From the Gazette editions of April 1976: Some businessmen likened it to Memorial Day weekend. Others compared it to the middle of July. All appearances and temperatures last Saturday seemed to mark the beginning of summer, and on Easter Sunday the sun was hot with the low haze of a smoky sou’wester hanging across the horizon.

My family and I are following the high drama of the encroaching and angry Atlantic as it closes in on the Wasque property of the Schifters. As with so many other problems the world has experienced over the recent past, much could have been done to mitigate or eliminate the disaster if a more prudent decision in the public good was made just a few short years ago.

As Chappaquiddick residents we have recently been sent a five page document entitled “Appeal to the Chappy Community” which asks that we support Comcast’s build-out of infrastructure for Chappaquiddick’s proposed high speed internet service. We are being asked to endorse the expenditure personally and through our taxes to subsidize Comcast’s costs for equipment that they will own when completed.

Walking west on East Chop Drive on a tranquil spring morning, the only indication of trouble is a short metal gate with a spray-painted detour sign. The pavement is remarkably free of potholes and the two-lane road appears intact as far as the eye can see.