EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSE

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

On behalf of the Tri-Town Ambulance and Emergency Medical Services responders who came from all over the Island to help at the recent fire in Menemsha, we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the wonderful Menemsha businesses and members of the community who without hesitation gave and offered everything they could to assist us and the firefighters.

Oyster Talk

Virginia from New Jersey, who would rather we not use her name for reasons that will become apparent, thought the Vineyard was quite beautiful when she visited last week. But it wasn’t the harbor or the lighthouse or the gingerbread houses that Virginia found “so beautiful it made me cry.” That aspect of the Island only became clear to her after she was gone.

Two weekends ago, the notorious Blue Beard, my 13-foot long vintage Edgartown beachboat, got a safe mooring in the nick of time in Tisbury Great Pond, thanks to the kindness of a near-stranger.

And my fairly notorious 1996 Toyota Camry that had suffered a flat tire between Edgartown and Vineyard Haven was able to take to the road again, thanks to the efforts of a total stranger.

Such scenarios are the better part of a Martha’s Vineyard summer.

NOISE AT FIELD CLUB

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

When the Field Club in Katama sought approval from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the owners offered up many conditions in addition to those set by the commission in their final decision to approve the project. From that point forward, compliance with those permit conditions largely becomes voluntary with any enforcement typically left to town authorities. Unfortunately, this is the case with many of the more challenging MVC decisions.

Ah, the book sale of the West Tisbury library! It’s an annual feast for bibliophiles. This year I’ve got to be there right when the doors open. There was no telling what treasures I had missed out on last summer when, 10 or so minutes late, I joined the horde of book lovers. That’s the diverse species of individuals engaged in a balancing act between the civility befitting men of letters, and aggressiveness in capturing that long sought-after author or book title of cult status.