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
November 4, 2011
Island Gets New Congressional District; Keating to Move Residency to Cape
Martha’s Vineyard will be part of a new 9th congressional district under a redistricting plan announced this week. Shortly after the plan was unveiled by legislative leaders, Rep. William Keating released a statement saying he will change his residency from Quincy to the Cape so he can run in the new district.
News Update: Wednesday, Nov. 9 – Oak Bluffs Pares Budget, Deficit Healing Begins
Oak Bluffs voters agreed to cut $303,561 from the current fiscal year budget at a special town meeting Tuesday night, as town leaders said the days of financial disarray and instability are coming to an end.
“The elephant that’s in the room here with us is that we’ve had structural deficits over the last…
Controlled Burn Scheduled for Edgartown
The Martha’s Vineyard Prescribed Fire Partnership will conduct a controlled burn Tuesday afternoon at Pocketpaces, east of Pohoganot Road, in Edgartown. The odor of smoke may be temporarily noticeable in Edgartown during the burn. Smoke also may be visible above the south coast and in the vicinity of Edgartown-West Tisbury Road near the Vineyard Golf…
West Tisbury Library Begins Focus Groups
The West Tisbury Public Library will host the first in a series of focus groups tonight aimed at gathering community comment on the proposed renovation and expansion of its facility.
Tonight’s focus group, dedicated to parents, tutors and caregivers of children, will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Howes House, across from Alley’s…
News Update: Sunday, Nov. 6 – Cause of Boat Yard Fire Accidental
The cause of the huge fire Saturday afternoon at Maciel Marine is believed to be accidental, Tisbury fire chief John Schilling said Sunday morning.
The fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal and state police, who arrived on the Island Saturday after volunteer firefighters mobilized a massive effort to quickly contain…
News Update, Saturday, Nov. 5 – Firefighters Contain Large Boat Shed Fire at Maciel Marine
A fire that broke out in a large metal boat shed at Maciel Marine on the Lagoon Pond in Vineyard Haven Saturday afternoon was contained by Tisbury volunteer firefighters. The three-alarm call came in between 1 and 1:30 p.m. Saturday that a boat shed at the marina was fully engulfed. Mutual aid responded from Edgartown…
News Update: Friday, Nov. 4 – Edgartown Attorney Pleads to Two Larceny Charges
Edgartown attorney Edward W. Vincent Jr. today was placed on two years administrative probation and ordered to perform 100 hours community service after he admitted to sufficient facts on two larceny over $250 charges.
Standing alongside his attorney in Edgartown district court, Mr. Vincent entered the plea on the two charges, which will…
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
Oct. 28 52 37 .68
Oct. 29 47 38 Trace
Oct. 30 49 34 1.70
Oct. 31 47 30 .00
Nov. 1 54 38 .00
Nov. 2 52 46 .00
Nov. 3 56 34 .00
…
New Trial in Old Rape Case
New Trial in Old Rape Case
A man who was convicted 20 years ago of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in his Edgartown home, then served a prison sentence and, several years after his release, won a new trial, yesterday pleaded guilty in Dukes County superior court to an assault and battery charge.
Democrats Meeting
Democrats Meeting
The Martha’s Vineyard Democrats will hold a meeting at the Howes House on Nov. 12 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The group will discuss recommendations to Senator John Kerry and the Super-Committee on Deficit Reduction, as well as how the Martha’s Vineyard Democrats might support the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Storm Season
Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday. For those who enjoy stargazing, that means an extra hour for favorite evening activities. Standard time arrives at 2 a.m. Sunday.
School Superintendent Defends Five Per Cent Jump in Budget
The growing demands of special education classes in the public schools have placed extra demands on the budget for Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss, who is on track to spend $4 million next year, a five per cent increase over this year.
The All-Island School Committee voted 9 to 1 to…
TV’s Dr. Oz Makes Island House Call
When Vineyarders tuned in to FOX yesterday afternoon, they found the familiar, reassuring visage of Dr. Mehmet Oz. Next to him was an even more familiar face, that of Islander Marcy Holmes.
“It was a surprise. I haven’t been groomed for this,” Ms. Holmes said Thursday. “I don’t have the stage experience that…
Commercial Scallop Season Begins
The commercial bay scallop season is open in all towns save Aquinnah, and as hardy shellfishermen don their orange and yellow foul weather gear, perhaps hoping for a small hedge against hard economic times, the early reports on the season are mixed.
Edgartown is having an average to healthy year, but the scallops…
Study Shows Lyme Disease More Prevalent Than Reported
As the Island boards of health begin to engage in a five-year effort to battle tick-borne illnesses on the Vineyard, early field work from a group of medical students on the Island points to serious deficiencies in reporting tick diseases to state public health officials, especially for Lyme disease.
Beer and Wine Critics Say Not So Fast for West Tisbury
West Tisbury selectmen are preparing for the possibility of life in a wet town, but some townspeople are not quite ready to hop on the wagon.
At a public hearing held Wednesday, selectmen seeking to discuss regulations for the potential sale of beer and wine at town restaurants and fund-raisers instead faced a…
Supreme Court Begins Inquiry On Drunk Driving Acquittals
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to launch a statewide inquiry into drunken driving acquittal rates by judges drew mixed reviews this week from Edgartown district court’s first justice and questions from the Cape and Islands district attorney.
The state’s highest court has appointed Jack Cinquegrana, a former federal prosecutor and president of…
MVC Upholds Roundabout Approval; Vote to Rescind Fails
For the second time in less than a month, a sharply divided Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted last night to back the controversial roundabout plan for the blinker intersection in Oak Bluffs. With chairman Chris Murphy again casting the deciding vote, the commission deadlocked 6-6 over whether to rescind its first 7-6 vote to approve the…
Smiles for New Island Dentist
Dr. Jon A. Ruel, DMD, MscD, a nationally renowned prosthodontist with more than 35 years of experience, has joined Island Dentistry. His specialty deals with comprehensive care, including replacing missing teeth with implants, crowns, bridges and dentures.
Center for Living Meeting
Center for Living Meeting
The Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living will hold its annual meeting on Thursday, Nov. 10. at 7 p.m. in the Tisbury Senior Center. Following a brief business meeting, the board will discuss the Center for Living’s past accomplishments and plans for the future. Refreshments will be served.
…
Halloween Scarecrows
The Halloween scarecrows that decorated many business storefronts for the past two weeks have been rounded up and moved to a central location. The handcrafted pieces, created for the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School’s 12th annual Islandwide Scarecrow Festival, will be displayed on the porch of the Mansion House through Tuesday, Nov. 6. Each of…
Imagine All the Photographs
The idea for OWS MV (Occupy Wall Street- Martha’s Vineyard) first appeared as an image of a can rolling down a hill. The hill was the enthusiasm I felt all around me as people took to the streets to restore our democracy. The can represented a simple idea — a photograph of people congregating in…
Willing to Listen and Give Back
Three weeks ago, my 16-year-old daughter asked me what the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place in Zuccotti Park and all over the country meant. To better answer her, I visited the park and spent time talking to many different protestors. There was a very inviting and spirited energy the night I visited. The group…
At One With the Land, Then and Now
A lbert (Ozzie) Fischer Jr. was a man of the land who always had dirt beneath his fingernails, a farmer and arborist with a fondness for practical jokes.
Letters to the Editor
QUESTIONABLE CONDUCT
Editors, Vineyard Gazette
If the Martha’s Vineyard Commission was ever well-served by Mark London, that is no longer the case. His attempted gag order in the matter of the highly controversial roundabout is an insult not only to the commissioners whom he serves, but to the entire Vineyard community…
Closing the Books, Opening the Heart
I wake up in the morning to the clucking of chickens. The sun is rising, peeking up above the trees as I stumble down the stairs and out into the yard. The “ladies” rush to the edge of their fenced enclosure and watch me closely. I almost fall on the dew-covered grass as I step…
Fall Back
Fall Back
This past weekend on the Weather Channel, with the outdoor snowstorms overtaking much of the Northeast, Jim Cantore, the channel’s most hyperbolic newscaster, stood in the snow outside Harrisburg, Pa. Suddenly, there was a loud noise, thundersnow, as he called it. Mr. Cantore was so taken with this phenomenon, evidently extremely…
Lyme Under Study
Lyme Under Study
More than thirty, less than ten thousand. The precise number of people living on the Vineyard who have contracted Lyme disease is unknown, but it is certain that the number is higher than the thirty cases of Lyme disease here recorded by the Centers for Disease Control last year. Far…
Gazette Chronicle: At the Polls
From Gazette editions of November 1936:
Island interest in the election this week centered about the contest for county representative. For the first time in many years a Democratic nominee was on the ballot and, possibly for the first time, an independent opposed the Republican nominee. Joseph A. Sylvia of Oak Bluffs, who…
Aquinnah
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
The flea market will take place tomorrow at the Chilmark Community Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Antiques, books, clothing, household items, collectibles, Vineyard memorabilia, jewelry, handcrafted items and much more is available for your shopping pleasure. Chowder and sandwiches will also be…
Scavenger Hunt Winner
Scavenger Hunt Winner
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission has announced the winner of its 25th Anniversary Photography Scavenger Hunt, a summer-long quest in which participants searched for designated points of interest in at least 15 land bank properties.
Development Director
Development Director
Christine Todd has been named development director for the Martha’s Vineyard Arena, leaders at the venerable ice rink announced. A resident of Oak Bluffs with a long background in marketing, fund-raising and development, Ms. Todd most recently helped the YMCA raise the money it needed to open its doors in 2010.
Chilmark
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
slaterjn@comcast.net
Chilmark survived nature’s most recent outburst last weekend. Falling trees accounted for power outages in Menemsha that lasted into Sunday morning. However, the Comcast service was the hardest to live without. That was out until early Monday morning, causing many of us to miss…
West Tisbury To Hold Focus Groups on Design
West Tisbury To Hold
Focus Groups on Design
The West Tisbury Public Library will host a series of targeted focus groups in November, part of its ongoing effort to gather community comment on the proposed renovation and expansion of its facility.
Edgartown
KATHIE CASE
508-627-5349
(kathleencase@comcast.net)
So, Mother Nature did some housecleaning this past weekend. We had one large branch that went thud in the night. It was big enough that the highway department had a man with a chainsaw to clean it up. I am thankful that Islanders weren’t among…
Permanent Endowment Announces 12 Grants
The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard awarded $27,550 in grants to 12 Island organizations this fall. The grants will help support the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Martha’s Vineyard, Island Grown Initiative, Island Housing Trust Corporation, Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, Sail…
Oak Bluffs
HOLLY NADLER
508-274-2329
(hollynadler@gmail.com)
This isn’t political commentary, just fact: No one I know in the whole wide world of Oak Bluffs wants the roundabout. Oh, one exception: At a brunch a couple of months ago, a visiting transportation guy from Boston, when his back was shoved to the…
Vineyard Haven
NANCY GARDELLA
508-693-3308
(vhavenvgazette@yahoo.com)
How dare she? How dare she? Dolly Campbell retiring from the Thrift Shop? That’s like a day without sunshine. Well, the rest of the staff is excellent, so we’ll just have to make do. A big party was held in her honor last Friday evening…
Fewer Fishermen, More Fluke, Season Fails to Hit State Quota
There apparently is a lot more Vineyard sole left to be fished.
For the first time, Massachusetts commercial fishermen failed this year to reach their quota for harvesting fluke. As a result, the commercial fluke fishery, which normally closes by the end of the summer, is still open.
Dan McKiernan, deputy…
Inky Nights: Mysterious Squid Are Subject of Study by Scientist
Before probing the outer reaches of our galaxy, alien hunters would be well-advised to turn their telescopes around, training them on Earth’s own cephalopods instead. The group of animals includes squid, octopus, cuttlefish and nautiluses and were seemingly jury-rigged by evolution, armed with suction cups, beaks, ink, jet propulsion, camouflage and an intelligence entirely unlike…
Octoberfish Comes to a Windy Close
Results are in from Octoberfish, a fishing contest sponsored by Larry’s Tackle Shop after the annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby.
Jeff Komarinetz caught the biggest striped bass from a boat on Oct. 19. The fish weighed 26.85 pounds and was caught from a kayak.
Tony Rezendes Jr., caught…
Wooden Whaleship Restored
Wooden Whaleship Restored
Shipwrights have installed the last plank in the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaleship of the 19th century housed in Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. The wooden ship that began its 80-year career hunting whales with an Edgartown whaling captain, Thomas A. Norton, and many Vineyard crewmembers, is undergoing a…
Boys’ Soccer Wins EAC Championship
With the exception of the football team, which has three games remaining on its schedule, the regular fall season wrapped up last week.
Senior Center Celebrates 20 Years
By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL
Building a senior center was a hard sell to Tisbury voters many years ago. So when fans and friends gathered on Sunday to celebrate the Tisbury senior center’s 20th anniversary, it was a festive occasion.
Center director Joyce Stiles-Tucker recalled her 32 years of working for the…
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
Edith Potter To Receive Spirit of Vineyard Award
Edith W. Potter of Chappaquiddick, a longtime conservationist who wrote the first zoning bylaws for Edgartown and was influential in saving South Beach and the Katama airfield, will receive the annual Spirit of the Vineyard Award, Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard announced this week.
The award is given annually to a person who has…
Cycling an Exercise in Creativity, Endurance at Om of Motion
Purple and green lights, a vibrant contrast to the orange tungsten that lights up the fall, flicker from within a small one-room building on State Road. There’s a class going on inside; Kimberly Cartwright, one of the founders of the Om of Motion studio, is leading Wednesday night Old School Spin.
Oak Bluffs Faces Final Round of Cuts
Oak Bluffs voters accustomed to cost cutting will get another chance to do so next Tuesday at a special town meeting when they will be asked to decide how to close a $300,000 budget gap. And town leaders hope that this latest round of belttightening will once and for all put the town on course…
Fishermen Spared Cost of Monitors at Sea
The federal government will continue to foot the bill for its mandatory at-sea monitoring program for another year, after meeting with fishermen and state representatives in recent weeks and reviewing the economic impact of the costs associated with the year-old catch shares fisheries management program.
Housewarming at Middle Line Road
The bumpy route to the construction of Chilmark’s first town-owned affordable housing development came to a close last Saturday as town selectmen hosted an open house for residents at Middle Line Road.
Water Department Books Out of Balance
The Edgartown water department must account for $171,600 in receipts for its new headquarters off the West Tisbury Road before it can receive reimbursement from the USDA, town accountant Kimberly Kane told the selectmen this week.
Without the reimbursement, the town will have to pay the bill.
Voters Back Cell Towers in Silos, First Steps to Sell Warren House
This time with a quorum, Edgartown voters at a special town meeting Tuesday night agreed to allocate money for an appraisal of the Capt. Warren House and approved the conversion of silos at Katama Farm into cell towers.
A total of 168 voters attended the special session. The meeting was rescheduled from last…
Joins Real Estate Firm
Joins Real Estate Firm
Caroline Taylor of Edgartown, a well-known real estate broker on the Island with almost 30 years of experience, has moved to Island Real Estate. She can be reached at 508-693-4800 or e-mail caroline@vineyard.net.
Vets Roundtable Talk
Vets Roundtable Talk
Vineyard veterans have been working for some time to restore health clinic services for veterans at the Island hospital. A contract between the Veterans Administration and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital expired five years ago, although no one discovered the problem until about a year and a half ago when veterans…
Morning Fire Destroys Vineyard Haven Home
A home off the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road was completely destroyed by fire early Friday morning, Oct. 28. No one was injured, Tisbury fire chief John Schilling said.
Federal Court Ruling Doubts Cape Wind’s Clear Air Space
Cape Wind, the controversial 130-turbine, 50-square-mile project slated for construction on Horseshoe Shoal, hit a major roadblock late last week when a federal appeals court rejected a key finding from the Federal Aviation Administration that the wind farm would pose no hazard to pilots.
Senior circuit Judge Stephen F. Williams reached an opposite…
Unlikely Friendship at Heart Of Panama Canal Journey
Author Chip Bishop’s great-great-uncle, Joseph Bucklin Bishop, was a newspaper editor during the time of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the stories he covered was the construction of the Panama Canal, the transoceanic canal that today seems a foregone conclusion but at the time was considered by many to be a fool’s errand.
Afghanistan Talk
Afghanistan Talk
South Asian scholar Jim Norton leads a discussion series throughout November in response to a recent book, The Wars of Afghanistan, by Peter Tomsen. This program will explore Mr. Tomsen’s firsthand account of Afghanistan’s recent history, and examine his recommendations for constructive response in this part of the world.
…
Free-for-All at Museum
Free-for-All at Museum
Beginning Saturday, Nov. 5, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum will begin offering free admission or pay-what-you-can to Vineyard residents on every Saturday.
Exhibitions this fall and winter include Out of the Depths: Martha’s Vineyard Shipwrecks, Eisenstaedt and Us, and We Are Marching Along: Martha’s Vineyard and the Civil War.
Less Talk, More Stories, Silent Film Series Arrives
This Monday, Nov. 7, and continuing for the next few months the West Tisbury Library will be going silent, on screen, that is. It’s a silent film series, so appropriate, really, for a place that still holds sacred the power of the shhhh.
Art in the Stacks
Art in the Stacks
Jo Scotford Rice is the featured artist for the month of November for the Vineyard Haven Public Library’s Art in the Stacks program.
Greenhouse Goes Up
Greenhouse Goes Up
The Community Solar Greenhouse (COMSOG) is raising the roof on their greenhouse. The new greenhouse roof is going up on Saturday, Nov. 5, (rain date 11/12) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is not a mere check-it-out announcement, either.
Workers are needed and that means you, couch…
Healing Prayer
Healing Prayer
The Martha’s Vineyard Chapter of the Order of St. Luke the Physician will hold its monthly meeting on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 10 a.m. in the Anderson room of Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven. Speakers for this month’s program are Cary and Lillian Wong. The couple has been learning, experiencing…
Beetlebung Festival
Beetlebung Festival
On Sunday, Nov 6, from 6 to 9 p.m. the Chilmark Community Center is hosting the Beetlebung Festival of the Arts and Edibles. What is that, you may ask. Well, it’s music set to a backbeat of local food made by Chris Fischer.
The music portion of the evening…
Vineyard Offers Gift of Quiet Reflection for Writers on Retreat
For six years now, writers — both aspiring and professional — have met in the spring and fall for a full immersion in both their craft and in all things Vineyard, in particular all things Edgartown. The writers’ retreat takes place at the charming Point Way Inn on Pease Point Way.
Shakespeare Washes Ashore
Shakespeare Washes Ashore
Frost on the ground, gray and windy days, the clocks about to fall back, yes, the off-season is definitely upon us. And if those harbingers aren’t enough, here comes Shakespeare for the Masses’ first outing.
Guided Featherstone Walk
Guided Featherstone Walk
Join the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank staff on a guided natural history walk of Featherstone Farm in Oak Bluffs on Sunday, Nov. 6, beginning at 1 p.m. The walk lasts approximately one and a half hours.
Meet at the Featherstone Farm trailhead off Barnes Road.
The…
Hummingbirds
The occurrence of a late hummingbird on the Vineyard is always exciting. Molly Cournoyer e-mailed that she spotted a hummingbird feeding on the pineapple sage around her Indian Hill home on Oct. 22. Molly said: “It did not look like a ruby-throated hummingbird. There was no red. It had a lot of brown on its…
Holiday Drive for Needy
Holiday Drive for Needy
Island Alpaca Farm is collecting donations of food and gifts for the Red Stocking Fund. The farm will collect unwrapped presents and nonperishable foodstuffs valued at $10 or more through Dec. 24. Each person who donates an item will be entered to win one of two $50 gift certificates…
Flu Clinics on Veterans Day
Flu Clinics on Veterans Day
The annual all-Island flu clinic will take place at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on Friday, Nov. 11 from 8 a.m. to noon. Registration and staging areas will be located at Waban Park in Oak Bluffs and the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury. Participants must fill out a…
Reading Stands Up for Gay Marriage
This coming Monday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m., the Vineyard Playhouse will present a staged reading of Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays. And they will not be alone. At the same time there will be simultaneous readings of the play worldwide.
Mighty Morsels for Thought and Taste
Scallops: A New England Coastal Cookbook, by Elaine Tammi and Karin A. Tammi, Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, Louisiana, 350 pages, color photographs and illustrations, $39.95.
With fresh bay scallops being landed at Vineyard docks it is time to think about favorite recipes. Earlier this year Pelican Publishing came out with a cookbook and…
Price of Perfection, Bay Scallops Are Everyone’s Favorite Mollusk
Nothing says small and sweet like bay scallop season.
Jewels for both the palate and year-round economies, bay scallops have become almost unique to Vineyard waters — Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are two of the last places with a thriving commercial season. For many an Island fishermen bay scalloping has become the backbone…
Atria’s Creamy Parsnip Soup With Prosciutto and Edgartown Bay Scallops
Atria’s Creamy Parsnip Soup With Prosciutto and Edgartown Bay Scallops
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
2 quarts chicken stock
4 pounds parsnips, peeled…
Turtle Rescue
Cold, stunned and stranded describes more than just the Vineyarders who got stuck on or off-Island in last weekend’s storm. There was another visitor that was also powerless to get to its destination.
Though Sunday brought the sun and an eventual resumption of ferry service, one Island guest needed a little assistance to…
