The proprietor of the Bunch of Grapes bookstore in Vineyard Haven has confirmed that he intends to move off-Island but said any plan to sell the landmark Main street bookstore remains up in the air.

Jon Nelson Jr., who took over from his mother, Ann, as the bookstore’s chief executive officer in 2005, said this week that the business is not listed for sale.

“It’s a business, it’s always for sale, but officially it’s not listed with anyone,” Mr. Nelson told the Gazette.

Dean’s List

A number of Vineyard residents have been named to the dean’s list at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for the fall 2007 semester.

They are Quincy E. Dewing and Kathryn M. Noonan of Edgartown; Benjamin A. Madeiras, Jesse H. Nicholson and James A. Rebello of Oak Bluffs; and Allison C. Brown, Bess M. Child, Kathryn D. Hakala and Ruby R. Hoy of Vineyard Haven.

Roofs for Education

In educating the youth of the Vineyard, Island teachers provide a crucial public service.

Yet Island schools now face the alarming prospect that they will not be able to hire and retain teachers to teach certain subjects.

A confluence of two trends — one economic, one academic — has led the Vineyard to this unhappy turn.

Many Benefits>

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The following letter was sent to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission:

I am 100 per cent in favor of the proposed Bradley Square project.

My reasons are many.

When Oak Bluffs (Cottage City) was founded, the first major and heavily populated neighborhoods were downtown. Businesses and residents lived side by side in a very compact and totally integrated location. This tradition that helped to define the character of Oak Bluffs still exists today.

Tisbury Split Down the Middle

The good people of Vineyard Haven fought to a draw last week in the collective duel over whether to allow beer and wine sales in restaurants.

It was by all accounts an extraordinary outcome — six hundred and ninety votes to six hundred and ninety votes — which now will be recounted at the formal request of the group which supports the measure, made up in large part by restaurant and business owners.

The question of election irregularities also remains to be put to bed.

When Warren Doty first moved the Vineyard in the late 1970s, the Menemsha harborfront was booming.

“Then there were five boats landing 10,000 pounds of sea scallops every three days,” he recalled. “There was a work force of ten shuckers in three different shucking shacks. That’s 30 Islanders working on the docks with about fifteen on boats. The season lasted from October to April every year. There were 45 to 50 jobs in Menemsha for six to eight months during the season.

Red Buds

The woodlands are brushed with the palest colors these days as an early burst of warm weather throws nature into a tailspin: new leaves in apple green, shadbush blossoms in pink and cream, oak buds in pale red.

Faint scarlet, the feathery emerging buds of oak trees are stunningly beautiful right now, silhouetted against an early evening sky and illuminated by the first rays of sun as they creep up over the extreme eastern edge of the Island.

Island police were busy over Patriots Day weekend with several calls of bad behavior at various nightclubs and bars. Oak Bluffs police in particular reacted to a high volume of calls for unruly behavior, including a brawl at Seasons Eatery & Pub that ended with several injuries and the arrest of two men.

The Cape and Islands Youth Community Development Council, a group of 16 students working through the Job Training and Employment Corp. to award grants to deserving programs, has sent out a request for proposals.

Council members set its funding priorities this year on education, homelessness, substance abuse services and other projects, which meet a demonstrated critical need in the community. The group will award a total of $5,500.

The Martha’s Vineyard Savings Charitable Foundation has awarded 20 local organizations and community groups $27,000 in various sums under its spring 2008 grant program.

The recipients include Aquinnah Cultural Center, Dolby Look Rebello Scholarship Golf Tournament, Friends of Family Planning, Habitat for Humanity, Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, Island Theatre Workshop, Lia Kahler for the Still the Hunger Concert, and Martha’s Vineyard Arena.