One was a year-round resident who taught music to Vineyard school children for nearly fifty years and handed out daffodils in the name of cancer research every spring. The other was a dynamic leader in the world of fundraising for academic and nonprofit institutions, a seasonal resident who quietly brought her considerable know-how to Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and other Island nonprofits.

A friend’s son recently started playing Little League and my friend was philosophically relaying the fact that his son was playing right field. There was disappointment in his voice. I said that I had heard over the years right field had actually become less the place to hide a poor player and more the place to put a kid with a strong arm, a la Roberto Clemente. I’m not sure where I had heard this.

I’m old and don’t like change. I’ve balked, moaned and resented the roundabout going in right up the road. But I’m a sentimental fool. I’m nostalgic for the blinker light, the old blinker light, with red on two sides. The one I used to speed through on the way back from parties.

Why be nostalgic for long gone places?

The vehicle safety situation on this little island is pretty funky indeed. We have no police or mechanics or any other way of keeping tabs on the condition of vehicles, or fixing them if we do find something wrong. What we do know is if it runs we should drive it. Then there’s the rust thing; even if you wanted to fix something, the odds of getting through to rusty bolts without breaking them off are pretty slim. Cars and trucks seem to dissolve around here. It’s like parking your car on the beach for months with all kinds of storms blowing through them all the time.

It was another curious year. Pantry visits were down 10 per cent to 2,468. The number of families went down from 523 to 503. Income went down $6,056; expenses were up $10,661 to a record of $106,007. Except for administrative expenses of $2,278 for building use, phone, thank you notes etc., all money was used for purchasing food or $25 gift cards which we give once a month. The only reason clear to me is that we had fewer food contributions and our CROP Walk check ($5,000) has not arrived yet.

The leadership, staff and extended family of The Arnold P. Gold Foundation mourn the loss of Carole G. Cohen, wife of the chairman of our board of trustees, Dr. Jordan J. Cohen. Carole, who spent her career in university advancement work and nonprofit management, was a great friend to the foundation.

This past Sunday afternoon, I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time to see something extraordinary. Sitting on the bank of Mill Brook just below the Mill Pond dam, watching to see what fish might be about, I spied several dozen tiny elvers (one and a half inch-long baby eels) against a patch of light colored sand in the stream bottom, trying unsuccessfully to make their way upstream.

What a wonderful column on the history of the automobile on the Island. You always impart a history lesson and link that history with contemporary events.

I loved your ending with a Paul Laurence Dunbar poem. My mother recited his poetry to our family of six kids and I was so proud of myself when I memorized The Party.

I look forward to reading your column, always a bit late because the paper is mailed to me when I am off-Island.

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of May, 1908: The lovely weather of the past week has been improved by housekeepers in having carpets beaten and a general war on dirt. Everyone is hustling to get their house in trim for the summer season. There have been many arrivals here during the week past of summer residents who have come to look after their property and have repairs or improvements made.

Martha’s Vineyard disaster relief organizations will carry out a shelter drill to test their ability to coordinate emergency efforts in the event of a hurricane or other disaster. The drill takes place at the Tisbury School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, and is the first of its kind for the Island.

The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Medical Reserve Corps, emergency management personnel and the Boy Scouts will participate, along with the Island’s new Disaster Animal Rescue Team.