Five Corners in Vineyard Haven has long been a location for sizable protest of one kind or another. Labor Day 2025 was no different. Protesters waved flags, shook posters, wore sweat shirts, hats and other apparel that complained about federal government overreach, global tariffs, immigration arrests and deportation and, yes, inadequate housing.

Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894! This annual holiday honors and recognizes the American labor movement as well as the works and contributions of laborers to the growth and development of our national economy. For laborers and workers on Martha’s Vineyard this day and surrounding issues have particular importance. The annual population during our summer months increases exponentially as owners of summer cottages arrive, and summer visitors come for days, weeks and months at a time. Our restaurant workers, contractors, hotel/guest house workers, landscapers, caterers, Uber drivers, taxi drivers and more are essential to a functioning economy on the Island. We salute all of our workers that are here from a variety of backgrounds, cultures and countries. Thanks so much for keeping our businesses open for 2025.

Say it ain’t so Donna Leon and Susan Phillips! My family has shopped at Phillips Hardware for over 40 years, so while we knew the end was near we had hoped the store would stay open a few more years. Paint and all the supplies that go with it, brooms, mops, nails, screws and so much more have been part of our items purchased to help us “open up” every May. Equally as important was the adjacent store, which sold us balloons, candles, cards and other decorations for my grandchildren’s early July birthday parties over the past decade. We join legions of families in saying thank you for serving our Oak Bluffs community so well for so many years.

Vineyard residents Ronald and Michelle Carroll, Ronald Walker, Valerie Moseley, Herby Duverne, Darryl Settles, Kyle Sykes, Colin Redd, Kathy Taylor and Patrick Targete joined thousands attending the Morehouse v. Johnson C. Smith football game at Harvard Stadium last Saturday. This was the first time that an HBCU weekend has been planned for Greater Boston. It was a two-day extravaganza that attracted over 14,000 to patronize neighborhood restaurants and bars, enjoy the college spirit shared among graduates of some 20 historically Black colleges. Thanks to Corey Bowdry, John Borders IV and Segun Idowu for organizing and producing this fabulous event.

Saturday was also a homegoing celebration for longtime Island visitor Elizabeth A. Clark-Donald held at Myrtle Baptist Church in West Newton. Rev. Brandon Thomas Crowley, himself a frequent preacher at Union Chapel, shared how Liz enjoyed life including global travel, cooking for family, friends and students at Northeastern University. He also mentioned her annual visit to Oak Bluffs. In particular she enjoyed the annual Pinkwell Beach party during August. Oak Bluffs resident Carol Bliss Furr spoke for many when she said: “It was a beautiful homecoming for Liz on Friday and Saturday. She would have been proud. I lost a gorgeous friend of 36 years. We met at Roxbury Community College.”

The crowds have abated, no more lines outside Cest La Vie, the lines at Ronnie’s are manageable, much easier to get fried clams at Gio’s, Union Chapel services are over, but the sun is still shining bright and the water at the Inkwell Beach is still warm. Enjoy these last days of summer.

Paradise on earth is living the Vineyard experience. Enjoy it as life is fleeting. Today this sentence means more to me because of a near death experience on Monday. Kathy and I were coming back from an estate sale in Chilmark approaching Vineyard Haven on State Road. I noticed a utility truck speeding up, attempting to pass the car in front of him, coming in the opposite direction. Seeing that he did not have enough room I put my foot on the brake. The truck came across my lane speeding toward our vehicle. I quickly turned my car left to dodge a head-on collision. The truck went head first into a large tree. Kathy and I phoned in the emergency as others sought to assist the man trapped in the car. I am not dramatic but there is no way either of us would have survived had a collision occurred.

Rest In Peace, Randall Edward Taylor.