Spring Fever

From Gazette editions of April, 1959:

COUNTING TURBINES

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

How many wind turbines for Martha’s Vineyard?

Electricity is measured in kilowatt hours. One kilo equals 1,000. One 50-watt light bulb left on for 20 hours consumes one kilowatt hour of electricity (50 watts x 20 hours = 1,000 watt-hours = 1 kilowatt-hour).

Here’s what I love most about my town: its edges. In three directions, Vineyard Haven ends abruptly, as a town should, surrendering, gracefully and completely, to farms and fields and watery expanses of harbor and salt ponds. Within minutes, you can leave town behind and be lost on a woody trail, eye to eye with a ewe or out on the whitecaps with a seagull. Because of these edges and what lies beyond them, it smells good here. The breezes that blow through my kitchen window mostly carry briny scents, tangy with ocean.

The Most Valuable Things

World and national affairs have moved a little closer to the Island these days. The state of the country is affecting everyone, rich and poor, young and old. And all hopes are now pinned on President Obama as he navigates a minefield of global and domestic problems so enormous, so beyond the grasp of everyday life that ordinary citizens can only sit back and read and watch in awe and wonder — and more than a little trepidation.

But happily the news is not all bad.

Following the recommendation of the West Tisbury public library trustees, the West Tisbury selectmen voted recently to appoint West Tisbury resident Fan Ogilvie to the position of town poet laureate.

Celebrate National Poetry Month with a poetry reading by local poets John Maloney and Margaret (Peggy) Howe Freydberg at the Chilmark Public Library on Wednesday, April 8, at 5:30 p.m.

The byways committee of West Tisbury has produced a map and brochure that identifies many of the ancient ways of the town.

For the past two years the committee, chaired by Ann Bassett, walked many of the town’s ancient ways, studied historical maps and learned the history of these old roads.

The committee clarified what protection is in place for these ancient ways and worked with the planning board and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to begin to protect what has not been protected.

Hello, João

Janaina and Rafael DeSousa of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, João Victor Freire DeSousa, born on March 29, 2009, at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. João weighed 6 pounds, 13.8 ounces at birth.

The Mediterranean has relocated to 15 Island Inn Road in Oak Bluffs and will reopen April 10. The new location nearly doubles the restaurant’s current capacity, easily accommodating over 200 guests and offering expanded outdoor seating, live entertainment and dancing, ample parking, full-service catering and banquet facilities.

Conifer Walk

A guided walk called Consider the Conifer takes place on Saturday, April 4, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Polly Hill Arboretum. Longtime staff members Nancy Weaver and Suzy Zell will give walkers a closer look at the arboretum’s conifer rows.