This past Saturday, the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School held its seventh high school graduation. Seven students graduated in the year 2007.

"We were going to do it on July seventh," said Sam Berlow, president of the school's board of trustees, "but we decided that was too much."

Dukes County and Cooperative Banks Will Announce Merger

By JULIA WELLS

The Dukes County Savings Bank and Martha's Vineyard Cooperative Bank - two respected community banks whose presence on the Vineyard reaches back for more than 50 and nearly 100 years respectively - plan to announce this week that they will merge, the Gazette has learned.

It is understood that employees and corporators at both banks were informed yesterday about the planned merger, which is still subject to approval by state and federal regulators.

Speaking bluntly, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School principal Margaret (Peg) Regan told a large gathering of Island selectmen and finance committee members last week that if the school does not have a budget approved by July 1, it will mean salary freezes, hiring freezes, no new buses and a halt on scheduled maintenance at the school.

Comfortable shoes selected. Sunblock and bug spray applied. Water packed and muscles stretched.

This was the checklist for the 40 walkers gathered on Jetty Beach in Oak Bluffs early Saturday morning. Ahead was the Cross-Island Walk, a hike sponsored by the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, led every year to celebrate National Trails Day and to expose people to the Island's conservation lands and the paths and back roads that connect them.

It is either the biggest hoax or the most ignored chapter in Island history.

There are people who believe that the mysterious - almost mythic - Viking people once visited, and perhaps even colonized Martha's Vineyard, hundreds of years before Bartholomew Gosnold made land here and named the Island after a family member.

Plans for a YMCA Go to Commission for Formal Review

By IAN FEIN

Proponents of the YMCA of Martha's Vineyard go before the Martha's Vineyard Commission this week with their plans for a 35,000-square-foot recreational facility behind the skate park in Oak Bluffs.

YMCA officials are hoping to break ground this fall on the community-funded project, which originated roughly five years ago with an effort to build an indoor pool.