The Adult and Community Education Program of the Vineyard is announcing fall classes and seminars. Classes begin Tuesday, Oct. 21 and run for five weeks on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at the high school until Dec. 4.

In partnership with the Island public schools, the program is dedicated to offering classes that bridge generations and cultures to improve the quality of life for all members of our community.

Library Airs Debate

On Thursday, Oct. 2 at 9 p.m. the Vineyard Haven library will be showing the Vice Presidential debate. Broadcast from Washington University in St. Louis with moderator Gwen Ifill, the debate will cover both foreign and domestic policy questions to Democratic nominee Sen. Joseph Biden and Republican nominee Gov. Sarah Palin.

What follows are a collection of reader comments posted on the Gazette Web site following the Friday night plane crash that killed Capt. David D. Willey.

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My heart aches for Dave’s wonderful wife and children. Dave was a wonderful human being and will be terribly missed by many.

Deborah Mayhew

West Tisbury

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CLOSE CALL

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

I’m sitting in my room on this Friday night relaxing, listening to the rain outside. Next thing I know, I hear a sound of a loud revving engine right next to my house, possibly over it. Following the revving sound was a huge bang. I knew for sure that something had just crashed.

My roommate came running out of her room to tell me that a plane had just missed our house!

The current financial crisis reminds me of a discussion I had recently with a conservative friend of mine. We’ll call him Harry. Harry believes that the free market is a serene clean money machine that benefits everyone — unless you mess with it — in which case it coughs and sputters and is likely to give money to the poor and starving and huddling masses, those folks who did not earn it but rather just sat around drinking beer and smoking dope and waiting for welfare to come their way.

Tuesdays Will be Different

The fall equinox arrived last week; today September ends. The weather has been changeable with buckets of rain and intermittent sun. The warmth of summer lingers. Tropical storms from the south have brushed across the Island with their remnants, bringing heavy seas and plenty of seaweed to put on the garden for next year.

Capt. David D. Willey: 1947-2008

He was the favorite pilot, the one we all knew. Truthfully we only knew him by his first name — Dave. But he was the one we hoped would be in the cockpit whenever we climbed aboard one of those little nine-seater Cape Air planes. When he was there, we would instinctively relax in his presence. He was confident, smiling and somehow familiar even though we couldn’t tell you why.

In a game that was decided by the end of the first half, the Vineyard football team dominated Bishop Connolly 43-0 in their home opener on Friday to gain an early share of the division lead in the Mayflower League large.

For coach Donald Herman the rout was the perfect antidote to the bitter pill of last week’s 23-21 loss to Carver, a game in which the Vineyarders took a lead with less than two minutes to play, only to give it back in the closing seconds on a Carver touchdown and two-point conversion.

COMSOG, the Community Solar Greenhouse of Martha’s Vineyard, is continuing a 20-year tradition, celebrating the arrival of the fall season by welcoming local residents and their families to its Fall Harvest Festival on Sunday, Oct. 5 from noon to 3 p.m. at the greenhouse off of New York avenue in Oak Bluffs. Just look for the yellow and green sign, next to Dick’s Bait and Tackle.

Although today’s is the last Farm and Field column for the year, the farming season is far from over. Fall brings fields full of squash and pumpkins, late summer corn, green and red tomatoes. Farm stands will stay open on through October and November. Come December, many Island farms will shut down and farmers will turn their attention to planning for the spring, summer and early fall crops.