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
September 9, 2011
News Update: Wednesday, September 14 – Court Acquits Man in Assault Case
A wheelchair-bound Vineyard Haven man was acquitted this week of a charge he used a baseball bat to assault a man he accused of molesting a three-year-old girl.
After a bench trial in Edgartown district court on Monday, Francis C. Hebert, 57, owner of Mac PC Sales and Service, was found not guilty…
Benefit Concert at Nectar’s to Support WMVY radio
Back to the Island – An Evening For Friends of WMVY radio begins at 8 p.m. Thursday at Nectar’s by the airport with performances by Livingston Taylor, Mike Benjamin, Sabrina and Groover, Jason Spooner Trio, The Daytrippers and Jemima James and Dan Waters.
There is no set admission fee for the benefit, but attendees are…
66th Derby Opens
Weigh master Roy Langley rang the official bell and the door was opened Sunday on another Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. The opening of the derby weigh-in at precisely 8 a.m. sharp was mixed by good cheers and a solemn moment. Many of the derby organizers, including their president Ed Jerome, held a…
Churches Mark Sept. 11 with Services of Remembrance
Churches around the Island will mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center with services of remembrance on Sunday. The Service of Rememberance at FaithMV Church in Katama begins at 10 a.m. In Edgartown, the Federated Church will begin its service at 10:30 a.m. A Service of Remembrance and…
Algae Harmful to Shellfish Found in Sengekontacket
The algae cochlodinium has been spotted in Sengekontacket Pond, Vineyard marine biologists confirmed.
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Sept. 2 77 62 .00
Sept. 3 74 54 .00
Sept. 4 75 65 .00
Sept. 5 78 68 .00
Sept. 6 81 60 .52
Sept. 7 65 61 .25
Sept. 8 70 62 .62
…
Fisherman’s Derby Fever Hits YouTube
This is the week when derby fever strikes. Phil J. Cronin, who has had the fever much of his life, and at 61, he still does. He loves the sport and enjoys sharing his affection with others.
Last winter Mr. Cronin put his love for the annual contest to pen and to music.…
Services of Remembrance for 9/11
The tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks occurs this Sunday and there will be a number of services of remembrance to mark the day. The American Legion along with the Tisbury Fire Department will be holding a ceremony at Five Corners marking the times each tower of the World Trade Center was hit.
Triathlete Is Fueled By Memories of 9/11
Last winter, Jennifer Sanford was sitting at her desk at MassMutual in Springfield where she works as a trader, when an e-mail message came across her screen. The message gave the details of an upcoming triathlon to be held later that summer on Martha’s Vineyard. Ms. Sanford had never entered a triathlon or a race…
They Swim, They Bike, They Run: Triathletes Train for Island Race
On Sunday morning 250 hardy souls will encircle the Vineyard on foot, on bike and in the sea in search of glory. The scope of the first ever Vineyard Warrior Triathlon reminds race organizer Matthew Brackman of Homer’s Odyssey, and promotional materials feature racers attacked on all sides by creatures from Greek mythology. When rosy-fingered…
Presidential Retreat For Sale: Blue Heron Goes on Market
Blue Heron Farm, the Chilmark estate that President Obama and his family have rented for the past three summers for their August vacation, has been placed on the market for sale, Wallace and Co. Sotheby’s International Realty announced on Thursday.
Announcing Olivia
Announcing Olivia
Kristy Maciel and Nicholas Weyl of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Olivia Jodi-May Weyl, born on Sept. 2, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Olivia weighed 5 pounds, 7.5 ounces at birth.
Plum TV Abruptly Shuts Down Operations, Lays Off Workers
Plum TV, the lifestyle cable television network targeting the Island and seven other upscale vacation communities, abruptly laid off much of its workforce this week including the entire Vineyard staff in what is being called a major restructuring of the company.
It’s Lucky Derby Time, as Shack Turns Rich With Prizes and Pride
, The fishing is about to change big time, when the 66th annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby opens this Sunday. A week of wet weather, remnant of two tropical storms, has only stirred the waters around the Vineyard. The fish are here. Many anglers are poised and waiting.
The month-long…
Principal Wears Confidence and Tie to Match
Wearing empty backpacks and new outfits, their cheeks still rosy from the summer sun, a long line of students stood outside the Oak Bluffs School waiting to meet their new principal, Richie Smith, on Thursday morning.
Huddled under the awning, the students and Mr. Smith refused to let a September downpour dampen their…
Class of 1961 Reunion
Class of 1961 Reunion
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s Class of 1961 will gather for their 50th class reunion the weekend of Sept. 16 to 18.
The reunion committee has planned a three-day affair, beginning with a welcome back party Friday at Mary Ellen Smith Larsen’s home 6 to 9…
Town Administrator Relishes Opportunity To Tackle Problems
At the Oak Bluffs selectmen’s meeting on Wednesday night, where for months an empty chair has sat next to the board, Robert Whritenour took in the spectacle. It has been a whirlwind three days for the interim town administrator who has stepped into his new job just as the latest painful round of budget cutting,…
Matheus Arrives
Matheus Arrives
Rosileia and Adriano Mandelli of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Matheus De Almeida Mandelli, born on Sept. 1, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Matheus weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces at birth.
Seniors Protest Oak Bluffs Cuts
Severe budget cutting has begun in cash-strapped Oak Bluffs as town leaders zero in on options for closing the gap on a $245,000 shortfall in the current fiscal year.
Fall Sports Season Revs Its Engine
Classes started only yesterday at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, but the sports teams are well into the fall season, with a full week of play already under their belts.
Friends Take the Cake
Friends Take the Cake
At their annual meeting on August 31, the Friends of the West Tisbury Library were presented with a surprise birthday cake to celebrate the organization’s 30th anniversary.
The anniversary comes at a propitious moment in the library’s history. In July of this year, the Massachusetts Board of…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
May we all pause and reflect on the memory of Sept. 11, 2001 and be mindful of all who were affected that day.
Today will be the final antique show of the season at the Grange in West Tisbury from 9 a.m.…
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
(slaterjn@comcast.net)
Chilmark’s September is acting like August. There are still many visitors, lots of gatherings and plenty of cars on the road. Let’s hope we can all keep up with things for a while longer.
Wind Festival Lifts Spirits High Among Young and Young at Heart
Something there is in the American soul that soars with kites that soar! Poet Joyce Carol Oates wrote those words, but 88-year-old Micki Riddick embodied them at Saturday’s Wind Festival.
It wasn’t just that Micki put down her cane to wander Ocean Park for two hours under her kite, it was the expression…
East Chop
RICK HERRICK
508-693-8065
herricklr@verizon.net
I grew up in Canada, where we used to say that when the American economy sneezed, the Canadian economy caught a cold. For some reason this thought came back to me when I ran into Charlotte Borde and Geraldine Borde Ruderman at the beach club…
Oak Bluffs
BETTYE FOSTER BAKER
508-696-9983
(bdrbaker@comcast.net)
What an exciting summer this has been, as the Island became the backdrop for filming the first episode, Stranger at the Door, of Bill Baker’s documentary, The Brownsville Texas Incident: The Source of Teddy Roosevelt’s Biggest Blunder. It was filmed by cameraman Carl Holt,…
Friend Could Not Have Whist for a Nicer Tribute
The second annual Buddy Harris Bid Whist Classic was held at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on Thursday, August 25. Buddy’s widow, Barbara Harris, committed to continuing his legacy, was thrilled by the attention and interest in the Bid Whist Classic as an annual event in tribute to her late husband. For more than…
Speaker Brings Experience in Christian Healing Ministry
On Saturday, Sept. 10, Barbara McBride will be the guest speaker at the Martha’s Vineyard Chapter of the Order of St. Luke. The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Anderson Room of Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven. There will be music, prayers and a healing Eucharist. A brown-bag lunch will be shared…
Picture This
Picture This
There will be an artist’s reception for Michael Kahn on Sept. 10 at 3 p.m. at the North Water Gallery located at 27 North Water street in Edgartown.
Mr. Kahn is a photographer whose work focuses on boats and nature. Images of antique boats from around the world and…
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
This week has not been the greatest as far as weather is concerned. However, we really can’t complain as we have had very few rain days. Mother Nature is on her fall cleaning routine as far as watering the plants and clearing out the trees…
Hello, Marcos
Hello, Marcos
Miriam and Marcos Paizante of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Marcos Abrahao Nunes Mariano Paizante, born on Sept. 3, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Marcos weighed 7 pounds, 14.5 ounces at birth.
Welcome Marc
Welcome Marc
Daniella Andrade and Agentil Oliveira of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Marc Anthony Chaves Lacerda, born on Sept. 5, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Marc weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces at birth.
Oliver-Kerridge Vows Steeped in History
Susan Foster Oliver and Douglas Campbell Kerridge were married on August 27. The Rev. Dr. Timothy B. Cogan performed the ceremony at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown.
Susan, 34, is vice president of strategy for TONIX Pharmaceuticals in New York city. She attended the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, N.J., and graduated from…
Reclaiming the American Indian Voice
Kevin Gover wants to set the record straight on the story of Pocahontas. It may come as a shock to a generation of children who grew up on beloved Disney movies, but the familiar story of the American Indian princess is largely falsified.
Chilmark Debriefs Aftermath of Irene, Wave Wall Affected
Chilmark selectmen this week approved a warrant for a special town meeting later this month, reviewed damage from tropical storm Irene and discussed a draft revision of the Tri-Town Ambulance Service agreement.
Fair Posters Reprinted
Fair Posters Reprinted
The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Livestock Show and Fair 2011 posters have been reprinted and are now available for purchase. Checks can be made out to MVAS for $20 and sent to Martha’s Vineyard Agriculture Society, P.O. Box 73, West Tisbury, 02575, or call 508-693-9549.
Harvest Moon
The moon dominates our night sky this weekend and will be full on Monday. Call this full moon the Harvest Moon, for it is the closest full moon to the first day of autumn. On Monday, autumn is only 11 days away.
Hurricane Irene Beaches Buoy
A scientific buoy was among the flotsum that washed up on South Beach when the remnants of Hurricane Irene passed over the Island two weeks ago. Susan Snider found the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution buoy on last Sunday and submitted the photograph to the Gazette.
Janet Fredericks, an operations manager for the institution,…
Reading This Book Could Literally Save Your Life
Vineyard seasonal resident Dr. Mache Seibel, the author of a recent book aimed at providing simple, lifesaving information, believes that one of the most common reasons people die in a medical emergency is they don’t know when to call 911 or what to do, or not to do, after they call.
Announcing Aurora
Announcing Aurora
Alicia and Dave Christensen of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Aurora Rose Christensen, born on August 29, 2011, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Aurora weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces at birth. She is welcomed by her big brother, Aidan.
Fore for Hospice
Fore for Hospice
So often Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard helps when we feel the depths of the holes in our hearts and in our lives. To help them provide hospice care to all Islanders and their loved ones, Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard is hosting a round of that game of shallow holes arranged…
Dragonfly’s Featured Artist
Dragonfly’s Featured Artist
Island painter Traeger di Pietro is the featured artist this week at Dragonfly Fine Arts Gallery in Oak Bluffs. A reception will be held for him at the gallery on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Mr. di Pietro’s work focuses on landscapes, seascapes and figurative…
An Old Friend Recalled
Editors’ note: The following essay written by longtime Oak Bluffs columnist Dorothy West first appeared in the Vineyard Gazette on August 9, 1985.
By DOROTHY WEST
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard has had a very busy summer; lots of cats, kittens and a few dogs have found wonderful new homes. The two darling wire-haired dachshunds we wrote about last week found a new loving home together. We are so pleased when cats or kittens are…
Seeing Oncoming Cars and Other Life As Guide Dog for David the Piano Man
David Crohan has been blind from birth, but that hardly kept him from crawling up on his grandmother’s piano bench at the age of two and finding that his fingers could extract marvelous melodies. Within a year he could sing and play a hundred songs from memory.
After an adolescence spent at the…
Edgartown Private Wells See Elevated Nitrate Levels
The Edgartown board of health has detected elevated nitrates in water drawn from two private wells in a neighborhood off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road that includes Shady Oak Lane, Price’s Way, Huckleberry Hill Lane and Dubud Lane.
Edgartown Off-Season Is Still Off-Limits to Tour Company
Edgartown selectmen rejected a second application this week by Ron Minkin to conduct tours in the off-season, arguing the town is still too congested even in the shoulder months.
Mr. Minkin, who is president of Martha’s Vineyard Transport, requested a license to sell tickets for his 14-passenger vans through the downtown streets of…
Stop and Go on the Roundabout
Too expensive, not necessary, out of character for the Vineyard and unsafe for cyclists. These were the common refrains heard from critics of the proposed roundabout last week, but Oak Bluffs town officials remained bullish, citing safety above all else.
Tisbury Looks to Ease Traffic Congestion With Connector Road
Tisbury town leaders are pushing ahead to find funding for the long-planned connector road between State Road and the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road. On Tuesday selectmen voted to apply for $4 million in state grant money to build the road. The town hopes to build in two phases. In the first, $2.5 million phase, a road…
A Footbridge Over Sunset Lake
Photographer J. A. French (died ca. 1899) took many historic pictures of the Island during the years 1861-1898. Mr. French called his cottage Westmoreland, named for his New Hampshire birthplace. It was located on Wendell avenue in front of Twin Cottage in the Oak Bluffs Highlands, and just behind our family’s cottage. When his house…
Roundabout Reasoning Flawed, Circuitous
I attended the Martha’s Vineyard Commission hearing on Sept. 1 on the roundabout proposal for the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road intersection with Barnes and Airport Roads. As a longtime Island summer resident with occasional winters here, I have closely followed the work of the MVC, often with approval and admiration.
Library Loves its Many Helpers
So Many to Thank
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
I realize I am not much of a public speaker, but I’m working on that skill.
Here’s what I should have said at our Labor Day library event held at the Katama Airfield.
Could there be a better place to…
Elements of Style, Commodore Art Railton
More than 30 years ago, when Dan Karnovsky was the age Nick Karnovsky is now, Arthur Railton ran the committee boat and the Menemsha Pond races. He was extremely knowledgeable about all things nautical, and appeared rather strict and even stern. We all called him Mr. Railton, and I continued to do so until it…
Letters to the Editor
TEN YEARS LATER
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Not being one for sentimentality, here I go for the first time: Two anniversaries are approaching for my husband, Richard and myself. First, moving to the Vineyard full-time 10 years ago, Nov. 5, and second, the sad anniversary of 9/11.
Gone Fishing
Gone Fishing
Back to School Basics
Back to School Basics
One girl was buying more pencil sharpeners than she could hold in one hand at EduComp on Wednesday, the day before school. Her father asked, “Do you really need six or seven?” “Well, Dad . . .”
What student can be sure what she needs at school?…
International Film Festival Offers Full Weekend of Possibilities
In A Better World, a Danish thriller that won Best Foreign Film at the 2011 Academy Awards, is among the fare being offered up this weekend by the International Film Festival. In A Better World is one of three choices being shown at 7 p.m. Friday night, this one at the Vineyard Playhouse. Ten international…
Tough Nut to Crack
Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t.
I always do and I enjoy eating them too; there isn’t a nut around that doesn’t entice me. Hurricane Irene gave me and other nut lovers a gift of glut: nut glut.
Though the high winds toppled some trees, my black walnut…
Hummingbirds
Liz Baldwin, the assistant director of Biodiversity Works, Inc., e-mailed me that her camcorder for recording the movements of the otters, which is located at the west end of Crab Creek at Quansoo, is missing. Liz and Luanne Johnson have been working on the Island’s otter population for over a year! Liz doesn’t care that…
Plant Sale
Plant Sale
The Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury is holding its annual late summer/early fall plant sale on Saturday, Sept. 10. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Arboretum staff will be on hand to answer questions and offer advice. Choose from a wide array of trees, shrubs, and perennials, including…
Weeds and Other Pests
Here it is Labor Day, the end of another summer. The days have shortened. I’m glad of that fact.
Nursing the Heart
Nursing the Heart
The Royal Falmouth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Royal Megansett Nursing and Retirement Home in North Falmouth are among the centers that have purchased newly FDA-approved fluid monitors to help patients with heart, kidney and other fluid-related health issues.
Both are part of the Royal Health Group, owner…
General Who Fought, Protected Indians Inspires Island Author
He was a soldier, reaching the rank of major general, and a humanitarian. He was captured by a group of Confederate partisans that included his future brother in law. His career included the battles of Antietam, Chickamauga and the Geronimo campaign during the Apache Wars. Yet George Crook’s story has remained mostly untold until now.…
Howes House Writers Go Public
The rain outside trickled down the windows of Howes House in West Tisbury last Tuesday morning as Jeanne Hewett began reading a piece written by fellow Howes House writer Charles Blank, who could not attend the event. The story included images of playtime for a little boy, with games of war and pirates using twigs…
From Maine to You, With Sauce
From Maine to You, With Sauce
Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard is hosting a community potluck at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury on Thursday, Sept. 15, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The guest speaker is Kathy Gunst, Maine cookbook author and “resident chef” for WBUR’s award-winning show, Here and Now. Her radio work has…
Psyche Behind the Scribble , Art Educator Connects Dots
Al Hurwitz will speak to members and guests of Vineyard Village at Home on the art of children’s drawing on Thursday, Sept. 15, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Library.
Dr. Hurwitz is the author of Children and Their Art and has taught children from preschool to the Harvard graduate school…
CROP Walk Advance
CROP Walk Advance
An advance planning meeting for the Vineyard CROP Walk will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 5 p.m. at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven. The speaker will be the Rev. Bert Marshall, New England Director of Church World Service.
Alden Besse to Preach
Alden Besse to Preach
Trinity Episcopal Church in Oak Bluffs welcomes the Reverend Alden Besse as preacher and celebrant this Sunday, Sept. 11.
Rev. Besse retired to the Vineyard in 1990 from his parish in Whitinsville. For fifteen years he served as Pastoral Assistant at Grace Church in Vineyard Haven. For…
International Film Festival Hosts Parties and Premieres
Yesterday, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival opened up with a reception at Saltwater Gallery. Afterwards, the documentary Just Like Us by comedian Ahmed Ahmed was shown at that the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven.
The festival continues throughout the weekend ending on Sunday evening with a closing night party at the Vineyard Haven…
Four Part Series on Fiction Of Colonial Encounters
On Thursday, Sept. 15, Philip Weinstein, a professor of English at Swarthmore College and a part-time resident of Aquinnah, will lead the first of four in a series of book discussions entitled the Fictions of Colonial Encounter. Each discussion will focus on a particular novel that relates in some way to the idea of colonial…
Center for Living Benefit
Center for Living Benefit
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, Flatbread Pizza is hosting a benefit for the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living. What this means is that from 5 to 10 p.m. on that day and evening, $3.50 of every pizza sold will be donated to the center.
Wampanoag Powwow
Wampanoag Powwow
The seventh annual Aquinnah Wampanoag Powwow is taking place this weekend, on both Saturday and Sunday, in the circle at the Cliffs. Gates open at 11 a.m. each day and the grand entry begins at noon.
Throughout the day there will be Native drumming and dancing, plus numerous vendors…
Concert Benefits Plants and Animals
Concert Benefits Plants and Animals
Mezzo-soprano opera singer Lia Kahler-Littlefield and pianist Richard Gordon are coming to the Island to perform a benefit concert entitled, Songs for My Father. Ms. Kahler is dedicating the concert of songs and arias about flowers, plants and animals to the memory of her father, Albert Littlefield, who…
Artists Open Studio Doors For Full-Day Tour and Party
Instead of just checking out art, how about getting to the heart of the matter by visiting the centers of creativity?
This Saturday, Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Featherstone Center for the Arts is hosting studio tours of the following artists: Deborah Colter, Stephanie Danforth, Jeri Dantzig, Traeger di Pietro,…
Rollicking Radio WVVY Pumps Up Volume
There’s a soft buzz coming from the car radio, a faint hum of interference as you drive around the Island searching for the perfect song to get you in the mood. Sometimes the automatic tuner slides right by it, other times it settles in somewhere amongst the buzz to 93.7, the home of Vineyard community…
