Commentary
Pieces of the Pie
From Gazette editions of July, 1886:
Almost the last act of the state senate was to advance its pay from $650 to $750, by a vote of 16 to 15, Mr. Norris voting for the increase. It’s only a beggardly hundred but it will help pay election expenses next fall. By the way, we’re liable to need a hundred or so ourself, and would respectfully invite the honorable senator to divvy.
By DAN WATERS
To live in Christiantown is to abide by the laws, quirks and schedules of hundreds of other animals that share these primeval woods. If you are not a naturalist and a natural philosopher when you first move here, you will become one through regular contact with furry, scaly, fanged and feathered neighbors.
CALL FOR LEADERSHIP
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
In any small town, there are cultural, political, social and economic factions that converge to give each town its own special personality. Within each faction, there are personal issues, public interests and many hidden agendas to deal with. These are the difficult and enormously complicated problems that make a small town so special. We all get to be involved. And we all get to be affected. It is the curse and the blessing of small-town living.
THE GREATER JOURNEY: Americans in Paris. By David McCullough. Simon and Schuster, New York, N.Y. May 2011. 558 pages, photographs. $37.50 hardcover.
From Gazette editions of 1962:
Veterans Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven is the finest example of cooperative effort on the part of residents of every Island town. Its ten acres or so, reclaimed from swamp, marsh and actual open water, has become an Island landmark, a fitting memorial to war heroes living and dead, and is the scene of much activity on the part of old and young.
What Money Can’t Buy
Are we rich? Kids often ask the question, and answering it can be a complicated business, especially on Martha’s Vineyard. Of course we are, considering the living conditions of kids in much of the world, and even many Americans. Most of us have plenty to eat, warmth in all seasons, and the benefits of quality education and a beautiful environment.