As athletes revel in personal bests, so do town moderators. And just after 9:30 on Tuesday night, Derorah Medders briefly broke from the business of Tisbury’s annual town meeting to revel in hers.

“In my tenure, this is a milestone,” she said. Not only was it the longest warrant, in terms of articles and sub-articles, she had presided over in 11 years of running the town’s annual meetings, but it was the quickest.

Never in her time had Tisbury voters finished an annual town meeting in just one night.

Cynthia Mitchell will return as a West Tisbury selectman after an eight-year hiatus. Mrs. Mitchell won her seat without contest in the annual town election yesterday with 172 votes. She will take the seat being vacated by Dianne Powers, who did not seek reelection to a second term.

Voter turnout was low in a year that saw no contests and no questions on the ballot; 229 voters cast ballots, just over 10 per cent of the number registered in town.

A classroom assault in which a 16-year-old girl was struck in the head three times at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School last week led to assault and battery charges against an 18-year-old girl and her suspension from school.

Meanwhile, the family of the victim is considering legal action against the school.

Announcing Erick

Heidi Vanderhoop and Alexander Moore of Aquinnah announce the birth of a son, Erick Angelo Moore, born on April 13, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Erick weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces at birth.

Lyla Arrives

Rachel Dinning and Anthony BenDavid of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Lyla Katharine BenDavid, born on April 11, 2010, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Lyla weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces at birth. She is welcomed home by big sisters Belle and Lacey.

Chappy Shadow Walk

I took a stroll this morning, before the sun would shine,

down Cape Pogue Ave to Chappy Road, and met a good friend of mine.

Across Dike Bridge and to the beach, we stopped a while to rest,

and each time I turned to look for him, he was always to the west.

We walked along in silence, but I had a lot to say,

past Poucha Pond along the shore until we reached Katama Bay.

I often tease my students that in writing for an English class, the writer can use language playfully — metaphor to create nuance and alliteration to draw images. History writing, I tell them, is intended to be as a dry as a bone: a recitation of the facts. Though now we know that history is an intertwined story of multiple perspectives where the voices of many should be heard, the debate continues over the form that voice should take.

Editor’s Note: The following is an edited 1998 interview with Eric Cottle done by historian Linsey Lee; the complete interview appears in her book Vineyard Voices. Mr. Cottle died April 2 at the age of 92. Ms. Lee heads the oral history center for the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

From a 1967 Gazette column of reminiscences by Joseph Chase Allen:

The anecdotes of the early 1900s would constitute a volume second to none. Times and customs being far different from those of the present day, some of these are unique indeed.

REASONS TO VOTE NO

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Two of the qualities of life in our community in Vineyard Haven will be affirmed by voting no on Article I to permit the sale of alcohol in the town of Tisbury on April 27: our grandchildren and “getting away from it all.”