News
By JIM HICKEY
Acting on the advice of town counsel, West Tisbury selectmen on Wednesday agreed to schedule a special town meeting in early June, where voters will be asked to allow the town to convey three lots in Bailey Park to private homeowners or a group such as Habitat for Humanity or the town affordable housing trust.
The Minnesingers’ was not the only school-sponsored overseas trip upended by the volcanic ash that closed most of Europe’s air space last week.
Another Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School group was on its way to London on a school exchange when the travelers were grounded instead in Dublin. After a few days, the group made their way to England by ferry and ground transport until eventually their host families greeted them — before dawn, days after expected.
John Wightman was along for the ride — on the Minnesingers’ trip to Prague, that is. Mr. Wightman is the husband of Jan Wightman, the director of the choral group at the regional high school that was headed out on its every-other-year trip to perform abroad last week, when the giant cloud of volcanic ash out of Iceland forced the closure of every airport in northern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of air travelers were stranded, including the Minnesingers, who wound up stuck at Logan Airport in Boston. What follows is Mr.
“What’s the word for color?”
Kindergarten and first grade teacher Robin Smith dove head first into her class Spanish lesson at the Chilmark School on a recent Wednesday morning last week, despite not knowing the language. Parent and volunteer Anja May stepped in with the translation, sending Ms. Smith back to her task with the kids.
All donors who give blood at the American Red Cross drive on Tuesday, April 27, from noon to 5 p.m. at the Portuguese American Club on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs, will receive a free umbrella.
School vacations and mild spring weather have contributed to a drop in blood donations. As a result the Type O negative blood supply has dropped to critical levels and is expected to dip lower through the end of the month.
Pedalers will move for people whose own motion is compromised when the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s 17th Island biking event, Ride the Vineyard, takes off from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School on May 1.