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
December 5, 2014
Homeowners Downsize Garage to Make Room for Pagoda Tree
The Edgartown homeowners whose plans sparked public outcry have scaled back their design. The architect for Tom and Mary Folliard told two town commissions that his clients have decided to build a one-car garage.
Funding Delay Complicates Oak Bluffs Dredging
Discouraged by a stalled quest for federal funding, the town of Oak Bluffs is now looking for other ways to dredge the sand-filled channel beneath the Little Bridge at Sengekontacket Pond. The inlet has now closed and the window to dredge it is also closing, with April the deadline for work to be done.
Selectmen Stay the Course on Housing Lottery Despite Appeals
With demand for affordable homesites running high and an upcoming lottery for four lots at Nab’s Corner a few days away, the Chilmark selectmen this week denied two appeals from applicants who did not meet the guidelines.
Large Deer Population Is Food for Thought and the Table
Shotgun hunting season opened last week, and runs through Dec. 13. In addition to putting food on the table, the season is essential for gathering the data used to manage the deer population.
Island EMTs Attend Life’s Classroom
The work of an EMT begins with basic training, and recruits are always needed. Classes begin in early January. An informational open house will be held Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Edgartown fire station. All are welcome.
Land Bank Revenues: Nov. 28
The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank reported revenues of $30,620 for the business week ending on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014. The land bank receives its funds from a two per cent fee charged on many Vineyard real estate transactions.
Chilmark Pond Study Set for Final Phase
Two leading scientists with the Massachusetts Estuaries Project met with the Chilmark selectmen this week to seek approval in moving forward with their study of Chilmark Pond. A draft report released last month confirms that the pond is at its limit for handling nitrogen runoff.
Vineyard Haven Town Column: Dec. 5
Nonna had one of the biggest surprises of her 97 years! Teri and I knew the plan, but on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. my son Chris Clark and my two grandsons, Corbyn, age 10, and Dominic, age 7, showed up at Nonna’s home in White Plains.
Big Balls, Small Balls
With all the excitement surrounding the new Barn Bowl and Bistro bowling center opening early in 2015, the question quite commonly asked is will it be big balls (ten-pin) or small balls (candlepin)?
High School’s Handyman Special
It might well have been dubbed the cook’s tour, since among other things when principal Gil Traverso took wide-eyed school committee members on an early-morning walk around the regional high school recently, the culinary arts teaching space was one of the first stops along the way that jarred the senses. But it certainly was not…
Squibnocket Solutions
We want to thank the Gazette and reporter Alex Elvin for the detailed coverage of the meetings held by the town committee on Squibnocket, and the ongoing public dialogue surrounding the future of Squibnocket Beach.
Distress Call
What can you do when a long, large brown dog is running in traffic and the authorities are nowhere to be found?
Confronting Climate Change
The Oak Bluffs selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18, was enlightening in many ways. Discussion shed light on the complexity of beach nourishment that our towns depend on to maintain their beaches.
Festival of Lights
Scrooge got you down? Christmas not your holiday? Here’s a sure cure — drive into Oak Bluffs.
Don’t Have to Pave Paradise to Ruin It
Tales of a Vineyard primeval are part of tradition. In that Island Eden, great whales, swordfish and cod “the waters brought forth abundantly.” Our ponds once runneth over with scallops and oysters.
Beauty Is in the Eye of the Pumpkin
My son’s birthday lands near Halloween, and when he was eight and nine and probably even ten and eleven, for his party I would line our whole deck with pumpkins.
Ode to Nancy Luce
Bless the poet/with the chickens/Bless the woman wracked/with pain
Island Ponds; Each One Is a Favorite Child
We all have a pond we favor on Martha’s Vineyard — so many ponds, separated or not from the salty sea water that surrounds this place, seven miles out from the mainland. The map of the Island, displayed on a board outside the Vineyard Haven Steamship Authority building, looks like a moth-eaten triangle whose lacy…
Coming This Weekend, an Island Tale With All the Trimmings
Brian Ditchfield has paid homage to Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales by creating his own version entitled A Child’s Christmas in Edgartown.
Plea for Pagoda
The pagoda is living history, a centenarian, it’s an antique, and in the plant world, it is art! Please be a conservationist in the true sense by sharing the pagoda with Edgartown and all tree huggers of the world.
Lost Art
The approach of winter with its gray and stormy days that are inevitable, stirs an instinct among Vineyard people to turn their hands to home employments: the making of rugs, knitting and similar things; the various forms of handicraft that have survived from the colonial days in spite of machinery and machine made goods.
Swept Away by Tradition and Crisis
Windswept, a new novel by Kate Hancock, opens with the story of Josiah Cook, a farmer on Chappaquiddick who in the late 18th century witnesses pirates burying treasure on the beach.
Keeping Life in Tune with Handbells
Hope O’Brien became interested in handbells as a young girl growing up in the Berkshires. Although her parents were in a handbell choir, young Hope couldn’t touch them until she entered high school. Since then she has never been without her bells.
Sing, Choir of Islanders, Sing in Exultation
The Old Whaling Church was filled with harmonies this week as the 115-member Island Community Chorus practiced for its annual holiday concert, which takes place Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. This year’s program features lighter fare than previous concerts, including a bouncy arrangement of Jingle Bells.
Barn at Katama Farm Will Get a New Roof
The larger of two barns at the town-owned property leased by the Farm Institute has a failed roof and water has been leaking through. This week selectmen awarded a contract for replacing the roof that covers the 8,400-square-foot barn.
Moon Shadow
Saturday’s full moon still carries a lot of punch when it comes to brilliance. You’ll see it rising in the east, a short time after sunset. Tonight’s moon resides on the edge of the zodiacal constellation Taurus.
Oak Bluffs Lights Its Tree, and a Season Begins
The brassy notes of a trombone, French horns, and trumpets greeted onlookers as they crowded into Post Office Square on Wednesday night for the annual Oak Bluffs tree lighting. Later there was hot chocolate and Santa came too.
Welcome Home, HGTV Dream House Is Furnished Island Style
On Wednesday morning, representatives from Home & Garden Television gave a tour of the latest Dream House to be given away in early 2015. The house is on Crocker Drive in Edgartown and all the artwork was sourced locally.
Please Adopt Us
There is lots of room to roam in the cat room for the only two occupants, Nala, a two-year-old beauty and our new resident, Princess.
Aquinnah Town Column: Dec. 5
My beloved nephew Robert Walter Christopher Heine-Manning passed away in Falmouth on Tuesday morning unexpectedly.
On Chappy: Dec. 5
Some people say that they are allergic to the holidays. I believe that I truly am. Every year about this time, I come down with some sort of turkey fever.
Oak Bluffs Town Column: Dec. 5
The Friends of Oak Bluffs works closely with the highway and parks departments with the goal of creating a beautiful community for our much-beloved Victorian town.
High School Budget Easily Approved at $18.6 Million
The regional high school committee unanimously approved an $18.6 million operating budget for fiscal year 2016 with relatively little comment or discussion.
Mighty Mites
There are cold and dark days ahead, and you are trapped with tiny terrors.
Readying for Winter
Honestly, the weather on the Vineyard is so unpredictable, and in a good way. On Monday, Dec. 1, we worked in shirtsleeves. We were putting a garden to “bed” for the winter.
The Long or Short of It
Lanny McDowell and Luanne Johnson were on their way to meet Warren Woessner, Pat Hughes, Hal Minis and myself for a trip to Norton Point.
Edgartown Town Column: Dec. 5
I don’t know about all of you, but I am very confused and a little frustrated with the weather. I can’t wait to see what December brings.
Chilmark Town Column: Dec. 5
Thus far, December’s weather hasn’t felt like the holidays are rapidly approaching, but if you look at Deb Hancock’s real estate office the Christmas cheer tone is certainly set.
West Tisbury Town Column: Dec. 5
The weather did deteriorate as fast as predicted and by Friday morning it was down right cold and we received about an inch of snow in Seekonk, where we stayed during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Katama Martellucci and Janice Ownbey are Engaged
Stacy Elizabeth Nickerson-Hall and Stephen Martellucci joyfully announce the engagement of their daughter Katama Marie Martellucci to Janice Ownbey, daughter of Joyce Ownbey and the late Richard Ownbey of Sacramento, Calif.
Christmas Choreography by RISE
RISE Vineyard Performing Arts welcomes the holidays with an annual performance featuring dancers from ages three to 18, along with their instructors.
Shellfish Group Adjusts Priorities After Funding Cuts
Following statewide funding cuts in November, the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group is reassessing maintenance projects for this year and contemplating the future of its shell recovery program.
Ocean View Restaurant, Popular Spot for Islanders, Will Be Sold
The Oak Bluffs selectmen have approved the transfer of an all-alcohol license from Ronald and Margaret Jackson to Michael Santoro, a local restaurateur and a selectman. The Jacksons have owned and operated the Ocean View for more than three decades.
Holiday Crafts Support Zambia Project
The African Artists’ Community Development Project (AACDP) store has popped up just in time for the holidays.
Vineyard Athletes Named Conference All-Stars
With the beginning of winter sports tryouts comes the start of fall awards season. Twenty Vineyard athletes were named to the Eastern Athletic Conference all-star roster.
Gearing Up for Greens Faire
The First Congregational Church of West Tisbury offers its annual greens faire this Saturday, Dec. 6. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Winter Walk
A walk to remember might be in store for you this weekend if you join the land bank staff on a free natural history walk at Trade Wind Fields Preserve.
Fall Feast
Island Grown Schools, the culinary arts program at the regional high school and 7a Foods are coming together to present a late fall garden feast featuring student chefs.
EMS Open House
Edgartown fire station opens its doors to the community for those who want to learn more about the EMT course beginning in January.
What’s It Worth?
Appraisers from Skinner Inc. come to the Vineyard to evaluate your prized possessions on Friday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 6.
From Advent to Easter
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edgartown offers Making Sense of Our Journey From Advent to Easter.
VTA Implements Fare Changes
Riding Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority buses will cost slightly more in the new year.
State Renews Coastal Restoration Grant for Squibnocket
The town of Chilmark has again received a major grant from the office of Coastal Zone Management for the restoration of Squibnocket Beach. The $280,000 grant had fallen into uncertainty because it was tied to a project rejected by voters last spring.
Oak Bluffs School Announces Honor Roll
The Oak Bluffs School has announced its honor roll for the first quarter of the 2014-2015 academic year.
November Is Second Wettest in 68 Years
November was rainy — the wettest month of the year so far and the second rainiest November since 1946, numbers from the National Weather Service station in Edgartown show.
Pub No More, Seasons to Become Retail Space
The owners of the Oak Bluffs building that once housed Seasons Eatery and Pub have plans to convert it to retail space. The Circuit avenue establishment closed in February of 2013 after 27 years of operation.
Where Clay Pigeons Are Afraid to Fly
On Saturday afternoons, Goodale’s Construction site in Oak Bluffs doubles as an informal shooting range. Police officers, army veterans, gardeners, landscapers, chefs and others are all regulars.
Tisbury School Announces Honor Roll
The Tisbury School has announced its honor roll for the first quarter of the 2014-2015 academic year.
Real Estate Transactions: Nov. 24 to Nov. 30
Juarez Junior De Oliveira and Sarah-Melissa De Oliveira purchased 556 Edgartown-West Tisbury Road in West Tisbury from Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank and Janice T. Hull EST for $417,500 on Nov. 26.
Announcing Victoria
Patricia Veiga and Josue Veiga of Vineyard Haven announce the birth of a daughter, Victoria Pardinho Veiga, born on Nov. 26 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Welcome, Parker
Kara Webster and Shawn Webster of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a son, Parker Michael Webster, born on Nov. 29, 2014 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Two-Week Shotgun Season for Deer Begins Monday
Shotgun hunting season runs from Dec. 1 through Dec. 13. Hunting hours begin a half hour before sunrise and close a half hour after sunset. Hunting is prohibited on Sundays.
State Eyes Tighter Rules for Oyster Handling
With Vibrio an ongoing concern, guidelines for handling and transporting oysters are expected to be revised again. Vineyard oyster farmers have been exemplary in adhering to protocols, state officials said.
Hayrides, Owls, and Wreaths at Felix Neck Fall Festival
After a morning of snow flurries and bitter cold, the sun was finally shining on Felix Neck’s Fall Festival. Hearty festival goers turned out for a day of making garlands and wreaths, hay rides and a close look at owls.
Old Steam Whistle Adds Lilt to Voice of Ferry Nantucket
Donated to the Steamship Authority by Bill and Sue Ewen of Oak Bluffs, the whistle comes from the ferry Brinckerhoff, a sidewheeler built in 1899 to serve on the Hudson River.
