The Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation has picked an Island pastor and the editor of the Gazette as the 42nd winners of the Creative Living Award. 

Since 1983, the designation has been an annual celebration of creativity and community. This year it will be given to Rev. Cathlin Baker, the minister at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, and her husband Bill Eville, who leads the Gazette newsroom. 

“We are thrilled that Cathlin Baker and Bill Eville have graciously accepted this well-deserved honor,” Paul Schulz, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, said in an announcement Tuesday. “Cathlin and Bill have had an enormous impact on the Island since 2008.” 

Reverend Baker and Mr. Eville live in West Tisbury, where they have raised their two children. 

In addition to her work in the pulpit, Reverend Baker has served on the board of Harbor Homes and is an active participant of the All-Island Clergy Association.  

Mr. Eville started working at the Gazette in 2010, working his way up from editing the newspaper’s events calendar to the top editorial role. He also published a memoir, Washed Ashore, in 2023, and tutors young writers on the Island and beyond.

The community foundation recognized the couple’s work to build community.

“Through the newspaper and the church, they strengthen communal bonds by amplifying unheard voices, celebrate local efforts, and do the daily, heavy lifting of relationship building,” the nonprofit wrote in its statement Tuesday. “Their work is very much in the public eye as they hold leadership in the community and as they share from personal experience through sermons and essays.”

A celebration of the couple will be held in the fall; event details will be announced in September. 

The Creative Living award was created in honor of Ruth Bogan, who embodied a creative spirit and love of the Island. 

The mission of the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation is to put charitable contributions to work for the people of Martha’s Vineyard. Since 1982, the organization has distributed more than $14 million in grants and scholarships.