A special town meeting in West Tisbury was postponed Tuesday due to a lack of quorum, after only 87 voters turned out on a sunny early June evening. At least 114 voters — 10 per cent of those registered in town — were needed for the meeting to be held. After waiting for approximately 30 minutes, moderator F. Patrick Gregory called the meeting and sent voters home.

“Normally this is the part when I say we have a quorum. But we have fallen well short, and will have to try this again,” Mr. Gregory said.

Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday again expressed frustration with the ongoing problems at the Nova Vida Church on the corner of Ryan’s Way and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, after the church submitted new plans to build a rooming house on the second floor and a large tent in the front yard to hold church services at night during the summer.

New Vineyard Story

Susan Mercier, formerly of Edgartown Books, has joined Vineyard Stories as a market specialist.

Tisbury’s new police chief, Daniel Hanavan, is pretty much the polar opposite of his ebullient, literary and tempestuous predecessor, John Cashin. And Mr. Hanavan is not unhappy when comparisons are made.

Put it to him that he is exceedingly laconic, and his response proves the point: “Yep.”

Say that this contrasts sharply with Chief Cashin, who would talk under wet concrete, and Mr. Hanavan briefly laughs and says in his uninflected way: “He sure had the gift of the gab. The Irish in him, I guess. That’s not me.”

The Oak Bluffs parks commission on Monday reviewed draft rules for town parks and beaches that among other things would close parks at 10 p.m., prohibit flower picking and ban pets from playgrounds and baseball fields.

Authored by Nancy Phillips, chairman of the parks commission, the rules would apply to all town beaches and parks, including Ocean Park, Waban Park, Nashawena Park, Sunset Park, Veira Park, Inkwell Beach and the old pay beach.

Oak Bluffs wastewater officials on Tuesday unveiled a $2.58 million sewer expansion plan along County Road between the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and town fire station, which would connect some 450 lots to the town sewer system, 119 of which are currently vacant.

Wastewater superintendent Joe Alosso presented the plan at the selectmen’s regular meeting; he said the expansion is intended to dramatically reduce nitrogen loading in the Lagoon Pond. Although the sewer plan has been discussed in the past, this was the first time the plans were made public.

The advertisement by the P.O.I.N.T. (Protect Our Islands Now for Tomorrow) organization in the May 28 edition of the Gazette contained a series of arguments that I think need to be addressed one by one. Many of the individual points are accurate and we should not ignore them, but the general thrust of the ad is very misleading. It seems to argue that the best way to deal with our energy need is to get it from somewhere else.

The Chappaquiddick ferryman steered the On Time across the River Styx, previously known as the Edgartown Harbor, last Saturday morning. “Have a memorable walk,” the captain muttered.

Ninety minutes earlier an erstwhile cluster of 36 hikers had gathered at Quammox, not a Harry Potter game but a new Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank property of some 23 acres on Chappaquiddick.

Bill Veno convened the group of hikers promptly at 8 a.m.

Farms Galore

From Gazette editions of June, 1960: