Explosive population growth and all its attendant social issues. A rebounding economy fueled by a robust real estate market. A painful crush of early summer traffic and along with it the sobering realization that the Island has nearly reached its threshold for seasonal population. A mild winter and a nearly cloudless summer capped by a peaceful concert in a West Tisbury field with an unprecedented gathering of more than 10,000 people. These are the benchmarks of the year 1995 on Martha's Vineyard.

Woods Hole never witnessed a morning quite like July 1, 1995.

Sunrise in the port town revealed a thick trail of overstuffed sedans, wagons, trucks and jeeps snaking its way from standby line at the packed Steamship Authority terminal to the Woods Hole Road and beyond. The standby line itself topped 400 cars; more than 1,000 passengers awaited ferries to begin a four-day holiday weekend.

It was, in a word, gridlock.

Betsy McIsaac, a long-time seasonal resident, heard that the Vineyard was getting a charter school when she read about it in the paper last summer.

Today, she is part of its educational advisory group. Because Mrs. McIsaac worked as a school administrator for 30 years, her expertise has been greatly appreciated by charter school organizers.

They came, they saw, they squished.

Using their clumsy "Squish the Grapes" battle cry, the Nantucket Whalers rumbled into Oak Bluffs Saturday and pounded the Martha's Vineyard high school football team 30-13 in a predictable, impressive triumph. The victory before 2,500 Island fans marked the third consecutive Island Cup win for the Super Bowl-bound Whalers.

Contaminated soil underneath Beach Road extension in Tisbury is so widespread that the entire area — including the beachfront lining Vineyard Haven harbor — is under investigation by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

DEP investigators were in Tisbury this week to examine soil along the Beach Road extension, where contractors hired by the Massachusetts Highway Department to lay drainage pipe instead found soil polluted with gasoline and oil.

A team of workers digging near Five Corners this week discovered a patch of toxic, contaminated soil that may force a major environmental cleanup of the Beach Road extension area.

Contractors hired by the Massachusetts Highway Department found soil contaminated with gasoline and oil while digging on Beach Road extension next to the Wintertide Coffeehouse. The contractors were working on a drainage pipe project from Beach Road to Vineyard Haven harbor when they made the discovery.

Near Chappaquiddick Point lies an unassuming summer house with a big mission. Over the last summer, the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group has converted the two-bedroom home into a shellfish nursery complete with swirling pools of saltwater and millions of baby bay scallops. And although the project is not yet complete, the hatchery has already helped raise millions of tiny shellfish for distribution to the Island’s coastal ponds.

It was the movie Jaws which brought downtown Edgartown, State Beach and the Vineyard’s breathtaking South Shore to audiences nationwide for the first time.

But Island newcomers be warned -- Amity Island isn’t any more realistic than the great white shark that terrorized it.

The Flynn family has concluded the sale of more than 175 acres to The Job's Neck Trust for more than $6 million.

The property is near but not adjacent to the 800-plus acres that the Flynns recently transferred to the state to become part of the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest.