When Lorraine Clark walks into Grace Church in Vineyard Haven on the
morning of Dec. 17, Christmas officially begins.

There, packed high to the ceiling and filling almost every available
space will be over 250 large, white bags - each one stuffed with
dozens of wrapped gifts. Each bag will be marked with its own number,
and soon people will trickle in to claim them.

An investor group headed by principals in Conover Real Estate has signed an agreement to buy the landmark Navigator Restaurant and Boathouse Bar in Edgartown from its longtime owners, the Young family.

Island Land Bank Buys West Tisbury Pondfront Under Blind Trust Cover

By JULIA WELLS

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank Commission deliberately
concealed its identity as a publicly funded government land trust when
it bought two strategic waterfront properties in West Tisbury -
one on Ice House Pond and another on the Tisbury Great Pond.

For the first time in 13 years, there will be a new chairman of the
Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Donald Widdiss, the first
chairman to lead the tribe after it gained federal recognition in 1987,
returns to the top post after ousting incumbent Beverly Wright, 132-105,
in the tribe's annual election on Sunday.

Looking Glass: Jabberwocky Is Heading South with New Camp

By PAUL REMY
Special to the Vineyard Gazette

Jowharah Johnson enjoys dancing and having fun. Her parents
frequently take her out. But the 19-year-old African American teenager,
who has Cerebral Palsy, does not have friends to hang out with.

West Tisbury and Chilmark Selectmen Collide Over Up-Island School
Study

IAN FEIN

West Tisbury and Chilmark selectmen knocked heads this week over
whether a task force studying the Up-Island Regional School District
should consider closing the Chilmark School.

The dispute could end the task force study before it even begins,
and ultimately unravel the entire regional district, whose future is now
in question.

Committee Members Hash Out a New Vision for Superintendent

By CHRIS BURRELL

All-Island school committee members took their first crack this week
at defining the kind of superintendent they want to lead Vineyard public
schools.

Their suggestions ran the gamut. Some wanted a financial expert to
oversee an educational budget on the Island that exceeds $35 million a
year.

Endangered Green Sea Turtle Rescued

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

A 17-pound live green sea turtle found on Chappaquiddick more than a
week ago is recovering at the New England Aquarium. The turtle,
nicknamed Quiddick by a Vineyard veterinarian who first treated it, is
the first endangered green turtle recovered live from the Vineyard.

The signs around the high school all point toward a showdown.

Like the handwritten message taped to the wall inside the
boys' locker room.

"10-game preseason is over. KHUNA Nantucket!!!"

Or the chants echoing in the halls, through the gymnasium and out
into the crisp November air.

"Keep the Cup, keep the Cup, keep the Cup!"

When taken out of context, listening to Gustavo Simoes talk about
football can be quite confusing.

"I played football all the time as a kid in Brazil," the
high school senior and Vineyarders center said after practice Monday.
"And I had seen football on TV, too, but I never played it until I
came here."

Put in context, the confusion is easily sorted out.