Hello, Nicola

Heather and Joseph Capece of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Nicola Josephine Capece, born Sept. 8 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Nicola weighed 7 pounds, 7.5 ounces at birth. She was also welcomed by sister Lucia.

Finella Arrives

Shelagh and David Smilie of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Finella Hackett Smilie, born on Sept. 6 at the Martha’s Vineyard Community Hospital. Finella weighed 15 pounds, 11 ounces at birth. She was also welcomed by big sister Fiona.

JOHN S. ALLEY

508-693-2950

(alleys@vineyard.net)

The ducks and geese have begun their trek south. For years, that has included a brief rest stop in the Mill Pond to relax and refresh, but the pond has become a stagnant mess no longer worthy of a visit for most of them.

TEAR IT DOWN

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

A building permit is given to an individual in 2003, to construct a garage to replace an existing 200-square-foot garage. The proposed cost for the replacement garage was to be $22,000. Instead, the project grew to a three-story building with balconies, sliding glass doors and a roof deck. The cost probably exceeded $200,000.

My questions are:

Why must this saga continue?

Wasn’t the present garage built illegally in the first place?

An open house at the former Denniston House on Masonic avenue in Oak Bluffs is scheduled during the Arts District’s Art Stroll on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 4 to 7 p.m.

The public will be able to meet the architects and members of the design committee who are renovating the property, which now will be known as Bradley Square.

The Public Park that Never Happened

For two decades, so-called Boch Park on Beach Road in Vineyard Haven has sat in a limbo made of court battles and subsequent, drawn-out negotiations between the Boch family and the town of Tisbury.

The scruffy condition of the parcel, which overlooks Vineyard Haven harbor, is a sad and continuing testament to a failure to reach resolution on what could be one of the bright spots of the town waterfront.

Tasman Arrives

Samantha Look and Kristian Strom of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Tasman Kristianson Look Strom, born on August 15 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Tasman, who weighed eight pounds, six ounces at birth, is the grandson of Carly Look of West Tisbury, Allen Look of Providence, R.I., and Jack and Carol Strom of Ellington, Conn.

The Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust on Wednesday celebrated the Aquinnah Cultural Center and its supporters with a prestigious award for their outstanding effort in restoring the Edwin Devries Vanderhoop Homestead, which sits atop the Gay Head Cliffs. It was no easy task, and it involved a partnership between a lot of organizations. The old house is now home to the cultural center.

A brief but acrimonious legal battle over a fence around an auto repair shop on Worcester avenue ended last month when the town of Oak Bluffs agreed to withdraw over $18,000 in fines previously levied to Allan (Buddy) deBettencourt, owner of Buddy’s Auto and Truck Repair.

In a return to form of sorts, Oak Bluffs selectmen on Tuesday clashed over what seemed like a relatively harmless plan to allow principal assessor Dianne Wilson to work a three-day work week with longer days instead of a traditional five-day work week.