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
August 12, 2011
News Update: Saturday, August 13 – Strong Effort Takes the Lobster in Chilmark Road Race
Wearing a bright orange top and neon green running shoes, David Melly was easy to spot along Middle Road on Saturday morning. Then again, it wouldn’t have been difficult to find Melly at nearly any point during the 2011 Chilmark Road Race, as the 18-year-old from Newton, blew the field away on Saturday. His winning…
Striped Bass Commercial Season Closes a Bit Early
The commercial season for striped bass ended this past Wednesday. The closure came when fisheries managers estimated that the 1,061,898-pound quota had been taken in Massachusetts. The season ran short this year.
Last year the 1.12 million-pound quota was taken at the conclusion of the third week of August. The fishery was closed…
Auction Tally Lands Higher, Bumps Aside
In a final tally of their summer fund-raising effort that begins with Possible Dreams but knows no bounds, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services brought in $465,000.
DiAnn Ray, co-chairman of this year’s Possible Dreams auction, said: “We are very pleased. In the past, we had fewer streams of revenue, but now we have funds…
Off the Bench, Justice Marshall Shares Opinions
Margaret Marshall is certainly no Pollyanna, but something about speaking with her kindles optimism.
The former Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has a way of looking at things, a calm, reasoned, broad view that leads you gently to accept — at least for awhile — her conclusion that “little by…
Chilmark Road Race Starting Line Full-Up, Lobsters Remain Wary
In the beginning, there were 254 runners toiling up and over the hills of Middle Road.
Most Valuable Vineyard Seafood? It’s Not What You Think, or Eat
Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, conch is the most valuable resource landed at the dock on the Vineyard in the summer. It is a huge, unsung fishery that draws little attention. One reason for this is almost no one on Martha’s Vineyard eats conch. Nearly all the conch is shipped to the mainland.
…
Aquinnah Summer Taxpayers Weigh Costs of Regionalization
Improvements to emergency services, including a new response system at the town beach, challenges facing the town fire department and the ever-present balancing act of managing the town budget were central topics at the Aquinnah summer taxpayers meeting on Wednesday night.
Aquinnah selectmen told a small but inquisitive group of seasonal residents that…
Concern Over Books, Beach, Police Cuts
After a long, sultry August day in Oak Bluffs, summer residents were doused with a bucket of cold water on Tuesday at the annual summer taxpayers meeting when they learned of the town’s dire financial situation and across-the-board cutbacks in services.
“You call us summer taxpayers but I’m a year-round taxpayer,” said Thelma…
Democratic Chairman to Rally Money, Message for 2012 Poll
As members of Congress limp back to their home districts and the president heads for summer vacation on the Vineyard, still bruised from the debt ceiling showdown, Vineyard Democrats turn their eyes to the next fight: the 2012 election. On the expected day of Mr. Obama’s arrival, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee will…
Oak Bluffs Chooses Town Administrator
The former Falmouth town manager was selected for the top administrative post in Oak Bluffs in a unanimous vote by the town selectmen Tuesday.
Robert Whritenour, who served as Falmouth town manager for 10 years, and the Mashpee town administrator for a decade before that, will be offered the job of interim town…
Tisbury Trips Contract Clause Costing Seaver Construction $1,000 a Day
Tisbury will begin assessing $1,000 a day against the contractor for the town’s troubled new emergency services building.
The town selectmen voted without dissent on Tuesday to begin charging penalties against Seaver Construction of Woburn, the general contractor for the Spring street project which has been plagued by an array of problems and…
Bright, Clean and a Nice-Looking Desk
Every time I see President Obama autographing a piece of legislation in the Oval Office, I’m in awe of how neat his desk looks. I mean, here’s the head of one of the most powerful countries in the world — as of last week, that is — and there’s nothing on his desk but a…
Raising a Glass for Amnesty International
For as long as I have been an active member of Amnesty International, and certainly from the mid-1980s, it has been taken as an article of faith that founder Peter Benenson was inspired to write his famous Forgotten Prisoners article in May 1961, that in turn led to the establishment of Amnesty, after reading a…
Everyone Has a Role in Growing Farms
Within a healthy system of food produc tion and distribution, farms would not need “saving.” However, as it is, we are losing farmland (and the corresponding skills,) at alarming rates. (In Massachusetts, about 20 per cent in the last 25 years.) The traditional system of inherited family farms is not sufficient.
Midsummer Steam
Midsummer Steam
The evening sun is picking up its pace, and so is everything else on the Vineyard. As the sun races too fast for the horizon, we all seem to be racing, too — racing too madly along our rural roads, racing to tick off all our vacation traditions, racing to make…
Caring for Others, Not Just about Giving
Every year the Martha’s Vineyard Ecu menical Youth Group goes on a mission trip. Last year we went to Washington D.C. to help in a homeless shelter, the year before we worked in a soup kitchen in New York city. This year we were lucky enough to get to fly out to Nashville, Tenn. to…
Gazette Chronicle: Summer Swells
Summer Swells
From Gazette editions of August, 1986:
In the middle of what will be his last long summer on the Vineyard for some time, Angelo Bartlett Giamatti enthusiastically compares ballet star Mikhail Barysnikov with the baseball Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith, who works his magic in the infield of the…
Letters to the Editor
HURTFUL LESSON
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Dating back to the early 1940s when the Steamship Authority’s ferry would leave from New Bedford, it has been a tradition for my family to vacation in the summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Therefore, when my grandsons were born, this tradition continued.
Routinely in the…
Health Insurance Check
Health Insurance Check
Individuals who purchase health insurance on their own have until August 15 to take advantage of the last open enrollment period this year.
Open enrollment is the only time those consumers can switch or change plans. If their current coverage expires outside of the open enrollment period, the…
Power Talk
Power Talk
The Aquinnah/Gay Head Community Association will host a wine and cheese gathering at the Vanderhoop Homestead on Aquinnah Circle at the Gay Head Cliffs on Monday, August 15 (rain date August 16), starting at 5 p.m.
The evening will feature a talk by Mark London, the executive director of…
Wind Enough or Not, Sailors Enjoy Races
The Holmes Hole Sailing Association continued its summer season of handicap sailboat racing from Vineyard Haven harbor with a Thursday night race on July 28 and a Sound race on July 31.
Rev. Dean Denniston Brings Legacy to Union Chapel
This Sunday, August 14, is Founders Sunday at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. As a part of this celebration, the Union Chapel is honored to have the Rev. Dean K. Denniston Jr. as its guest preacher. Born in Boston, and raised in Boston andon the Vineyard, Mr. Denniston is the grandson of the Rev. Oscar E. Denniston,…
Waterfront Conservation Is Focus of Moorings Talk
Find out all you ever wanted to know about eelgrass restoration with conservation (elastic) moorings, from the director of the Mass Bays Program, Jay Baker, on Thursday, August 11, at 5 p.m. at the Tisbury Senior Center.
Did you know the Vineyard community is exploring the habitat and security benefits of elastic moorings?…
Readers All Right in the Rain, Book Festival Is Huge Success
It’s official: Kindle and e-books may flourish, but real books with pages you can turn are here to stay. Just as television thrived without disposing of movies, books and book lovers will never go away. Last Sunday’s Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival proved it.
Awarding Those Who Made Mark on Martha’s Vineyard
It was an evening of good news and appreciation at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum annual meeting at the Federated Church in Edgartown on Monday.
The Martha’s Vineyard Medal, an annual award, this year went to Marian Halperin, Francine Kelly and S. Bailey Norton Jr.
Library of Your Dreams
Library of Your Dreams
The Vineyard Haven Public Library is planning ahead and setting priorities and goals for the next five years. Input from the public is critical as the library develops a new long-range plan. To begin the process, the library has developed a survey to find out what library services are…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
This week our featured animal is our one and only dog available for adoption — Rocky, a boxer-rotweiler mix. Rocky is a big, beautiful animal who loves people, gets along well with other dogs and needs some space to stretch his big body. He came from a very small house…
Lord Stanley Loves the Vineyard Summer, Cup Crosses Sound Again
In addition to its public appearance at the Martha’s Vineyard Arena on Wednesday, the Stanley Cup appeared at the Aquinnah town hall for about 45 minutes in the early afternoon. The 35-inch, 35-pound silver trophy was in the care of seasonal Island resident Cam Neely, the president of the 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins.
Fishing’s Impact on Oceans Comes Into Sharp Focus With Photographer
The world’s oceans need protection, a globe-traveling National Geographic underwater photographer told a large audience at the Tabernacle last Saturday.
After 35 years of photographing the oceans, Brian Skerry, 49, said he is troubled by growing evidence of degradation of habitat and the waste and loss of sea life. “I think the oceans…
Gas Grill Cause of Small Fire at Blue Heron Farm
Chilmark firefighters quickly quelled a small fire at Blue Heron Farm early Tuesday morning. Chilmark fire chief David Norton said the call came in at 3:30 a.m. from an automatic fire alarm in the farmhouse. The fire was in the wall of the main house near a porch that had a gas grill on it.…
West Tisbury Considers Solar Panel Project at Local Landfill
Following the lead of Edgartown and Tisbury, West Tisbury has taken the first steps toward developing a municipal solar project. On Wednesday selectmen signed a letter of intent with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative to request proposals for solar projects at the town landfill.
“All this allows us to do is entertain…
Chappy Line Parks Homeowner In Driveway, Gourmet Shop Stalls
Edgartown selectmen heard complaints this week from a North Water street resident about traffic from the Chappaquiddick Ferry blocking his driveway.
Dudley Cannada told the selectmen on Monday this summer’s line is worse than in years past, and in some cases he has had to wait up to 15 minutes to be able…
Only Bumps Are Speed Bumps In Paving Part of Old South Road
Citing public safety issues and protection of a nearby pond and stream, the Aquinnah zoning board of appeals this week unanimously approved a variance that will allow a portion of Old South Road to be paved.
The variance was allowed with a series of conditions.
Dukes County and the Wampanoag Tribe…
Healthy High-Five
Healthy High-Five
The Dukes County Health Council Youth Task Force received a Healthy Communities award for its work engaging diverse resident participation and widespread community ownership.
The award was announced at the fifth annual Healthy Community Conference by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Insurance Upgrade
Insurance Upgrade
Martha’s Vineyard Insurance Agency has appointed William (Bill) Brown as president of the agency.
Mr. Brown, a graduate from Ricker College in Maine, began his career at Martha’s Vineyard Insurance Agency in 1984 as a producer and later as a manager of the Edgartown office. He has been vice…
East Chop
John Potter frequently walks his dog Rocky through our yard. What is nice about this is that I meet him outside, and we talk.
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
slaterjn@comcast.net
Chilmark’s biggest thrill this week has to be the arrival and visit of the Stanley Cup to the Chilmark Community Center. It was the buzz for most of the day. Hooray to all those who got to see and touch!
The days…
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Dwight K. Kaeka Jr. of West Tisbury was named to the dean’s list at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire for the spring 2011 semester. He is the son of Beth and Dwight Kaeka.
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Jacqueline Panek of Vineyard Haven was placed on the dean’s high honors list for the spring semester at Nichols College.
Correction
Correction
An editorial in last Friday’s Gazette about the Martha’s Vineyard Farm Project contained inaccurate information about the Native Earth Teaching Farm. The conservation restriction for the Chilmark farm is held by the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, not the Vineyard Conservation Society. The Gazette regrets the error.
Welcome Louis
Welcome Louis
Sarah Toste and Louis G. Slingerland 4th, of Oak Bluffs, announce the birth of a son, Louis G. Slingerland 5th, born on August 5, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Louis weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces at birth.
Dean’s List
Dean’s List
Daniel R. Cuff of Oak Bluffs, son of Donna Bouchard and the late Richard V. Cuff, has been named to the dean’s list at University of Massachusetts Amherst for spring 2011. Daniel is double-majoring in psychology and theatre.
Hello, Jazaiah
Hello, Jazaiah
Jaime Bodreau and Marvelous Brown of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Jazaiah Marvelous Brown, born on August 8, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Jazaiah weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces at birth.
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Today is Native American Day in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as proclaimed in the past by previous governors. This weekend will be the annual tax free weekend, and of course when everyone arrived in 1620 — there were no taxes.
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
The hazy, hot and humid days have been the big deal this week. If we listen to the weather forecasts, there is always a chance of showers and thunderstorms . . . but we are still waiting. Still, how can we complain when there have…
Gazing Deeply Within, Flexibility Looms Large
There is yoga on the Vineyard and then there is yoga on the Vineyard. It really is an embarrassment of suppleness. Each week a host of talented teachers conduct classes and workshops in almost every nook and cranny of the Island. Add to this the periodic washing ashore of talented teachers from the “real world.”
Improv Campers Perform
Improv Campers Perform
The results of Imp Camp will be on display once again today beginning at noon at the Edgartown School.
For those out of the loop, Imp Camp is an improv retreat for kids under 18 where they not only learn the craft, they take it to the stage.…
Bravo, Susan Johnson
Bravo, Susan Johnson
The Friends of the Vineyard Haven Public Library are presenting an exhibit of landscape studies by painter Susan Johnson. The exhibit will be on display during regular library hours throughout the month of August as part of its Art in the Stacks initiative.
She Called, He Responded: Reverend Warnock to Preach
Flashback a bit more than a decade ago to Union Theological Seminary in New York city where Cathlin Baker and Raphael Warnock were a couple of seminary students, studying and playing pool together at the seminary pub. Today they are, respectively, the pastors at the West Tisbury Congregational Church on Martha’s Vineyard and the Ebenezer…
Taste of Road Scholar Features L. Douglas Wilder
The Honorable L. Douglas Wilder will be the featured speaker at the Taste of Road Scholar event on Tuesday, August 16 at Shearer Cottage in Oak Bluffs.
Mr. Wilder’s career in public service spans 40 years. As a state senator representing Richmond from 1969 to 1985, he became the first African American state…
Change Is Coming
Change Is Coming
West Tisbury summer resident Jill Shaw Ruddock’s new best-selling book The Second Half of Your Life is part self-help book, part scientific treatise. It takes readers into the world of menopause and afterwards and argues successfully, in case anyone actually wondered, that there is indeed life after “the change.” But…
Trophy Is Future, Ice Rink Is Present
Trophy Is Future, Ice Rink Is Present
Almost everyone around these parts, save the occasional hermit living off the grid, knows the Bruins won the Stanley Cup this year. It’s easy to marvel at the skills of those players and rejoice, but it’s also important to take a moment and wonder just where…
Take a Walk on the Artsy Side
On Saturday, August 13, from 4 to 7 p.m. the Oak Bluffs Arts District will host a gallery stroll which includes galleries along Dukes County avenue and nearby. Enjoy art, music and refreshments all served up in a casual summer evening manner.
No Sweat Sports Tourney, Ping Pong Aces Get Ready
Allright everyone, time to put down the golf clubs, set aside the tennis racquets, becalm the wind and kite surfing equipment, dock the surfboard and sheath the lion taming whip. The time has come for more manly pursuits, women may apply too, and children, if up to muster, are also invited.
And what…
Sailor’s Valentine Without the Sea Voyage
The Christina Gallery is hosting an art opening on Thursday, August 11 from 6 to 9 p.m. for Sandi Blandi and Marjorie Mason
Fair Is Fowl Chicken Alley Art Show Arrives
Chicken Alley Art Show Arrives
In this age of free range chicken-raising, throw an egg in the air anywhere on this Island and odds are you’ll hit a fellow chicken farmer, one might think a reference to a place called Chicken Alley speaks of some storied Shangri-la where golden eggs roll freely from…
Harlem String Quartet to Close Series
The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society summer program this year has strayed from some of the more traditional offerings.
“The whole business of going to a chamber music concert — well, we’ve really given that a shake-up,” declared Nora Nevin, the society’s director of publicity.
No Backup Is Plan: Voice Behind Stars Goes Solo
It’s fair to say millions, possibly even billions, more people have heard Arnold McCuller than have heard of Arnold McCuller.
If you’ve heard the music of Phil Collins, or Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Beck — the list goes on and on — you’ve heard Mr. McCuller.
No Dream Weaver, Art of Tapestry Requires Patience and Strong Back
Even for an established weaver with 45 years of experience, it seems the essence of tapestry art is best explained by the reaction of an outsider to the art. While at a tapestry show in Philadelphia, Julia Mitchell witnessed the raw and pure reaction to her craft. A man passing by stopped in front of…
Cooking Up Civility Among the Greens
It’s all about the flowers and greens when Jessica Harris goes to the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market. The James Beard Award winner has a routine of navigating the stalls at the old Grange Hall every week, and Wednesday morning was no different.
First stop was to flower farmer Krishana Collins. Ms. Collins greeted…
Garden Club
Garden Club
The Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club will hold its election of officers at the annual meeting on Tuesday, August 16 at 1 p.m. at the Old Mill in West Tisbury. Tim Simmons will present a program on Global Warming: Plants and Habitats.
A hospitality hour including refreshments follows the program.…
Summer Bounty
I love rain. Unless it is torrential or there is lightning. I can put on appropriate clothing and be outside. I never mind being wet.
Water Wings
Hellgramites prefer that you neither fish nor cut bait.
Either activity could lead to their demise. Hellgramites are the larval form of the dobsonfly, an aquatic freshwater insect that anglers know is a good bet and even better bait to catch bass or trout.
Nesting Shorebirds
The Vineyard’s salt marshes and beaches are extremely important habitats for a variety of nesting birds. These include several species of terns (common, least and roseate), piping plovers, American oystercatchers, willets, saltmarsh sparrows and rails. This summer two groups have been monitoring and studying these species. One group hails from Massachusetts Audubon’s Felix Neck Wildlife…
Free-for-All Defines Both Dance Festival and Audience Ticket Prices
Built on Stilts, the annual dance festival held at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, opened last night to begin its eight day run with a bit of drumming, belly dancing and a group of five-year-olds taking the stage fresh from their yearlong “Stiltshop” choreography class. What’s on the schedule for tonight is anyone’s guess,…
Sassy Start to African American Theatre Festival at Playhouse
Not to start on too bossy a note, but do go out and catch all five plays and musical productions of the African American Theatre Festival being performed, mostly, at the Vineyard Playhouse and running this week through early September.
The festival began this past Wednesday with Root, a one-woman play written and…
Gay Head Gallery Conserves Artistic, Environmental Legacy
After 10 years, the Gay Head Gallery is back. This time, it is a gallery with a mission.
Megan Ottens-Sargent, the owner of the gallery, which doubles as her home, has reopened her gallery to bring back sophisticated art to an up-Island audience, but also to engage the community in her other passions:…
Melting Pot Mashup: Kosher Gospel
For Joshua Nelson, sing unto the lord a new song is more than just a commandment. The Isaiah 42:10 verse is a challenge for him and all Jews to continue to bring something new to the table.
Kosher gospel music is just that.
The words together may seem strange at first,…
