Editor’s Note: The following eulogy was delivered by the Rev. Alden Besse at the Agricultural Hall on Tuesday afternoon:

We have gathered to remember David Willey. A man with a great zest for life, one who knew deeply how to celebrate life in many ways.

We do not fully understand why the tragic accident took him from us so soon. It is largely a mystery why some live so long while others depart so soon.

I t was a long winter last year and, finding myself sitting in front of the fire a lot, I got into a frame of mind where I began to consider increasing my cultural input.

Part of the solution was to actually get out of the house and make a trip to Miami for Art Basel with my cousin Lanny MacDowell (which we documented in this newspaper) and another part was to make trips deep into cyberspace on my computer — browsing widely to find culture in the ether.

There’s a red herring mixed with the Oak Bluffs sharks, and it’s time for us to get on deck and do some sorting.

The Humane Society of the United States last month released a video shot by an undercover investigator at the most recent Oak Bluffs Monster Shark Tournament. The video, together with the accompanying letter, showed that the tournament is, in addition to being a cruel spectacle, quite probably a major illegal gambling operation. It is one more reason why the tournament should be shut down forever.

WITH DELIBERATE SPEED

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October of each year as World Habitat Day. This is a day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter for all. It is also intended to remind all of us of our collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

Each year, more than three million people experience homelessness. Millions of low-income American households have to pay more than 50 per cent of their income for rent when estimates say the figure should be no more than 30 per cent.

Gone Quahuagging: Well, Almost

It was a long, hard summer for working Islanders, many of whom find their personal reward in the fall when things slow down a little and they can go out on a Saturday or Sunday and rake a basket of quahaugs, or maybe dig a mess of steamers for dinner. The water is still warm enough to wear shorts and water shoes and nothing tastes finer than a plateful of cold, briny littlenecks so fresh they are practically wiggling in their shells.

After the MCAS Dust Settles

As Island schools deal with the fallout from the annual Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams, their administrators will be tested. Voters will find their own commitments tested, as town and state coffers are scraped to find ways to pay for ever-higher scores demanded by the federal government’s punitive and never fully funded law, No Child Left Behind.

Mr. and Mrs. Rupert H. Robinson of Oak Bluffs celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Sept. 11, 2008. The former Eileen Walker Sibley of Edgartown and Rupert Henry Robinson of Worcester were married in the Edgartown Federated Church with a reception at the Harbor View Hotel.

An open house at their home on Sept. 13 was hosted by their four children; R. Dana Robinson of Manchester, Tenn., Jennifer Robinson of U.S. Virgin Islands, Betsy Wagoner of Hopkinton, Mass., and Anne Bena of Clifton Park, N.Y.

Do you agree it’s time for a change? Have we had enough of the same old same old? We seem to have fallen into a rut over the past eight years. Many of us welcome a chance for change, a breath of fresh air, a new view of the world. Bring more people around to our way of thinking. Share our feelings with a larger segment of the population.

We want to do more than we’ve done in the past. We can do better. This is no time to sit on the sidelines. We need to walk side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder and show our solidarity for the cause.

This year’s ninth annual art exhibition at the Pequot Hotel will be held from tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 4 through next Sunday, Oct. 12. The opening reception will be tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. Ten per cent of all sales will be donated to the Oak Bluffs library in memory of artist Betty Boyd who died last winter.