Island Plan Discussion
On Tuesday, March 4, at the Federated Church in Edgartown, the Neighborhood Convention will host Mark London, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, presenting The Island Plan — Choosing the Future We Want for Our Community.
The meeting begins at 10:45 a.m., followed by lunch in the parish house. Participants are asked to bring a bag lunch; beverages and dessert will be provided. For information, call Mary-Jean Miner at 508-696-8589.
JUNE D. MANNING
508-645-2574
(lthslnks@gis.net)
Aquinnah Nurse Juleanne VanBelle will be at the town hall on March 7 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. for all of your health questions. Residents are invited to stop by and see Juleanne for a health assessment.
Get-well wishes to Edward Fantasia Jr., who was admitted to Children’s Hospital this week. It is anticipated that he will be home over the weekend. Not a way to spend your school vacation week.
The Aquinnah Community Preservation Committee will hold hearings on March 11 on proposals for projects to be funded by CPC funds in the coming year. Open land preservation, recreation, historicpreservation and affordable housing are the maincategories for whichproposals willbe considered. Applicants mu st submit their proposals no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, March 3. Proposals can be dropped off at the town hall directly or faxed to the town hall at 508-645-2310. Guidelines can be picked up at the town hall or maybe faxed to you.
County Charter: Good Lessons From Past
Sadly, the public has shown little interest so far in the work of the Dukes County Charter Study Commission. Part of the reason may be the commission itself, which has spent a good deal of time in the past year tangled in its own process, although perhaps not hopelessly so.
The study group still has the chance to deliver what voters wanted in the first place when they elected the commission fifteen months ago: a thoughtful, cogent report on the state of county government and any recommendations for change.
Private Use of Public Space
The use of prominent public places in Oak Bluffs for private profit is legitimate cause for concern.
The most serious example is the shanghaiing of Ocean Park, the oceanfront jewel among town parks, for a privately backed performance of the Boston Pops.
Island Songlines
Picturesque snow quieted the Island a week ago, a reminder of how long, dark and lonely the wintertime can be here. Some say it’s a reason young people leave the Vineyard.
Then came Saturday with another musical potluck at the Chilmark Community Center. Not for the first time this winter, a few young men with a talent for music organized the night, showing they also have a talent for conjuring community warmth.
CONSERVE TOWN BYWAYS
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
On Thursday, March 6, at 7 p.m. at the Old Whaling Church, Edgartown will hold a special town meeting to add five ancient paths to the protective status of special ways.
The town byways committee and the planning board have been working to protect these ways for nearly 20 years and now hope to add the five ancient ways: Ben Toms, Middle Line, Pennywise Path, Tar Kiln and Watcha Path to one already protected by a DCPC, the Dr. Fisher Road.
I’m going to miss my Vineyard Gazette.
We’ve been together a long time. I care about it. I need it.
Whether sitting on the porch in Menemsha reading the Gazette or home in the city reading The New York Times, I’m one of the people the godfather of medium and message Marshall McLuhan was talking about when he said, “People don’t read newspapers, they slip into them like a warm bath.”
50 Years Ago
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of February, 1958:
By now most of my friends and neighbors know that I’m on the county charter commission. They frequently ask: “Well, what’s going on?” And I try to explain. Since many of you may be asking the same question, here is one answer. I need to stress that I am speaking for myself and not the full commission, although I am confident that at least some of my views are shared by my colleagues.
The commission came into existence after the November 2006 election. We had three fundamental questions to answer:
