Mark Alan Lovewell
When three golden girls from East Chop went swimming Tuesday morning, they had little trouble finding their spot at the beach.
No beach towels were in the way, nor were there children on the shoreline to dodge, as they sped down into the water in front of the East Chop Beach Club.
Except for a stiff, bitterly cold arctic blast from the southeast, all was quiet at the beach club. The temperature was in the 30s.
And there was no shortage of space amid the rolling waves in the 39-degree seawater for the swimmers at the popular summer beach.
Island musicians were the dominant revelers at the Vineyard Haven observance at the close of 2007.
The event could have begun at any time for members in the audience at the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Monday afternoon.
For some it began with a belly dancer revue. For many it was Johnny Hoy of the Bluefish singing a song dedicated to time slipping away.
Over the past year on the Vineyard, there was plenty of wind, storms for almost every season and so much summer sun there was a concern about drought.
A big ocean storm in April opened the barrier beach at Norton Point to the ocean. A northeaster on Valentine’s Day and another last month with near-hurricane winds kept reminding Vineyarders the ocean can get nasty.
In other words, it was another classic year of variable New England weather on the Island.
The Tabernacle cupola is undergoing the most significant restoration in more than a century. The $635,000 project will not only preserve the cupola for the years ahead, but restore its key purposes of ventilation and visual distinction.
For Russell E. Dagnall, president of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association, the work, called Topping off the Tabernacle, is but part of a much larger $3 million restoration of the Tabernacle that began almost 10 years ago.
For Edgartown shellfishermen, it would be unconscionable to have an autumn and winter without fishing for and harvesting bay scallops.
Edgartown shellfish constable Paul Bagnall has been named officer of the year by the Massachusetts Shellfish Officers Association.
While he had known of the news for months, he was presented with the award at a meeting of the Edgartown selectmen on Monday. The award was given for the year 2006.
A group of shellfish constables came over from the Cape to make the presentation.