Opinion
All Aboard
From Gazette editions of January, 1961:
The All’s Right with the World department received a much needed boost on Monday night when the steamer Nantucket, which was already rounding Nobska Point on its journey from Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven, turned around and went back to pick up six Island-bound passengers.
Ronnie Simonsen was most likely look ing forward to singing O Holy Night on Christmas at Triumphant Cross Lutheran Church in Salem, N.H. He loved to sing. But on Dec. 15 Ronnie lost his fight against leukemia. He was 55.
“The good news is that recurring thoughts of sorrow are overshadowed by feelings of joy, knowing that our son enriched the lives of so many,” said Jake Karrfalt, Ronnie’s stepfather.
Community service was the theme at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. dinner at the Harbor View Hotel on Monday night. More than 100 people attended the four-hour event which included speeches and an awards ceremony, concluding with the swearing in of officers of the local branch of the NAACP, both new and renewed. “Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy lives in the hearts and minds of all of us who believe the world can be a better place. Let us not make the mistake of thinking that only great heroes can make a difference.
Geography is a demanding discipline as stumped students of the Edgartown School discovered on Tuesday morning at the schoolwide geography bee. But while the Thousand Islands Bridge and Wabash River eluded school geo-buffs, by correctly placing Tianjin in China, eighth grader Charlie Morano will now enjoy the grand prize of another written test and a chance to qualify for the National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C.
For almost 15 years the Edgartown School has taken part in the National Geographic Bee, thanks in large part to the efforts of teacher Gary Smith.
Last week while the snow was still fresh on fields and in woods, I went out animal tracking. I am said to be a descendant of Robert Gray, who discovered the Columbia River on the Lewis and Clark expedition, and that may be, since it was water that he discovered. But it has never been suggested in family genealogy that the Kentucky tracker and guide Kit Carson was a forebear. My “track” record would clearly show that I inherited no tracking genes.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Editors, Vineyard Gazette: