Time Machine Terms
October 16, 1981
Crunch III Reduces 44 Cars to Hunks of Steaming Junk
“It seems like total destruction the only solution.” - Bob Marley.
Alan Trustman, who write the screenplay for Bullitt, once told a group of college students interested in movie writing that almost nothing tickled the average American more than watching wanton destruction of valuable personal property. Don’t ask me to explain it, he said, but Americans can’t get enough of glass breaking and car crashing.
September 29, 1981
Gay Head Tribal Council Approves Plan to Settle Land Claim Suit
The Wampanoag Tribal Council of Gay Head approved a plan last night that could lead to settlement of the seven-year-old suit claiming Indian ownership of Gay Head town lands.
The 115 to 60 margin in favor of settlement of the suit is being contested by a party within the tribe that favors suing for the entire town. But tribe leaders say they will move toward settlement.
August 11, 1981
The Auriga and Naushon Collide In the Mists of Monday Morning
The SS Naushon collided head-on with the freight boat Auriga in thick fog at 8:55 yesterday morning.
The two Steamship Authority vessels hit one another about one mile east of Nobska lighthouse at Woods Hole. The Coast Guard said that at the time of the collision, seas were calm and the visibility was zero.
Fourteen people were injured, 11 passengers aboard the Naushon and three crew members on the Auriga. All were taken to Falmouth Hospital, but were released later in the day.
August 7, 1981
The Island’s Veterans of Vietnam Carry a War’s Burden of Unsettling Memories
Woody Williams graduated from the Island’s regional high school in 1969 and went off to fight a war. In some ways, he’s still fighting it.
Jeff Baker knows the feeling. Sometimes when he’s sitting in his Vineyard Haven home he hears rapid gunfire and jumps up. It’s his wife popping corn.
Several years have passed since the two young men left the jungles of Southeast Asia. Yet still they wonder when they will leave behind the ugly visions and enjoy Island life with others of their generation.
July 7, 1981
Judge Tucker Brings New Dignity To Sessions of Island Court
A man and woman charged recently with sleeping in Ocean Park, a violation of Oak Bluffs law, came before the Dukes county district court judge Herbert E. Tucker, Jr. and were ordered to pay a $25 fine. They told Judge Tucker they needed until 1 p.m. that afternoon to pay.
At 1 p.m., the couple did not appear. They had gone home to Fairhaven.
June 12, 1981
A Fond Adieu to Darling’s of Oak Bluffs Where Popcorn Was Pure Island Magic
I heard this week that there will be no more Darling’s, the old popcorn store, in Oak Bluffs this summer or any other summer. Murdick’s Fudge Kitchen of Mackinac Island, Michigan, will take its place.
I have nothing against Murdick’s Fudge Kitchen. It has been selling fudge in Edgartown for four years now, and I’ve enjoyed it, and my sister in law, who has a house at East Chop, smacked her lips when she heard the news and said: “Now there’s fudge!”
November 28, 1980
Nantucket Scores Against Vineyard In Annual Match
The 40 knot wind howled on Saturday afternoon and it was guaranteed that the Nantucket Whalers football team and their fans would be screaming with delight Saturday night. They had won their 10th game in a row to cap an undefeated league season. Unfortunately, the Vineyarders were the team they beat, 31-12.
September 30, 1980
Federal Study Will Examine Causes for Striper’s Decline
The striped bass, valued not only as a premier game fish but also as a commercial catch, is the subject of a three year, multi-million-dollar study by several federal agencies because of its apparently dwindling population.
September 16, 1980
Former President Richard M. Nixon Visits the Island
Former President Richard M. Nixon was a traffic stopper on lower Main street in Edgartown Saturday morning.
At about 10 a.m., Mr. Nixon, his longtime friends Charles G. (Bebe) Rebozo and Robert H. Abplanalp came into the yacht club pier in a 50-foot Hatteras. There they were met by state police officer Daniel Flynn, about a dozen Secret Service men and a handful of bystanders and yachtsmen involved in the finals of the National Shields Championships.
August 29, 1980
North Water Corp. Looks to Merger
The proposed merger of the North Water Street Corporation with the Vineyard Historical Preservation Society moved several steps nearer at the annual North Water street stockholders and directors meeting yesterday.
