JUNE D. MANNING

508-645-2574

(lthslnks@gis.net)

Community Baptist Church of Gay Head held their annual meeting on Sunday at the home of Rev. Roger Spinney and his wife, Sharon. Following our delicious luncheon, the business meeting convened. We were informed that Mrs. Kathryn B. Stewart had retired after being our organist for the past two decades. Kathryn has actually taught music to our community as our music teacher who would arrive every Wednesday for classes at our one-room schoolhouse from 1955 through 1968.

HOLLY NADLER

508-274-2329

(hollynadler@gmail.com)

January on the Island reminds me of three o’clock in the morning. And I believe F. Scott Fitzgerald described this time of the wee hours best when he wrote, “In the dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning.”

Welcome, Dylan

Rich and Kaysea Hart of West Tisbury and Boston announce the birth of their daughter, Dylan Isabella Hart, born on Jan. 5. Dylan weighted 7 pounds, 1 ounce at birth.

Tessa Arrives

Emma Kiley and Justin Bryant of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Tessa Rae Bryant, born on Jan. 17, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Tessa weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces at birth.

The question all the people that are sharing the Baltimore orioles on Lambert’s Cove Road, and now one in Oak Bluffs, are asking is, why are they still on Island? There are two answers, and they both have to do with genetics. Unlike many of the waterfowl that learn how to migrate from their parents, passerines or dickie birds are programmed by the genes of their parents. Therefore orioles, which are passerines, can innately navigate to their wintering grounds in Mexico and Central America. However sometimes there is a glitch in these inherited programs and either the young birds remain in their summer digs or, more commonly, a youngster makes a 180-degree turn and reverse migrates. So the Baltimore orioles here on the Vineyard were either born here and didn’t leave this fall, or came from points south. Unfortunately most of these birds will not survive the winter — although some do. The crew on Lambert’s Cove seems bent on keeping the young male alive with oranges and jelly! Good luck.

By LYNNE IRONS

Dean’s List

Kathryn DeBettencourt, a resident of Oak Bluffs, and a member of the class of 2010, has been named to the Dean’s List at Providence College for the fall 2009 semester.

Wilfred J. Caron was a quizzical man. He owned a Christmas tree farm in Old Mystic, Conn., right on U.S. Route 1. His ramshackle house was painted pink, with green signs out front, an old cemetery nearby, and new housing development crowding the land on all sides. When I met Mr. Caron, his Christmas trees had grown beyond the reach of his shear and were fast becoming a forest.

Menemsha fishermen Tim Broderick and Alec Gale were awarded the use of a lot along the Menemsha Harbor for their mussel and fish-buying business, at a joint meeting with the Chilmark selectmen and the parks and recreation committee Tuesday night.

It was a jam-packed day of sports last Saturday on the Vineyard, as both the boys’ basketball and boys’ hockey teams posted big wins over conference rival Bishop Feehan, while the steadily-improving girls’ hockey team skated to a 2-2 tie against Marshfield.

Boys’ Basketball

Approximately 400 people jammed the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School gymnasium on a bitterly cold afternoon to watch the boys’ take on Bishop Feehan. And they certainly got their money’s worth.