Max Hart
It was an unexpected punch to the gut to find out yesterday that one of my oldest friends had died from cancer.
Editor’s Note: The following story was published in the Gazette in February 2006. Basil Welch died on Sept. 24 at the age of 87. His obituary appears on Page Four in today’s edition.
If you want to find Basil Welch , just pull into his Chilmark driveway and follow the signs.
Pass the one on the right that says Caution: Old Hunter Crossing, tacked to the tree on the edge of the yard.
Sometime in the summer of 1970, a young Jim Athearn stood on Main street in Edgartown and faced one of the most important decisions of his life. The 22-year-old aspiring farmer had just received a few stern words from a market owner who had told him that his corn — the first crop he had ever grown and sold to market — was no good. His ears were full of worms, the owner told him. The words stung like a swarm of angry hornets.
Tisbury Emergency Building Plan Stalls
By MAX HART
Two and a half years after Tisbury voters gave the green light to move ahead with an ambitious plan to build a new emergency services facility housing the fire and ambulance departments, progress on the new building has stalled.
Striped Bass Derby at Mid-Term: Fish Scarce, Competition Light
By MAX HART
As the 61st annual Martha's Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby rounds the corner into the second half of the tournament, the big story this week has been - well, that there is no big story.
"There's been a whole lot of standing around, waiting," derby headquarters volunteer Martha Smith said yesterday morning. "We're all waiting for the conditions to change, waiting for the big ones to arrive."
Last Year's Winner Takes Lead in Bass Derby
By MAX HART
Like the great Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once said, it was deja vu all over again.