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
February 15, 2013
Featured Home: Huseby Mountain Farm
Offered by Tea Lane Associates Pastoral farmland in rural West Tisbury offering 35+ acres with unique stone farmhouse, three barns, chicken coop, fruit trees, pond, orchard, and two open meadows, one with South Shore waterviews.
Housing Needs Study Shows Island Aging, Poverty Rising
There are consistent problems when it comes to housing needs on the Vineyard: an affordability gap, caused by high housing prices in a largely seasonal community paired with low wages, has long made it hard for year-round residents to rent or own housing on the Island.
ABC Reality TV Zooms In for Summer on the Vineyard
They come for the sun, the sand, the drama and romance, to grapple with life and grab hold of it against the backdrop of beachfront idyll. Such are the lives of twenty-somethings in the fleeting days of a Vineyard summer. At least, that’s what a new reality show may have you believe.
Horse Rescued After Falling Through Ice
It was the scanner call heard around the Vineyard on Sunday afternoon: a horse in West Tisbury had fallen into a frozen pond. And more than a dozen volunteers from across the Island responded. A day after a large blizzard left a foot of snow in its wake, the meadow in Deep Bottom Pond was…
Regional Cooperation Needed to Tackle Affordability Gap
Community action and regional cooperation will be critical as the Island tackles new solutions to an old problem: affordable housing. This was the consensus among community leaders who gathered at the Oak Bluffs Library Wednesday night to hear a presentation on the first draft of the Housing Needs Assessment Study.
Town Seeks Temporary Marijuana Moratorium
Oak Bluffs selectmen Tuesday agreed to pursue a temporary moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, giving the town time until regulations are handed down by the state Department of Public Health and Island towns can work together to decide how to handle the issue. The selectmen agreed to have town administrator Robert Whritenour draft town meeting…
Land Bank Revenues: Feb. 8
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $89,163 for the business week ending on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.
Shifting Sands at the Schifter House
The elaborate project now unfolding to move four buildings on Richard and Jennifer Schifter’s property on a remote and windswept promontory at the extreme southeastern corner of Chappaquiddick, including an eight-thousand-square-foot home, is riveting. This very big project for a very small island has already cost the homeowners millions of dollars as they engage in…
No Valentine
Dear John:The romance is over. It’s been a wonderful ride, snowy days spent sledding gentle Island hills, traversing farm fields on cross-country skis and snowshoes, blizzardy nights by the fire, hands wrapped around steaming mugs of tea while the wind howled around the chimney.
Tales from Gosnold: Ask Not for Whom the Chopper Calls
Sometimes a person is awakened from a dream by the very thing he is dreaming about. For some veterans I know, the deafening chop-chop of helicopter blades takes them back to Viet Nam. For us, the din of the blades and the intensity of lights so bright they bathe the island in daylight means someone…
Sand in My Shoes: Hey Little Doggie, Why the Flat Face?
Only Islanders — all Islanders everywhere — can truly know the ordeal of coming and going from their sheltered grounds to the mainland with its big-box stores, opera houses and airports. If a contest exists to measure the misery quotient of such a trip from Island to city and back again, I’d like to enter…
Remembering January
The rain that fell last week pounding against the skylights and windows should have been snow, whispering the secret of Winter. But here we are,
Creative Solution
In light of the wasteful expense, energy consumption and environmental damage related to moving the Schifter house, necessitated by severe beach erosion at Wasque, I would like to suggest a relatively inexpensive alternative which could save the house as well as the beach.
Asphalt Tower Hazard
This letter addresses the new asphalt storage tower that has been erected beside the Goodale gravel pit. This pit is near the blinking light in Oak Bluffs. The tower was erected without a permit and violates zoning laws about height.
Remembering Linda Marinelli
As the Oak Bluffs beat reporter for the Gazette in 1982 and 1983, I found myself in many meetings prolonged by the persistent inquiries of Linda Marinelli. She usually criticized me for missing the point of her diatribes and she thought I was lazy for failing to investigate the East Chop Beach Club land mess,…
Tick Talk
So new tick-borne virus, no tests available. So 50 deer per square mile, 100 square miles, that’s 5,000 deer on the Vineyard. The way I hear it, no deer equals no ticks. As I have said before, 5,000 — given certain changes in regulations — 75 per cent of that sounds like a doable number,…
From a Gazette Reader
I am sending you a picture of my 88th birthday. I just love the Gazette and I am usually one and a half hour late eating my dinner when I get it. I like John Alley’s West Tisbury news as he always has something in it during the 1940s.
Bizzard of ’78
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of Feb. 1978: The Island rocked back in a matter of hours from its two-round fight with the storm that left most of the state — and most of coastal New England — knocked out cold.
Getting Some Herbal Relief Is Just a Forest Foray Away
The world of herbs can seem overwhelming with the infinite number, exponential combinations and myriad ways to apply them. Herbalist Holly Bellebuono makes it accessible to both the layperson as well as those wanting to delve deeper. On Wednesday, Feb. 20, Mrs. Bellebuono will give a talk at 5 p.m. at the Chilmark Library introducing…
Heroin Arrest Points to Lucrative Island Market
The Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force arrested two Brockton men Wednesday on charges relating to heroin distribution, with police saying the Island is a lucrative market for the drug. Jason Lewis, 32, and Corey Waters, 32, were arraigned Thursday morning in Edgartown district court. Mr. Lewis was charged with possession with intent to distribute a…
Cinderella Story Ends With Well-Worn Sneakers
The polished hardwood of the regional high school basketball court gleamed beneath the bright gymnasium lights, reflecting the figures of the 10 players racing up and down the lanes. The championship game of the boys’ middle school basketball season was underway. The novelty of playing at the Vineyard version of the big time, the Francis…
Secret Garden Musical Springs Forth On High School Stage
In February Islanders’ thoughts often turn to spring when the snowy, gray haze of winter comes to an end. Green grass will sprout, tiny buds will peek out of tree branches and yellow daffodils will bloom. But it can seem very far away. As Dickon, The Secret Garden’s Yorkshire boy characterized by his way with…
Weekend Blizzard Batters Island With Damaging Winds, Snow
The prolonged powerful winter blizzard that pounded much of eastern Massachusetts last weekend left the Vineyard in cleanup mode this week with downed trees, weary emergency and utility workers and nearly-depleted snow removal budgets in most town highway departments. Called one of the worst blizzards to hit New England in many decades, the storm…
Vineyard Haven Town Column: Feb. 15
NANCY GARDELLA 508-693-3308 (iklean@yahoo.com) Time for the citizens of the United States of America to grow up and get with the program. I am referring to adopting the world clock right here in the “we hate change and we don’t want to learn anything new” United States. What brings the discussion up this column is…
Aquinnah Town Column: Feb. 15
JUNE D. MANNING 508-645-2574 (lthslnks2004@yahoo.com) Well, Nemo or whatever that was, turned out to be quite the storm over the weekend. It was bad enough with nearly two feet of snow, but the winds and the drifting and then the ice was more than one needed to remind them that they are still in New…
Chilmark Town Column: Feb. 15
Chilmark is enjoying a rinse as I write on Monday. A most welcome rain is falling and, hopefully, it will free some of the snowbound parts of our current world. The snow was deep in our world with threats in the air of more snow to come but the current rain showers may be helping…
West Tisbury Town Column: Feb. 15
Well, last weekend a pickup team of baseball players was busy playing ball on the school ball field that had patches of snow in the infield. This weekend it was a different story as it was buried under 12 inches of snow. We had a classic blizzard last Friday and Saturday.
Chappy Town Column: Feb. 15
The rain, sun and warm temperatures of this past week helped Chappaquiddick return to normal after last Friday and Saturday’s blizzard. The ground is visible once again, the power is on and the ferry is running on schedule. It was quite a storm, though.
Oak Bluffs Town Column: Feb. 15
Happy birthday, Cottage City! The town was founded when it seceded from Edgartown on Feb. 17, 1880, 133 years ago this Sunday. What a vibrant and fascinating history our town has! We have one of — if not the only — first planned communities built all at once. Famed for the most parks per capita…
Edgartown Town Column: Feb. 15
Rain, snow, rain, snow, rain, snow equals three inches of ice. Another eight to 12 inches on top means we should all stay in our houses and wait for it to melt. Unless you have a snowplow or wonderful neighbors to come to shovel you out, that is. Thank you to all, especially my special…
NAACP Awards Dinner
On Sunday, Feb. 17, at 5:30 p.m. the 28th annual MLK Jr. members and awards dinner of the Martha’s Vineyard branch of the NAACP will be celebrated at The Grill on Main Street in Edgartown. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and the featured guest speaker is Patricia J. Williams.
Archiving the Island’s History
The archives of the Martha’s Vineyard Museum are on their way to being completely searchable via the internet, thanks to a grant the nonprofit organization received last week. The Council on Library and Information Resources selected the museum to receive a Cataloging Hidden Collections and Archives grant of $293,000. The grant, funded by the Andrew…
Moon and Jupiter
The moon dominates our night skies this weekend and well into the coming week. The moon will be most noticeable on Sunday night when it appears close to the bright planet Jupiter. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. There is a bright orange star nearby called Aldebaran. Aldebaran is the main star in…
Student Science Fair
Perhaps by next year some brilliant student will invent a machine to blow blizzards away. But for now the high school Science Fair scheduled for last week will take place tomorrow, Feb. 16, at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. This is the 14th annual science and engineering fair. The public viewing takes place between…
Shakespeare for the Masses
This weekend the group that cannot be tamed — Shakespeare for the Masses — will be not only be peforming The Taming of the Shrew, they will tame that shrew, too. Or rather they will tame Shakespeare with a little re-working of his most disturbing romantic comedy so it comes in under one hour.
Documenting the Artful Life on Film
In 1982 Robert and Marjory Potts began Vineyard Video Productions, a company that creates documentary and educational films. Their first film was called Making Music: The Emerson String Quartet. The short film (30 minutes) was shot over one week in July 1982 when the quartet played on the Vineyard. At the time the Emerson was…
Gazette Wins Top Prize at New England Newspaper Competition
The Vineyard Gazette won 24 awards in the annual New England Newspaper and Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, including the top prize of General Excellence and 13 other first-place awards for excellence in journalism. “A delight to read. The very traditional look sets this paper apart. Kudos to all for staying with what had worked…
0 Chapde Lane, Vineyard Haven
0 Chapde Lane in Vineyard Haven sold for $200,000 on Feb. 8.
Dredging Plan for Menemsha Channel Sees Mixed Reaction
A meeting called to discuss long-range management for the Menemsha Pond system took a surprise turn when a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers appeared to take an early measure of public opinion on a new plan to dredge the Menemsha channel. Ed O’Donnell, New England chief of navigation for the Army Corps,…
Rotary Scholarship
The Martha’s Vineyard Rotary Club has announced the creation of a new $2,000 Rotary Grant/Diana Bardwell Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship will be awarded to a junior or senior in good academic standing who has served the community or has an interest in pursuing an advanced degree in history, political science or law. For more information,…
Job Shadow Day
The Martha’s Vineyard Youth Leadership Initiative hosted its third annual Job Shadow Day this month, matching about a dozen Vineyard young people with mentors to gain firsthand experience about careers in their fields of interest, including software design, public relations and physical therapy. The day capped an eight-month program that began in June with the…
Ferry Considers Minimum Age for Unaccompanied Minors
The Steamship Authority will take a look at establishing a policy for unaccompanied children traveling on their ferries. At the monthly meeting of the Steamship Authority governors Tuesday in Woods Hole, the board discussed creating a policy that would set a minimum age for travel by unaccompanied minors.
McCurdy — Jimenez
Casey McCurdy and David Jiménez Barrantes were married on March 24, 2012 on a bright, sunny afternoon in the rainforest at the Tilajari Resort Hotel, overlooking the San Carlos River near Mt. Arenal Volcano in La Fortuna, Costa Rica.
Please Adopt Us
The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard thanks everyone who has adopted animals in the past few weeks — shelter cages are almost empty except for two adorable seven-week-old kittens, Fluffykins, and Georgia, who are dark, gray female tigers with blue eyes. Fluffykins is a long-haired kitty and Georgia has short hair. They are both too…
Menemsha Boathouse Construction Slated to Begin This Summer
A plan for the U.S. Coast Guard to begin construction on the new Menemsha boathouse sometime this summer was met with harsh criticism by a group of town residents at a Chilmark conservation commission meeting last week.
Evesdroppers
Last weekend danger lurked around every corner. Sharpshooters waited ominously for just the right time to strike but luckily the weather warmed and the threat melted away. The blizzard of 2013 left us more than just a winter wonderland. As temperatures slowly increased, glimmering, glamorous icicles formed on the edges of buildings and vehicles, causing…
Dean’s List
Gail Lynn Herman of Oak Bluffs, Ana Cristina Jurczyk of Edgartown and Olivia Marie Higham of Vineyard Haven have been named to the dean’s list at University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. for the fall 2012 semester. Anna (Zen) Hughes of West Tisbury has been named to the dean’s list at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for…
Dean’s List
Caitlin Serpa of West Tisbury has been named to the dean’s list at UMass Amherst for the fall 2012 semester.
Grounded
Fortunately, we do not often get a chance to talk about how birds are affected by a major snowstorm. But 15 inches of heavy wet snow has provided that opportunity.Birds can detect the air pressure changes that accompany an approaching storm, giving them time to prepare for adversity.
State of the Storm
I listen to A Prairie Home Companion every week. Garrison Keillor cracks me up. This past weekend he gave some advice concerning the snow storm. He cautioned against taking photographs in case one needs to adjust the story for retelling.
Welcome Miguel
Jeyse Dias Carvalho and Ramon Carvalho of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Miguel Dias Carvalho, born on Feb. 6, 2013 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Miguel weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces at birth.
Tower Foundation
Dukes County organizations that focus on preventing or alleviating mental illness among children, adolescents and young adults may be eligible for funding through the Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation. The deadline to apply for one of the foundation’s 2013 mental health grants is March 6. For more information on the grant program and how…
Roundabout Could Be Completed by May
Trees are ready to come down, property markers have been staked and utilities are being prepared for relocation at the blinker intersection in Oak Bluffs, with all signs pointing to one direction: the roundabout project is set to begin. Massachusetts department of transportation spokesman Michael Verseckes said this week selective trees in the area will…
Edgartown Gets Two New Liquor Stores
Edgartown will be getting two new liquor stores, as the selectmen Monday approved seasonal all-alcohol licenses for package stores on Main street and in Nevin Square. The 65 Main street store, Edgartown Spirits, will be operated by manager Barbara Courtney. Son Ted Courtney, who spoke on his mother’s behalf because she could not attend the…
