Time Machine Terms
August 3, 1979
The Singing 1920's
The singing 1920’s are happy years I recall as the years of a community-serving Tabernacle.
Singing could be heard almost anywhere, almost anytime in Oak Bluffs because half the members of the choir of the Tabernacle lived together, played together and loved to sing together wherever they were. Mr. and Mrs. Adams, Dad and Mother to everyone who knew them, were the leaders of this group of vocal students on vacation.
February 9, 1979
Oak Bluffs Camp Ground Makes Register
The Camp Ground at Oak Bluffs is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Michael J. Connolly, secretary of state for the Commonwealth and the new chairman of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, made the news public.
The Camp Ground, Mr. Connolly said, is an area “unique in the nation for its architecture, remarkable state of preservation and as the best example of a nineteenth century religious retreat.
January 5, 1979
McDonald’s Loses Round One; Maintains Vineyard Interest
McDonald’s Corporation is no longer interested in the old Coop market as an Island location for a fast-food restaurant.
November 24, 1978
Season Ends on Downbeat in Drubbing at Nantucket
There are times when every reporter figures there must be another angle from which to look at something. When the score ends up 36-0 for the bad guys, it’s one of those times. Fortunately, the Vineyard-Nantucket clash is a story in itself, beyond the football field.
Saturday morning, you may recall, was a bit on the blustery side. Not to mention soggy. I called Lois DeBettencourt hoping for a cancellation in the flight plans, but she said, “We’re going!”
October 20, 1978
Dick Hathaway's Striper Caps Another Successful Derby
Surfcasters were the stars for this 33rd year of the Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. The stripers were huge, and there were more big ones than anyone expected. In the pages of the daily derby records are entered 20 striped bass weighing more than 40 pounds each, and winning daily prizes. Seven of those fish weighed more than 50 pounds. In most past derbys, a 50-pound bass would be an easy winner. This year, a 52-pounder didn't finish in the top three. It is a derby of striper surprises.
October 3, 1978
For Carly Simon, Hometown Crowd Feels Just Fine
Something happened to Carly Simon the moment she stepped onstage at the Chilmark concert. The performance she worried so about was riveting; the crowds she expected to be rowdy welcomed her warmly.
Backstage, she had mingled among the carefully screened (and tagged) collection of people, accepting hugs of encouragement, words of support.
“There was so much paranoia before the event, about what might happen, what it might turn into that I was really quite scared,” she recalled some days later.
September 1, 1978
Runners Are Ready for Chilmark Race
The First Annual Chilmark Road Race is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Saturday morning rain or shine. At least 200 runners of all ages are expected to participate in the five kilometer run (3.05 miles) along Middle Road. One hundred and fifty entries have already been received and processed, and at least 50 more are expected by race time.
August 29, 1978
Lois Mailou Jones: a Career with No End of Creativity
There is no end to Lois Mailou Jones’ creative resources.
The name itself is poetry. A youthful, energetic 72, Lois Jones is the veteran of a long and fruitful career in the arts. Being black and a woman, her accomplishment is especially significant.
As early as age 14, composer Harry T. Burleigh had advised Lois that if she wished to establish a serious career, she would have to go abroad in order to get full exposer and avoid the disadvantage of being black in the United States.
August 22, 1978
Mrs. Onassis Breaks Silence; Says She Owns Gay Head Tract
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis broke her long-standing silence yesterday to confirm that she is the new owner of the 375-acre tract of ocean front land in Gay Head.
The Gazette reported Mrs. Onassis' ownership last Friday. It was that story that ended months of rumor and speculation about the Onassis purchase. The rumors had circulated both here on the Vineyard and on the mainland.
August 18, 1978
Mrs. Onassis Is Purchaser of 375-Acre Gay Head Tract
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is the purchaser of one of the most important open tracts of land on the Vineyard, specifically 375 acres of strategically placed property in the Squibnocket Pond area of Gay Head.
The Gazette confirmed Mrs. Onassis' ownership after a widespread check of sources in Washington, New York and elsewhere.
Until now the acquisition of this land, variously known as the Hornblower property and the Red Gate Farm, has been clouded in secrecy.
