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 1, 2014
Weathervane Artisan Adds New Direction
When Anthony Holand answered an ad for an apprentice metal sculptor in the Vineyard Gazette 17 years ago, he had no idea that it would lead to a career.
The One that Didn’t Get Away
The minute I get the Martha’s Vineyard Real Estate Yearbook with home sales by town and neighborhood, I tear through the pages to see what homes sold for in Chilmark where we live.
Form and Function: A Good Way to Live
Ben Moore’s house in West Tisbury is easy to miss. A window or two and a modest gabled roof are all that show through a tall row of hedges at the end of a dirt road near the center of town.
The Future is Paved with History
A quick drive around Martha’s Vineyard reveals a tapestry of architectural styles, from the stately homes of former whaling captains in Edgartown to the colorful Victorian gingerbread houses in Oak Bluffs.
Wish Upon a Shooting Star
August is shooting star month. Why? For one, more people are outside stargazing in August because it is comfortable to be outside at night.
Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank to Open Branch on Island
Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank, the dominant regional bank on the Cape, is taking steps to enlarge its foothold on the Island with plans to open a full-service branch in Vineyard Haven by next summer.
Summer Crush Equals Housing Shortage
The lack of affordable housing, both summer and year-round, is by now a well-entrenched Island problem, but many believe that this year the shortage is unusually severe.
Fifty Years Later, Freedom Summer Resonates With Past and Future
Robert Parris Moses was in a Greenwood, Miss., jail when he heard about Medgar Evers’ death. Mr. Moses and two other activists had been locked up for disorderly conduct as they helped Delta sharecroppers register to vote.
Steering the Scottish Bakehouse Takes Steady Hand at the Tiller
On a warm Monday morning, Scottish Bakehouse owner Daniele Dominick sits in her comfortable Oak Bluffs living room reading to her 17-month-old son Rocco who is snuggled in her lap.
For Friendship and to Pay It Forward
On Wednesday, elder members and former presidents of the Cottagers gathered around tables and took turns sharing memories.
What Would Henry Do?
We can’t know what Henry Beetle Hough might think about the proposed de-extinction project, but we would do well to be reminded of his leadership and willingness to think outside the box.
Filling a Niche Can Be Tasty Business
A surge of new restaurants in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs have filled new niches to expand offerings outside the norm, from gluten-free pizza to a whiskey bar.
Inspirational Project
I was privileged last night, along with many others, to listen to the remarkably intelligent, informative and persuasive remarks of six panelists speaking about the possible “rebirth” of an extinct subspecies, the heath hen.
Change Is a Constant, So Is Love of Place
I came to the Vineyard as a six year old whose idea of bliss was reading Archie comics and baseball box scores.
Remembering Hiroshima
The Vineyard Peace Council invites the whole community to the Gay Head Light on Wednesday, August 6, at 6 a.m. to mark the beginning of the 70 years since the U.S. bombed Hiroshima.
When Moving Slowly Is the Best Way to Move
I visited John, like I had a thousand times before, on a sunny afternoon late on a blue-sky day.
Nuances in Truth Telling Can Be Sign of Aging Gracefully
When I was a very young man I savored the rhythms of Ernest Hemingway’s luscious sentences in The Sun Also Rises while I tried to make sense of the Hemingway Code.
Just Say No to Campaign Advertisements
The subject of money in politics is front and center in this year’s campaign.
Walk for Felix Neck
My father, Tweed, and I have been coming to Martha’s Vineyard all of our lives. This year we decided to see the Island in a new way.
Don Berwick Inspiration
I read with interest your lengthy piece on Charlie Baker, a Republican candidate for governor. I hope you will devote equal space and time to Don Berwick, a summer Chilmark resident.
Oyster Farm Cultivates Concerns
Residents along Beach Road near Eastville Beach were informed at the end of January of a proposal by the Martino brothers to establish a for-profit commercial oyster farm in the open waters off Eastville Beach. Residents of Beach Road were given less than a month’s notice of this proposal and little time to research and…
Dreams Made Real
A few days after the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services Possible Dreams Auction we are able to look back and simply say, “Wow!”
Celebrating Della
Thanks to all who celebrated and supported Della Hardman Day 2014, the 10th annual event sponsored by the town of Oak Bluffs.
Star Struck
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of August 1965: Is she or isn’t she going to marry Frank Sinatra? The question had the whole Island in a tizzy of inquiry, while reporters were descending like locusts.
Vineyard Sound Are the Island’s Very Own Boys of Summer
For 22 years now, the Vineyard Sound has taken their singing talent to venues and street corners all over the Island, singing tirelessly throughout the season.
Film Festival Aims to Both Engage and Enlighten
For a week in August, MVAAFF brings to the Island films either directed, produced or starring African Americans. This year, MVAAFF received over 200 submissions from as far away as Iceland and Africa.
Kid Critics Show Way to Cinema Circus
This weekend Cinema Circus heads to the West Tisbury Public Library and the Field Gallery. The films will be shown Sunday, August 3.
Calling All Potters
Featherstone is getting ready for its annual Potters Bowl, where many local potters come together for one event. They’re on a quest to find more potters to contribute to the August 24 show.
Forgotten Headliner Harkens Back to Sixties Folk Music Scene
As the lights in the Vineyard Playhouse dim, onstage there are three acoustic guitars, a stool and a microphone. The scene’s only backdrop, a sign reading Kettle of Fish, is projected on a screen.
Beach Road Improvements Are Planned
On Tuesday, residents and town officials in Tisbury, along with members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, offered feedback on three conceptual plans for the Beach Road corridor.
Dancing With Pride at the Yard
By the time Scott Nelson proposed hosting a pride event to the board of directors at The Yard in Chilmark, their yearly budget had already been set.
Ensemble Leads Service
The vocal ensemble Il Concerto di Salamone Rossi Hebreo will lead the Friday night service at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center on August 8 at 6 p.m.
Election for West Tisbury Town Moderator
West Tisbury selectmen are calling a November special election for town moderator following the unexpected death of longtime moderator F. Patrick Gregory.
Land Bank Revenues: July 25
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $148,350 for the business week ending on Friday, July, 25, 2014.
Have Sword Will Travel, Three Musketeers Captures the Heart
The Three Musketeers is a story of honor, family, friendship and love. It’s all for one, and one for all.
Earning His Wings Under the Hood
A mechanic by trade but a pilot by passion, Dan Wilson can be found roaming the skies when he’s not busy taking a wrench to a faulty airplane engine, or completing annual inspections.
Writing Power Lies in Going With the Flow, Not the Agenda
New York Times best-selling author Andre Dubus 3rd has a theory about why we are on the planet Earth.
Finding the Hero Within Through Stories
Owen Suskind was a normal toddler as he approached his third birthday. Then, without warning, he vanished, lost in the depths of his own head.
Islanders Strike a Pose for Library Photo Project
By the time Eli Dagostino captured the perfect shot of Anthony Esposito, Mr. Esposito seemed close to hypnotized.
Getting to Know History by Rewriting It
Published in June, John Hough Jr.’s newest book re-imagines the Battle of Little Bighorn through the creation of a fictional protagonist.
At the Bridge Table
Bridge players at the Tisbury Council on Aging celebrated the third annual Rosemary Taylor Day on July 26. A popular player who used to say, “It’s a Bidder’s Game,” Taylor (July 29, 1923-July 9, 2009) would have loved seeing those words on the cake served in her memory last week. She’d also have loved seeing…
E.T. Phones the Vineyard
Moms and dads can share one of their favorites with their children as the much-loved movie E.T. The Extra Terrestrial plays at Owen Park in Vineyard Haven on Friday, August 1.
Wizard of Wit
Humorist and author David Sedaris visits the Vineyard on Saturday, August 2, with two performances.
Island Images Exhibit
Island Images presents an evening with Chilmark painter Linda Thompson on Friday, August 1, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Life of Art on Screen
On Monday, August 4, the West Tisbury Library is inaugurating a series of documentaries by local filmmakers with a showing of two films by Marjory and Robert Potts.
Cocktails for a Cause
Rising Tide therapeutic equestrian center hosts its annual Cocktails & Auction on Saturday, August 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.
Comedy Clarke Style
In what is being announced as the “comedy event of the summer” on the Vineyard, Boston’s Lenny Clarke and Friends bring their comedy to Flatbread on Sunday, August 3, at 7 p.m.
Sand Sculpture Contest Wednesday
Bring your shovels, buckets, rakes and anything else you have to the annual Sand Sculpture Contest at South Beach (right fork) on Wednesday, August 6.
Heart of Polly Hill, Talking About Conservation
Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury presents two programs of note in August.
Life in Art, Art in Life
At Miss Lani’s summer camp art classes, you can pretend to be Jackson Pollack for the day.
Water Tasting Nourishes Vineyard House
On Thursday, August 7, Vineyard House hosts its 17th Annual Water Tasting by the Sea event to benefit the Island’s only sober living facility.
Union Chapel Preacher
The Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs will host Dr. John Silvanus Wilson Jr., president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., as its visiting speaker this Sunday, August 3.
Carl Widdiss Had Wampanoag Roots That Ran Deep
In 1991, Carl Manning Widdiss led the campaign to change the name of Gay Head to Aquinnah.
A Life Shaped by Art and Fishing Is Always a Keeper
Not many people can point to a single pivotal point when their life made an about-face, but Kib Bramhall has no doubt that art class changed his life. Sixty-five years later, he is still painting. His newest show opens at the Granary Gallery Sunday.
Please Adopt Us
An update on our two abandoned kittens: they are growing, purring, playing and starting to slurp some gruel. It was a big week for them.
Stina Sayre Fashion Show
Stina Sayre Designs on Main Street Vineyard Haven is hosting the Seize Your Beauty fashion show July 31. The event is a fundraiser for Friends of Family Planning Martha’s Vineyard.
On Chappy: August 1
I’m going on record (you may write this down) by proclaiming that this summer rivals any summer (in memory) for sheer pleasantness. It is decreed.
Vineyard Haven Town Column: August 1
It seems my neighborhood in Vineyard Haven has gotten just as busy as my old ‘hood in Manhattan. I saw a large group on Walter and Gail Burke’s deck and nothing would do but for me to cross the street and get the scoop. Walter, Gail and I are still friends although we were on…
Aquinnah Town Column: August 1
Carl Manning Widdiss died early Sunday morning in Phoenix, Ariz., after enduring a five-year struggle with cancer. Three of those years were spent caring for and tending to the needs of his late mother, Gladys A. Widdiss.
Gallery in the Garden
Vineyard Gardens combines poppies and paintings as it hosts Gallery in the Gardens on Fridays throughout August from 5 to 8 p.m.
Songbirds for Felix Neck
Singer-songwriter Cindy Kallet will perform a benefit concert for Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary’s Fern & Feather Day Camp on Sunday, August 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury.
Walter Cronkite Awards Continue Legacy
Walter Cronkite left a legacy that travels beyond the shores of the Vineyard, and it continues with the fifth annual Walter Cronkite Awards Ceremony and Reception on Tuesday, August 5, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Brunelle Hosts Open Studio
Brunelle Studios hosts open studios every Saturday throughout August from 2 to 6 p.m.
Rare Maps the Prize for Indebted Thief
In recent times, antiquarian maps have become a treasure coveted by collectors, libraries, museums. And thieves.
Books by the Bag
The Friends of the West Tisbury Library are holding their annual book sale beginning on Friday, August 1, and continuing through Monday, August 4.
Singing Their Stories, Sailor Chanties Are Musical Memories
The Gam, More songs the Whalemen Sang is a sequel to E. Gale Huntington’s book Songs the Whalemen Sang.
Cottagers Host Cultural Festival
The Cottagers in Oak Bluffs present the 10th annual African American Cultural Festival on Thursday and Friday, July 31 and August 1, at Cottagers Corner and Hartford Park.
Oak Bluffs Town Column: August 1
“When we last met…” is how Mel Patrick introduced each annual issue of the Delegate. The Delegate, published between 1965 and 1985, was a magazine that chronicled the leaders and activities of Black America’s disparate business, cultural, sports, club, labor, advertising, political and social organizations, and it always had a section devoted to Oak Bluffs.…
Chilmark Town Column: August 1
Chilmark welcomes August and all the folks arriving this week for their month in the sun. It was a quick goodbye to our annual July friends — did we actually catch a moment with them, or was it just a quick greeting?
Edgartown Town Column: August 1
I don’t know if you have attended Tuesday’s Music on the Lawn at the library sponsored by the Friends of the Edgartown Library, but July was a hit and upcoming August 12 will be The Grateful Dread, and Johnny Hoy plays on August 19.
Real Estate Transactions: July 21 to July 27
Juliet K. Mulinare, Joseph Mulinare and Kathryn Shands purchased 4 Tower Lane in Edgartown from Catherine A. Hartley for $425,000 on July 22.
Tensions Rise as Vote Nears on Loft Apartments
The Edgartown planning board has closed a public hearing but has yet to vote on whether to approve plans for eight loft apartments in the busy B-2 business district off Upper Main street. Residents of the Dark Woods neighborhood are up in arms over the plan.
Judge Hears Arguments in Airport Case Against County
A superior court judge heard arguments Tuesday afternoon on both sides of a dispute between the Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission and the county. The hearing saw spirited debate about the legal independence of the airport, and also whether the dispute belonged in court in the first place.
Jamming Jamaica-Style
The Vineyard will experience a little piece of Jamaica on August 7 when Barrington Levy takes the stage at Dreamland in Oak Bluffs.
September Wedding Planned
Dr. and Mrs. Michael Walkenstein of Edgartown and Blue Bell, Pa., are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Alyson Walkenstein to Stephen Bagley, MD.
Cure for What Ails You
Spotted pipsissewa easily earns its stripes. Providing for medical, herbal and forage needs, this potent little plant gives more than it takes.
Reaping What You Sow
Regardless of four-feet-tall weeds, I’m actually doing some major harvesting in the vegetable garden. I pulled up the garlic.
A Walk With Imagination at Polly Hill
An arrow and a butterfly peek out of the grass at Polly Hill Arboretum. Follow that arrow, and you will come across the beginning of a story.
Island Autism Group Raises Funds to Support Student Services
The Island Autism Group (IAG) is building momentum this summer before the school year begins. The organization is getting ready for its eighth annual tea at the Dr. Daniel Fisher House in Edgartown on Wednesday, July 30, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Dreamers Raise Funds for Community Services at Annual Summer Auction
Places you could only visit in your wildest dreams were made a reality Sunday night at the Art Buchwald Possible Dreams Auction, which raised $430,000 for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.
Joao Arrives
Fernanda Barcelar and Regiuan Oliveira of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a son, Joao Barcelar Oliveira, born on July 25 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
The ABCs of Birding
August is a fabulous month for bird watching on Martha’s Vineyard. The shorebirds are moving south and stop to feed on the sand flats Islandwide.
Who Knew Goat Farming Could Be So Fabulous
Some turn lemons into lemonade. When Beekman boys, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge found themselves unemployed with two mortgages and 80 goats to feed, they turned goat milk into gold.
Attorney General Candidate, State Senator Campaign on Island
On Friday, incumbent state Sen. Dan Wolf, who is seeking a third term representing the Cape and Islands, made a joint campaign appearance with Maura Healey, a first-time candidate who is running for attorney general. The candidates spoke at the Field Gallery to a crowd of about sixty people.
West Tisbury Town Column: August 1
This July proved to be cooler than last year, with storms we thankfully missed and the season’s first hurricane. Let me say hello to all of our August visitors. The traffic has been a nightmare everywhere, more cars this year than I think I have ever seen.
East Chop Town Column: August 1
Kim Blacklow is a senior partner at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, a global law firm that employs 12,000 lawyers. She is married to Ken Blacklow and they have a son, Issac, who is nine, and have adopted a five-year-old boy from Ethiopia.
Trustees Take Ownership of Old Brickyard in Chilmark
The 18-acre north shore Chilmark property was gifted to the Trustees of Reservations this summer through an estate of the Harris family. The conservation group plans to open the property to the public next year.
Farm to Cookbook for Do It Yourself Dining
Morning Glory Farm introduces its second cookbook with a reading on Tuesday at the farm stand. “In this book, vegetables are the stars,” said Jim Athearn.
Airport Revamps Employee Policies
The Martha’s Vineyard Airport Commission is working on new bylaws and an employee handbook to better codify how business is done at the Island airport. The county manager has urged the commission to make the process more open and public.
John Wallace Receives Faculty Honors
John C. Wallace of Edgartown was awarded faculty honors for the spring 2014 semester at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Zak Martellucci Graduates
Zachary John St. Clair Martellucci, son of Stacy Nickerson-Hall, grandson of Claire Nickerson-Hall and Sonny Hall of Edgartown, graduated cum laude from New York University in May.
Aquinnah Public Safety Day Celebrates Rescuers
Although blue lights flashed at the Aquinnah police and fire station Saturday afternoon, there was no emergency. At Aquinnah’s first ever public safety day, the biggest concern was whether the hamburger supply was low.
Playhouse Stage Dedicated to Patricia Neal
On Friday evening at the Vineyard Playhouse, board member Arnie Reisman asked everyone to raise their glass of champagne. “We have reached a milestone,” he said. “We are going to dedicate this stage to Patricia Neal.”
