call to arms

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The following letter was sent to the New England Fishery Management Council Herring Advisory Panel on May 11:

Memorial Day 2009

What will the summer bring? This has been on the minds of Islanders throughout the long winter. As sidewalks and farm fields lay frozen beneath endless layers of snow and ice, as the economic downturn cast dark shadows across the nation, as Islanders pulled in their collective horns and counted their pennies along with their blessings — the question hung in the air wherever you went. What will the summer bring?

By MEGAN DOOLEY

Budget issues, administrative responsibility and educational philosophy were all topics of discussion at the final interviews for three Chilmark head of school candidates this week.

Hosted by Vineyard schools superintendent Dr. James H. Weiss and the up-Island regional school district committee, the interviews took place on Wednesday and Thursday nights at the Chilmark school.

A daylong meditation retreat with Mark Hart will be held on Saturday, May 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Society chapel on Main street in Vineyard Haven. The retreat will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Comsog Greenhouse Open

The COMSOG greenhouse lets all of us know that spring is finally here on the Vineyard! The Mother’s Day sale will continue for the whole month of May during the mornings. Stop in for lots of your gardening needs — lovely gift baskets, heirloom tomatoes, eggplants, annuals, pepper plants, herbs, flowering plants and much more. We’d love to help you to fill up your planters and/or window boxes. Come check us out.

Piano Concerts

Rebekah Nivala, an 18-year-old pianist from Vineyard Haven, will be presenting two piano concerts this Memorial Day weekend, and both are open to the public.

The first performance is at 4 p.m. on May 23 at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven, with a reception to follow. Donations accepted. The second is at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown.

Music featured in the concerts will include works by Beethoven, Schumann, Bach, Messaien and Corigliano.

As a senior editor at Discover Magazine, science journalist Pamela Weintraub had covered myriad scientific dramas throughout her career. But it was her own family’s medical odyssey with Lyme disease — and the book she wrote about it, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic — that brought her to speak on Monday to about 60 people on Martha’s Vineyard, where tick-borne illness is one of the most serious and prevalent health concerns.

There aren’t many opportunities in life to achieve the elusive standard of perfection. And some people spend their whole lives trying. But as a wise man once said, “When you aim for perfection, you discover it’s a moving target.”

The former Tuscany Inn in Edgartown sold for $2.7 million yesterday in a foreclosure auction at the historic property on North Water street.

An Island resident reportedly has bought the former inn, which currently houses l’etoile restaurant. The name of the new owner has not been disclosed. Michael Brisson, owner of l’etoile, said he does not expect the sale to affect his business. “For the foreseeable future l’etoile’s lease is secure and I look forward to working with the new owners,” Mr. Brisson said.

Unitarian Talk

Tom Hale, who joined the Unitarian Church in Vineyard Haven in 1961, will speak at the church this Sunday, May 24, at 11 a.m. in a talk entitled: I am a Unitarian: What am I?