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
February 19, 2010
Down the Half Court
Down the Half Court
The regional high school boys basketball team is having a good year, winning half a share of the Eastern Athletic Conference league title before a roaring home crowd last week. Seedings in the state tournament will be announced today, and the Vineyard is expected to play at least one…
Grant Resource Network Announces New Workshop
As part of its ongoing effort to help Vineyard nonprofits find new sources of revenue, the Martha’s Vineyard Donors Collaborative is pleased to announce that Grant Resource Network: Martha’s Vineyard will offer a workshop in basic grant-writing skills. The two-part workshop will be offered on March 1 and 2 at the Oak Bluffs Public Library.…
Yiddish Book Discussion
Prof. Herb Foster, author of the best selling book, Ribbin’, Jivin’, and Playin’ the Dozens: The Persistent Dilemma in Our Schools, will discuss his recently completed manuscript, Yiddish and Jive in American English, at the Vineyard Haven library at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The manuscript explores how Americans of Jewish and…
Welcome Kayleigh
Welcome Kayleigh
Melissa Boyd of Edgartown announces the birth of a daughter, Kayleigh May Boyd, born on Feb. 12, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Kayleigh weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces at birth.
Hello, Kevin
Hello, Kevin
Vania Carvalho Martins and Edson Martins Jr. of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Kevin Carvalho Martins, born on Feb. 11 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Kevin weighed 6 pounds, 8.6 ounces at birth.
New Salsa Session Begins
The community salsa classes led by Saskia Vanderhoop on Fridays from 4 to 5 p.m. at Che’s Lounge in Vineyard Haven have ceased. However, those still interested in learning the moves, steps, turns and twists can head to the Camp Jabberwocky studio in Vineyard Haven for a new Basic Beginner Salsa Class. The class will…
Introducing Hunter
Introducing Hunter
Patricia Parker and Jonathan Parker of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Hunter Charles Parker, born on Feb. 9 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Hunter weighed 7 pounds, 14.8 ounces at birth.
Paying Solemn Tribute to a Lost Lieutenant
Northeast wind blowin’ whoo whoo
Rain and sleet with wet mixed in snow
The ducks were flyin’ fast and low.
Bam, bam, I heard him down in Quenames Cove
Had to be D.P., wouldn’t you know.
Not long after in the murky dusk
…
Census Counts on Workers
Census Counts on Workers
The counting has already begun, but the U.S. Census Bureau is still looking to hire Vineyard residents for the 2010 census.
There are a variety of temporary, part-time jobs that offer good pay, flexible evening and weekend hours, and the chance to work near home. Training courses…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
Who is the mystery woman on the pages of this week’s New Yorker? She belongs to 20th century history, Johannesburg, and Oak Bluffs. It’s Charlayne Hunter-Gault, of course, and anyone browsing through the pages of the Feb. 15 and 22 issue will come across the…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark is thawing in spots, but winter lingers with lots of snow in some places. The bright sunshine makes the winter landscape picture-perfect and I can now see the tips of my daffodils poking through the ground, always a hopeful sight.
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
An all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast will be held on Sunday, Feb. 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Aquinnah town hall for the benefit of the Aquinnah Community Programs Committee. This is always a fun time for the entire family. The cost of the…
Seed is Planted for Two-Town Shellfish Management Program
Appearing before the Tisbury selectmen this week, Oak Bluffs shellfish constable David Grunden said: “There are 52 towns in the state that have shellfish resources, and 52 different sets of regulations.”
That number may fall by one if efforts underway to coordinate the administration of Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs shellfish departments are…
Vision of True Vineyard Energy Independence
A sparsely furnished three-room building in West Tisbury marks the unassuming home of Vineyard Power. The organization has two full-time employees: Richard Andre and his assistant, Kerry Downing. All in all it’s a humble arrangement. There is nothing modest, however, about the organization’s ambition. Vineyard Power, the Island’s first energy cooperative, plans to raise and…
Summer Parking Means Business; Tickets Now Punched at Home
They clog up windshields, cause temper tantrums and wind up costing Island residents a small fortune each year, but who knew those little purple parking tickets — the dreaded and despised staple of Vineyard summers — were such an important money-maker for the county? Plymouth County, that is.
Snow Falling Beneath the Sea, And Other Antarctic Wonders
Think Antarctica and you think snow. A vast and unending, featureless panorama of it.
Andrew McDonnell, a PhD student at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and MIT, traveled to the Palmer U.S. Research Station in Antarctica to see snow, but not on land. Instead Mr. McDonnell was interested in the timeless undersea blizzard…
Menemsha Fishermen Must Pay More
Menemsha fishermen will face tighter regulations and higher costs this year, following a decision by a sharply divided Chilmark board of selectmen to require them to carry a $1 million liability insurance policy that names the town in the event of a claim.
State Arbitrators Decide Tisbury Police Contract, Ending a Long Dispute
A state labor relations committee has settled a long-running contract dispute between the town of Tisbury and the union representing the police department that spans nearly three years and four different police chiefs.
The Jan. 28 decision from the Massachusetts Joint Labor Managements Committee for Municipal Police and Fire sides with the town…
Farm Leadership Change
Farm Leadership Change
The Farm Institute announced this week that executive director Matthew Goldfarb and development director Rob Goldfarb, the dynamic sibling team that has helped put the institute on the map of rural agricultural teaching programs on the Vineyard and beyond, will leave the institute this summer to pursue new professional and…
Newly Formed Institute in Chilmark Seeks to Carve Early-Stage Pathways to Art, Creativity, Writing
In person, Marianne Goldberg is evocative of the ocean that inspires her. From the soft waves of her hair and the deep turquoise shades of her flowing garments, to the translucent sea green frames of her eyeglasses, she seems perfectly at home in her secluded Chilmark home overlooking the water of the south shore. Even…
Rent’s Gritty Subject Reinterpreted
There is really no way to write a conventional high school musical review about a project that is not a conventional high school musical. So if that’s what you’re looking for, stop reading now.
Mother-Daughter Book Club
Mother-Daughter Book Club
On Feb. 27, the Oak Bluffs Public Library will offer a new book club for teenaged daughters and their mothers or other adult loved one. Books selected will appeal to both teens and women and will facilitate mother-daughter discussion and bonding over books. The first book, A Northern Light by…
A Day at the Museum
A Day at the Museum
The Tisbury Travel Club is planning a trip to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts on Tuesday, March 2. All adults and accompanied teenagers are welcome; there is no age requirement. Museum members with courtesy tickets may pay only the bus cost and join the group. The group…
Film Documents American Coal Industry
As the wind power debate grabs the Vineyard’s attention, the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School invites the Island community to a screening of the documentary film Coal Country at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 20. Admission is free; donations to the charter school science lab project are welcome.
Myers Brothers Play Che’s
Myers Brothers Play Che’s
Tonight longtime Island musicians Rob and Dave Myers will reunite for a special concert at Che’s Lounge in Vineyard Haven.
Doors open at 8 p.m.; there is a sliding scale donation for admission.
The two brothers, who performed on the Island together in the early…
A Trojan Tragedy Comes to Tisbury
The Vineyard Playhouse once again presents Shakespeare for the Masses, tonight and tomorrow night, this time with a lively reading of Troilus and Cressida, one of the Bard’s lesser-known plays, a tragedy.
Author Talk
Author Talk
The Vineyard Haven public library will host a Sunday afternoon talk with poet and novelist, the Rev. Judy Campbell, on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. Judy will talk about the writing process and getting your work published. There will be time for questions, and an opportunity to hear Judy read from…
Salsa on the Soles of Her Shoes
I had my first taste of salsa dancing at a nightclub in Florida. A friend and professional dancer took the lead and spun me around a crowded dance floor, careful to catch me from crashing into other couples as my unreliable feet stumbled to maintain some sense of rhythm.
Swimming In the Rain, and Other Recollections from the Highlands
Editor’s Note: The following is an edited excerpt of an interview done in 2004 by Linsey Lee with Leona Coleman Flu, the daughter of the first black stage manager in the Boston theatre district. A summer resident of Oak Bluffs from childhood on, Mrs. Coleman now lives in Atlanta, Ga. The interview is published in…
Gazette Chronicle: Bank Notes
From Gazette editions of February, 1985:
Edgartown’s Huck Finn
Today I heard that Samuel Jackson died. I immediately thought to myself, oh, what a loss to his family and the town. I remember Sammy as a main character in my life growing up in Edgartown. He was Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer rolled into one.
Continuing the Cause to Protect Fragile Habitat
The local chapter of Ducks Unlimited, a conservation nonprofit dedicated to preserving habitat, hosted its 34th annual dinner last Saturday at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. And though turnout may have been the smallest in the organization’s long Island history, the group felt good about the evening, according to chairman Cliff Meehan.
Power to the People
Power to the People
Lovable and Winning Dog Tale Is New Work by Susan Wilson
If there’s such a thing as a literary Rocky, in other words, a writer with a solid professional record, yet missing that big knockout punch that lands him or her the championship, then our Island’s own Susan Wilson is that phenomenon.
Photography Classes
Photography Classes
After completing a popular series of workshops on the Vineyard this past summer, Chilmark photographer Peter Simon has been invited to teach his classes aboard the Regents Seven Cruise Ship the Navigator at the end of March for 12 days.
The ship will depart from Port Everglades, Fla., and…
Writers in Courage
Writers in Courage
Student Achievements
The following student achievement announcements were received by the Gazette.
Cape Cod Community College students Martha Abbot of Oak Bluffs and Melissa Boyce of Vineyard Haven were inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international academic honor society of associate degree-granting colleges.
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Free Tax Help for Seniors
Free Tax Help for Seniors
On Wednesday, Feb. 24, free tax assistance will be offered to the elderly by AARP/IRS-certified volunteers at the Howes House in West TIsbury. Call 508-693-2896 for an appointment.
Calling Young Poets
Island Voices and West Tisbury poet laureate Fan Ogilvie have announced that submissions are now open for Promising Young Poets, a program designed to recognize young poets of high school age on Martha’s Vineyard. Up to five poets will be recognized with an award, to be announced in April, National Poetry Month.
Daffodil Sale Will Benefit American Cancer Society
It’s daffodil time again.
The next two weeks will be the last opportunity for presale orders of the American Cancer Society’s daffodils, bouquets of 10 buds that open into huge yellow blossoms. Volunteers have reached workers in schools, banks, hotels, offices, town halls and stores throughout the Island and will return the last…
New Bereavement Group For Spouses and Partners
A new weekly bereavement group for those who have experienced the loss of a partner or spouse meets on Tuesdays, beginning March 16 at 10 a.m. at the West Tisbury Congregational Church. Colleen Seadale, bereavement counselor for Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard and licensed marriage and family therapist leads the group. Space is limited. For details…
Film: The Messenger
Screening at the Katharine Cornell Theatre tonight, Feb. 19, is The Messenger, a powerful story of Will Montgomery, a war hero who upon returning from service in Iraq, is enlisted in the Army’s Casualty Notification Service, tasked with informing families of loved ones lost in the line of duty. The struggle Will faces as a…
Tying One On, Every Monday Night
They meet in the deep of winter and talk about summer fishing. Though the temperature outside is in the 20s on this Monday night and icicles hang from the eaves, the room inside the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club in Edgartown is infused with the warmth of a July day on the water with…
Board of Housing Fund Sees Leadership Change
The Island Affordable Housing Fund announced this week that the copresidents will step down, one immediately and one in the spring.
Robert Wheeler will resign immediately and Candace daRosa will stay on until the organization’s spring annual meeting, a press release stated this week. At that time a new president will be selected…
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Sagitta Woodman, of West Tisbury, made the dean’s list at Salve Regina University in Newport, R.I. A sophomore majoring in international social work, she is the daughter of Mara Coleman of West Tisbury.
Oak Bluffs Receives Grants
The town of Oak Bluffs has received a $102,000 state grant that will be used for improvements at East Chop Drive, which has been plagued by coastal erosion and drainage problems in recent years.
The money will be used to install a modified gravel wetland system along the road to reduce untreated storm…
Garden Club Scholarships
The Nauset Garden Club of Cape Cod and the Islands is offering scholarships for students majoring horticulture, landscape, environmental studies, botany, marine biology, biology and microbiology.
Full-time students entering the junior or senior year or graduate study program of an accredited college or university are eligible. The club will offer two $3,000 scholarships…
Dan Rossi Named Acting Chief
West Tisbury selectmen this week voted to appoint Sgt. Daniel Rossi as acting police chief beginning in April for six months, while a search is conducted to find a replacement for outgoing chief Beth Toomey.
Selectmen Richard Knabel and Dianne Powers approved the appointment at their weekly meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Selectman…
So Quiet, You Can Hear the Hammers
Next week is school vacation, the quietest week of the year on the Vineyard, but in Oak Bluffs it will be anything but quiet as the sound of hammers, saws and heavy equipment fills the air.
Construction workers are scrambling to complete several major building projects before spring turns to summer in a…
Edgartown Pulls Plug On Plan To Hike Rooms, Meals Taxes
Responding to vocal protest from hotel and restaurant owners, the Edgartown selectmen voted this week to drop two articles from the annual town meeting warrant that would have increased the rooms tax and added a meals tax in town.
Allowed under a local option provision in state law, the town was considering increasing…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Feb. 12 37 24 .00
Feb. 13 36 21 .00
Feb. 14 33 24 .00
Feb. 15 39 31 .00
Feb. 16 40 28 .19*
Feb. 17 43 29 Trace
Please Adopt Us
Are there any guardian angels out there who would love to adopt a beautiful sweet tabby cat, who although she has tested FIV positive, is otherwise healthy and very loving? Her name is Miss Misty and she is spayed, has had all her shots and been thoroughly checked by a veterinarian. For safety sake she…
Mars by Moonlight
On Sunday night the first quarter moon appears high in the eastern sky after sunset. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus and near the star cluster Pleiades. Also called Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is a small star cluster that is easy to spot; it looks like a tiny dipper and is not much…
Maycon Arrives
Maycon Arrives
Maria De Lurdes Raspante and Adriano Silva of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a son, Maycon Moreira Raspante, on Feb. 17 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Maycon weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth.
The Vineyard Gardener
By LYNNE IRONS
Let’s Call It a Drey
American author and lecturer Dale Carnegie was onto something when he noted, “I deal with the obvious. I present, reiterate and glorify the obvious because the obvious is what people need to be told.”
This time of year, the obvious is the squirrel. It is the one type of wildlife that we can see every day.
More Feeders, More Winter Residents
Katherine Colon and Laurie Walker three weeks ago reported a sharp-shinned hawk sitting leisurely on the Colon’s back porch on Skiff avenue in Vineyard Haven. Lanny McDowell in stealth mode fully stalked and photographed the sharp-shinned hawk which has been haunting his West Tisbury feeder. Katherine hadn’t seen her sharpie for a while and then…
