OUR OWN HOUSE

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Thanksgiving 2009

There it was — on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago, the slight tickle at the back of the throat. By noon I was coughing and by the time darkness settled over Cambridge, I was running a fever.

I had the dreaded flu.

On Monday morning I tried going to work but my boss sent me home. The days that followed are a blur. I woke up Friday morning surrounded by piles of cough drop wrappers, empty tea boxes and a vague suspicion that I had watched the entire seasons of Glee, 30 Rock and The Office in a feverish haze.

Gov. Deval Patrick, his administration and the legislature are to be commended for the passage of the Massachusetts Oceans Act of 2008 and the drafting of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. In the absence of good planning, development of our coastal resources can happen in a haphazard way, with significant unintended consequences.

Editor’s Note: The following is a letter written by the Gosnold selectmen to Ian Bowles, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Malcolm Davidson is chairman of the selectmen. The letter has been edited in places for length.

By MALCOLM L. DAVIDSON

Looking out from the magnificent expanse of the Gay Head Cliffs in Aquinnah, one of the few visible structures is the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge, located some 30 miles distant. The towers of the bridge stand 400 feet above mean sea level, the approximate height of the tower and blades of the current generation of large wind turbines. It is easy to understand why there is concern about impacts on scenic, natural and cultural resources from turbine development significantly closer to Martha’s Vineyard.

Run for the Money

From the 1972 Thanksgiving weekend edition of the Gazette:

“I guess,” said one down-Island boat-owner, as he stood in the clipped grass field in the light of the pale warm November sun, “we can afford to give over one day a year to the horsey set.” So he enjoyed himself, along with perhaps 500 others, at the race — the second annual Thanksgiving horse race sponsored by John and Kappy Hall on their West Tisbury farm.