The family and friends of Rose B. Anthony gathered this week to reflect on her life and to say a final farewell to a wonderful woman who has touched the lives of so many people over the more than half a century she was in our midst. Sincerest condolences to her family and friends. Rose found her home in Aquinnah to be a very special place where she would find tranquility, lifelong friends and a great place to raise her children and grandchildren during the summer. She was very generous of her time over the years. We were fortunate to share so much over the years, especially her wit and wisdom.

Announcing Isabella

Kara Zajicek and Shawn Webster of Oak Bluffs announce the birth of a daughter, Isabella Rose Webster, born on Dec. 17 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Isabella weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces at birth.

In a story last week on Cheryl Andrews-Maltais, incoming tribal chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the first name of Dan Maltais, Ms. Andrews-Maltais’s husband, was written incorrectly. The Gazette regrets the error.

The Martha's Vineyard Commission on Monday voted without dissent to designate an energy district critical of planning concern in the town of Aquinnah, the first such district of its kind on the Island.

The town and the commission will now begin the process of drafting special townwide regulations for Aquinnah to promote alternative energy in new construction and establish guidelines for the placement of wind turbines, solar panels and geothermal systems.

An Island gas company drew some darts this week for asking a number of its customers who have had credit problems to pay a deposit this winter or face being shut off from future deliveries of gas and propane.

A letter sent by Vineyard Propane & Oil in recent weeks to certain customers states that the company had performed a credit check which revealed their credit history was insufficient for billing, and that the customer would need to pay a deposit of $300 to insure future deliveries.

For Edgartown shellfishermen, it would be unconscionable to have an autumn and winter without fishing for and harvesting bay scallops. On Cape Cod and Long Island, however, the scallops have all but disappeared.

Warren Gaines, deputy shellfish constable for Edgartown, has spent the past two summers making sure the bay scallop fishery in town remains healthy and viable. His expanding efforts follow a bit of a scare when, for at least a decade, bay scallop landings from Cape Pogue Pond haven’t been up to waterfront expectations.

BOSTON — A daylong hearing on casino gambling at the Massachusetts State House this week drew a huge crowd of red-shirted union workers and some of the world’s wealthiest casino executives who flew in for the occasion.

But missing from the scene were the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) and its sister tribe in Mashpee.

In a 1952 aerial photograph of Sengekontacket Pond that hangs behind the door to Augustus Ben David’s World of Reptiles And Birds in Edgartown, you can count two properties — the one you’re standing in and the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary. Today Mr. Ben David estimates that the homes clustered along the shoreline number in the thousands.

Starting Jan. 1, the Vineyard will be a little less connected to the mainland, the result of a decision by the operators of the New Bedford fast ferry to sharply cut their off-season service.

Not that many people are likely to mind; the reason the service is being reduced is that hardly anybody rides it.

Indeed, the service cuts, from three weekday round trips to two, with none at all on weekends, may only be the first step. The operators, New England Fast Ferry, have flagged the prospect of abandoning all service between mid-October and mid-April.

Hello, Hunter

Stephen P. and Stacia P. Broderick of Kamuela, Hawaii, announce the birth of a son, Hunter H. Broderick, on Dec. 4 in Hawaii. He weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces. Hunter is the grandson of Steve and Emily Broderick of Chilmark.