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
August 21, 2012
News Update: Wednesday, August 22 – Health Care Contract for Veterans Near
A new contract between the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and the Veterans Administration to allow on-Island health care for veterans is under final review, the Chilmark selectmen learned on Tuesday night.
Vineyard veterans have had no access to primary care on the Vineyard since a previous contract expired several years ago.
In…
Potters Bowl
This weekend Feathersone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs is holding its third annual Potters Bowl with guest curator Washington Ledesma. The idea behind the event is both basic and beautiful. Visitors to the show are asked to buy a ceramic bowl for $25 and then they get a free bowl of soup plus…
Changing Stereotypes in Wake of Tragedy
Music videos, movies, the Internet and the news have embedded the stereotypes of African American men as dangerous and violent in society, said the chairman and CEO of BET Networks, Debra Lee, at a forum on Friday afternoon.
Voter Identification Laws Raise Debate
With the presidential election only months away, activists throughout the country are joining forces to fight recent voter identification laws that they say threaten voting access.
Caring People
This letter goes out to the wonderful people who were on the Great Rock Bight beach on August 13. My husband and I are extremely lucky to have had such brave and caring people around us on that day. Greg, Wendy, Hans, Isabella, the family who gave us the life vests, the young lady who…
Youthful Enterprise
I am a seasonal resident of West Chop and a rest-of-the-year resident of Manhattan. Each day on Martha’s Vineyard I bike the 20-mile loop from West Chop through the state forest near the airport and back. Until a few years ago, there was always the welcome stop at Max and Emma’s Honor Lemonade stand shortly…
Needless Attack
Given the controversy over the Zoia property on Quitsa Pond, it was to be expected that Ken Iscol and others would write letters taking strong exception to architect David Handlin’s op-ed article of August 10. What was not to be expected were the sharp and wholly unsubstantiated attacks on Mr. Handlin that were made in…
Splinters Flying, Woodsmen Compete For Sharpest Cut
It’s a sport done in jeans and T-shirts. And with chainmail shin guards, saws and axes, too. The 36th annual Woodsmen Contest took place on Saturday at the Agricultural Fair, and it was the event’s largest year ever, with over 50 competitors traveling from all over Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, plus a few…
Ferris Wheel Proposal Tops the Fair
On Thursday at around 7 p.m., Marques Rivers was seen fiddling with something in his pocket. He stood beside his girlfriend of almost five years, Sarah Neubert, waiting to board the Ferris wheel at the Agricultural Fair. It was their annual “date ride” they said, the one they always take the first day of the…
Mitt Romney Pays Visit to Vineyard On Weekend Fundraising Sweep
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney came to the Vineyard Saturday for a brief fund-raising trip, with a small group of supporters braving intermittent rain showers to get a glimpse of him.
The plane carrying the former Massachusetts governor arrived at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport at about 10:20 Saturday morning, with state police cars…
W.E.B. Du Bois Panel Tackles Hard Questions of Poverty
There were plenty of problems on the table and few easy solutions at hand as an influential panel convened Thursday evening to discuss the issue that has gone unnoticed in this issue-laden presidential election year: unemployment and high poverty rates in the African American community.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in…
Roundabout Stays on Course
The Oak Bluffs selectmen took a significant step toward construction of the controversial blinker section roundabout on Monday morning, signing documents for temporary easements to take some small parcels of land bordering the road by eminent domain.
Construction on the state-funded $1.5 million traffic improvement project is expected to begin in October.
…
Protecting Rights of Voters Is Theme in Fight for Equality
The fight for equality is far from over, and the upcoming elections and U.S. Supreme Court term in the fall will be the strongest test of this since the Civil Rights era.
That was the word on Saturday from NAACP Legal Defense fund president and director-counsel Debo Adegbile and Harvard Law School professor…
Wynton Marsalis at Tabernacle
Pictures by Ray Ewing
Wynton Marsalis, the jazz composer, band leader and trumpet player, brought his quintet to the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs on Saturday evening. The concert, entitled Treasures at Dusk, featured some new compositions and old standards that saw an enthusiastic reception from the audience. Mr. Marsalis is also managing and…
Leatherback Turtle Washes Ashore
A large dead leatherback turtle that was more than five and a half feet long washed up at Great Rock Bight beach on the north shore last Tuesday afternoon. The beach is owned by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. Land bank property foreman Matthew N. Dix said the New England Aquarium was contacted, but then…
Endowment Accepting Grant Applications
The Permanent Endowment for Martha’s Vineyard is accepting applications for its fall grant cycle. Through its grants program, the Endowment seeks to raise awareness of Vineyard issues, respond to community needs, foster collaboration among nonprofit organizations and support innovative approaches to improving the quality of life on the Island.
Red Cross Will Host Edgartown Fundraiser
The Martha’s Vineyard team of the American Red Cross, Cape Cod and Islands Chapter will host a fundraiser on Tuesday, August 21 at Black Sheep in Edgartown. The evening will feature three pairings of wine, cheese and charcuterie at two seating options, 6 and 8:15 p.m. Tickets are $55 and may be purchased in advance…
Coast Guard Transports Injured Boy Off-Island
Coast Guard rescue crews medically evacuated a 13-year-old boy Saturday afternoon, after Martha’s Vineyard Hospital alerted the Coast Guard that no medical flight crew was available to transport the boy to a mainland hospital.
An Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was launched and safely transported the injured boy to Massachusetts…
Revenue Up, Spending Down, County Ends Year with Surplus
Dukes County ended the fiscal year with an estimated surplus of about $150,000, the county treasurer reported this week. A preliminary report of the county’s favorable finances was given to county commissioners last week.
Tisbury and West Tisbury Recognized for Being Green
State environmental officials traveled to the Vineyard on Friday morning to formally present more than $284,000 in grants to help pay for clean energy projects for the towns of Tisbury and West Tisbury through the Green Communities Act.
Mark Sylvia, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Energy Resources, and Rick Sullivan, the state Secretary of…
Some Short Takes on Some Short Films
Each week the folks at Cinema Circus show a series of short films on Wednesday evenings at the Chilmark Community Center. The films begin at 6 p.m., but at 5 p.m. the circus — complete with jugglers, face painters, stilt walkers, food and music — gets under way.
An advanced screening of the…
Diplomacy and Iran
Diplomacy and Iran
On Thursday, August 23, Alan Dershowitz will give a talk at the Hebrew Center entitled Is J Street’s Position on Iran Good or Bad for Israel? J Street is a lobby group that, according to Mr. Dershowitz, “believes that diplomacy and sanctions alone can deter Iran from developing nuclear weapons.”…
Coastal Pond Discussion
Coastal Pond Discussion
On Thursday, August 23, beginning at 4:30 p.m., Dr. John Todd leads a discussion entitled Stewardship of Martha’s Vineyard Waters, in particular the problems faced by the coastal ponds in the region. The talk takes place at the Tisbury Senior Center and is co-sponsered by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and…
Stagestruck
Stagestruck
The Orleans Arena Theater on Cape Cod wasn’t the first summer stock theater, but it was the first “in the round” theater that operated only in summertime. The Arena’s history is told through dramatic reenactment, historical photos and former resident interviews in Stagestruck: Confessions from Summer Stock, which will be screened this…
Poetry Reading
Poetry Reading
The last literary event of the summer at the West Tisbury Library is a joint poetry reading with part-time resident Fanny Howe and visiting writer Katie Peterson. Ms. Peterson’s debut poetry collection, This One Tree (2006), was awarded the New Issues Poetry Prize by William Olson. She teaches in the English…
Dance Theatre Breaks Down Barriers
Dance Theatre Breaks Down Barriers
Dance Theatre of Harlem was founded in 1969. At the time it was comprised of African American artists who were barred from U.S. ballet companies because of the color of their skin. Its mission over the past four decades, as stated on its website, has continued to be…
The Ominous, Omnipresent Turbine
When the Allen Farm’s 165-foot meteorological tower went up a couple of years ago in front of our Chilmark property, I wondered what the future would be like if a wind turbine were built. Our Vineyard history, especially the exquisite beauty and peace of our hilltop home, has been precious to us. My husband’s ancestor,…
Island of Light
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of August, 1912:
The Chappaquiddick beach illumination and boat parade was a magnificent spectacle. The harborfront was gay with lanterns moving to and fro and the U.S. revenue cutter Acushnet and state steamer Lexington were anchored off the beach
In Polly’s Garden: The Multi-Tasking Northern Bayberry
My Vineyard hikes take me to many beautiful sites. I enjoy seeing the diversity of landscapes, many influenced by their agricultural past. A frequent plant I encounter in abandoned farm fields is northern bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica, now Morella pensylvanica). Quick to reclaim open pastureland, the shrubs have the unique ability to fix their own atmospheric…
Vineyard Notebook: Cuttyhunk Calls and Only a Fortunate Few Listen
Leave your credit cards and your worries behind and hop a ferry over to Cuttyhunk, our little sister to the west. It’s an undiscovered island filled with 400 friendly summer people, beautiful wooded walks, welcoming beaches and a sense of peace and tranquility reminiscent of life in the 1950s. Or even earlier.
Still Illuminating After Many Moons
Kennith Kirk tugged the hem of his mother’s dress. Over the screams and laughs of his twin siblings, Maya and Robert, Kennith’s question was barely audible to all but his mother. “Why are there so many moons?” the three-year-old wanted to know. Maya, seven, whipped her head around and said “They’re lightbulbs!”
