A school of forty or fifty sturgeon was sighted off Wasque. Many Islanders had never heard of such a school before in these waters. The sturgeon were chasing the mackerel which ran right into the shore. All the sturgeon were big fish, believed to have run from 300 to 400 pounds apiece. It has always been said that when sturgeon arrived, the bluefish were here.

BIKE PATH EXPANSION

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Regarding the Gazette story last Friday about bicycle paths.

A couple of clarifications are in order, as some of my quotes were out of context, some were mixed together, and some I never made at all.

Pedal Politics

Summer Conversation

There are different ways to mark the beginning of summer. By the calendar it begins on the solstice Sunday. Then there are all the other small ways that signal the start of the season. At the Gazette office in Edgartown loyal subscribers to the newspaper have begun to drop in, to change their addresses so the paper can be delivered here, to say hello, perhaps comment on the latest news, ask about how our winter was on the Island.

Long and cold, deliciously quiet, sometimes a little too quiet, we reply.

The 2009 summer season at Trinity Episcopal Church begins this Sunday, June 21, at 9 a.m. when the Rev. Dr. Timothy B. Cogan of Edgartown is celebrant.

The church, located across from the Steamship Authority in Oak Bluffs, is celebrating its 127th year of summer worship.

50 Year Anniversary Couple

Celebrates on the Vineyard

Skunk Talk

Wildlife biologist Luanne Johnson will share the results of her doctoral research on the behavior and habits of coastal striped skunks on the Vineyard. Her lecture titled Skunks without Borders: the Movements and Behavior or Coastal Skunks on Martha’s Vineyard will be held at the Chilmark Public Library on Thursday, June 25, at 5 p.m.

It was late spring of Ali’s 42nd year. She telephoned, asking me to come over to see what her father did for her. Upon arrival at Ali’s wonderful old home of her late grandmother, I found her in this immense, newly turned garden all set for planting. To the artist in Ali this was a blank canvas, new brushes and a box of fresh paints. A finer garden spot one couldn’t dream of, yet from behind the shed she came with a weeding tiller. The metal part was antique but the long, gently arched wooden handles were new.

Five-card drive? Or five-car draw? Either way you call it, Saturday’s Poker Run — where classic cars drive to five spots to get a playing card, and the best poker hand wins — is a great charity fundraiser, part of the annual Island Power Cruise. The poker run begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Wesley Hotel, but kids and their parents will be the local winners if they come to Al’s Package Store on Upper Main street in Edgartown — the second-card stop — any time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Student Achievement

Paul and Diane Watts proudly announce the graduation of their daughter, Kimberly A.W. Peaslee, from Franklin Pierce Law Center with a J.D. Degree in Intellectual Properties on May 16 in Concord, N.H.

Kimberly will also receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Dartmouth College on June 14, earning Suma Cum Laud designation. She was awarded the $10,000 Donald W. Banner Corporate Intern Scholarship by the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation.