Opinion
What follows are the three winning essays from the annual Della Hardman essay contest at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. Students were asked to write opinion pieces about the use of digital devices at the high school. Winning essayists will be recognized at the annual Della Hardman Day event in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, July 28. The Gazette publishes the winning essays annually in advance of the daylong event which celebrates the arts and literature each year on the last Saturday in July.
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By BRIAN HURLEY
I woke up early the other morning to perfect conditions for kayaking. The brackish water of Stonewall, Quitsa and Menemsha ponds was so still it looked solid until, that is, I made that first push from shore. Below me I could see sidling crabs and the eelgrass yielding to the direction of the outgoing tide. The surface of the water reflected the detail of every wisp of cloud so I felt as if I was floating and flying. The top half of a boat mooring that rose above the water was reflected in an optical illusion suggesting a perfectly round ball sitting on top of the water.
Big, blue snowballs of hydrangeas backed by a white picket fence are a summer staple on the Vineyard. While the mophead flowers of bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) are the most popular with tourists, there is a whole world of hydrangeas for gardeners to explore. On a seed-collecting expedition to Japan in 2005, I encountered three other hydrangea species that are valuable ornamentals: the panicle hydrangea, (Hydrangea paniculata), the mountain hydrangea (Hydrangea serrata), and involucre hydrangea (Hydrangea involucrata).
As frequent visitors to this magnificent Island for the past 40 years, my husband and I thought we knew just about all there was to know about Martha’s Vineyard history and culture. We were wrong! Last weekend, we decided to take an African-American history tour with Robert Hayden, an Oak Bluffs resident for over 40 years. The experience was utterly fascinating; we were captivated from the very start of this tour, which lasted an hour longer than we had been told.
On behalf of Adult and Community Education of Martha’s Vineyard, we would like to extend great thanks to the sponsors, supporters, organizations and community leaders for helping us with this year’s One Day University: Arts, Culture, Sustainability event.
On June 16, the Blitz Fitness karate students and their instructors held their annual kick-a-thon at the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club. Every year the students attempt to outdo their previous record of kicks, typically numbering in the thousands.