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
December 25, 2009
The Real King Kong
The Real King Kong
Educator Robert Hayden Is Given National Award
Robert C. Hayden, president of the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), was honored during the National Alliance for Black School Educators’ annual conference recently held in Indianapolis, Ind. Executives from Exploritas (formerly Elderhostel) presented Mr. Hayden with the Asa Grant Hilliard III Exploritas Award…
Wine, Beer Sales
Wine, Beer Sales
On Tuesday, Gov. Patrick signed legislation allowing the Tisbury board of selectmen to place the question of whether or not the town’s restaurants can sell beer and wine on the ballot at their next annual town election.
State Rep. Timothy Madden, who filed the home rule petition, said,…
Cell Phone Company Appeals for Approval
American Tower Company, the concern that wants to build a distributed antenna system (DAS) to improve cell phone coverage in the three up-Island towns, has submitted a letter to West Tisbury suggesting that its application does not need review by the town zoning board of appeals.
Dated Dec. 14 and written by American…
Feast Your Eyes on Family Film Shorts
The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival’s Family. Film. Feast. series continues this holiday weekend at the Chilmark Community Center with Why Wait?, a program of family friendly shorts featuring Lost & Found, based on the book by Oliver Jeffers.
The Saturday, Dec. 26 evening begins at 5 p.m. with dinner prepared by a local…
To Everything, There Is a Season, And a Calendar for Every Interest
The wall calendar that hangs beside the kitchen telephone, or on the wall behind the home office desk, is a dutiful thing. First and foremost, it lays out the days of the month with the pleasant organization of a numbered grid, so that we might make plans, set goals and schedule the chaos of our…
Post-Apocalyptic Prep School
Post-Apocalyptic Prep School
Holiday Library Hours
Holiday Library Hours
Ready to check out a book you didn’t get as a Christmas gift? Here are the holiday hours at your Island libraries:
Edgartown: Dec. 24, closing at 2 p.m.; Dec. 25 and 26, closed; Dec. 31, closing at 5 p.m.; Jan. 1, closed; Jan. 2, open regular hours,…
Gifts for All, Good Tidings for Vineyard
At the Animal Shelter of MVThe dogs were barking with great glee,And the cats were purring to beat the band,For they sensed, in the air, that something grandWas about to happen — to bring delightTo all Martha’s Vineyard, which is right.In the sky above, they sniffed reindeerGetting ready to land and to bring good cheerNot…
Gazette Chronicle: Light in Darkness
Light in Darkness
From earlier Christmas editions of the Gazette:
Chickadess perch on each wreath
Of greenery and underneath
The rabbits scamper past.
And nothing daunts the cheerful glow
Though falling sleet and driving snow
Come hissing on the blast.
…
For Nancy Fischer: 1949-1973
Nancy died in seventy-three
She was only twenty-three
She was a gamer
She was a good one
Letters to the Editor
KWANZAA CELEBRATION
Kwanzaa, the Festival of First Fruits, is a celebration of family, community, culture and values of traditional African culture. It was founded in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga as an African American and Pan-African holiday.
At the first Kwanzaa celebration the letter “a” was added to the end of…
Christmas 2009
Christmas 2009
Six days ago the Polar Express raced up from the mid-Atlantic, streaking a blizzardy path from Washington, D.C. to New Jersey, Long Island, Cape Cod, the Vineyard, Nantucket and finally Nova Scotia. Travelers were stranded, ferries were cancelled and holiday retailers, already worried in the economic recession, worried even more.
After-Christmas Carol
After-Christmas Carol
Tisbury School Students Make the Honor Roll
The Tisbury School has announced its honor roll for the first quarter of the 2009-2010 academic year.
Fifth grade high honors go to Patrick Best and Ethan Mendez.
Plum Streams Live
Plum Streams Live
Plum TV, Comcast channel 76, announces live streaming on plumtv.com.
Plum TV is a network of eight stations around the country featuring local TV from destinations such as Martha’s Vineyard, Aspen, Vail and Miami Beach.
Scallopers Agree on New Limits
After polling a group of commercial shellfishermen in the room, the Edgartown shellfish committee agreed on Tuesday that the commercial scallop limit should stay at four struck 10-gallon washbaskets. The new limit went into effect on Dec. 10, and was previously set at three 10-gallon washbaskets.
Camille Rose Steps Down from Board
After more than three decades of leadership, Camille Rose has quietly resigned from the Aquinnah planning board and plan review committee, citing personal reasons. She is chairman of both committees.
Catch Shares for New England Fisheries
Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced new fisheries measures that would encourage the use of sector management whenever possible in the New England region in an effort to restore depleted stocks such as cod, flounder and pollock.
Coach’s Sudden Resignation Unsettles Girls’ Hockey Team
Despite the snow and cold, the winter sports season is off to a hot start at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School with the boys’ basketball and hockey teams posting early big wins.
Meanwhile, the girls’ hockey team has been shaken by the sudden departure of longtime head coach Sam Sherman just two…
Winter Arrives on Cue: Kids Play As Snow Stops Planes, Power
A severe coastal storm that spread snow from Virginia up into Maine, a day before the first official day of winter, shut down the Vineyard for most of Sunday with gale winds and heavy freezing snow. Chappaquiddick went without electricity for nearly a full day, and Martha’s Vineyard Airport remained closed until Tuesday afternoon.
…
Clarification
Clarification
A story in last week’s Gazette about Bridge Housing made reference to two letters written by the Island Affordable Housing Fund to Bridge Housing Corp. A September 2008 letter which was discussed by the housing fund board but never signed, contained contingency language for “the commitment of all other financing.” A March…
Morning Glory Proffers Expansion Plan
A proposal to renovate and expand Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown saw strong support during a public hearing last Thursday before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. The commission is reviewing the plan as a development of regional impact (DRI).
Boatline Keeps Budget in Black; Terminal to Be Ready in April
The Steamship Authority is on track to finish a difficult year in reasonably good financial shape, the last board meeting of 2009 was told last week.
As of the end of October, the boat line’s net operating income was almost $12 million, some $2.8 million better than forecast.
The monthly business…
Let Christmas Child Remind Us We Can Make a Better World
The weeks leading up to Christmas are filled with longing and expectation. This is the season of Advent, which culminates in the birth of Jesus. As we sing in the hymn, O Little Town of Bethlehem, “the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” We know quite a bit about…
First on Water, Now on Land: MVC Pauses Wind Power Plans
Despite ongoing protests from a handful of small farmers, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last Thursday continued on its path to develop regulations for wind turbines at sea and on land, voting to designate a sweeping land-based district of critical planning concern (DCPC) for airspace over the Island.
The vote was 12-0; it follows…
Seniors Shape Plans Amid Unknowns
When she was a high school sophomore, Tessa Permar’s mother promised her that if she kept her grades up for the next two years, she would help to fund and support a gap year for her daughter, between high school graduation and Tessa’s first year of college. Now a senior at the Martha’s Vineyard…
Bright Energy Plan or Big Waste? John McCain Aims at Vineyard
A week ago Ted Bayne, a member of the board of directors for the Vineyard Energy Project, got a call from a producer at CNN. She wanted to talk to him about being number seven on John McCain’s hit list.
“It was news to me,” said Mr. Bayne.
Committee Balks at Use of Green Fund
The West Tisbury community preservation committee has asked to see a tape of the annual town meeting last April before voting on a recent request from the Island Affordable Housing Fund to release $50,000 from a restricted account. The housing fund, whose financial troubles have come into the public spotlight in recent months, wants to…
Land Bank Sees Revenues Fall
The depressed real estate market resulted in a 23 per cent fall in Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank revenues in 2009, on top of a 33 per cent slide the previous year.
There was a dramatic fall, too, in the amount of land the organization was able to put under conservation protection. It acquired…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Dec. 18 25 13 .00
Dec. 19 30 19 .00
Dec. 20 36 24 .84*
Dec. 21 26 21 .06*
Dec. 22 32 21 .00
Dec. 23 30 17 .00
*Melted Precip.
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Mars
For those willing to brave the cold night, there is a ruby red planet rising in the east after 10 p.m. Mars is a perfect example of how a planet gets significantly brighter when it is closer.
Correction
Correction
Due to an error in transmitting, the Gazette last week published a report on a Steamship Authority monthly meeting from the previous year.
The Gazette regrets the error. This month’s meeting is reported above.
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
There is an old story that at Christmas time all the animals can speak, so the animals at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard would like to tell you their stories, in their own words, and wish everyone happy holidays and a Happy New Year.
“My name is…
Snow Days
The news of the week has to be centered on snow. Twelve inches of it in my yard, and reports of 16 to 18 inches up-Island.
For those of you who have been commenting on the seeming scarcity of birds at your feeder, this fluffy white stuff may be the thing that brings…
Gazette Holiday Schedule
Good morning and Merry Christmas to all our readers. The Vineyard Gazette will publish next week on Thursday, Dec. 31. The newspaper office in Edgartown will be closed on Christmas Day, and again on Friday, Jan. 1.
Here We Go A-whaling
It was the whale of a tale and the tail of a whale that brought me to South Beach on a crisp winter day last week.
The tail was a bit more than two feet wide and was attached to a body; a whale’s body. The rest of the story centered around this…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark, on Monday, is enjoying the usual lovely day that follows a mean Northeaster … I am writing to you early this week so that you will have the paper on Thursday. There isn’t a chance of my telling you much that is new…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
It’s odd to be shocked at the death of a 101-year-old man, but once a person — particularly a cogent, articulate and fairly fully ambulatory one — makes it to advanced late age, we tend to believe he’ll live forever, or at the very least…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Christmas eve candlelight service will be held at Community Baptist Church of Gay Head on Thursday evening at 5 p.m. Rev. Roger Spinney will offer the Christmas message in his worship sermon. Special music will be performed by members of the congregation, and Mrs.…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
I love the day after a snowstorm. The sun is shining bright, the sky is that perfect blue, and the snow is as white as can be. I looked out at the bird feeder to see the male cardinal sitting there, his red color was…
Hello, Shamere
Hello, Shamere
Janice and Robert Coke of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Shamere Rojaun Coke, born on Dec. 18, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Shamere weighed 7 pounds, 10.4 ounces at birth.
Announcing Amelia
Announcing Amelia
Abril and Todd Chapman of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Amelia Jay Ayon Chapman, born on Dec. 19, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Amelia weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces at birth.
