The student of Vineyard history, at least such history as has been published, will recognize the fact that it was largely through the clergy that things were accomplished during the first hundred
Jack Ryan lives in Oak Bluffs and works at the West Tisbury post office. Each morning he takes the Vineyard Transit Authority bus to work.
“Normally there are some teachers and students and people who work at Cronig’s on the bus with me,” he said. “But now I’m the only one.”
Mr. Ryan was worked at the West Tisbury post office for five years, and the Vineyard Haven post office for two years before that. The postal service is one of the few businesses running regular hours and in close contact with the public. Mr. Ryan said there are protocols in place.
Lauren Gray lives in Edgartown and ordinarily her title at work is education support staff for the sixth grade at the West Tisbury School.
Now she is The Lunch Runner.
“I take the lunch from inside the cafeteria to the cars outside when they come to pick up their lunch,” she said.
Pickup is everyday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at all the schools around the Island. Students can get both their breakfast and lunch during those hours, Ms. Gray added.
The Rev. Cathlin Baker is pastor for the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury.
On Sunday, she held a traditional service for church members from a non-traditional location: her home. She opened the virtual service with an extravagant welcome and lifted up prayers and concerns congregants had sent in by email the day before.
“What I was trying to focus on Sunday was reducing anxiety . . . how to keep that anxiety at a distance, though there is a healthy dose of it we all need now,” she said. “We did some guided meditations to offer prayers of protection and peace.”
Gary Robinson is assistant fire chief in Chilmark and emergency management director in Aquinnah.
On Saturday, Mr. Robinson and his team started a mission to sew masks for the hospital. The team has also reached out to other Island organizations like the Hebrew Center and senior centers to widen the scope of the project.
“If we’re going to be housebound for two or three weeks, let’s get into our sense of community and give these people something to do,” Mr. Robinson said.
Jennifer Kleinhenz is a licensed veterinary technician who has worked at Animal Health Care Associates in Edgartown for the past seven years. She lives in Oak Bluffs with her husband, who is an arborist.
“He’s the one in the trees with a chainsaw,” she said.
Between them they have five children.
She has been a vet tech for 20 years and also has a well-established pet-sitting business.
Molly Coogan is store manager and buyer for the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven.
On Monday, following Gov. Charlie Baker’s mandate, the store closed its doors at 2 p.m. for however long is necessary.
Ms Coogan hit the road doing a few last deliveries.
“I took some kids books — Frog and Toad, Ferdinand, some other classics — to a family with little kids, and dropped off the new Emily St. John Mandel novel The Glass Hotel to another customer. It comes out officially tomorrow so she got it early,” she said.
