Time Machine Terms
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.
July 18, 1980
Preservation Society Gains Historic Whaling Church
The trustees of Edgartown’s stately, pillared Methodist Church have voted to transfer ownership of the building to the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Preservation Society. The gift of the 137-year-old church of whaling days ends years of struggle by the small congregation to keep the building, and opens the way to the creation of the largest year-round auditorium on the Island.
July 11, 1980
Island History Reveals Itself At Edgartown’s Vincent House
The 300-year-old Vincent House, perhaps the oldest home on the Island, is open once again to the public in Edgartown for the summer.
The remarkable aspect of this house is it’s architecture. There are only limited furnishings inside, and the restorers - John Warren Norton, Anne Baker and C. Stuart Avery of the Martha’s Vineyard Historic Preservation Society - have fashioned the house in the most interesting way possible.
March 21, 1980
Islander Ruptures on Rocks Sea Disaster Averted
The motor semi Islander struck submerged rocks moments after leaving the Oak Bluffs wharf at 9:15 Wednesday morning and began taking on water through five holes ripped in her hull. But the vessel’s captain, Antone Jardin, wrestled the foundering ship back to port, averting a major disaster and possible sinking of the ship.
The cause of the mishap is under investigation by the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety office in Boston, but Coast Guard officials said yesterday it appears that a previously unplotted rock in the channel may have caused the damage. Earlier reports that a key buoy had drifted out of place were discounted by the Coast Guard and Steamship Authority officials.
