The following letter was sent to the Edgartown selectmen:

The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society, founded in 1859, has had as its mission these many years to improve breeds, promote agriculture and educate in the “mechanic and domestic arts.” We currently have over 1,200 dues-paying members, many of whom are Edgartown citizens, and our affairs are administered by a 16-member board of trustees. At our meeting on Jan. 12 the board unanimously voted to instruct me to send this letter to you.

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

Over the past two weeks there has been both a news article and an editorial in the Gazette regarding the actions and, as we believe, non-actions of the West Tisbury finance committee. We would like to set the record straight. For those who would like to see the entire Jan. 25 meeting, it can be viewed on demand on MVTV.

A few days ago, after we had an argument, my daughter Pickle, age three, announced she had another father. His name, she told me, is Bob Cheeks. Evidently, this Mr. Bob Cheeks fellow never tells her it is time for bed. He can also read for hours without tiring and loves to be splashed repeatedly when giving her a bath.

Saving Parsonage House

The old house is one of those places you drive by — nearly every day if you live up-Island and frequently if you live anywhere else on the Vineyard and come through West Tisbury on State Road. Probably you take it for granted, and that’s the way it is with the old houses and barns of the Vineyard that are so much a part of its architectural and living character and history.

We take them for granted until they are gone.

A majority of the citizens decided to secure by peaceful means if possible, a change in the existing form of government and an adhesion to a democratic system of elections of officers. Desiring to spare the aged head of the government any unnecessary personal humiliation, they addressed a letter to him which stated “First our wish for you is that you would be pleased to lay aside your government and act with us so we shall choose you to be in place this year, and afterward as the yearly choice by election shall fall.”

Editor’s Note: What follows is a selection of comments posted on the Gazette Web site last week in response to the story about a preliminary application by Tara and Daniel Whiting to tear down the Old Parsonage house in West Tisbury.

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