For the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Tuesday, Cranberry Day was more about culture and heritage than the pragmatic crop-gathering aspects of 100 years ago. Several dozen tribal members gathered around a fire all day on a sandy spot in the dunes at Lobsterville beach for communal and historic sharing,

That’s an appropriate use for the fall harvest Wampanoag national holiday, according to Cheryl Andrews-Maltain, tribal historic preservation officer and a candidate for tribal chairman in the upcoming elections next month.

By MARK ALAN LOVEWELL

Rick Karney, director of the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group, returned last week from an international conference on invasive sea squirts, where he and one of his staff were both speakers and participants.

There has been plenty of discussion on the Vineyard about invasive foreign plants in the Island landscape; offshore, the ocean bottom and the water column are also in a state of change. New plants and animals are taking up residence in coastal waters that may have a long-term impact.

Chloris is having her last hurrah and it is quite a party.

No, Chloris is not a bride-to-be during the busy fall Vineyard wedding season having a bachelorette party in Oak Bluffs. She is the Greek goddess of flowers and while she has given us a showy summer and fall, her reign of blossoms is coming to an abrupt end.

In one fast-moving day, the Smith house on the corner of South Summer and High streets in Edgartown was torn down and trucked away. A new house will take its place.

The tired old house was built after the Civil War around 1870, give or take a year.

In the days before the demolition, paint peeled inside and outside the house. Window panes over a hundred years old were wavy. Wallpaper almost as old draped off the walls.

Studying Abroad

Alyssa Fitzpatrick, daughter of Thomas R. and Lisa Fitzpatrick of Oak Bluffs, is spending the fall 2007 semester studying abroad in Turks and Caicos, British West Indies through a program run by Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.

Ms. Fitzpatrick, a graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, is a senior biology major at Saint Michael’s.

Still On Time

The Chappaquiddick Ferry, that tidy, profitable and often forgotten enterprise which plies the tideswept entrance to the Edgartown harbor and is the lifeline for a hundred-odd families who call the outpost of Chappaquiddick home, is due for a change in ownership soon.

Beacons of History

They stand tall and straight on the horizon, an enduring symbol of the Island’s long and rich maritime history. Viewed from a distance, the Edgartown and East Chop lighthouses convey a sense of strength and of purpose.

Until recently, however, closer looks would have inspired less appreciation.

In the nineteen eighties, the Coast Guard stopped funding the maintenance of the lighthouses. Soon time and weather took their toll on the old cast-iron structures.

Friday, Oct. 5: Warm and mostly sunny. Temperature rises to the high 70s. Southwest wind picks up in the afternoon. Steady breeze by sunset. A thick bank of fog rolls in over Aquinnah and Chilmark in the early evening. Maritime damp, an evening of sipping hot cider.

As I knew Lenny Jason he was a working man’s man, a man of strong opinions which he aired freely to anyone who would listen. He always had the working man in mind and especially the fisherman. I remember when Lenny first came to the Island to Menemsha, a town he loved, and made it his home. Lenny was the most ambitious man I knew of. He bought a couple of old hotels in Oak Bluffs that were for sale and to be removed.

My father in law Bernie Cournoyer died two weeks ago. A few days before his death, he asked about his garden, wished us well and shook hands. It was sad to see him go, but his body gave out on him. Not his mind.