Time Machine Terms
April 7, 1950
Rink History of Oak Bluffs Goes Back to 1878, When Everyone Swooped Around on Roller Skates
The proposed revival of a roller skating rink in Oak Bluffs calls to mind the grandeur of the one that occupied a place of honor in that town from 1878 to 1892.
Roller skating became a craze in the early 1870’s, and the first roller rink in the country was built in Worcester by a wealthy promoter named Samuel Winslow who had invented a new and improved type of skate, in 1876. The idea caught on with great speed, and by the time the rink at Oak Bluffs was completed, just about every able-bodied individual in the country was swooping around on roller skates.
January 27, 1950
Sensational Action About Bass Derby: No More Tournaments if Plan Goes Through
Prospects are good that the annual striped derby will become a regular feature of the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club, and that none save members of the club will participate in the contest. This will mean that, for those who pay the club dues, there will be no further fee for membership in the derby contest or any other tournament which the club may arrange. Action taken at the club on Wednesday night indicates the favorable attitude of the club in making the change, the motion under which it was voted containing the provision that it be subject to legal approval.
December 9, 1949
Striped Bass Derby Called Most Renowned of Events
In Sports Afield for December, Bernhard A. Roth writes, among other things, of salt-water sport fishing, noting in obeisance the Vineyard Striped Bass Derby. Mr. Roth makes the claim that “the salt waters of the Bay State offer a greater variety of angling than any other North American marine area.” His comment on the derby:
October 28, 1949
Group Will Take Title To Harbor View In December
A formal agreement for the purchase of the Harbor View hotel at Edgartown has been signed, and the purchasing group for which Alfred Hall has been acting since the first agreement was executed a few weeks ago, will take title to the property in December. But work toward the renovation and rehabilitation of the hotel will begin at any time, Mr. Hall told the Gazette this week, with an expenditure of at least $50,000.
September 23, 1949
“Far Removed from Din of City” Wrote the Poet of Harbor View Hotel When it Was Young
For the first time in more than fifty years, the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown has changed hands. The Walker family has been in control of the property since 1898, seven years after its original opening. In that year, F. A. Douglass, the first owner of the Harbor View, sold two thirds of the interest in the hotel to Dr. T. G. Walker and L. T. Townsend, Dr. Walker later acquiring the entire property, which has been owned recently by his children, Mrs. Luther M. Sibley and Raymond Walker.
September 23, 1949
Chosen Derby Queen
The annual derby dance, which is a part of the opening of the striped bass derby, was held at the Tisbury school auditorium on Friday night, bringing out a gratifyingly large crowd and a brand new class of contestants for the various prizes offered. Manny Silva’s orchestra pleased the dancers, and the committee, headed by Clifford Luce, went to considerable lengths to make the event enjoyable.
September 16, 1949
H. T. Burleigh Was One of Music’s Great Figures
Harry Thacker Burleigh, eminent composer, singer, and arranger of Negro spirituals — and who was for more than thirty years a summer resident of the Vineyard — died in Stamford on Sept. 11 at the age of 82. He was one of the great figures in music in his generation.
August 5, 1949
Garlands for the Garden Club on Its Anniversary
The sides of the weatherbeaten old mill at West Tisbury fairly bulged with the throng who gathered there to participate in the silver jubilee celebration of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club on Tuesday afternoon. Including those who stood outside and listened through the windows, attendance at the meeting was close to the three hundred mark with others dropping in later at the Open House.
August 2, 1949
Editorial: Silver Anniversary
Twenty-five years of the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club leave us wondering a little what the Island would have been without this active force. It is easy to recall dozens of times when the traditional understanding as to billboards would have been broken, when trees would needlessly have been cut down, when road work would have ravaged the countryside without need, when many unforeseen contingencies of the kind have arisen, and the good sense and courteous firmness of the Garden Club have prevailed.
July 1, 1949
Creative Arts School Opening
The School of Creative Arts, with Miss Kathleen Hinni, director, a new venture here, will open July 6 in the Trench House on Massachusetts avenue, Oak Bluffs. Swimming, dancing, music appreciation, hand work and dramatics, games and sports, horseback riding and advanced work for girls are on the curriculum. There will also be classes for adults in rhythmic exercise and folk dancing.
