Fast Ferry Sails Into Off Season
New Bedford Service Continues Through the Winter Months; Private
Operators to Test New Vineyard Route
By IAN FEIN
Heading into uncharted waters, the New England Fast Ferry company
shifted to its winter schedule this week, providing the Island's
first year-round service to New Bedford since the final run of the
Nobska on New Year's Eve, 1960.
The All-Island School Committee voted without dissent this week to hire Edgartown School principal Edward Jerome as interim superintendent of the public schools.
Recommended last week by the cabinet of Island principals and assistant principals, the 90-day appointment of Mr. Jerome was approved Wednesday by the school board. The appointment is effective tomorrow, one day after Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash officially steps down.
With two days to go before the close of the 59th Martha's
Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby, tournament officials are
already calling this year's event one of the most successful in
the history of the competition.
Two Vineyard Educators Proposed as Candidates for Interim School
Post
By IAN FEIN
At the behest of the all-Island school committee, a group of top
school administrators, yesterday recommended two of their own for
consideration as interim superintendent of Vineyard schools.
One week after an Oak Bluffs selectman withdrew his support for the
planned roundabout at the blinker intersection, new doubts are surfacing
over the future of the project.
Selectman Richard Combra unexpectedly reversed his stance at the
regular board meeting last week. Mr. Combra said he thinks the
roundabout could create more bottlenecks at the Triangle intersection on
the Edgartown end and the State Road intersection on the Vineyard Haven
end.
In spite of a tumultuous first three years as Vineyard Steamship
Authority governor, Kathryn A. Roessel wants more.
On Wednesday Ms. Roessel submitted a letter to the Dukes County
commissioners, formally seeking reappointment to the high-profile
volunteer position. Her current three-year term expires at the end of
the December.
Sitting on Squid Row behind the Texaco station in Menemsha is a
pretty good place to be if you want to learn something about fishing.
Service Workers Land Contract
Union leaders announced yesterday that they had struck a contract
for 200 service workers at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital and the
Windemere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center.
The two-year contract is effective Oct. 1 and includes a three per
cent cost of living increase for workers over the next two years. When
step increases are added, workers at the hospital and Windemere can
expect to see a total salary increase between six and eight per cent.
Public Bulletin on Influenza Vaccine
The national flu vaccine shortage announced this week has caused a
ripple of reaction on the Vineyard, and local visiting nurse services
and health agencies report a flood of telephone calls from concerned
residents, many of them elderly.
Public health officials said the shortage will affect the Vineyard,
but it is too early to say how much.
Traditions: Cranberry Day Is Celebration of Great Spirit
By C.K. WOLFSON
On the second Tuesday of the month, as they have been doing for
centuries, since even before explorer Bartho-lomew Gosnold came upon the
Vineyard, Island Wampanoags will celebrate Cranberry Day, the harvesting
of the last fruit of the season.
Sometimes referred to as the Red Harvest, the day is a tribute to
the Great Spirit and is one of the most important Wampanoag
celebrations.
