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
December 24, 2010
Gifts for All, Good Tidings for Vineyard
West Tisbury’s Mill Pond was all white;The snow on the cattails a pretty sight.The mallards were swimming up and down.A wood duck, too, was visiting town,And hooded mergansers were having their dayWhile in their incredibly stately wayBabette and Romeo — that elegant pairOf swans that assuredly add such flairTo Mill Pond waters were cruising aboutEnjoying…
Gazette Chronicle: For the Love of It
For the Love of It
From The Christmas Instinct by William Caldwell:
A Child in Need is a Child in Need
Last Friday, after weeks of shopping, wrap ping, packing and fund-raising, Red Stocking joyfully distributed clothing, food and toys to 419 Vineyard children from 274 families. This represented an increase of 43 children over last year. We anticipated this additional need due to the current economy and thankfully we were able to meet it only…
Christmas 2010
Christmas 2010
A small gale lashed the Island early this week, bitterly cold and driven in from the ocean with steady light snow that frosted woods and farm fields and stone walls, turning the Vineyard into a Currier and Ives print overnight, just in time for the winter solstice on Tuesday. Soft, mournful…
Farm Neck Announces Annual Charitable Grants
The Farm Neck Foundation, an independent charitable corporation created by Farm Neck Golf Club to provide charitable assistance exclusively for the Vineyard, has announced its annual grants for the year 2010. This year’s grants total $44,150. The recipients are:
Island Community Chorus receives $2,000, to help purchase a sound shell.
Options…
Vineyard Hero Saves Soldier’s Life in New Hampshire Car Accident
A member of the Air Force home on leave has a police officer from the Vineyard to thank for being alive to enjoy this holiday season. On Sunday morning at 3 a.m. Island native and former Oak Bluffs police officer Ryan Lehman pulled Cameron Kaufman from his burning car in Raymond, N.H., with only seconds…
Affirming Our Humanness On This Day and Every Day
I was touched when I was asked to write this year’s Christmas message for the Vineyard Gazette. Maybe because I didn’t suspect it — my wife, Colleen, and I have been here only about a year, and I know there are other thoughtful voices who might have contributed something wise and wonderful to the great…
Wind Forum Stirs Debate as Task Force Remains Skeptical
With Rhode Island Sound now looming as the next frontier for wind development near the Vineyard, the Ocean State’s Gov. Donald Carcieri summed up his state’s energy policy this month with a single phrase: “Spin, baby, spin!”
Health, Social Workers Seek Solution To Hidden Problem Called Hoarding
Imagine a house somewhere on the Island; on the outside it looks just like other homes in the neighborhood, but inside is a different story. A sea of food containers covers the kitchen floor. Empty cereal boxes neatly line the oven. In the garage the only indication of a car is a rusted decal peering…
The Yard Woes: High Standards, Lower Donations
Seeking to reassure donors and supporters in the wake of the recent announcement about a deep operating deficit, the president of the board of trustees at The Yard said this week that many hands are now on deck to turn around the problem and stabilize the Chilmark summer dance colony founded by the late Patricia…
JetBlue to Fly Route to JFK
JetBlue Airways, the low-cost airline with a reputation for quality customer service, announced on Thursday morning that it will begin daily nonstop service between Martha’s Vineyard and New York city this summer.
“During the peak days we’ll operate more than one trip a day,” said JetBlue chief executive officer Dave Barger after a…
Aquinnah Property Records Receive Online Overhaul
Aquinnah property records online will see a change beginning Jan. 1.
The town board of assessors announced this week that it has contracted with Cartographic Associates Inc. of Littleton, N.H., to host a town online program that will allow access to assessing data, property information, advanced mapping and aerial imagery.
Centenarian Dorothy Barker Celebrates
Dorothy Barker, a longtime resident of Chilmark and Gay Head, celebrated her 100th birthday on Dec. 15 at Windemere, her residence for the past decade. Her two daughters, Judith and Karen, their husbands, a granddaughter, Tara, and a great-granddaughter, Eliza, joined her on this most important milestone birthday. She, as always, enjoyed her dark chocolate,…
Catboat Donation Adds Sea Presence To Preservation Trust
A historic catboat named Edwina B. is the most recent acquisition of the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust. The 22-foot wooden boat, built by Manuel Swartz Roberts in Edgartown in 1931, is possibly the last of three catboats he built still in the water.
The nearly 80-year-old boat has had a circuitous life with…
Big Bike Ride for Cancer
Big Bike Ride for Cancer
Three Martha’s Vineyard residents raised $39,371 for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by riding up to 190 miles in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge this summer.
The efforts of Erik Blake of Oak Bluffs, Roch Hillenbrand of Edgartown, and Eric Berke of Aquinnah helped the…
Conservation Commission Says Yes to Fishing Pier
A dedicated fishing pier off of the North Bluff in Oak Bluffs has cleared its final local hurdle.
Turbines Planned for Two Working Farms See Intense Legal Scrutiny in Chilmark
Chilmark selectmen will hire an engineering consultant to review two wind turbine projects planned for working farms on South Road.
The town selectmen voted to hire the consultant at their meeting Tuesday night after discussion about an appeal by neighbors of building permits issued recently for the Allen Farm and Grey Barn to…
Selectmen to Seek Warren House Sale as Library Project Struggles
Edgartown selectmen will ask voters to agree to sell the historic Warren House at the annual town meeting in April.
The decision comes as the town struggles to settle on a plan for its library. A committee charged with developing the plan decided last week to again consider building a new library at…
Former Boatline Bookkeeper Fined, Sent to Jail for Stealing
A bookkeeper for the Steamship Authority who embezzled almost $145,000 over some eight years has been sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to make full restitution to the boat line.
Armine Estelle Sabatini was sentenced last Friday by chief U.S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf. She also will have to…
Faulty Concrete Work Slows Timetable
Work on Tisbury’s new $7.4 million emergency services building is expected to be delayed at least a month so a botched job of laying the concrete floor can be fixed.
The floor in the apparatus bay was designed to have a slight fall, allowing it to drain. But the concrete workers failed to…
Biography of the Sea Highlights Human Story, for Better or Worse
Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, by Simon Winchester, HarperCollins Publishers, 496 pages, illustrated. $27.99.
It would be hard to live on the Vineyard and not have an interest in the Atlantic Ocean. So much of the Island has been colored and shaped…
Juvenile Lobster Stocks Scarce, Cuts and Closures Proposed
Vineyard lobstermen face a drastic cut in what they are able to land, and that cut could come as early as next year. The focus on fast action follows new expert endorsements of a report describing a fishery on the verge of collapse and in need of closure.
It is unlikely to affect…
Announcing Amanda
Announcing Amanda
Buffie Gaspar DeSouza and Wesley DeSouza of Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Amanda Roselene Jean DeSouza, born on Dec. 20, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Amanda weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces at birth and was 20 inches long. Amanda also is welcomed by big sister Juliana DeSouza and…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Dec. 17 34 20 Trace*
Dec. 18 34 18 .00
Dec. 19 41 21 .00
Dec. 20 40 30 .49*
Dec. 21 32 26 .30
Dec. 22 39 31 .00
Dec. 23 39 31 .02*
…
West Tisbury
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
(alleys@vineyard.net)
All is ready for Christmas tomorrow. After a month of shopping and a lot of decorating inside and out, families will soon begin to gather together to celebrate this most blessed day. The boats were packed with people going to and from the mainland…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark is Santa ready! The snow came and went and came again . . . as I write on Wednesday the first snow is gone and there are flurries around town but they are not of any intensity. Therefore, the sleigh and reindeer, the…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Community Baptist Church of Gay Head will observe the Christmas Eve candlelight service with Rev. Ellen Tatreau this evening. Christmas caroling will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the service to follow at 5 p.m. All are welcome to attend. Following the candlelight service, Barry…
Moon
The last quarter moon rises well after midnight on Tuesday morning. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Virgo and near the ringed planet Saturn. While we are into the first week of winter, there is spring in the stars in the early morning sky. Among the constellations you’ll find is Leo, the Lion and…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
kathleencase@comcast.net
“I’m dreaming of a White Christmas;” who could ask for more? The blanket of snow has definitely put some spirit in the holiday season.
Happy birthday to all who had birthdays this past week. Big balloons go out to Quinten Cabral, who celebrated…
Announcing Murilo
Announcing Murilo
Luma Braga and Andre Vieira of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Murilo Braga Vieira, born on Dec. 20, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Murilo weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces at birth.
Ave Maria
Ave Maria
Fabiane and Izael Da Silva of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Maria Clara Miranda Silva, born on Dec. 16, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Maria weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth.
Hello Hanna
Hello Hanna
Marcileia and Adeilton Da Silva of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Hanna Rodrigues Da Silva, born on Dec. 18, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Hanna weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces at birth.
Island Worship Services for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
Aquinnah
Gay Head Community Baptist Church: Christmas caroling will begin at 4:30 p.m. with the Christmas Eve candlelight service starting at 5 p.m. Following the service, Barry and Grace Reeves invite all participants to a potluck open house at the Totem Pole Inn. For details, call 508-693-1539.
Chilmark
Chilmark…
Family, Film, Feast
Family, Film, Feast
The second Family, Film, Feast installment of the season is just around the corner. On Saturday, Jan. 8 beginning at 5 p.m. the folks at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival will present another community gathering like no other.
It’s a casual get-together featuring local and delicious food and…
The Space is the Place for Improv Troupe
Dressed in their Christmas best of red T-shirts, jeans and sneakers, the student improvisational comedy group IMP walked out from behind the curtains last Friday night, ready to stake their claim.
“This is our space,” Mariah Mac-Kenzie said. She and her fellow IMPers have been waiting to say that for 10 years. They’ve…
Hot Times for Cold Nights, Shakespeare Style
What’s a body to do between Christmas and New Year’s? How about visiting Renaissance Vienna and a time when sexual debauchery rolled common as Vineyard winter potlucks.
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Good Tidings of Great Joy
Tonight the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury takes the form of both a barn and a community center. The animals will not be, well, real animals, but rather small children performing the annual Christmas Eve pageant. There will be donkeys, cattle, sheep and of course shepherds, wisemen, Mary…
Kwanzaa Celebration
Kwanzaa Celebration
Kwanzaa was started in 1966 by an African-American professor who wanted to give black Americans a unique way to celebrate their African roots, family life and community. This year the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP is hosting a Kwanzaa celebration at the Trinity United Methodist Parish Hall in the…
Engineer’s Energy
South Mountain Company’s high-performance building engineer Marc Rosenbaum gave a presentation on Innovative Mechanical Systems for Low Heating Load Buildings at the fifth annual North American Passive House conference in Portland, Ore. Passive House is a German standard that was designed to make the world’s most energy efficient buildings.
His case studies included…
YMCA Day Camps
YMCA Day Camps
The holidays are coming and the kids are out of school. What fun! Except that just because school’s out doesn’t mean Ma and Pa don’t have to punch a clock.
Well, help is on the way. The Martha’s Vineyard YMCA is offering full and half day camps on…
Martha’s Vineyard Tile
Martha’s Vineyard Tile
Vineyard Stories has just published its sixteenth book about the Vineyard.
Last summer the press featured Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard and The Bike Ride. Both books received great reviews and recognition. Schooner was named one of the 100 best photo books of 2010 by…
Winter Lobster Rolls
Winter Lobster Rolls
Put down the eggnog and dive into a lobster roll. That’s right, lobster isn’t just some summer fling, at least not according to the folks at Grace Church.
On Sunday, Jan. 2 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. they will be serving their standard: lobster roll, chips, and beverage…
Please, Sir, May I Have Some More Kale? Glorious Group Lunch Tempts Palates
Lunchtime at the Chilmark School and the requests were piling up fast and furious.
“Could I have more kale, please?” “Can I have more wheat berry?” “My favorite was the beet chips!”
Beet chips?
It’s true and thanks to the Island Grown Schools’ Chilmark Community Lunch initiative, students could…
Oak Bluffs Association Names Holiday Winners
Oak Bluffs Association
Names Holiday Winners
The Oak Bluffs Association (OBA) has named Crossland Nurseries, for the second year in a row, as the best decorated business in Oak Bluffs. Once again, Mark and Bernie Crossland have outdone themselves in creating a magical holiday setting for all of Oak Bluffs. Their…
R.A. Seklecki
R.A. Seklecki
Matthew Seklecki, son of Catherine MacDonald and Daniel Seklecki of Vineyard Haven, was named a resident assistant for the Office of Student Life at Saint Michael’s College for the 2010-2011 academic year. Seklecki is a senior, political science and history double major at the liberal arts, residential Catholic college located in…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
T’was the night before Christmas, and all through the Shelter, not a creature was stirring — not even a mouse!
The kitties were all snuggled and warm in their beds
While visions of new homes danced in their heads.
Suddenly, all of the animals…
In the Hoop House
I hate shopping. It is the endless wandering about stores trying to make sensible decisions. It’s why one year I gave hard, cold cash for Christmas.
Santa’s Caribou Crew
Come Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen…
Okay, it is time to panic if the reindeer are coming. We know that Santa likes to park them and the sleigh on the roof so he can hop down the chimney to deliver presents to all of the…
Bird Counts for Christmas
Tis the season for Christmas Bird Counts. Flip Harrington and I have just returned from Georgia where we participated in the St. Catherine’s Island CBC. We had hoped for sunny warm weather, but instead had half a day of grey drizzle and fog with the second half lighter fog. Brad Winn, our section leader, had…
