The recent decision by the United States Supreme Court that will in essence allow all members of the country to arm themselves “to protect themselves” has been met in some quarters with gloomy portents of a nation that will be scarred by increasing gun fire and the dire results thereof. Others have taken a much more roseate view of the court’s action. Nowhere was the 5-4 pro-gun action met with more whooping and cheering than here on Martha’s Vineyard led by an exultant turkey population.

Ringing in the Fourth

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of July, 1983:

Church bells rang at midnight on the Fourth of July when Gratia Harrington was a little girl.

It was the Methodist Church in the village of Vineyard Haven that rang the bells, she remembers. She knows it wasn’t the Catholic Church, for those bells had a different tone. And it couldn’t have been the Episcopal Church, she says. “The Episcopalians weren’t that well organized in those days.”

FOUNDATION GONE ASTRAY

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

As a great nephew of Caroline Tuthill and a longtime supporter of Sheriff’s Meadow, I am completely aghast that this once well-respected, august conservation organization could have lost its way by straying from its core mission of preservation and conservation. It saddens me greatly that the efforts of so many on the Island to preserve and protect has been undone by greed, negligence and naivete.

Independence Day 2008

Small American flags flutter around the gravestones at the Westside Cemetery in Edgartown, where Bobby Hagerty has trimmed the old cedars and maples in time for the Fourth of July. The cemetery is a peaceful place to pass through on the short walk from uptown to downtown, all dusky grass and yellow sedum. The town superintendent doesn’t like the sedum and wants to get rid of it, but Bobby, who is a veteran tree and plant man, has told him he should leave it alone.

Bobby is right; the sedum is pretty.

Bill Russell, John Havlicek, JoJo White, Tommy Heinsohn and Danny Ainge were cheered again by thousands of screaming fans two weeks ago as Boston Celtic legends led the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtic parade through the green, fan-frenzied streets of their city. A crowd filled Copley Square and then something different happened. The basketball legends pointed, screamed into the crowd for some one to join them on their parade float of Celtic honor. Who was it?

As the Island Plan moves into its second summer feedback period, I’d like to offer an update on the work we’ve been doing and a few of the issues that have arisen, and invite you to help chart the future of the Vineyard.

Two key issues will be at the fore in the coming months: what kind of development and what kind of economy we want in the future. Also, two new work groups have outlined proposals dealing with the built environment and transportation.