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 19, 2011
News Update: Monday, August 22 – Quiet Start This Morning After Busy Sunday
All was quiet for the First Family on Monday morning, with no scheduled events and as of mid morning no movement from the Chilmark home in which the Obamas are staying.
Beach Sand, Sand Traps Along President’s Vacation Route on Sunday
President Obama went to the beach in the morning and played golf in the afternoon on Sunday.
A large entourage of some 15 vehicles in the Presidential motorcade exited Blue Heron Farm just before 10, bound for Pohoganot in the rural coastal perimeters of Edgartown, where the Obamas spent the late morning on…
News Update: Saturday, August 20 – President Visits Friend, Mentor Charles Ogletree in Oak Bluffs
President Obama made a brief appearance Saturday evening at the home of his former law school professor, Dr. Charles J. Ogletree Jr., for what was described by the White House as a social event.
About a hundred people attended the event, according to pool reports, and small crowds waved flags along nearby streets…
President’s Reading List Leans Toward Fiction as Island Vacation Begins
Vineyard author Ward Just’s latest novel is among President Obama’s reading choices for his summer vacation on the Island.
In addition to purchasing several books for his daughters Friday during a visit to Bunch of Grapes bookstore in Vineyard Haven, the President bought two books for himself: The Bayou Trilogy, a collection of…
The Summer White House: Covering the First Family’s Vineyard Vacation
The Gazette will be following the First Family’s third annual visit to the Vineyard as the news dictates. We welcome your photos of, stories about and reactions to President Obama’s vacation. Please email us at news@mvgazette.com.
Summer White House: Following the First Family
President Obama arrived on the Vineyard yesterday afternoon to begin a 10-day vacation with his family, marking his third consecutive August visit to the Island during his presidency. Like the last two years, the arrival was low-key and closed to the public. Traveling with the President were White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan and deputy…
Federal Protection for Vineyard Waters Nears With Steamship Authority Grant
In a year’s time, Martha’s Vineyard waters could be protected from sewage pollution with federal designation as a boater’s no-discharge area. The move would make the waters cleaner, protect Vineyard shellfish, and open Island towns and businesses to federal and state dollars to further clean up the waterways.
Long Legacies Populate Fair Parade
By PETER BRANNEN
Tuesday’s agricultural fair parade was 150 years in the making, lasted half an hour and was worth the wait. Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets and stone walls of the historic route that began at the town hall, wound down Music street and Panhandle Road and ended at a packed…
Lanterns Light Up a Vineyard Summer Night
Excitement filled the soft summer evening long before the first lantern was lit in the Camp Ground on Wednesday night. Runabout children with glow sticks and the constant flash of cameras created a parade of lights as early as 7:15 p.m. at the Tabernacle, where a large audience had already gathered. The growing crowd seemed…
Nantucket Shellfish Beds Safe from Big Boats’ Waste
Nantucket was one of the first places in the state to earn federal designation as a no-discharge area. Dave Fronzuto, marine superintendent of Nantucket’s Marine and Coastal Resources Department, is a big advocate for it.
“It makes it a lot simpler. It prohibits the discharge of treated sewage. It is printed on navigational…
Gov. Wilder: Education for Equality
Lawrence Douglas (Doug) Wilder, grandson of slaves, first made history by being elected to the state Senate in Virginia in 1969. In 1986 he took office as lieutenant governor of the state. And in 1989, he became the first African American to be elected a state governor.
His signal success in politics, particularly…
Let’s Talk About Race: Panel Argues Racial Divide Persists
It’s past time for Americans to have a conversation about race, a panel of cultural and academic luminaries agreed at a crowded Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on Wednesday. What the rules of that conversation are, who the participants are and where the conversation will take place is less certain.
First Family Arrives on the Island with Little Fanfare
President Obama arrived on the Vineyard yesterday afternoon to begin a 10-day vacation with his family, marking his third consecutive August visit to the Island during his presidency. Like the last two years, the arrival was low-key and closed to the public. Traveling with the President were White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan and deputy…
Walking Across the Earth, Putting One Leaf in Front of the Other
In our own language the world of plants is reflected in expressions such as “to put down roots” as one of passive and enduring immobility. In fact, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens plant curator Bill Cullina says their very survival depends on their ability to wander. This secret, itinerant life of plants is largely hidden from…
Flag Football Registration
Flag Football Registration
Registration for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club Flag Football League opens Tuesday, Sept. 6 for all boys and girls in grades three to six. This will be the eighth season for the popular league, which consists of six teams. Flag football is a fun, noncontact sport for athletes…
Nod for Morgan Woods
Nod for Morgan Woods
Morgan Woods in Edgartown, managed by The Community Builders Inc, has been recognized as an outstanding community by the National Affordable Housing Management Association.
The recognition is given to programs of affordable, multifamily rental properties that show excellence in the way they are maintained and managed, the…
Code Red for Fireworks
Code Red for Fireworks
The Oak Bluffs police department yesterday used the reverse-911 system to send a nonemergency code-red message advising that the Oak Bluffs Fireworks will be held Friday, August 19 at Ocean Park. The rain date is Saturday, August 20. Parking for this event will be in two lots: Sunset Park…
Beach Closures Blamed on Rainfall
Heavy rainfall on Monday was likely the reason several Island beaches were closed to swimming on Tuesday.
Seth’s Pond, Medeiros Cove at Sailing Camp Park in Oak Bluffs, and the pond at Lucy Vincent in Chilmark remained closed to swimming as of presstime last night, due to high bacteria counts.
Tisbury Sergeant Is Placed on Leave
A senior Tisbury police officer, Sgt. Robert Fiske, has been placed on administrative leave by police chief Daniel Hanavan for the duration of an investigation of his conduct, town officials have confirmed.
Town administrator John Bugbee said yesterday that Sergeant Fiske had been on paid leave since Monday, August 1.
Neither…
Request for Dredging in Pond As Chilmark Prepares Warrant
Chilmark selectmen this week took up a request from a town resident to dredge a creek in Chilmark Pond.
Mary Jane Pease said Intern’s Creek in the westernmost section of the pond needs to be dredged to restore proper drainage from Pease’s Brook. She said dredging the creek would lower the risk of…
SSA Shops for Space on Island, Divers to Inspect Boats at Sea
The Steamship Authority is expected to confirm new premises for its Island booking office within the next few weeks.
Boat line general manager Wayne Lamson told the board of governors at their meeting in Hyannis this week that SSA management was considering four potential sites for the relocation of the office, currently operating…
Smelly Treatment Plant Problem Solved
Unpleasant odors around the Edgartown sewage treatment plant in recent weeks have drawn complaints from neighbors, and the issue landed in front of the Edgartown selectmen on Monday.
Roundabout Way to Love Vineyard
If you see one bark beetle and you are an entomolo gist, you know immediately you’ve got big problems. Those beetles can eat an entire forest.
I’ve long thought that we are making a mess of Island roads — a widening here, a widening there and the Island rural character slowly dribbles away.…
Another Helping of Leadership, Please
Dinner for Eight
The view of the Elizabeth Islands was breathtaking. The food delicious. A group of friends gathered to enjoy a meal and talk about their grandchildren, summer and ultimately, President Obama.
Dear Mr. President, From the Vineyard
REMEMBER TO READ
Dear Mr. President:
Things to do on Martha’s Vineyard:
1. Read the Vineyard Gazette.
2. Go to the Ag Fair and get a corn dog and if you can, you should go to the pig races.
3. Go to the Chilmark Store…
Letters to the Editor
POLICING GREENLANDS
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
In light of a recent increase in dirt bike and ATV riding within the conservation property owned by the town of West Tisbury known as the Margaret K. Littlefield Greenlands, the conservation commission would like to remind the public of the history behind the acquisition of…
Loss of Hope Tells Tale of London Riots
Mohammad (Reza) Ahmadi didn’t go down without a fight. The middle-aged Londoner is stocky enough to occasionally assume bouncer duties outside his small cocktail lounge in Ealing, which is where he was positioned last Monday night, standing guard against a mob who were trying to light a trash can on fire and roll it into…
Summer White House 2011
Summer White House 2011
Marine One touched down at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport yesterday afternoon just before six o’clock as the sun began to sink on a blue-sky August day, delivering President Obama for his third consecutive summer vacation.
No ATVs Please
No ATVs Please
The West Tisbury conservation commission reminds the public that riding dirt bikes or ATVs in the Margaret K. Littlefield Greenlands property and along Checama Path is prohibited by both local and state law.
Higher Role at Hy-Line
Higher Role at Hy-Line
Ellen Lonergan has been promoted to the position of treasurer/controller for Hy-Line Cruises, following the retirement of Mark Joseph, who had held the job since 1972. Ms. Lonergan, with the company since 1978,has been working as the assistant treasurer and supervising the ticketing and reservation department. Hy-Line Cruises is…
Gazette Chronicle: Bath Time
Bath Time
From Gazette editions of August, 1936:
We went over to the Chappaquiddick bathing beach the other day and made some observations. We were told there are fewer bathers in the afternoon because most of the society people have other things to do. If most of the society people were…
Skeet Champion
Skeet Champion
On Sunday, August 14, with beautiful weather and a warm breeze filtering off Sengekontacket Pond, Bill Damora of Oak Bluffs and Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., added to his winning the Klays for Kids Championship in July and captured the 2011 Rod and Gun Club Skeet Championship on Sunday. Bill bested Matt…
Taxi Rates and Regulations Set, Ride from Aquinnah Not Cheap
Aquinnah selectmen on Tuesday approved the town’s first taxi regulations, adopted a maintenance plan for Old South Road and appointed a new assistant harbor master.
The taxi regulations passed with little discussion. Aquinnah Taxi is the only licensed cab company but selectmen said the new regulations could potentially pave the way for more…
Union Chapel
The Rev. Dr. Amos Cleophilus Brown Sr. will be preaching at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs this Sunday, August 21.
Late Summer Sky
Tomorrow morning’s last quarter moon rises in the eastern sky at close to midnight. The moon is in the zodiacal constellation Taurus.
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
August 12 82 61 .00
August 13 81 61 .00
August 14 84 67 Trace
August 15 78 68 .18
August 16 71 62 2.04
August 17 73 59 .04
August 18 81 67 Trace
…
Chappy
BRAD WOODGER
508-627-4216
(ibwsgolf@aol.com)
“Summer People, Some are Not.” I think this may have been the title of a book, but I recall it from the enameled surface of the ashtray that sat atop Grammy’s bedside table. Grammy liked to smoke, and she liked her summer people. She was…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
Our featured animals this week are two new young cats only 11 months old. Gibson is a gray and white neutered male, and Quincy is a Russian blue neutered male. Both are extremely friendly; they love other cats, dogs and kids. They are the perfect young house cats for anyone…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark welcomes the country’s first family for their third summer vacation in Chilmark. We hope they enjoy some happy times here and continue to find our town an enjoyable and peaceful place to visit.
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Thank you to Cam Neely for bringing the Stanley Cup to Aquinnah on August 10 which was a delight. Many photographs were taken of, and with, the most-coveted Stanley Cup. Cam Neely, president of the Boston Bruins, is a former member of the Bruins…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
The week did not start out the best, but Wednesday was the perfect weather. It is dry and cool with a beautiful sky. I think this is the weather most people are happy with.
I did the most bizarre thing the other day:…
Announcing Sydney
Announcing Sydney
Jennifer and George Medeiros Jr. of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Sydney Lyn Medeiros, born on August 12, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Sydney weighed 10 pounds, 2 ounces at birth.
Edy Monje to Wed
Edy Monje to Wed
Edy Yasmín Quijada Monje, ofMorazán, Honduras, and Eric Herman of Oak Bluffs, announce their engagement.
Ms. Monje is the daughter of Enme Monje of Morazán, Honduras.
Mr. Herman is the son of Donald and Pamela Herman of Oak Bluffs.
The wedding is planned…
Arty Arty Oxen Free
Arty Arty Oxen Free
Calling all artists, it is time for the jurying in of new members Martha’s Vineyard Art Association.
Membership in the association is decided by a jury process. Artists may submit five original artworks representative of their particular style or artistry to the Old Sculpin Gallery by Monday,…
Life Story Thrives With Each New Chapter
By JULIAN WISE
Pet Portraits to Benefit P.A.W.S.
The dog days of summer take on a whole new meaning as New York artist Judith Gwyn Brown is now offering a portion of the proceeds of her commissioned pet portraits to P.A.W.S. of the Vineyard, the all-volunteer, nonprofit Pet Adoption and Welfare Service of Martha’s Vineyard.
Proceeds from Ms. Brown’s pet portraits…
Children’s Book Hits Home Run With Timeless Tale of Letting Go
LIPMAN PIKE: America’s First Home Run King . By Richard Michelson . Sleeping Bear Press. 32 pages, photographs. $16.95.
Saintly Discovery From Thrift Shop Sale
Every August I look forward to the Chicken Alley Sale at the Vineyard Haven Thrift Shop. For 10 years, Olga Hirshhorn has organized, supervised and advertised her pet Vineyard project and her hard work and imaginative impulses have been richly rewarded. The Chicken Alley Sale has made hundreds of thousands of dollars for Martha’s Vineyard…
And He’ll Do it His Way, Yes His Way
He never thought of the era when he wrote TV comedy as the Golden Age. For him that honorific was reserved for the earlier epoch of Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner. But Marty Nadler, staff writer and producer in the 70s and 80s of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Chico and the Man, The Odd…
Consummate Musician From First Cigarette to Last Dyin’ Day
The first time Leonard Bernstein laid his young fingers on the keys of a piano at the age of 10 he felt as though he had been touched by God.
He would sit at the piano, hour after hour, his father berating him to quit playing while his mother encouraged him to continue.…
Debut Comes All in Good Time For Soulful Songwriter Ollie Childs
It was hard to believe the witty and talented musician who played at the Yard last Tuesday night to promote the release of his first CD heard his own music on the radio for the first time that very morning. The artist, Ollie Childs, and his wife and manager, Alix, had been out driving around…
Missed Newport? Never Mind, It’s Jazz on the Vineyard Time
Ken Alleyne doesn’t let rain get between him and jazz. Sitting on his beach chair, even when it meant simultaneously clutching his umbrella, Dr. Alleyne will take in the acts at the world famous Newport Jazz Festival, which goes on rain or shine. But as he and his wife began spending more of the summer…
Lowdown on the Throwdown: Fresh Island Chefs Do Bluefish
The key to a great seafood meal on the Vineyard naturally lies in the best ingredients: just-caught fish, farm-fresh produce and a talented chef.
At the second annual Seafood Throwdown on Saturday, the organizers brought all three together in the hot summer sun at the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market.
A competition…
Hebrew Center Conversation
Hebrew Center Conversation
Jewish women living in the U.S., committed to social justice and a strong Israel, will share their experiences when mother and daughter Shulamit Reinharz and Naomi Reinharz speak at the Hebrew Center on August 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Presented by the Jewish Federation of Cape Cod, the talk…
Catching a Glimpse of Artist’s Interior Space
The featured artist this week, August 18 to 24, at Dragonfly Gallery in Oak Bluffs is Jenny Nelson from Woodstock, N.Y. Ms. Nelson attended Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine and graduated with a BFA from Bard College, where she received a scholarship to the Lacoste School of the Arts in France.
Writers Start Your Engines, Sixty Seconds to Paradise
Pitchapalooza is coming to Martha’s Vineyard, so time to dust off your pitching chops. But here’s the catch. You will have but just one minute to talk.
The pitch, so to speak, is as follows. Twenty writers will be selected at random from the audience. Each person picked gets sixty seconds to convince…
String Strength
Quartet Rocks on all Four Cylinders
Island Artist Is Wired Up
Artist Steve Lohman is a magician with wire sculptures. They are both profound and whimsical, offering the viewer a chance to experience grace and humor in one moment.
Blue Duck Speaks
Blue Duck Speaks
Dr. Chester P. Soliz, an elder of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe known as Blue Duck, will discuss the history of the tribe at the Oak Bluffs Library. The talk takes place on August 24 at 2 p.m. There will be a question and answer session following the talk, including light…
Haighting
Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair
Jerry Garcia trading in some scarlet begonias for a zinnia sunrise? Grace Slick swallowing some kind of hydrangea? What form of madness is this you ask? Art, of course.
It’s a joint reception at the Field Gallery in West Tisbury for photographer…
Yin Yoga Immersion
Yin Yoga Immersion
The summer’s coming to a close and what better way to close it than with a yoga immersion class. That way you don’t sit around hating the end of warm weather, long hours of daylight, beach parties and vacation bliss. Instead, you learn to embrace the moment, even those moments…
Tea Time to Giant Snakes, Landscape History Too
There’s a lot growing at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury and we’re not just talking about what comes up from the ground. Next week features three outstanding lectures by specialists in their fields.
You Have a Story to Tell
You Have a Story to Tell
Patrika Vaughn has been helping people write their memoirs for 16 years. And next week she can help you with yours.
On Friday, August 26, Ms. Vaughn will lead a seminar from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the process of memoir writing. On August…
Palestine/Israel Relations Is Focus of Library Lecture
On Tuesday, August 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. the Chilmark Library will host an event entitled Two States Now: A Discussion on the Policy Implications of the Forthcoming UN General Assembly Debate on Granting Palestinian Statehood. The talk is part of a national action day event being observed in various communities and in Washington,…
Spark Up Creative Juices At Fire Tree Studios Reatreat
Fire Tree Studios is once again coming to the Vineyard this fall and offering a seven-day painting retreat. The retreat begins on Sunday, September 11 and runs through September 18.
Metaphorical Mayhem, Local Poets Take Stage
There have been a lot of big name poets reading on our shores this summer. And we applaud this embarrassment of riches. But next Wednesday, August 24, beginning at 5:30 p.m., we have the chance to stand a bit taller and clap even louder as some of our very own Vineyard poets take the stage…
Oooh La La! Glamorous Grace Potter And Her Nocturnals to Rock the Rock
Did you hear that hold music?” Grace Potter spurts as she’s patched through for an interview. “Disney’s flavor-of-the-day hold music Some weird reggae macho music! Wow!”
Butterfly Count
Betsy Wice asked about this year’s butterfly count. The Vineyard’s butterfly count took place almost a month ago, on July 17. Six people participated including yours truly. It was hot, in the mid-80s, which is good for butterflies, but the wind was too strong. Butterflies don’t like to be blown away, so stay grounded in…
You Say Tomato
“It’s difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.”
I couldn’t agree more with Lewis Grizzard, the American writer and humorist who had a taste for one of the more divine elements of summer.
He and I are not alone in our fondness for this fruit. John…
To the Island in New York Style
Last Friday was a perfect day for a boat trip and at 4:45 p.m. the Seastreak started up the East River on her five-hour trip from Manhattan to Martha’s Vineyard. Skies were blue. Fluffy, cumulus clouds — “cloud islands,” one poetic passenger called them — wafted above New York city’s skyscrapers. Helicopters buzzed over the…
Island Farms Cultivate Grass Roots Awareness Among Young Employees
Farming on Martha’s Vineyard has become more than a just a career path for a few determined individuals whose parents were farmers. It has also become a trend for many young people who want to know where their food comes from and want to grow it themselves.
Recovering From Chaos
I am actually looking forward to the end of summer. There is entirely too much to do. I know this is not true for you lucky few who vacation here.
