment programs in the Island schools are on the block for downsizing as the Vineyard schools superintendent tries to craft a budget for the coming year with little or no increase over last year.
And if the 2011 $3.5 million shared services budget for fiscal year 2011 unveiled last week…
Oak Bluffs Voters to Confront Budget Cuts, Sewer Expansion
The warrant for next week’s special town meeting in Oak Bluffs contains only seven articles, but the issues it will decide are critical to the town’s future.
When voters gather on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs School they will decide whether the town should cut $500,000 from the current operating…
Derby Days Draw to Close With Wind, Rain
The 64th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby is winding down and it could be practically over with today and tomorrow’s bad weather. Though the weather already has shut down the shore division, there has been a new development every day this week in the boat division.
On Sunday, the derby…
Edgartown
Kathie Case
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
I love this time of year. The sky is so blue with white puffy clouds, the air is crisp and there is a smell of wood burning in the air. Fall is definitely upon us.
Happy birthday to all who celebrated this past…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
If you missed everybody this week, they were all in Vineyard Haven trying to get on a boat headed off-Island. Everyone involved, including the Steamship Authority staff, said it was the heaviest October weekend travel crush they could remember! Needless to say, we came…
State Rep. Tim Madden Joins Chorus of Critics Over Draft Oceans Plan
The draft Oceans Management Plan is a rush job, based on hastily-assembled data with little or no real analysis that is simply a means to an end: the rapid development of wind power generation in waters off the coast of Massachusetts, said Cape and Islands Rep. Timothy Madden this week.
And Mr. Madden…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Moving South
It is the changing of the guard so to speak. The double-crested cormorants are joining up in long skeins and moving south. The greater cormorants are arriving from the north. When the two species of cormorants are sitting on the same rock, it is obvious which is which. The greater is greater — weighing almost…
Tastes Like a Vineyard Food Festival
W hen you’ve got sweet butternut squash, leafy green kale and late fall sweet corn coming up, there’s no sense mourning the loss of summer tomatoes.
At least that’s what Andy Husbands (pictured top right) believes.
Three Short Plays Are Long on Island Talent on Script and Stage
Once and for all can the question be answered: Can we go home again? Playwrights from Chekhov to Wilder have renewed the debate and, of course, the answer will always have to be Maybe, depending on the place and who was — and may still be — in it.
Kicking the Habit
You won’t have this mushroom to kick around anymore.
Earthstars, which are in the puffball family of mushrooms, are nature’s kickballs. Very few of us can resist the urge to take a boot to these and other bulbous puffballs. As fall progresses, the sporous spheres are nearing the end of their reproductive lifecycle,…
