Quarterboard Lecture

Sail MV’s final spring maritime presentation of Quarterboards with J.P. Uranker is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m. The presentation will take place at Mr. Uranker’s studio at 179 County Road in Oak Bluffs where he will demonstrate and discuss the different designs of quarterboards and the techniques for carving them. For details or to make a reservation call 508-696-7644 or visit sailmv.com.

By LYNNE IRONS

Europe has given us many great food and drink specialties — prosecco and spumoni from Italy, triple cream brie and wine from France, sangria from Spain and Guinness (need I say more?) from Ireland.

There is at least one culinary gift from Europe that we can do without. Botanists, butterfly lovers, and plant people of all types abhor this overseas present, the invasive plant, garlic mustard. And some folks have come up with very creative ways to eradicate it.

To Date: A native Islander (“Call me Becca”) has returned home after many years away, to help her unstable Uncle Abe keep his landscaping business, Pequot, afloat. Abe has a monomaniacal fear and loathing of Richard Moby, the CEO of an off-Island wholesaler, Broadway Nursery. In early 2009, Moby unscrupulously took over one Island landscaping business and undercut five others, thus re-invigorating Abe to try to “destroy” Moby. To further complicate matters, Moby is engaged to Abe’s ex-wife, Gwen.

The results of Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary’s annual Bird-a-thon tops the news for this week. A total of 119 species were observed from 6 p.m. on Friday, May 15, to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Twenty-three birders participated in this marathon Massachusetts Audubon Society event, scheduled to coincide with the peak of the northward migration.

A boat has a life of its own. This is the story of one boat whose lineage goes back through Vineyard history; one boat who gracefully carried a Vineyard family as it grew up; one boat that I, a sailor and waterfront reporter, had watched in wonder as she sailed these waters, until she ended up in a field collecting lichens, aging as a home for hornets’ nests.

Then she came to me. This is the story, too, of getting her back into the water, and how the sailors who are the fabric of this community helped me to return this personality to the harbor.

Tisbury selectmen have sacked the town’s police chief, John Cashin, following his outspoken criticism last week of dissident officers within his department and of selectmen for alleged meddling in his running of the department.

The fuel assistance program will close for applications today, the South Shore Community Action Council Inc. has advised. Today is also the last day for deliveries. Anyone who did not receive an application in the mail yet is encouraged to apply.

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The following is an open letter that was sent to PBS television from three New England Native American tribes.

Regarding After The Mayflower, (the first episode of We Shall Remain), the tribal historic preservation officers of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the Narragansett Indian Tribe and the tribal historic preservation authority of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe question the potential of this mini-series to “... tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective.”

As I write this, the lilacs are just about to bloom and the dogwoods are in full flower. So are the apple-family trees, which include crabapples, pears and quinces. (I wouldn’t know a quince tree if I saw it; I can only distinguish the others because last year that tree had pears on it.) Blueberry flowers are going crazy, blackberries not yet, and the young stems of sassafras are crunchily gelatinous and gooey. But the shadberries are a forager’s dream, because they signal two food sources at once.