Winner’s Circle

I’m trying to rhyme the word “Vineyard;”

Thank goodness it isn’t a sin word.

Unlike that Nantucket

Where oaths fill a bucket,

We keep our frustrations all inward.

— Eileen Maley

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A man with no key to Quansoo

His paltry investments did rue

With portfolio tanked

That bright shining bank

Could only be reached by canoe.

— Beth Parker

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Last Friday, Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School was honored to have the chance to listen to Corey Scanlon’s story at a special assembly organized by the student council. Corey is now 26 years old. When he was 19, he was in a tragic accident, caused by his drunk driving, which ended in despair. He told us that he woke up in a hospital bed to hear his mother tell him that he had killed his two best friends. He opened up to us and told us about his life and the terrible misfortune he had experienced.

For more than a hundred years, the barn at Hoft Farm has born witness to the hard work and heartbreak of Vineyard rural life. The large barn, rising three stories high from its substantial fieldstone foundation, marked the ambition and optimism of the Hoft family, who settled on the Island after ocean journey and shipwreck. John Hoft, born in Hamburg, Germany, planted an orchard of apples, pears, peaches and plums.

A week or so ago I was saying to friends, “Don’t rush me! It’s not spring, I haven’t finished (or begun) my winter chores yet, slow down, will you?” Some of us were standing in the doorway of a house out in the country, looking out at the soft grey day; the drizzle mixed with a little sleet, verging on snow. It was quiet, not too cold ... refreshing.

“This is beautiful,” I said, taking a deep breath.

Vineyard Lobstering

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

From a 1935 Gazette edition:

Of all peculiarly earth-born traditions that still survive among men, perhaps there is none older than that of the sea serpent in its varied forms. Research reveals that there were indeed fearsome things abounding in the sea at some ancient date. That tales of these creatures should have descended among mankind for generations is not at all strange.

Notables

National newspapers last week carried the obituaries of three notable civil servants: conservationist and former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall; Liz Carpenter, press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson during her White House years, and former Massachusetts State Senator and former Bristol (now Cape and Islands) district attorney Edmund Dinis. All three will be remembered here for their Island connections.

What’s in a Name?

It’s hard to imagine that a tragedy like the January suicide of a 15-year-old South Hadley girl, a result of torment by a group of teenage bullies at her high school, could touch the close-knit community of Martha’s Vineyard. Perhaps it wouldn’t happen here, where children so often see the same faces in school hallways from kindergarten through eighth grade, growing close and forging friendships long before they set off to tackle the mini-melting pot that is the regional high school.

If Tisbury voters approve the sale of beer and wine in the town’s restaurants at the upcoming town ballot, how many licensed premises will they be signing up for?

The wording of the ballot question on the annual town meeting warrant, finalized this week, suggests the answer may be 19, or arguably 38, and possibly more.