West Tisbury Selectmen Defend Principal Assessor on Spending

By IAN FEIN

West Tisbury selectmen this week criticized a story in last
Friday's Gazette about costly travel expenses submitted by the
town principal assessor.

Among other things, the story reported that principal assessor
Jo-Ann Resendes stayed in luxury Boston hotels at a cost of more than
$250 per night throughout the first seven weeks of the ongoing tax
hearing at the Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board.

Boat Line Eyes Changes at Oak Bluffs Terminal; Town Hall Deal in
Doubt

By JAMES KINSELLA
Gazette Senior Writer

HYANNIS - Steamship Authority governors said yesterday that
the boat line may now revise the Oak Bluffs terminal reconstruction
project, including possibly dropping plans to relocate the ticket office
to the former town hall off Sea View avenue.

The 120-foot cargo ship Kwai sits at the R.M. Packer Co. bulkhead in Vineyard Haven. From the outside she looks like a troubled hulk, but inside she is aglow with change. The 55-year-old ship that once traveled the waters of Europe, first as herring fishing boat and later as a freighter, is being converted to a sailing ship.

Camp Jabberwocky Director Steps Down

Gillian Lamb Butchman Has Resigned to Pursue Ever-Widening Mission
of Building Similar Camps

By RACHEL KOVAC

After 35 years, Gillian Lamb Butchman quietly stepped down from her
role as director at Camp Jabberwocky on Saturday. The daughter of
Jabberwocky founder Helen (Hellcat) Lamb, Mrs. Butchman's
resignation leaves the venerable cerebral palsy camp with no Lamb in an
active director role for the first time in its 52-year history.

Gasoline prices on the Vineyard have hit record highs this summer, with the cost of premium gasoline now topping three dollars a gallon at some stations - well above both the state and national averages.

As of Tuesday, Tisbury Shell and Edgartown Mobil both were charging $3.04 per gallon for premium gasoline. Regular gasoline prices still hover a few cents shy of the three dollar mark, averaging $2.89 per gallon at the Island's nine stations. The Menemsha Shell has the lowest price for regular gas on the Island, at $2.82.

He is the Vineyard's own piano man and his story has been told
dozens of times, but even in the retelling it is remarkable and ordinary
and gifted and funny - all words that describe David Crohan
himself. Above all else he is funny, with a relaxed, deadpan humor that
spills out unexpectedly and uproariously, some of it quite unprintable.

And suddenly you are laughing along with him and rocking back in
your chair and laughing some more.

Celebration Traces Portuguese Heritage

Feast of Holy Ghost Draws Hundreds for Sopa Ritual

By BRIEN HEFLER

Anyone who came to this weekend's Feast of the Holy Ghost,
whether for food or community spirit, didn't leave hungry.

East winds, fog and shifting breezes challenged the best sailors in
last week's 82nd Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta. More than 200
sailboats competed in the one-design sailboat race that ran from
Thursday through Saturday.