Dukes County has received a grant for $55,000 from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services to conduct outreach and enrollment services for the state’s affordable insurance programs.
The programs are MassHealth and Commonwealth Care and, for people with higher incomes, Commonwealth Choice.
JOHN S. ALLEY
508-693-2950
The weather has been seasonally cold with rain on and off. In the evenings the past several days, however, the temperature dipped below freezing and sand trucks were called out. All sorts of decorations, wreaths, outdoor lights and Christmas trees are being put up and decorated each day around town. The spirit of the holiday season is upon us.
JANE N. SLATER
508-645-3378
It’s important we open this week with the real news about me, your correspondent. The rumors are true: I did fall and did sufficient damage to my shoulder and that I needed help to produce this column. My very kind neighbor, Barbara Armstrong, happens to be also pretty skilled on the computer and I am appreciating her tireless energy so we will proceed from here.
The town of Aquinnah’s affordable housing committee and the nonprofit Island Housing Trust announced this week that a town-owned parcel on Church street in Aquinnah has been transferred to the trust. The trust will give a ground lease on the parcel to Amera Ignacio who was chosen through the town’s lottery process, under the oversight of the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority. Ms. Ignacio is a longtime resident of Aquinnah and will build her own house as part of the resident homesite program.
Lifeguard training again is being offered at the Mansion House Health Club in Vineyard Haven.
Mansion House is pleased to donate pool time and classroom space to support the training as certified by the Martha’s Vineyard Red Cross.
This course is designed to provide competent swimmers with the knowledge and certification necessary to become a lifeguard. Many of the Island towns’ lifeguards were trained in the Mansion House pool.
Nancy Whiting
A memorial for Nancy Whiting, who died Nov. 16, is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 15 at 11 a.m. at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven. A gathering will be held later that day from 1 to 4 p.m. at Allen and Lynne Whiting’s home in West Tisbury.
Brazilian Retreat
Immigration is a main topic for discussion in the presidential debates these days, and with the Vineyard’s own substantial population of Brazilian immigrants, it is a topic that hits very close to home.
Open Door Policy
Last month the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) chose Cheryl Andrews-Maltais to lead its sovereign nation.
In her campaign, Ms. Andrews-Maltais stressed openness, an approach that comes at a good time for the tribe and the Vineyard community beyond.
Fall’s Last Call
The final days of autumn bring a hard clarity to the Vineyard. Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees, whose branches trace black lace against the sky. When the sun shines cold and bright and the wind blows hard out of the northwest the water between the chops turns a deep green jade, topped by foaming whitecaps. Intrepid sea ducks surf the waves like so many boys of summer. Above the soft brown of the Island shoreline, a light blue sky rests like a theatrical backdrop.
