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
November 6, 2009
News Update: Wednesday, Nov. 11 – Flu Clinic Oversubscribed
By MIKE SECCOMBE
Martha’s Vineyard health officials had to end today’s planned four-hour all-Island seasonal flu clinic flu clinic after just two hours, when supplies of vaccine ran out.
Just before 10 a.m., they began turning away cars at the two staging points, at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury and…
Drug Suspects Arrested at Ferry
Two men were arrested on felony drug charges Tuesday as they were stepping off the ferry in Vineyard Haven.
The Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force, working in conjunction with the Tisbury and Massachusetts State Police, arrested Jose Luis Arais, 21, of Jamaica Plain, and Wilken Ariaz Baez, 27. Both men were charged with…
Islandwide DCPC Voted Over Water; Edgartown Opts Out of One on Land
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted without dissent last night to designate the waters around the Vineyard as a district of critical planning concern, cementing a yearlong moratorium on building wind farms in nearshore waters while rules are developed.
But a parallel plan to nominate an Islandwide DCPC on land for wind power developments…
Pure Green
Pure Green
Eco MV is donating cases of personal spray bottles of PureGreen24 disinfectant for Vineyard schools to distribute in classrooms. PureGreen24 is a disinfectant and deodorizer strong enough to kill the most dangerous bacteria and viruses found in hospitals, yet is approved by the EPA to be used on children’s toys and…
Selectmen Stand By Decision To Allow Dog Training Reprieve
The Chilmark selectmen this week stood by their decision to allow the owners of a pointing griffon named Maisy to send the dog off-Island for rigorous training and not be put to sleep. Last month Maisy attacked a Yorkshire terrier that later died as a result of his injuries.
Soldiers Find Solace in Boxes From Islanders
Jason Canha, a 36-year-old special agent with the Air Force, was serving at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan last summer when he received four large boxes from the Vineyard. In that hot and windy place, Mr. Canha said, T-shirts are at a premium, and those boxes were loaded with T-shirts and other items from home. “It…
Hunting for Balance Amid Homes, Deer And Natural Diversity
The deer are everywhere: strolling 30 deep through the pastures off North Road, blithely grazing Nat’s Farm field in West Tisbury, and bounding throughout the Island on streets, driveways and occasionally through windshields. They are gorgeous animals, what biologists delightfully call “charismatic megafauna.” But biologists have another term for the Island’s relationship with deer:…
Surprise Terminal Teardown
If you happened to be in Oak Bluffs on Tuesday and were surprised to see the Steamship Authority terminal building in the process of being flattened, you were not alone. Also surprised, and dismayed, were town officials.
For the SSA did not have the town’s permission to do it. The conservation commission had…
Town Selectman, Businessman Spar Over Liquor Storage Rules
Sparks flew at the Aquinnah selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night when one board member clashed with a town businessman, claiming that he had knowingly acted outside the law this summer by storing alcohol in a truck on his property.
The board held off on renewing Matthew (Cully) Vanderhoop’s liquor license for the Aquinnah Shop…
Housing Fund Runs Into Money Trouble
Revealing deep fault lines in its financial affairs, the Island Affordable Housing Fund announced abruptly this week that it can no longer pay for the county rental assistance program, pulling the rug out from under hundreds of Islanders who depend on the program for stable year-round housing.
The nonprofit fund not only has…
Flu Hits High School Hard; – Clinic Nov. 11
Illness presumed to be swine flu has resulted in the absence of an average of more than 100 students each day of the past week from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
And still there is no indication of when Island health authorities will receive enough vaccine to inoculate all Island school children…
Marketing Seminar for Nonprofits
Nonprofit board and staff members can get help building an effective marketing campaign at a half-day workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Presenter Sue Silk will guide participants through such questions as: Is your mission compelling, clear, distinctive and valuable? Do your communications break through the clutter and engage donors in your cause? Do…
Energy Grant is More Problem Than Solution
A grant for renewable energy has flummoxed the West Tisbury selectmen who say that the terms of the grant are too restrictive and that the amount is too small to achieve anything worthwhile.
“We have $8,526.56 that I don’t have the slightest idea how to spend,” said executive secretary Jennifer Rand at the…
American Red Cross Offering Adult Classes
The American Red Cross will be holding an adult CPR/AED and First Aid class on Nov. 14 at 57 Pequot avenue in Oaks Bluffs.
From 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the class covers rescue breathing, first aid for choking, recognizing a heart attack, CPR skills, and care for injuries and sudden illness.
…
Open House
Open House
The Vineyard Health Care Access Program is celebrating its 10th anniversary with an open house on Friday, Nov. 13 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the program’s offices, located at 114 New York avenue in Oak Bluffs.
For details on the open house or on Access Program services, call…
Dog Killed in Edgartown Duplex Blaze
A stove burner that had been left on was the cause of an early morning fire on Monday at a two-family home on Fisher Road in Edgartown. The fire claimed the life of one pet and left two young families temporarily without a home.
Din at the Inn: Construction Chaos Resounds in Edgartown
At the Lightkeepers Inn on Simpson’s Lane in Edgartown, it was a long summer for light-sleeping inn-seekers.
Construction across the lane at the site of the former Shiretown Inn has provided its share of metaphorical and actual headaches to Heidi Raihofer and her guests at the Lightkeepers Inn over the past several months,…
Parents, Administrators Face Off Over School Budget Problems
Under mounting pressure from Island towns to deliver a budget with no increase over last year, the regional high school district committee hosted a crowd of concerned parents pushing for the reinstatement of an in-school driver’s education program at their meeting Monday night.
Medicine for Melancholy Screens Saturday
Daily Show with Jon Stewart regular Wyatt Cenac stars in Medicine For Melancholy, a film that begins with two African-American twenty-somethings who wake up in bed together having no recollection of how they arrived there. The cinematic drama follows their next day in San Francisco, as they shrug off sleep but not quite each other.
Ruth Meyer, Derby Hall of Fame Inductee
Over the years she has sold a lot of eels and given out a lot of advice about how and where to catch fish.
And last month Ruth Meyer, former longtime owner of Larry’s Tackle Shop and a quiet unsung hero in the fishing community, was inducted into the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass…
New YMCA Director Preps for Opening Day
Jill Robie, the new interim executive director at the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard, began her first day on the job Tuesday wearing a hard hat and walking through the new $12 million facility in construction off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.
While she was touring the concrete swimming pool with Chuck Hughes, president of…
Survivors of Genocide
Survivors of Genocide
Last Night
Last Night
The Tisbury Volunteer Ambulance Association does not plan to organize the Last Night First Day event for New Year’s Eve this year. The group would like any other group or organization interested in picking up the event for this year to contact them; they would be pleased to assist by providing…
Birdies for Baseball
Birdies for Baseball
The fifth annual Birdies for Baseball Charity Golf Tournament was held Saturday, Oct. 24 at Mink Meadows Golf Club. First place went to the REMAX team of Duncan Cooper, Joyce Cooper, Wes Nagy and Chris Chvatal. Second place went to the Island Propane Inc. team of John Dutton, Bob Murray,…
Visiting Lama
Visiting Lama
Garcia’s Deli Behind Alley’s Closes
Garcia’s Deli & Bakery, the take-out eatery behind Alley’s General Store in central West Tisbury, hung out “everything must go” signs last weekend and closed its doors Monday afternoon, not for the season but for good.
Donate Your Mobile
Donate Your Mobile
The Rotary Club is collecting cell phones for charity, with drop-offs at West Tisbury, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven libraries; Alley’s, Cronig’s and Stop & Shop. For details, call 508-696-0714.
Cape Wind Responds to Claim It Is Less Than Cutting Edge
In an op-ed that appeared in this newspaper last week Timothy Holmes strangely stated: “The promoters and supporters of the Cape Wind project are about to perform the equivalent of loading 34,000 General Motors 2005 Hummers into Nantucket Sound.”
A Changing of the Guard
I’ve spent at least a portion of the last 47 summers with my family in a gingerbread cottage in the Camp Ground in Oak Bluffs. The boulder at the rear entrance to the Tabernacle reads, “Surely God is in this place.” I cannot speak for God but it seems that my late grandfather’s spirit is…
Listen to Your Ancestors
The family reunion in Hawaii was upcom ing — should I go? I had been avoiding the issue for almost a year. It was in July and July is a wonderful time to be on the Vineyard. It was far. The tickets were expensive. And in my dotage I have become unreasonably fearful of airplanes.…
Letters to the Editor
SHOCKING NEWS
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
The following is an e-mail that went out to an array of West Tisbury residents on Wednesday:
Can’t Pay the Rent
Can’t Pay the Rent
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
Saving Flat Point Farm
Saving Flat Point Farm
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Oct. 30 54 45 .02
Oct. 31 61 43 .00
Nov. 1 68 51 .21
Nov. 2 56 50 .01
Nov. 3 53 48 .03
Nov. 4 57 41 Trace
Nov. 5 52 36 .00
…
Wet 2009
If you are thinking this has been a wet year, you’re right. With two months left in the year, we’ve already hit our annual average of 45 inches. If there is not another rain cloud overhead, if it doesn’t rain even a little bit between now and the end of the year, the Vineyard has…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
Last weekend the weather was quite nice but a little windy, but that didn’t stop folks from playing tennis on the town courts at the school while others were practicing their golf swing at the Agricultural Society field.
Gloria Sylva, over at…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark is enjoying a few more warm days of sunshine. All the outdoor chores are getting done as we try to prepare ourselves for the cold weather headed our way.
The annual firefighters’ Halloween party for children took place at the Community…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
I’ve double-checked: This is my seventh week back at writing the off-season edition of the Oak Bluffs town column (Bettye Baker having recently completed her exemplary third gig as the summer contributor), and I’ve prevailed all this time without writing a word about my dog,…
Aquinnah
JUNE MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Tayke 3 will be performing at the Aquinnah Town Hall on Saturday evening, Nov. 7 from 6 to 10 p.m. for an evening of dance and enjoyment. Ed Fantasia, his brother Mario and their friends will play their tunes for the benefit of the restoration…
With Edgartown Buffs
By Kate J. Conde
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
I think Indian summer is upon us. Once the rain is gone Friday, the weather is supposed to be in the mid 60s this weekend. It makes raking leaves a nicer job.
Happy birthday to all who celebrated their day this past week.…
Gazette Closed Monday
Gazette Closed Monday
The Vineyard Gazette office in Edgartown will be closed on Monday in order to allow the staff to take a day off in place of Veterans Day. The national holiday will be observed on Wednesday, Nov. 11, when schools, banks and post offices will be closed. The Gazette office will…
Island Self-Help Programs
Alcoholics Anonymous
Information: 627-7084.
All meetings are nonsmoking.
Sunday, 6:45 a.m., open discussion meeting, First Baptist Church, William street, Vineyard Haven.
Sunday, 10 a.m., open discussion, State Beach, first bridge, Oak Bluffs, (weather permitting).
Sunday, 11 a.m., open discussion meeting at the Council on Aging…
Hot Sauce Gets Cold Cash for Boys and Girls
Sharky’s Cantina of Edgartown presents Wingfest 2009, a fundraiser for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club, on Saturday, November 7, from noon to 3 p.m. Twelve organizations will come together to try for the honor of Wingfest Champion. Booths include the Edgartown Police Department, Edgartown Firemens’ Association, Oak Bluffs Fire Department, Edgartown Town Hall,…
ACE MV Teachers and Students Offer Free Reading
Teachers and students from Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard will share excerpts from their work with the public on Friday, November 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the high school library.
Immigrant Voices Travel from Island to Harvard
Nightmares and Dreams: Immigrant Voices is a short play written and performed by a group of 5 to 12 Vineyardwomen from six different Latin American countries: Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Uruguay. The play was created in an adult education conversational English class using theater exercises, music, and literature as creative and effective…
Winter Walking with the Conservation Society
The Vineyard Conservation Society is celebrating over 25 years of leading free winter walks for the community with a walk in East Chop on Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.
Liz Durkee and David Grunden will lead and look at erosion and the possible impacts on fisheries. Walkers will then have the opportunity to…
Raise the Roof
Raise the Roof
Fifteen years ago, the New Hampshire barn that had been dismantled, shipped and reassembled off Panhandle Road in West Tisbury was finished, and officially became the New Agricultural Society Hall. While a decade and a half of potlucks, dances, meetings and exhibitions have taken the new out of its name,…
Off-Season at the Arboretum
Explore the off-season at Polly Hill Arboretum withe free, guided walks walks on the second Saturday of each month, starting next Saturday, Nov 14. Tours are at 10 a.m. and run for a little over an hour. Meet at the visitor center off State Road in west Tisbury and dress for the weather.
…
Education Plan
Education Plan
Three teachers from the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School will be discussing the Personal Education Plan Conference Model used at the charter school for parent/student/teacher conferences, on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School.
Jane Paquet, Amy Reece and Susie DiRubio…
Green, Groovy Crooner Plays for Plum Hill Future
Chris Velan is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, lawyer and producer of the soundtrack to the documentary film, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, called Living Like a Refugee. He’s also an environmentally concerned musician, and he’s making a stop on his North American tour to play at Nectar’s nightclub at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport for a concert…
Flower Bedding
Flower Bedding
How to Put Flower Beds to Bed, a free hands-on workshop with botanist Alicia Lesnikowska, is set for Saturday, Nov. 14, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Community Solar Greenhouse (COMSOG) at 114 New York avenue in Oak Bluffs. For details, 508-693-2019.
Shoots First, Questions Later
Who knew?
Bamboo shoots, those Asian culinary delicacies, are really the beginnings of the bamboo plants, the culms (new growth) that culminate in a full-grown bamboo plant. Though it may seem obvious, I had thought that bamboo shoots were in the same company as oyster mushrooms, buffalowings, cherry tomatoes, horseradish, bread an d butterpickles, and other…
Free Holiday Rooms
Free Holiday Rooms
The Holiday Inn in Falmouth will be offering free rooms during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays for families with relatives who are hospitalized at the Falmouth Hospital.
The complimentary guest rooms will be available from Wednesday, Nov. 25 through Friday, Nov. 27 and Tuesday, Dec. 22th through Saturday,…
Eating Crow
There is an idiom we are all familiar with: eating crow. I was curious as to the derivation of such an unusual phrase. Wikipedia suggests the exact origin is unknown. The Wikipedia entry goes on, however, to suggest a couple of possible explanations. First, the phrase was originally “to eat boiled crow.” The bit that…
Imperialism in America: Activist Speaks
Author/activist David Swanson is coming to speak at the Tisbury Senior Center from 4 to 6 p.m. on Nov. 7.
Hosted by the Martha’s Vineyard Peace Council, Mr. Swanson will be introducing his latest book, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union, released Sept. 1 by Seven Stories Press.…
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Author John Sundman Kickstarts New Project
It’s an age-old problem. An artist, writer, explorer or inventor has an idea for a project he feels confident will pay off in the long run, but no money to live while he completes it. Where does the artist turn for funds? And on the other side, how do patrons find new talents worthy of…
Free Yoga Allows Moms-to-Be To Connect to Bodies, Babies
Thirty-six weeks pregnant, Elissa Lash is practicing yoga, as she will continue to do until she delivers her second child. The difference is that now on the mats alongside her each Monday evening are other women with swelling bellies, all able, again, to have this hour and a half of prenatal yoga at absolutely no…
In Concert: Crohan and Mayhew Play Together, Again
He is a seasoned pianist with an Island legacy that echoes through the streets of Oak Bluffs, where he spent a 20-year run entertaining guests at David’s Island House. She is a teenage singing prodigy who won the chance to perform with the Boston Pops, a homegrown celebrity just beginning to leave her footprint on…
