Commentary
Hot Air
From Gazette editions of July, 1936:
The giant dirigible Hindenburg soared over the Vineyard in the early hours of Wednesday morning. It was exactly ten minutes past two when Mr. and Mrs. Johnson Whiting of West Tisbury were aroused from their slumber by the roaring of the great engines. Arising and going outside, they saw the big airship crossing the heavens, its cabins brilliantly lighted and its hull shining above, as it headed easterly across the Island for the Atlantic.
Jeanie Mathis has never been to Martha’s Vineyard or any part of the East Coast. She lives in Reevesville, Illinois, population 50. Yet she knows about the Island because she reads every issue of the Gazette . . . twice. “I read it at the shop [a hair salon in her home] and then I reread it at night,” she said.
LOCAL HEROES
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
We the People
Our country celebrates its two hundred and thirty-fifth birthday on Monday and the national holiday will be marked by colorful parades, fireworks displays and picnics from sea to shining sea, including here on the Vineyard where Islanders of every stripe will pause to commemorate the founding of this great nation.
And on the eve of this Independence Day, the endless debate continues among Americans about who we are as a people, what we stand for as a nation and what are the principles and values that guide American society.
The morning after fellow campers and I arrived at Camp Jabberwocky, we went with our fun-loving counselors to music class in the camp’s studio. We sang Rocket Man by Elton John. I must admit our singing was very rusty, but as the month progresses it will vastly improve.
Rocket Man will be one of the songs for this year’s play — Jabberwocky Presents The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — which will be written and directed by my counselor for the summer, Michael Leon.
My affair with Katama began about 30 years ago. I was sitting in the office of my state-certified, water-testing laboratory when the phone rang. A voice with a familiar tone asked, “May I speak with the owner.”
“Yes, you are speaking with the owner, this is William. With whom am I speaking?”