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 10, 2012
Jaws Screening at Ocean Park Rescheduled
JawsFest’s planned outdoor screening of Jaws on Ocean Park Saturday night has been rescheduled for Sunday, August 12 at 8 p.m. due to rain. Visit jawstribute.com for more details.
Congressional Candidates Address Island Democrats; Mr. Keating Is Fleeting
On the morning that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced that Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan will be his running mate, Martha’s Vineyard Democrats focused on a more local political decision as they heard from the two candidates they will choose between in the congressional primary on Sept. 6.
Oak Bluffs Art Stroll
On Saturday, August 11, this month’s Arts District Stroll in Oak Bluffs takes place. The stroll is from 4 to 7 p.m. and is an opportunity to check out all of the galleries along Dukes County avenue as they roll out the welcome mat, not to mention snacks and drinks. The Alison Shaw Gallery is…
Land Bank Revenues: August 4
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $116,215 for the business week ending on Friday, August 4, 2012. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions. Much of the land bank revenue last week came from the town of Chilmark, where two transactions…
Tornado Watch in Effect
The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for the surrounding region, including coastal waters extending out 25 nautical miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, and coastal waters from Montauk, N.Y. to Martha’s Vineyard extending out to 20 nautical miles south of Block Island. This watch also includes the following includes the following…
Cocaine Trafficking Charged in Large Drug Bust
A New York woman is facing a cocaine trafficking charge in what the Edgartown police chief said was one of the biggest drug busts in recent memory.
Mitefea Kelly, 18, was arraigned Friday morning in Edgartown district court after being arrested Thursday for allegedly carrying more than 270 grams of cocaine.
Candidates To Meet
On Saturday, August 11, the The Martha’s Vineyard Democrats will host both candidates for the ninth congressional district of Massachusetts.The candidates are William Keating, who is running for re-election, and Sam Sutter, the district attorney for Bristol County. The meeting takes place at 9 a.m. at Howes House in West Tisbury.
Lonely Hitchhiker
Wow, did I wake up on a different Island? I haven’t hitchhiked much in the last several years but . . . 46 cars before a pick up outside up-Island Cronigs?
Community Gifts
So many people talk about the generous and kind spirit of community that exists on Martha’s Vineyard. During these last few months, I have experienced it firsthand.
Heartless
As an animal lover I found the August 3 article written by Chris Fischer, From Hutch to Table a Short Hop, heartless and offensive to animal lovers. The article takes you in as he reminisces about what they have learned from the bunnies, then goes on to say that they named them Carl and Charlotte.
Poor Response
I am writing about an incident that took place at the high school well over a year ago. In April 2011, I met with high school principal Steve Nixon and brought to his attention the unprofessional conduct of a varsity coach who was berating and using foul language as a method to motivate student athletes.
Blues Brothers Fund
I read with interest your story in the July 31 edition of the Gazette on the new fund for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services in honor of the Blues Brothers. Nowhere in that story was there information on how to donate to the fund.
Sane Gun Laws
This is in response to Barry Carroll’s letter of August 3.Let me preface this by saying I am not anti-gun, I am pro-sane gun laws.
Ins and Outs
Every four years Americans get a chance to choose who will control their government for the next four. Individuals join or form interest groups, known as parties, and support them. The names and intentions of the parties vary over time, but under our system there have been basically only two, The contest is between the…
Hancock History
Just to clarify Hancock Beach’s history, it was named to honor Priscilla Hancock, chocolatier, who owned the land from the gate to the shore. There had to be a gate because there were sheep behind it.
Waste of Time
I find the barrier beach legislation a craven waste of time that hijacks the legislation process for the interests of the one per cent against the one per cent.
Monstrosities
I read with interest your article on “super-sized” houses. Notoriously absent was any reference to Edgartown other than the Ernie Boch monstrosity also known as the Christmas tree house, which is old news.
Shameful Treatment
Responding to the story in last Friday’s Gazette about Vineyard veterans and the ongoing battle for health care:I have been sadly following this since it happened almost four years ago. I am ashamed that our country treats illegal aliens, alcoholics, drug addicts and the poor a million times better than our veterans.
Vineyard Community Continues To Make Dreams Come True
Donations to Martha’s Vineyard Community Services continued to stream in the day after the 33rd annual Possible Dreams auction, bringing the total raised by the popular fund-raising event to more than $400,000, organizers said this week.
“We feel wonderful,” said Julia Burgess, executive director of Community Services, who will retire by next year.…
New State Forest Designation Protects Natural Habitat
From a failed heath hen reservation to a red pine plantation gone wrong, the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest has weathered its share of management experiments.
In 2012, the forest’s plants and trees can breathe easy, as the forest recently has been designated as a state reserve by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation…
Home, Not Land Is Ticket to Philbin Beach
A federal magistrate has ruled that a man who sold his summer home but kept a nonbuildable lot in Aquinnah is not entitled to a parking permit to use Philbin Beach.
The decision sided with the town of Aquinnah in a case brought almost two years ago by John M. Callagy, who was…
Health Care Checkup: Access to Primary Care Improving
Islanders seem to voice the complaint nearly as often as they grumble about summer traffic backups at the blinker light and spiking prices at the gas pump:
You can’t find a primary care doctor on the Island.
Jacob Arrives
Annie and Jake Sylvia of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Benjamin King Sylvia, born on August 4 at Falmouth Hospital. Benjamin weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces at birth.
Summer Taxpayers Press Aquinnah Selectmen Over Wampanoag Casino Plans
An annual forum for summer taxpayers in Aquinnah turned quickly into a light grill session for two town selectmen this week about plans by the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to bring some kind of casino gambling onto tribal lands in the smallest town on the Vineyard.
Summer residents asked the selectmen…
New County Manager Gets Contract, Is Sworn in
Martina Thornton was sworn in as the new county manager on Wednesday evening. Mrs. Thornton, who served as executive assistant to the county manager for four years, said she is pleased with the contract she negotiated with the seven-member elected commission last week in executive session.
The terms of Mrs. Thornton’s contract include…
Uneven Rainfall Brings Roller Coaster Weather
Rainfall on the Vineyard has been as varied as the weather itself. There is no question that it has been hot. For much of July there were drought-like conditions, weeks of no rain, followed near the end of the month by a few hours of torrential rain.
The temperature rarely gets to 90…
ESF Building Still Tisbury’s Headache
Tisbury selectmen, the town fire chief and citizens joined the chorus of frustration this week over the Emergency Services Facility which sits unfinished and unoccupied on West Spring street.
At the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, fire chief John Schilling chided the selectmen for diverting too much of the project manager’s attention to the issue…
West Tisbury Selectmen Back Study of Mill Pond Watershed
West Tisbury selectmen this week called for a comprehensive study of the Mill Pond watershed before any decisions are made about dredging the historic pond.
At their meeting Wednesday, the selectmen asked the Mill Pond committee to draft a warrant article for a special town meeting in November that would include details of…
Honoring Walter Cronkite’s Legacy
Veteran journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Vineyard youth Shavanae Anderson are the recipients of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute’s 2012 Walter Cronkite Award. The awards, given to those who use the power of the media to build a more educated and sustainable world, were presented at a ceremony at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown on…
Announcing Bo
Announcing Bo
Whitney Burke and Keith Fullin of Edgartown announce the birth of a daughter, Bo Katherine Fullin, born on August 5 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Bo weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. Bo joins big sister Emery.
Please Adopt Us
Please Adopt Us
It was a wonderful week at the Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard. Five of the shelter’s long-term beautiful cats were adopted and the cages are almost empty. The shelter still has one special cat — Mango — who is very sweet and would make a wonderful lap cat for an…
Hello, Benjamin
Annie and Jake Sylvia of Edgartown announce the birth of a son, Benjamin King Sylvia, on August 4 at the Falmouth Hospital. Benjamin weighed 7 pounds, 7.7 ounces at birth.
Hospice Set for Move to New Space
Amid the many connecting hallways that make up the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital campus is tucked a 400-square-foot trailer that houses Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard. The organization has achieved and maintained a tangible presence on the Island since its inception 31 years ago, but its physical presence remains confined to a small, hidden space. The trailer…
Union Chapel Welcomes Rev. Raphael Warnock
This coming Sunday, August 12 at 10 a.m., the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock will be the guest preacher at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. Rev. Warnock travels here from Atlanta, Ga., where he is the senior pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. It was there, from the pulpit of its Heritage Sanctuary, that…
Presidential Fundraiser
Want to mingle with the cast of The Wire while showing your support for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign? On August 15, longtime Obama supporters and Oak Bluffs residents Judy and Ron Davenport will host a fundraiser at their Oak Bluffs home featuring the cast of the hit HBO show. Actors Jamie Hector, Clarke Peters,…
Perseid Meteor Shower
Tomorrow is an important time in the summer for those who love to look up at night. The Perseid meteor shower takes place, with the best viewing after midnight. It is possible to see a lesser number of meteors from that shower throughout the weekend, including tonight.
Temperatures
Temperature: Precip.
Day Max. Min. Inches.
Fº Fº
August 3 83 70 Trace
August 4 85 73 .00
August 5 85 72 .00
August 6 84 72 .52
August 7 87 65 Trace
August 8 81 64 .00
…
Aquinnah Town Column: August 10
The Aquinnah Cultural Center will present Vanderhoop Homestead house tours today and tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The annual Feast & Fundraising dinner will feature traditional foods provided by Sly Fox’s Den of Mashpee. There will be a special presentation by Professor and Abenaki tribe member Lisa Brooks of Amherst College. She will…
Chilmark Town Column: August 10
Chilmark had a busy week. The Monday night special town meeting, although not heavily attended, gave those present a good opportunity to explore the various opinions of their fellow voters and the majority approved the plan for changing the Menemsha docks presented by town boards. It is a step into the future, always a time…
West Tisbury Town Column: August 10
The weekend weather was just beastly hot here; we saw television pictures of storm destruction elsewhere in the commonwealth. The beaches were pleasantly full on Sunday, many cookouts were held over the weekend. The school, firehouse and town playground were busy. Next week brings Illumination night on Wednesday, the 151st annual Agricultural Fair begins next…
Welcome Sawyer
Welcome Sawyer
Tracy and Nick Briggs of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Sawyer Willis Briggs, born on August 3 at home. Sawyer weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces at birth.
Chilmark Voters Approve Plan To Rebuild Dock, Pier System
Capping weeks of debate around town about whether a harbor improvement plan was in keeping with the character of Menemsha, Chilmark voters approved the plan at a special town meeting Monday night.
The vote was 40 to 25 to back the plan for rebuilding the dock and pier system in the heart of…
Sengekontacket Pond To Re-Open
Sengekontacket Pond will re-open for shellfishing Friday morning following state tests that came back clean, Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall confirmed.
The pond was closed to shellfishing on July 31 after more than two inches of rain fell, and remained closed this week.
Water testing in the pond was done on…
Oak Bluffs Town Column: August 10
John Saunders, a former slave, brought Methodism to Martha’s Vineyard in 1787, 48 years before the Wesleyan Grove settlement that established the Oak Bluffs Tabernacle grounds. Mr. Saunders — with half-white wife Priscilla — was brought from Virginia by Captain Thomas Luce, hidden beneath corn that Luce was transporting. A plaque dedicated to Mr. Saunders…
East Chop
508-693-8065
(herricklr@verizon.net)
Greece has been on the minds of many people recently. The world sat on pins and needles waiting for the results of the June 17 election. Thankfully the New Democracy party won, and Greece will remain in the European Union—at least for the time being.
Edgartown Town Column: August 10
Even though the humidity is still around, we have had a few nice days with a nice breeze. The moon has been at its fullest and we can expect another one at the end of the month. Plus the Perseid meteor showers are this weekend. We just hope the sky is clear so we can…
Woman Arrested After Two-Car Crash
An Edgartown woman was arrested on drunken driving charges Tuesday after she was involved in a two-car crash in West Tisbury that sent two to the hospital with minor injuries, police said.
Jennifer Brown, 33, of Edgartown was headed south on State Road Tuesday just after 4 p.m. when she rear-ended a car…
Chappy Town Column: August 10
There are three places where you can check up on the schedule of Chappy Community Center activities and events: their very thorough website, chappycommunitycenter.org, their gigantic chalk board on the outside wall of the CCC and the bulletin board at the ferry point. You would need a whole page of the Gazette to tell it…
Candidates to Meet
Candidates to Meet
On Saturday, August 11, the The Martha’s Vineyard Democrats will host both candidates for the ninth congressional district of Massachusetts. The candidates are William Keating, who is running for re-election, and Sam Sutter, the district attorney for Bristol County.
The meeting takes place at 9 a.m. at Howes…
All Aboard
From Vineyard Gazette editions of July and August 1888:
Edgartown is now entertaining quite a number of summer visitors at hotels and private residences. Every train brings the stranger and returning Vineyarder, all rejoicing in the prospect of a week’s outing at this charming seaport town. All in all, Edgartown is enjoying a…
Washashore Chronicle: When Nature Calls Be Sure to Answer
“Nature abhors a vacuum.” Aristotle said that or something like that in the original ancient Greek, observing that nature requires every space to be filled with something, even if that something is colorless, odorless air or house guests.
The flip side of this observation is that empty spaces are unnatural as they go…
Building a Better Big House Debate
My architecture firm has designed about a dozen houses on Martha’s Vineyard in addition to the Middle Line affordable housing project in Chilmark. Some of these houses are large, so I have frequently been asked what I think about the discussion now taking place, not only about large houses, but also about the future of…
Island Health Care Issue is Two-Tiered
Just like the rest of America, health care on Martha’s Vineyard is in trouble — too often fragmented, unsafe, variable, hard to access and far too costly. Poor system designs are the cause, designs sustained by a fee-for-service payment system that pays for volume (how much you do), not value (how well the patient does).…
Recent Surge in Shark Sightings Belies Their Dramatic Declines
The July 30 shark attack at Ballston Beach in Truro has focused national attention on the seasonal occurrence of white sharks in waters close to Cape Cod and Island beaches. White sharks are no strangers to residents here; I certainly won’t forget kayaking with friends to see a female white shark trapped in a coastal…
Heroes With No Health Care
They served our country in foreign wars on land, air and sea, some in the Pacific and European theatres of World War II, others in Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq and Afghanistan. They have returned home to the Island, some many long years ago, others more recently, to live as civilians with jobs and families, their…
Worthy Causes
The brief season of summer fundraising is almost over. Island nonprofits that rely on part-time residents to subsidize shrinking budgets are tallying up their take from an almost dizzying succession of cocktail parties, dinner dances and auctions, silent and otherwise, and taking stock of what it means for the year ahead.
August Skies
Sunsets this week have been especially spectacular, making late in the day a must time to venture outdoors or just stand at the window and gaze deeply to the west, as dark shades of pink, orange, red and gold flood the low edge of the horizon beneath wide blue sky streaked and dabbed with white…
Oak Bluffs Art Stroll
Oak Bluffs Art Stroll
On Saturday, August 11, this month’s Arts District Stroll in Oak Bluffs takes place. The stroll is from 4 to 7 p.m. and is an opportunity to check out all of the galleries along Dukes County avenue as they roll out the welcome mat, not to mention snacks and…
Port Hunter Is Latest Addition To Edgartown Restaurant Row
A few days after hanging the Port Hunter sign on Main street in Edgartown, new restaurateurs Patrick and Ted Courtney received a visit from an old-timer. The man showed the brothers numerous old photos of the space including one that featured the front of the brick building and a sign mounted on steel with white…
Seafood Throwdown
The Vineyard is getting set for its own Seafood Throwdown to take place at the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market this Saturday, August 11, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
The competition is basic in its demands: two chefs are let loose on the farmers’ market, able to use anything they find on the premises, with…
Built on Stilts Calls Them All
It all begins with the drum circle. At first it’s just a few folks sitting behind their drums, striking the beat ever so softly. But the scene is being set at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs and quickly it begins to build as the audience streams in, no need for money or tickets, not on…
Waxing Artistic
Some of the earliest encaustic wax painters were probably the Greeks, who used the technique to fill in cracks in the hulls of their ships and to decorate their walls with murals.
Today, artists such as Debra M. Gaines still practice the art of encaustic painting, a process whereby beeswax is melted and…
Kootch Gets Back to his Roots
Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar got his start playing in bands such as the Kingbees and the Flying Machine. There was another skinny, long-haired fellow in Flying Machine named James Taylor who, at the time, was like Danny — just another Vineyard summer dink with a guitar and a melodic voice. Kootch and JT, the early incarnation…
Sharks and Poems
Music, poetry and sharks.
It’s not a frequent combination, but on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Martha’s Vineyard poet laureate Lee H. McCormack will read a poem at JawsFest to draw attention to the plight of sharks and to protect aquatic ecosystems. The anticipated audience exceeds 5,000 people, which would rank this event the…
Samuel Close
This Sunday, August 12, artist Samuel Close will be putting the finishing touches on one of his works featuring the Edgartown Lighthouse at the Island Art Gallery located at 66 Main street in Vineyard Haven from 4 to 6 p.m. The piece is to be raffled-off, and 100 per cent of the proceeds will go…
Paying Artists to Come in From the Cold
At the open air market in Oak Bluffs last Sunday, Billy O’Callaghan sat in a lawn chair at the back of his tent crafting a small gray whale out of clay. A woman moseyed into his tent and examined the small clay figurines and the charming driftwood furniture. “These are fantastic,” she exclaimed. “Just beautiful.”…
Aging Artfully: At 90 Years Old, Still Putting on a Show
Rose Abrahamson has a history of saying this is her last art show. Who can blame her? After all, she is 90 years old. But thankfully, thus far, she has not made good on her promise.
Ping Pong, Island Style
In case Olympic Table Tennis has you in the mood to swing paddles at lightning speed, the Chappaquiddick Community Center is hosting the annual All-Island Chappy Ping Pong Tournament on Sunday, August 12.
The tournament is open to all ages and levels of competition. The round robin competition begins at 11 a.m. Registration…
Baa Baa for Red Cross
Baa Baa for Red Cross
On August 21 the Black Sheep on North Summer street in Edgartown is hosting a fundraiser for the Red Cross of the Cape and Islands. What the Black Sheep does best is food and wine, (to stroll through the store is like taking an edible tour of France),…
He Wants You to Walk All Over His Antique Works of Art
Peter Pap buys and sells art you can step on.
“It was rather by chance that I ended up an Oriental rug seller,” he said. “I simply started by working as an assistant at a store in Boston.”
Health Care Documentary Seeks to Shift Status Quo
Director Matthew Heineman and co-director and producer Susan Froemke spent eight months researching the topic of health care before turning on the camera. As filmmakers, their major obstacle was clear — how to distill such a complex topic into something relatable.
New Talent Joins Former Summer Staple
A few weeks ago, while sitting on a porch here on the Vineyard, Jessica Ashley leaned back, closed her eyes and began to sing. Or rather, she belted out a few lines, totally absorbed in the music. Afterwards she opened her eyes and asked, “Do you know that one? My sister and I used to…
Novel Follows Star Children On Journey of Acceptance
How does one end up writing a book about a star child? For that matter, what is a star child?
Author Kay Goldstein was wondering the same thing a few years ago when she started writing the first pages of her newly released novel, Star Child, a process which caused her to delve…
Aloft on Soft, White Wings, Heart of the Story Unfolds
On an island off the coast of Georgia, moths beat against the screen as George Dawes Green and his childhood friends stay up late telling stories on a cozy summer porch.
Years later, Mr. Green sits in New York city growing tired of the loud, crowded and fast-paced parties of his adopted home.…
Poetry of Nature Restores, Awakens
Pulitzer prize-winning poet Jorie Graham has been coming to the Vineyard for thirty years. She often derives inspiration from the natural beauty of the Island.
“Perhaps my poems, if I am lucky, can awaken in [readers] a renewed relationship with the natural world which they can take with them into their lives…” she…
Get Down With the Kosher Soul Sound
The Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven is about to rock. True, the center has been rocking intellectually, spiritually and culturally all summer long with their varied programming, but next weekend they will literally rock. The lineup includes Joshua Nelson and his Kosher Gospel Singers with special guest, Lisa Gutkin.
Island Cup Tackles More Than Game
When Charles McGrath wrote about the annual Island Cup game between the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket football teams for the New Yorker in 1984, he likened it to a fierce sibling rivalry. What mainland team could hope to drum up a rivalry as poignant with either of the Island squads? For all that the Vineyarders…
Cod Woes
It is indeed bad news to see that cod, once the most abundant fish in our waters, continues to have a hard time. Despite huge efforts on the part of fishermen and scientists to come up with a mix of fishing and conservation, the stocks continue to have problems recovering from historically-low numbers.
August 3: Mostly Sunny
Friday, August 3: Mostly sunny. Oak Bluffs harbor is bustling with visitors on the promenade and boats in the water, in the afternoon. Youngsters carry ice cream cones. A steady stream of visitors move slowly off the passenger ferry Island Queen, under a hot, late-afternoon sun. A steady, unwavering southwest breeze in the afternoon cools…
Hotelier Looks to Preserve Past, Brighten Future
“I was a pest to a lot of people when I first came to the Vineyard in 1967,” confessed Mark Snider, owner and managing director of Mattakeset Properties in Katama since 1983, of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort at Katama since 2000 and now of the Nantucket Hotel and Resort that opened June 29 across Nantucket…
Patient Pouncers
“Patience is the greatest of all virtues.”
Though Cato the Elder figured this out around 200 BC, it is likely that crab spiders could have told him even earlier. They know that good things come to those who wait.
What Ails?
Gus Ben David, of the World of Reptiles and Birds, and I have received a few calls or e-mails about ailing sea birds and shorebirds. Deb Hancock called and described a very lethargic ruddy turnstone she spotted on Lobsterville Beach. The bird could be picked up and showed no sign of concern when she approached.…
Of Voles and Snow Fairies
No more Mrs. Nice Guy! I have had it with the voles in my vegetable garden. I have tried several deterrents for the little pests. Nothing has worked. The last straw has been finding every single paste tomato with at least one bite in it.
I marched myself down to the Animal Shelter…
Dean’s List
Emily Mercier, daughter of Susan and Philip Mercier of Edgartown, was named to the dean’s list at Smith College for the 2011-2012 school year. Emily graduated from Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School and is a pre-medical student at Smith.
Recent Island Real Estate Transactions
Chilmark
Nicholas Negroponte and Debra Z. Porter purchased 3 Signal Hill Lane in Chilmark from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for $2,650,000 on July 30.
James O. Stolaroff and Kyle McDonald purchased 12 Peases Point Road in Chilmark from Jane B. Wachsler for $550,000 on July 31.
Oak Bluffs
…
