The irony of Oak Bluffs is that people so loved its beaches, they set about destroying them.

They built so close to the ocean’s edge they had to defend their development with a seawall. And the seawall prevented the natural replenishment of the sand, so the beach eroded away.

Charter School

Monday, Nov. 5: Whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce or meat sauce, baked delicata squash, pesto bread, apple sauce and milk.

Tuesday, Nov. 6: Kale soup with meat or vegetarian, French bread with butter, mixed fruit and milk.

Wednesday, Nov. 7: Sub sandwiches (meatball and cheese, tuna salad or roasted veggie and cheese), rosemary potatoes, pineapple and milk.

Thursday, Nov. 8: Pizza (plain cheese, pepperoni or broccoli and mushroom), tossed salad, fresh fruit and milk.

Edgartown Book Fair

The Edgartown School Book Fair is next week, offering everyone in the Island community the opportunity to find new and classic books for children and adults for sale at the school’s library.

The fair begins with a preview day, Monday, Nov. 5, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Tuesday, the fair is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a special Family Literacy Night event from 6 to 8 p.m. Drinks and a light snack will be provided.

An American president rarely speaks on a fisheries issue, but George W. Bush did so two weeks ago.

President Bush recently came out with an executive order directing the National Marine Fisheries Service to prohibit the commercial harvesting of striped bass and red drum in federal waters. A moratorium already is in place on the catching of striped bass in federal offshore waters for all commercial and recreational fishermen, so nothing changes.

Total catch and catch by species during the 2007 annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby recorded large increases over last year’s derby.

The catch was the best since 2004 and among the best in the past eight years for all of the four species.

The total catch of 3,099 fish was 35 per cent higher than in 2006. Compared with 2006, striped bass were up eight per cent, false albacore were up almost 376 per cent, bonito were 204 per cent higher and bluefish nearly four per cent higher.

Preservation vs. Legal Nightmare

As the clamor grows louder in Oak Bluffs around the Veira Park baseball project, a few key points are important to keep in mind.

It is not illegal for the town to spend money to restore its Little League Park, and Oak Bluffs voters have twice said yes to the project, first at the annual town meeting last April and again at a special town meeting this summer. Voters also approved spending money from their town Community Preservation Act fund to pay for the project.

Last Draggers in Menemsha

The Quitsa Strider II sits rusting at the dock in Menemsha. Her skipper Jonathan Mayhew, who has devoted his life to commercial fishing, has sold his days at sea. A Gloucester fishing cooperative has bought the permits that allow him to fish in federal waters.

Street Art With Heart

In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy asks perhaps the most famous scarecrow of all, “How can you talk if you haven’t got a brain?” He shrugs, “I don’t know. But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t they?”

The scarecrows appearing around Vineyard Main streets these days are evidence of a clever, can-do community approach at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School that is more than talk.

GLAD HEARTS

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

We write to express our appreciation for the Martha’s Vineyard community’s support of our daughter, Virginia, during her life, and for its recognition of her inspiring qualities following her death on Oct. 5.

I come from a family of wavers. We wave at each other (brothers, aunts, sisters in law), acquaintances (neighbors, businessfolk, fishermen), and strangers (you know who you are). I also come from a town of wavers. Pittsfield, though geographically located in Massachusetts, shares more personality traits with Fort Wayne than it does with Boston. Waving, then, is not only in my blood, it’s in my brain as well.