Camp Ground Considers Leaseholder Vote

By CHRIS BURRELL

They're demanding universal suffrage, the right of cottage
owners in the Camp Ground to choose their leaders, but after a weekend
of heavy politicking, a newly constituted tenants' group emerged
with only a partial victory.

The 21-member board of directors of the Martha's Vineyard Camp
Meeting Association (MVCMA) agreed Friday to explore a proposed
amendment to the bylaws - a move that would alter the governance
of this historic community in the center of Oak Bluffs.

Along with the Ferris wheel and the tilt-a-whirl, one of the wildest rides of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair this year was provided by the weather.

Eleanor Neubert, fair manager, said the weather gets much of the credit for the fact that attendance this year totaled 27,887 people, more than a thousand above last year's total and an all-time record for the fair.

Youth Hockey Builds Character; Also Puts Deep Dents in Island Family
Pocketbooks

By CHRIS BURRELL

For nine months a year, Susan Mercier's three daughters love
to lace up the skates, throw on the gloves and pads and grab a stick for
a game of ice hockey.

"It's the most empowering thing you can do for your
daughter," said Ms. Mercier of Edgartown.

Parking Enforcement in Tisbury Is Major Year-Round Business

By ALEXIS TONTI

After chipping away for years at traffic problems in Vineyard Haven,
the Tisbury selectmen are now considering an overhaul of the
town's parking regulations in order to relieve congestion in the
downtown area.

"Traffic flow and parking go hand in hand. With a better
parking system, traffic flow will improve," Tisbury police chief
Theodore (Ted) Saulnier said this week.

On a small patch of tar in front of the Oak Bluffs Steamship
Authority terminal, where Oak Bluffs avenue, Seaview avenue, Seaview
avenue extension and the ferry pier all converge, Officer Matthew Stein
is holding court.

New Nantucket Member Joins Steamship Board; New Ferry Plans Advance

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

NANTUCKET - A new board member for Nantucket and a new ferry
for the Vineyard - these were the benchmarks of the monthly
Steamship Authority meeting yesterday morning when SSA governors tackled
an array of business for the boat line which is the lifeline to the two
Islands.

It's Always an Illuminating Experience: A Grand Night of
Glowing Lanterns

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By C.K. WOLFSON

It's not exactly Bastille Day over in the Camp Ground, but make no mistake, there's a revolution brewing in this historically religious, gingerbread enclave in the center of Oak Bluffs - and it's all about democracy.

Nearly 100 Camp Ground residents banded together this summer and are clamoring for something they say is sorely lacking: the chance to choose at least some of their leaders.

There was record turnout at the start of the 143rd annual Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair, which began yesterday. Overcast skies kept people away from the beach, so they came to the fair instead, said Eleanor Neubert, fair manager.

Yesterday's opening day was full of fun and a few glitches. The ever popular Ferris wheel, which gives riders a skyline view of the fairgrounds, broke down in the first hours of the fair. The apparatus had to be hand cranked so riders could get off. "They've ordered a part," said Ms. Neubert.

Interim Director of SSA Says Boat Line Will Work First to Fix
Reservations System

By JULIA WELLS

The improvements started yesterday.

This was the word from Steamship Authority acting general manager
Wayne Lamson, who said an array of changes are now under way aimed at
improving the telephone reservations system at the boat line. The
improvements include a change in operating hours at the central
reservations bureau in Mashpee, and a number of changes in the automated
telephone answering system.