Island first responders fielded a 10 member team for a Boston Strong First Responders workout marathon last weekend at Gillette Stadium. The 26-hour endurance event was a fundraiser for The One Fund Boston, which aids victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

The Martha’s Vineyard Tactical Response team, a highly trained group of police officers, was created to quickly respond to emergencies on a geographically isolated Island. But last week the team was called to join officers from around the state in a large manhunt for one of the suspects in the Boston marathon bombing.

On Thursday, April 25, an order of nachos and a quesadilla can support a worthy cause. One hundred per cent of all food sales at Sharky’s Cantina in Edgartown and Oak Bluffs between 3 and 11 p.m. will be donated to The One Fund. The foundation helps those affected by the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Friday’s massive manhunt in Watertown for Boston marathon bombings suspect included members of the Martha’s Vineyard Tactical Response team.

Edgartown police chief Antone Bettencourt said Monday that the Island team, a highly-skilled group of officers from most Island police departments, was called to Boston last Friday to assist with a search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Bus service to Boston has been partially suspended and members of the Martha’s Vineyard Tactical Response Team have been called to report to Boston as much of the capital area remains on lockdown during a massive manhunt for one of the suspects in the deadly Boston Marathon bombing attack.

Members of the Island’s tactical team were first called to Boston on Wednesday afternoon for a 12-hour shift, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Oak Bluffs Lt. Tim Williamson told the Gazette on Wednesday. The team returned Thursday morning, before being called back into service on Friday.

Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Tactical Response Team are headed to Boston today to provide relief for those who responded to Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Oak Bluffs Lt. Tim Williamson told the Gazette that he and other members of the tactical team were headed to Boston on Wednesday afternoon for a 12-hour shift, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

On the Vineyard everybody knows somebody in Boston. Over the past week, in the aftermath of Monday’s bombing during the 117th Boston Marathon, flags flew at half-mast across the Island in honor of the victims of the attacks as Vineyarders took time both to reflect and to offer help to those in need.

The Vineyarders who participated in the run were unharmed.

Vineyard roots run strong and deep and I never have imagined calling anywhere else on earth home. I grew up on the Island, but plenty of people grow up plenty of places. They move, they call other cities, other towns their own. What has always rooted me to Martha’s Vineyard is what roots so many people here — a community with a heart much larger than the Island’s 100 square miles would suggest.

Two well-known Vineyard runners who participated in the Boston Marathon are safe and unharmed following the explosions at the finish line Monday afternoon that made instant international news. In a text message to the Gazette late Monday, Joe Schroeder said his wife and marathon runner Marylee Schroeder was safe. “All good and [we’re] out of Boston,” Mr. Schroeder said in his text message