Barack Obama has been sprint ing so rapidly to the center that we need binoculars to find progressive ideas in the 2008 election.

So I was open to Looking Back From 2101 (Xlibris) by Steve Halpern. Based on Edward Bellamy’s 1887 novel Looking Backward: From 2000 to 1887, the Halpern book imagines a Philadelphia factory worker awakened from a 104-year trance to discover a socialist utopia in 2101.

Today there are many negative stereotypes of teenagers about how we are so lazy, we don’t think of anyone but ourselves, and we are so self-centered. I believe that this is completely false, and in fact the complete opposite is true. Teenagers do more community service than any other age group. Almost all of my friends do some type of community service. There are many opportunities for us to give back to the community with programs such as the boys and girls club, youth coaching, charities, fund-raisers and walks.

People wonder why teenagers don’t get more involved in community service, but they don’t know our struggle. Nowadays, teenagers have school, sports, clubs, Minnesingers and work. Some teenagers do not have the time for community service. But there are many opportunities for teenagers. Teenagers just need to look a little more carefully in the community for the right place for them.

Savor the moment, she said; it was her favorite phrase. Della Brown Hardman, the distinguished artist, educator and volunteer died in December of 2005. And now each year the last Saturday in July is set aside in the town of Oak Bluffs as a day to remember her. The fourth annual Della Hardman Day is tomorrow and a series of events are planned to celebrate the arts, as Della did so beautifully in her own life.

Community service is an admirable endeavor as it allows you to work for something you believe in and give back to the community. By participating in community service, you can feel connected to your community. While some students at Marta’s Vineyard Regional High School do community service because it looks good on a college transcript or meets a requirement, other students intrinsically want to help their community. Regardless of their motive, many students at the high school are often confused as to how they can actually get involved and what types of things they can do.

Board President Responds

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Last Monday, July 14 the board of directors of the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club decided, after considerable deliberation, to dismiss the employees of our Second Hand Store and close the store temporarily pending reorganization and re-staffing. Since the store is an important fixture on the Island and our action has evoked a storm of discussion, we feel we owe the community some explanation.

Robynn Murray stood alone in the kitchen. Bread in the toaster, she twirled a butter knife in a tub of Nutella and looked out across the brown Chilmark fields of North Road. She spread the warm bread thick; stuck the knife back in the jar. “I got these when I got back from Iraq,” she said. She licked a crumb of toast from the corner of her mouth and pointed to the two guns tattooed on her chest, their barrels facing each other.

Despite the rising price of aviation fuel, Angel Flight pilots continue to shuttle Vineyarders back and forth to Hyannis, Boston and afar for necessary medical appointments.

The price of fuel comes out of the pilots’ pockets, but still they are flying. Island pilot Mike Shabazian said: “You can’t whine about gas prices. If you do, you don’t fly.”

After an emotional response from the community, leaders at the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club this week defended their recent decision to abruptly fire two longtime employees of the Edgartown Second Hand Store and dismiss the store’s staff of volunteers.

In keeping with the theme, a conflict between police and demonstrators over a planned protest against the war in Iraq at the Vineyard Haven post office was resolved peacefully on Wednesday.

The Rev. Alden Besse and Sarah Nevin, co-chairmen of the Vineyard Peace Council, planned the display as part of a national campaign against the war titled Eyes Wide Open. The display features combat boots and professionally made banners that list the number of men and women who have been injured or killed in Iraq.