MV Times July 16, 2026

“As You Like It” at the amphitheater B1

Icons: Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub B6

ABOARD THE VINEYARD CUP

years last

Shelter proposed to heal residents through indigenous traditions

The campus would be the first native-run domestic shelter in Massachusetts.

BY EUNKI SEONWOO

Aquinnah, the ancestral home of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, may become the host of the first native-run shelter in the state for indigenous women who are victims of domestic and sexual violence.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission opened the hearing for Aquinnah Headwaters, a campus on 7.76 acres that would house a program to support indigenous women who have suffered from abuse. There will be a continued hearing on the proposal next week,

Across an inner universe

A partnership of creative filmmaking with Julie Taymor and Elliot Goldenthal. BY

SARAH SHAW DAWSON

When Julie Taymor was asked to direct the film “Across the Universe” two decades ago, she looked at the script, and knew she wanted to create a movie that was larger than a love story. Now the culmination of that initial vision is scheduled to be shown on the Island on July 22 and August 11. The screenings land in a summer when two other highly acclaimed films by Taymor and her life partner and composer, Elliot Goldenthal, are also being shown. The couple’s work is in high demand, with sold-out screenings that include “Frida” and “The Glorias.” The Times sat down with Taymor and Goldenthal to discuss their films, the accompanying music and how they are woven together.

The script for “Across the Universe” is set in the 1960s at the start of the Vietnam War, when 2.2 million American men were drafted into the war; many

Father and son in electric dirt-bike accident remain in critical condition

Airlifted to Boston; fundraiser launched by family member to ease medical costs.

BY EUNKI SEONWOO, NICHOLAS VUKOTA, AND SARAH SHAW DAWSON

Afather and his 6-year-old son riding an electric dirt bike were seriously injured in a collision with a pickup truck on Sea View Avenue in Oak Bluffs. The two were medevaced to a Boston trauma center on July 9, and remain in critical condition.

The father and son, named on Saturday as Michael Ellis and his child, Nolan Ellis, are at Mass General Hospital in Boston for treatment.

New details about the status of the father and son emerged after a GoFundMe was posted on Saturday by Dolores Borza, Michael Ellis’ mother and Nolan Ellis’ grandmother. According to Borza’s post, 6-year-old Nolan is in a medically induced coma with a brain bleed and two skull fractures. On the day of the accident, dispatchers advised police who were en route that CPR was being performed on Nolan, according to a press release from Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan M. Searle issued Friday.

“Upon arrival, officers located two severely injured patients on the shared-use path that parallels Sea View Avenue. Lifesaving measures, which had been initiated by an off-duty nurse and bystanders at the scene, were immediately taken over and continued by arriving Police, Fire, and EMS personnel,” Searle said in the release.

Nolan’s father, Michael, 38, is in critical condition after sustaining injuries in the crash, such as a broken wrist, ribs, arm, sternum, and upper jaw, along with liver and pancreas lacerations, a head injury, and a knee injury. As of Sunday, he’s in a medically induced coma as well, Borza said.

Borza posted to social media Tuesday

Americans back home protested the conflict. There was a fog that blanketed the era, as a generation questioned what they were being asked to fight for.

It was a moment of social change and political unrest. And many Americans who might have otherwise followed a traditional path, mainly young, white college students, demanded answers from their government instead. At the same time, a wealth of musicians, artists, and creatives rose from the tumult and passion, and created some of the most celebrated works of the 20th century.

The Beatles in many ways helped define the era as they experimented with psychedelic sound and visuals during the decade as a response to the changing attitudes of their audience. “Across the Universe” features 34 Beatles songs that are covered by actors in the film, with Continued on A8

The Island Cup Regatta, photographed by Chace Lewis who sailed on the schooner Juno. Lewis’s photograph features Tabasco, which is captained by Zoli Clarke, just after she almost her rig off West Chop in the first leg of the race on day one of the regatta. The annual race, which raises money for youth sailing programs on-Island, celebrated 20

weekend. The weather held out as local sailors packed the Vineyard Sound, and from the shore, where passersby saw white sails across the horizon all weekend. See coverage on A16.

Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor on Martha's Vineyard.

ELIZABETH CECIL

Woman in SSA crash dies

A driver experienced a medical emergency while boarding the ferry in Vineyard

ATisbury Police. A representative was not immediately available for comment.

The driver was transported to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and flown to a Boston hospital by helicopter July 8.

Tisbury Police Lt. Bill Brigham initially said last week the driver experienced a medical incident, which he didn’t name. He said it seemed the driver entered the boat at high speed and “careened” into a wall on the vessel.

A trailer owned by the state’s Oil Spill Prevention and Response was also on the scene with the emergency responders. Tisbury firefighters could be seen sweeping debris on the Island Home’s freight deck before departing.

ferry MV Nantucket.

The Steamship Authority released an update late last Wednesday morning that the U.S. Coast Guard approved the Island Home to return to Woods Hole, where the ferry line’s maintenance personnel would “perform a damage assessment and any necessary repairs.”

Several trips were canceled, starting with the 10:45 am departure from Vineyard Haven, and the freight ferry, the MV Sankaty, took its place starting with the 1:15 pm departure from Woods Hole.

“Delays will occur through the day, so thank you for your understanding and patience,” the SSA’s statement read. The ferry line had also diverted all Oak Bluffs trips to Vineyard Haven on Wednesday due to weather.

The Island Home returned to service later on Wednesday.

State Police and the Cape & Islands District Attorney’s Office have not released an identity.

medical emergency involving the driver of a white car careening into the walls of a Steamship Authority (SSA) ferry last Wednesday led to a woman’s death. The incident occurred before 10 am as the MV Island Home was boarding vehicles for the 9:30 am departure from Vineyard Haven. According to Massachusetts State Police spokesperson Sarah Burgess, the driver was a 91-year-old woman who needed to be extricated by the Tisbury Fire Department.

Vineyard experiencing ‘significant drought’

Martha’s Vineyard continues to experience a significant drought, according to state officials.

Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rebecca Tepper declared a Level 2, or significant, drought for the Cape and Islands late last week. While the state saw some needed rain recently, it continues to experience below-average rainfall, declining streamflow, and falling groundwater levels, as well as “the effects of two years of belowaverage precipitation,” according to a press release from the EEA.

Through a review of conditions conducted during the month of June, the EEA found that in total, Massachusetts received between 1.5 and 4.5 inches of precipitation, and drought persists in all regions; the most affected areas are the Islands and the eastern and far southwest regions in the state.

According to the EEA, residents and business in locations with significant

The Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office confirmed the woman’s death on Wednesday, July 15. Spokesperson Danielle Whitney said there were no charges involved with the incident and referred The Times to

news in brief

drought status are recommended to minimize overall water use, fix indoor leaks, which contribute to more than 60 percent of indoor water usage, limit outdoor watering to hoses and watering cans, and complete outdoor watering after 5 pm, or before 9 am, in order to combat harmful drought conditions. And while the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) water supply system, which streams from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs, are not enduring drought conditions, residents and businesses are still encouraged to preserve water.

“Massachusetts has been managing ongoing drought conditions for nearly two years, and while this week’s rain was welcome, we still have a long way to go,” Tepper said in the release. “We appreciate the efforts municipalities and residents have already made to conserve water during this time. As the summer progresses, we continue to ask that everyone work together to ensure our supplies remain available by using water wisely.”

Norah Van Riper, a Vineyard Haven library board of trustees member who was waiting to board the 9:30 am boat last week for a dental appointment, told The Times outside the terminal what she witnessed while waiting to board the vessel. “They were just beginning to load the vehicles, and the very first car being loaded on seemingly suddenly lost control and accelerated up the transfer bridge at high speed, all the way down the length of the Island Home.” Van Riper also said it looked like the vehicle would “go straight through the open doors and into the water,” but at the last moment, the car turned left and “hit the far end door and bounced back.”

Van Riper added that one of the SSA employees had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit by the car. “It was terrifying,” Van Riper said. “I very much hope the driver is all right.”

Passengers of the 9:30 am boat were accommodated on a later trip aboard the passenger

Another attempt to swim through Muskeget

Last July, for 7½ hours, nine swimmers from the Island completed the first-ever relay swim across Nantucket Sound through Muskeget Channel — from Eel Point Beach to Chappaquiddick — as a feat of endurance and teamwork and as a fundraiser for various initiatives. No one ever made the trip before — only in the reverse direction.

And they plan to make the 18-mile open ocean trek again, later this month. But this time, on top of two Martha’s Vineyard relay teams, each with four to five swimmers, two teams from Nantucket may join.

This year’s event hopes to raise funds for underserved youth on Martha’s Vineyard and grant access to swim lessons and water safety programs through the Island’s YMCA, a press release from Doug McConnell, a seasonal Island resident and co-founder of A Long Swim, wrote. A Long Swim is a nonprofit that designs and manages open-water swimming events to raise funds to research amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. McConnell lost his father, Dr. David McConnell, and sister, Ellen, to ALS; he started open-water swimming in 2009 and has crossed the English Channel and the Catalina Channel, as well as swam from Molokai to Oahu in Hawaii, and circled Manhattan.

Swimmers comply with traditional English Channel swimming rules, which include use of only a standard swimsuit, one-hour swimming rotations, no physical contact with the escort vessel, and no physical assistance from another person during the swim. Participants are supported by a companion escort powerboat, Capt. Eamonn Solway, a U.S. Coast Guard captain and nationally registered paramedic, and an official observer documenting the swim according to English Channel rules, and Dana Gaines, an experienced Vineyard kayaker.

The tidal window between July 22 and 24 was chosen as the best conditions for the swim, and the event should take place one of those days. A press conference at Nomans Restaurant in Oak Bluffs will take place after the crossing, at approximately 6:30 pm.

PALMER CONNELLY

Vehicle involved in crash on Island Home being towed away.

Haven. BY EUNKI SEONWOO

COURTESY EEA

Massachusetts fights for federal emergency funding

State funding remains, and Island organizations applying through Small Business Administration won’t be affected.

BY EUNKI SEONWOO

Massachusetts’ pursuit of more federal aid was quashed recently after the Trump administration denied the state’s request to approve a major declaration of disaster. But state officials are still fighting to get funding for state residents who were impacted by the February blizzard.

Gov. Maura Healey announced the denial of the declaration on July 9, though other avenues for state funding remain. State officials requested it in April, following the blizzard that struck southeastern Massachusetts on February 22. The Vineyard was hit hard by the storm, which included some conservative estimates of snowfall at roughly 20 inches and caused toppled trees and downed power lines, hurricane-force winds, and days without electricity for thousands of Islanders.

Some parts of the state experienced more precipitation than the Vineyard, such as Fall River with 41 inches of snow.

“Massachusetts experienced one of the worst winter storms we’ve seen in decades,” Healey said in a statement. “Our first responders, public works crews, and local communities worked around the clock to keep people safe and begin recovery. They did their job, and now President Trump needs to do his.”

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a major disaster declaration can provide a wide range of support for states that were overwhelmed by an

Fresh produce for eligible seniors

The nonprofit Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands, in partnership with the West Tisbury Farmers Market, will once again distribute $25 vouchers for the purchase of farm-fresh food for low-income senior residents throughout the summer months on Martha’s Vineyard.

Senior and low-income residents throughout the Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket counties who are 60 years and over are able to use vouchers to obtain fresh food at local participating locations in their region. On the Vineyard, qualifying seniors can peruse the fresh produce nestled together in wooden stands at Morning Glory Farm, the only farm on the Island participating in the program. The vouchers were funded by a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), while fresh produce and raw honey were made available through the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MDAR).

Meg Athearn, operations manager at Morning Glory Farm, said that a drive to help those in need in the Vineyard community motivated the farm’s administrators more than 10 years ago to be part of this program.

“What inspired Morning Glory to get certified was to help out people who have hardly had access to fresh produce. Once you start doing it and see how grateful people are to be able to have fresh produce, you never want to stop doing it,” Athearn told The Times. And Athearn is no stranger to tackling food insecurity on the Vineyard. She and other farms stepped up when Islanders dependent on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ex-

emergency. Whether a declaration is actually made is at the discretion of the president.

Roger Burgess, communications and digital media specialist for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), stressed the funding needed for communities across the state that were impacted in February.

“The state’s validated joint preliminarydamage assessment cost estimate for communities included in the major disaster declaration request is $44,997,506,” Burgess told The Times. “That amount represents only costs potentially eligible for federal reimbursement and is not a total statewide cost estimate.”

Healey expressed she was “deeply disappointed” by the denial from the president in early July and said Trump “should be focused on helping people — not turning his back on states that need support.” In a statement, she said, “We intend to appeal, and we’ll keep fighting to secure every federal dollar Massachusetts deserves.”

This federal denial won’t prohibit Vineyard businesses and nonprofits who suffered economic losses from applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, a process that opened last month. Loan applications are open until March 12, 2027.

It is uncertain whether the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) also pursued

a federal disaster declaration or assistance for the blizzard. Kevin Devine, chair of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribal Council, was not immediately available for comment.

Vineyard towns incurred hefty costs to clear roads of snow and repair damages from the blizzard. So far, town administrators who spoke with The Times noted there haven’t been reimbursements so far. Town administrators Wendy Brough of Oak Bluffs and Joseph LaCivita of Tisbury were not immediately available for comment. Jeffrey Madison, Aquinnah town administrator, said snow costs were “substantial” and said state and federal funding remained uncertain. “We hadn’t had a snowstorm like that or snow of that degree in recent years,” Madison said.

James Hagerty, Edgartown town administrator, said disaster assistance for towns is done through MEMA, so any potential federal funding would be allocated through the state agency, and they are eyeing opportunities for funding. Hagerty said Edgartown had to spend roughly $140,000 to deal with the blizzard and its aftermath.

Still, even if federal funds are less certain, Chilmark Town Administrator Tim Carroll said the state plans to send towns around $30,000, which comes from the “around $100 million to help municipalities with costs associated with the harsh winter season” that was approved by Healey last month. “They also say we can amortize any deficit over three years,” he said.

Martina Thornton, manager of Dukes County, said the county and “virtually all” towns had submitted for reimbursements. The county incurred a relatively lower cost of $12,000.

A FEMA spokesperson stated that the federal agency follows the regulations under the Stafford Act, which codifies disaster relief and emergency assistance, to determine whether a disaster is severe enough to warrant federal support. FEMA claims a more rigorous review process has been placed under the Trump administration and that the

news in brief

perienced cuts in November that left many without funds for food. Athearn started a free farmer’s market on the porch at the Agricultural Hall last year.

Athearn said the process for voucher holders is simple, and that those who qualify can “shop and use it as cash.”

In order for farms to be able to participate in the distribution of the coupons, they need to go through a qualification process to get certified, and that, Athearn said, is more complicated.

“We have one certification for the farm stand in Edgartown, and then the West Tisbury Farmers Market has a separate certification,” she said.

That’s one reason other farmstands at the market don’t accept the vouchers. “There’s quite a bit of steps and things that [farms] need to offer and provide in order to be able to just accept those coupons,” West Tisbury Farmers Market manager Ethan BuchananValenti said to The Times.

The number of coupons available is limited, meaning that eligible seniors will receive coupons on a first-come, first-served basis. On the Island, residents are asked to schedule an appointment with the Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands to pick up their coupons.

300 pounds of litter removed from Sengekontacket

The Friends of Sengekontacket and Beach BeFrienders MV announced that their beach cleanup during the holiday weekend, on July 5, removed more than 300 pounds of litter from the Island shoreline.

Twenty-two volunteers collected trash and marine debris for over two hours on the shoreline of Sengekontacket Pond in order to alleviate the threats to wildlife and health of the waterway.

“The tremendous response from our volunteers demonstrates how much our community cares about preserving the health and beauty of Sengekontacket,” a press release from the Friends of Sengekontacket read. “Every piece of trash removed helps protect birds, shellfish, fish, and other wildlife while making our beaches cleaner and safer for everyone to enjoy.”

To document the collected items, they used the Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app. They cleaned up nearly 2,000 plastic and foam fragments, 495 cigarette butts, 241 food wrappers, 150 additional pieces of plastic waste, and more than 200 beverage containers.

The cleanup data is used in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup database, which provides information to scientists and policymakers to better understand the causes of marine debris and create solutions to reduce ocean pollution, the press release stated.

Jean Tatelbaum awarded Spirit of the Vineyard

Jean Tatelbaum is this year’s recipient of the Spirit of the Vineyard Award.

Vineyard Village at Home — which provides services to the Island’s elderly community to support their independent living — sponsors the annual award. Tatelbaum is one of the organization’s longtime volunteers.

The award annually recognizes the impact and contributions of an individual who has volunteered for one or more nonprofit organizations on the Island.

In a press release, Vineyard Village at Home wrote that Tatelbaum volunteers at a multitude of Island organizations six days a week. This work includes providing senior citizens with transportation and delivering their mail and groceries five times a week.

snow assistance was based on whether the weather event was “genuinely extraordinary for the region, and the East Coast is generally expected to manage major snowstorms independently.”

Disaster relief has reportedly become a slower and more difficult process for states under the Trump Administration, the New York Times reported. Massachusetts is one of four states led by Democrats to be denied federal assistance for the February snowstorms. And there’s a disparity between who gets aid. Politico reported in March that only 23 percent of disaster funding requests were approved for Democratic-led states under the Trump administration, compared with 89 percent of requests made by Republican-led states.

Abigail Jackson, White House spokeswoman, said there is “no politicization to the president’s decision on disaster relief.”

“The president responds to each request for federal assistance under the Stafford Act with great care and consideration, ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute — their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters,” Jackson said in a statement. “The Trump administration remains committed to empowering and working with state and local governments to invest in their own resilience before disaster strikes, making response less urgent and recovery less prolonged.”

Since the blizzard, there’s been a push by Vineyard emergency managers for bolstered Island-wide coordination when emergency situations strike. One of the considerations is an Island-wide emergency coordinator. Christine Todd, chair of the Dukes County Commissioners, who’s advocated for better communication and cooperation during disasters, highlighted that it would be beneficial for towns to be able to have a united front when requesting emergency aid from the state. “We stand a much better chance for funding,” Todd said.

Tatelbaum delivers food every month through Family to Family and weekly to the Edgartown Council on Aging.

During the holiday season, she volunteers at the Island Food Pantry and serves food at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Christmas Community Needs Dinner. Every year, Tatelbaum sponsors a child for the Red Stocking Christmas gift program, the press release stated.

“Jean is a doer. She has a heart of gold, and if she sees a need, she tries to fill it,” Vineyard Village at Home wrote in the press release. “She expects no thanks or recognition, but her dedication to the community demands it.”

The award will be presented to Tatelbaum on Thursday, July 23, at 5 pm during a public celebration at the Portuguese-American Club.

COURTESY OF SUSIE PLIMPTON-WALLO Jean Tatelbaum

EDITORIAL

Writing the story of our Island

In a place where there are so many wonders to celebrate — from Wasque Point to the lighthouse in Aquinnah — we want to take a moment to highlight the extraordinary good fortune we all share of living on an Island that is a welcoming home to so many talented writers.

Every summer on Martha’s Vineyard, we gather in a literary pageant that brings together the most experienced, awardwinning authors with the newest, buoyant writers. The Martha’s Vineyard Times is proud to be the host of this free gathering known as Islanders Write, which, under the leadership of Kate Feiffer, our director, has flourished and expanded its mission in recent years.

There are several other literary gatherings on the Island that also bring writers from around the country and around the world, but what makes Islanders Write unique is that all of the writers who speak on panels and conduct writing workshops are directly connected in some way to the Island. All of the novelists, playwrights, journalists, poets, scribes, and essayists who attend proudly fit within that most inclusive definition of “Islander.”

We love that inclusive spirit in Islanders Write, which kicked off on Wednesday, July 15, at Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs, right after our print deadline, and we want to thank the whole Island community for its generous support of the craft of writing through more than 12 years since Kate first raised high the beams on the event, what she referred to back then as “a literary barnraising.”

Kate describes the gathering’s evolution this way: “Islanders Write is a writers’ festival and not a book festival — we discuss writing and the writing life, not our most recent publications, but supporting our local independent

LETTERS

The public nuisance playbook, Chappy edition

To the Editor:

A handful of Cape Poge landowners have deployed a strategy of hindrance in a desperate attempt to deny public access to a public beach. What started as meandering rants during town committee meetings eventually ramped up to the construction of a gate on a right of way, and has sadly devolved into a mortifying public nuisance.

As defined by common law, a public nuisance is “actionable interference with public rights.” The deliberate and belligerent efforts of these Cape Poge beach obstructionists has resulted in the temporary inability of the public to access public beaches. These beaches represent 35 percent of the total public beach frontage of our entire Island! The manipulative contrivances of these access deniers have been coordinated to confound and confuse our Island community, with a goal of deterring and delaying public access. Their efforts seek to drain the resolve of our beachgoing citizens and visitors.

This group of recalcitrant obstructionists is now seeking to appeal the recent state-mandated order to restore access to these beaches. Their justification for meddling with these statemandated orders is as opaque as early morning fog on Chappy. This vexatious litigation is recognized for what it is: Their true objective is to establish a private sanctuary for their exclusive use, where the public will not be welcomed. Their compensation to the town in this shameful scheme? Exactly zero dollars (and zero sense).

We don’t all have to agree with the law, but the law must be honored, and

bookstores and our Island authors is part of the cycle of keeping literary life healthy and happening on the Island. Also, I have been reading the newest releases by this summer’s authors, and I’m eager to discuss all of them — so buy them, read them, and let’s talk!”

Raising the curtain on this summer’s Islanders Write gathering, MV Times Publisher Charles Sennott moderated a discussion on the future of journalism. Sennott was in dialogue with two extraordinary journalists: the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer and Hunterbrook’s Nathaniel Horwitz. Jane is a longtime lover of the Island and a new homeowner here, and we are thrilled to know she will be spending more time with us. Nathaniel was raised on the Island by his parents, Geraldine Brooks and the late, Tony Horwitz. Both Geraldine and Tony had awardwinning careers as journalists and authors. Coming of age on the Island, Nathaniel got his start in journalism as an intern here at The Times, and the family is now sponsoring the first annual Tony Horwitz Internship for an Island high school student to work with us in the newsroom on Beach Road. We are so grateful to be starting a new apprenticeship.

The Times’ owner, Steve Bernier, was there at the gathering at Featherstone, and he was generously appreciated for his strong stewardship of the paper and for keeping this great tradition of Islanders Write going strong. By his side was his wife Constance Messmer, who is a talented writer herself, whose work was featured in the Islanders Write newsletter this summer. Both Steve and Constance have embraced the importance of good writing in the telling of this Island’s remarkable story, and it is hard to thank them enough for all of that.

The gathering also remembered two of our beloved contributors to Islanders Write whose loss we are feeling profoundly. They are singer, songwriter, and music producer John Forte, 51, who passed away over the winter, and leaves his two

it will be enforced. Bald-faced land grabs are not welcome on this Island. The public is speaking loudly on this issue, and evidence of public opinion is abundant: “Free Cape Poge” signage has proliferated, and newly elected town officials have been voted into office with a mandate to restore public access. The public beaches of Chappy have been held hostage for three years now! Three years of cherished family memories on these serene beaches have been denied. Our citizens are demanding final and permanent resolution to these unseemly stalling tactics. It is time to strike a conciliatory tone, and to accept the outcome of this exhaustively vetted process. It is time to obey the laws of this state and the will of the people. At long last, it is time to move on from this embarrassing episode of egregious entitlement. Supreme Court Justice Brandeis was correct: Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Rich Thompson Edgartown

Thank you for supporting Edgartown library fashion show

To the Editor:

The Friends of the Edgartown Public Library would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who helped make our recent Fashion Show fundraiser at the Carnegie an incredible success. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Emma Fitzgerald Townsend, the generosity of our community, and the support of so many wonderful local businesses, the evening was not only our most successful fundraiser ever, but also a truly memorable and fun celebration.

children, Wren and Haile, and Elizabeth (Hawes) Weinstock, 84, who passed away this summer, and was a celebrated writer and editor at the New Yorker, and the wife of Davis Weinstock. At the gathering, we also named our newest talent, a rising senior at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, Maria Barros, who has been awarded our first Tony Horwitz Internship. She is helping us bring the voice of the vibrant Brazilian community into the stories we tell. You can watch for her coverage all summer. At the gathering, we also named our newest Island Writer through a Times initiative that supports a new generation of Island writers to tell the story of their own Island. We’re proud to announce that Nicholas Vukota, who both writes and photographs for the paper, has been named our 2026 Island Writer. This initiative, which is coordinated through Islanders Write as our nonprofit arm and the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation as our fiscal sponsor, has allowed us to pool generous funding from a number of major donors. This fund enables us to support this new full-time staff position for up to three years to keep on writing, and covering an Island beat that he likes to describe as “cops, courts, and sports.”

Sennott said, “One of our goals in supporting a new generation of Island journalists is to give them the chance to tell the story of their own Island, and to do so in a way that brings us all together. Nick’s work, particularly around sports, has indeed served as a unifier for the Island. We can sometimes feel like an Island divided along many different lines, but when it comes to rooting for the hometown team, we can speak with one voice.”

All of our writers on this Island contribute their unique voices to our shared narrative as a community, and The Times is fiercely proud to celebrate the art and craft of writing through the work we do every day in telling the story of our Island.

We are especially grateful to Emma for her vision, enthusiasm, and countless hours of work bringing this event together. Her creativity and dedication made the evening possible, and she created an exceptional event for all who attended.

We also offer our sincere thanks to the Preservation Trust for generously sharing their beautiful building, our former home, as the venue. The Carnegie provided the perfect atmosphere for a very special evening. Finally, we are enormously grateful to all of the local businesses and individuals who donated so generously. Your support helped make this event a tremendous success, and demonstrated the remarkable generosity of our community.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed, and helped make the evening so much fun. We are incredibly fortunate to have such enthusiastic supporters of the library, and we look forward to continuing our work together in the years ahead.

Executive board

Friends of the Edgartown Public Library

The Tashmoo swamp

To the Editor:

We had the opportunity to visit Tashmoo on Saturday. We used to go and enjoy the day swimming with family and friends. It was the highlight of summer for us. The kids had so much fun. What we saw yesterday was horrible! We were tied to one of the moorings. We were planning to just sit in our tubes. It was sad to see nobody there. Even quite depressing. As I was getting ready to jump in and cool off, I noticed

the horrible amount of seaweed. To swim in there would have horrified me. So sad that Tashmoo looks like a swamp. Is that what was wanted by the rulemakers of Tisbury? So sad to see.

Madeline Bedard Falmouth

Get rid of the deer

To the Editor:

Interesting article in the June 24, 2026, Times about Gov. Healey and deer regulations (“Aggressive plan to harvest the herd”). Thank you. Perhaps the governor doesn’t realize the deer are here because of a state program after World War II that introduced and managed deer to give Island hunters a large animal to hunt. That was a successful program, perhaps too successful. Now, in the new reality of ticks and tick-borne diseases, it is time to get rid of the deer. All of them.

The most expensive and least effective plan is more regulations and more government-run programs. The simplest, least expensive plan is to remove all the rules on killing deer. Safety is a big concern for all of us. All the state rules concerning safety should be kept in place, but the rules to protect the herd for the use of the hunters should all disappear. Gov. Healey could make it happen now, today.

No solution to the tick-borne diseases is going to instantly fix the problem. While the experts and the government explore and debate possibilities, the people that live here could at least get a real start on removing the deer as a carrier/host of the ticks.

Chris Murphy

Chilmark

Charles M. Sennott • Publisher

When I was a child, growing up on the small Island of Martha’s Vineyard, I lived in a house on Farm Pond in Oak Bluffs. The door to my family’s home was painted a deep, teal blue: a mirror of the lapping water nearby. In a stroke of incredible luck, my best friend, Hallie Mia MacCormack, lived next door to me. We were chronic explorers, often running off on our own in an attempt to soak in a still new world.

As a child, I saw the world as a place to explore, not one to hide from. The ocean was our favorite place of all.

But much like the deep, wide, waters that we’re ever-presently surrounded by, the Island is not all good (lone star ticks are the most recent glaring example, but aren’t the only ones). Still, I do see Martha’s Vineyard as a place worth the care that goes into it.

As we all reflect on the 250th year of America’s founding and the values that have survived (or haven’t) since, that undercurrent — a home that’s not always safe for all — is front and center for me. The question I’ve been asking myself is: When does the work feel worth it when there’s no immediate result? Living here as an adult, it’s clear to me that I’m not the first person to ask that.

Several homes that I would walk past growing up were first built or purchased by Black families who escaped tenement homes or indentured servitude in the late 1800s. Oak Bluffs is a community made up of many loving neighbors — an echo of the hands that built it. And I felt as a child, and still do now, that the town was built with the declaration of freedom and pursuit of happiness in mind. And while the tourism history, with Oak Bluffs being the first resort hub for an initial wave of summer visitors in 1860, held a seed of prosperity that’s grown ever since,

the implications of high-end visitation have sprouted in equal measure. Wealth disparities are stark, and some locals have suffered the consequences of that difference. In the same woods that some meander through on a leisurely walk, others set up a tent to live out the summer and work. The same ticks that some tweeze off themselves

after a long beach day plague others with dozens of bites on their arms and legs after a day of work landscaping or gardening. The Island runs on the many people and workers who brave the nuance.

When I was growing up, Hallie and I would kick off the shoes that our parents had Velcroed to our feet and run into downtown Oak Bluffs. Along our journey, we would spot all manner of miracles: an abandoned house on our street that we would peek into, our bare toes hovering over the damp grass outside as we whispered ghost stories to each other about who haunted the halls; a mouse that my cat brought in, whose injuries we mended painstakingly; snakes in tall grasses that we squealed and ran from.

Sarah Shaw Dawson

ESSAY

The housing crisis is an economic crisis on the Cape and Islands— the legislature needs to act

BY JIM FEINER AND CANDACE DAROSA

We’re Realtors who see the damage every day. A transfer fee won’t hurt home sales, and it will help provide housing.

Combined, we have more than 60 years of real estate experience on Martha’s Vineyard, and we share a deep concern that skyrocketing home prices are threatening the economy and the quality of life on the islands we all cherish.

As people who make our livings through the buying and selling of property, we believe the best path forward in this crisis is the adoption of a modest transfer fee on high-end real estate transactions. The money can then be used in creative ways to preserve and build housing that will be affordable to retail and restaurant workers, carpenters, nurses, teachers, firefighters, artists — in other words, to the people who make up a community, and who are being priced out of the islands and most of Cape Cod.

Repeatedly the islands have

joined with communities like Provincetown, Chatham, and Wellfleet in asking the legislature to provide us this crucial tool to keep working- and middle-class families in our communities, to provide homes for young people who want to move here, and to older residents who want to stay where they have roots.

Our legislative delegation has worked tirelessly for the transfer fee. Gov. Healey has joined us in that work, as have medical, public safety, business, and nonprofit leaders from across the Cape and islands. But with only weeks left in the legislative year, once again, real estate lobbying organizations are pushing the House and Senate to kill the transfer fee and not allow Cape and Islands leaders to determine the best path for their own economies.

Lobbyists and legislative leaders need to look carefully at a recent University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute study proving convincingly that our businesses and economy are suffering badly from the dearth of affordable places to live, and that transfer fees work — without hurting the volume or prices of real estate transactions.

UMass researchers interviewed hundreds of small business owners on both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard to assess what we have long felt instinctually and heard anecdotally: Small businesses and the economy on the islands — and the UMass report includes other Cape

shifted, and the year-round population has grown substantially. But the aspects about Martha’s Vineyard that feel as free as a child scampering barefoot through neighborhoods have always been here, in one form or another. The community has kept that alive. And the truth is, that sacred feeling of home that many of us year-rounders have come to love about this place has always carried a responsibility with it. There is no wading to the sandbar at Inkwell Beach without participating in a beach cleanup in March, hands gloved and frozen.

But the Vineyard has changed over the 30 years I’ve been alive. Businesses have shuttered, attitudes have

To many who live here, the Island is a place to vehemently defend. One reason for this is a constant awareness that not everyone who wants to live here can, something I witnessed as a child but didn’t quite understand. Even those who were raised on the Island struggle to afford, or even find, housing. The separation from the mainland means higher costs, and for a lot of Islanders, that’s a life living paycheck to paycheck, or wondering how weekly groceries fit into the budget. That perseverance is deeply woven into the history of the Island.

The positive parts of this place exist among the dramas, qualms, and real-life issues. But the choice to protect the people and places that matter is a form of freedom to me. Taking one small action at a time, even if we aren’t the generation to benefit from it. Just like a broken-down Volkswagen Bug that was overgrown with vines on my street growing up, the land makes space for us, and here, we are tasked with adjusting to it. There aren’t many places where that’s the case.

“The choice to protect the people and places that matter is a form of freedom to me.”

communities in its conclusion — are suffering from a lack of workers caused by already extraordinarily high housing prices that have exploded in the past five years.

According to the UMass study, median single-family home prices on the islands are the highest in the state: $1.4 million on Martha’s Vineyard and $3.7 million for Nantucket. Who now can buy a home on Nantucket? A family with a household income of $800,000.

With more than half of those homes on each island vacant in winter, the stress on businesses dependent on a robust summer economy is, frankly, devastating.

More than half of island employers report losing workers, having job offers declined, and being forced to raise wages because the people who want to work here cannot afford to live here. Employers reported shrinking hours of operation, closing early, putting up workers in their homes, and seeing workers who want to stay forced to leave. The report shows in exhaustive detail what a transfer fee could do to alleviate this drain on small business dollars.

A reasonable transfer fee set by each island would raise $10 million annually on Martha’s Vineyard from a 2 percent fee on the portion of a transaction above $1 million, and $3.3 million on Nantucket on a 0.5 percent fee on the portion of a transaction over $2 million.

Those dollars would be used to

Sarah Shaw Dawson is an Islander, journalist, and musician whose work explores community, belonging, and the enduring spirit of Island life.

acquire and reuse properties; to construct affordable worker housing; to preserve low-cost housing at affordable rents and sale prices; and to help locals lease units year-round. Would this work? It does work.

Four communities in the Hamptons facing exactly the pressures confronting Cape and island towns adopted transfer fees very similar to those proposed on the islands.

“Sales volumes in the towns implementing the additional transfer fee for housing remained steady and consistent, with no discernible difference from volumes in the neighboring towns,” the UMass study concluded.

The best part? Those fees not only didn’t harm Hamptons sales or prices: They raised $15 million for housing in the first half of the first year they were implemented, 2024. We know the island real estate business, understand the market, and strongly support a real estate transfer fee to help the communities we call home. The crisis is now. The legislature needs to act.

Jim Feiner is the principal broker for Feiner Real Estate, who served 25 years on the Chilmark housing committee. Candace daRosa is a 13thgeneration Vineyard resident who worked for more than 30 years as a Realtor, and now works as a broker with a non- Realtor-affiliated office in part because of the Massachusetts Realtors Association’s opposition to transfer fees.

Shelterproposedtohealresidentsthroughindigenoustraditions

Continued from A1

“Being in my tribal community and engaging in my culture in spiritual practices that were traditional to our Wampanoag ways, that provided me a safe space to heal and grow." —JEN RANDOLPH

and the project still would need further approvals from Aquinnah officials.

The campus is proposed by Northeast Native Network of Kinship and Healing, shortened to Kinship Heals, to be built at 759, 761, and 765 State Road in collaboration with West Tisbury architect firm South Mountain Co. Project plans include a 4,160-squarefoot healing center, a 1,780-square-foot food hub, four one-bedroom solarpowered dwellings that are each 750 square feet, and 25 parking spaces. The proposal also includes a septic and drainage system, and a bus shelter is planned for the nearby State Road bus stop.

Kinship Heals is a nativeand woman-run nonprofit that offers various services, including a food pantry, focused on helping members of the tribal community overcome trauma using Wampanoag and indigenous culture as the framework of healing.

Aquinnah Headwaters would join only 55 other

native-centered domestic violence shelters in the U.S., none of which are in Massachusetts, according to the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. Currently, the nonprofit operates from rented office space on the Island. In 2014, the Wampanoag Women’s Center was opened, and it became Kinship Heals in 2020. The current project site was purchased by Kinship Heals in 2023. So far, Kinship Heals has raised 11 percent of its $16 million goal, which cleared the fundraising threshold to purchase the land. Most of the project is on the Aquinnah coastal watershed, which drains to Vineyard Sound; a small portion is located in Squibnocket. Around a third of the site is open space, and nearly all of it will be protected. The site also contains wetlands and state-designated priority habitat, so the applicants plan to tailor the project to minimize the cutting of mature trees. Additionally,

the project is not expected to have a negative impact on neighbors, according to MVC staff.

Matt Coffey, a South Mountain Co. architect, said the site is designed to work with the land and incorporate Wampanoag culture, including its orientation facing east toward the rising sun. Greeting the day and the rising sun is an important Wampanoag tradition, as the tribe’s name translates to “people of the first light.”

The project is planned to start construction in the winter of 2026 or 2027, pending permit approvals. Coffey said talks with Aquinnah town counsel are underway regarding the use of a portion of the space in connection with Wampanoag religious practices.

A part of the push for Aquinnah Headwaters came from the experience of Jen Randolph, executive director of Kinship Heals, and a member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe. Randolph said she was in a violent relation-

ship off-Island in her early twenties, and returned to the Vineyard in 2000.

“Being in my tribal community and engaging in my culture in spiritual practices that were traditional to our Wampanoag ways, that provided me a safe space to heal and grow,” Randolph said. Through this process, she met her current husband, also a member of the tribe, and they have three daughters together.

This effort is years in the making. Randolph said she was first contracted to do a community needs assessment to address domestic violence after the tribe received a grant in 2013 from the U.S. Department of Justice. At the time, the study showed that three out of five Wampanoag women will experience violence in their lifetime, which was on par with the national rate among indigenous women. That rate has since increased nationally to more than four in five today, according to the Indian Law Resource Center.

Randolph said that “this type of violence [was] not present in native culture prior to colonization,” highlighting that women used to “control the communal food systems, which reduced vulnerability and taught our traditional values around relationships.”

“One of the most impactful lessons that we’ve learned, and it has been validated through research, is that the most effective ways of healing and recovery are through our culture and spiritual practices,” Randolph said.

Some aspects of this facility are similar to other shelters, such as use as transitional housing and advocacy for victims. But at Aquinnah Headwaters, those involved in the project, said Wampanoag traditions would be incorporated to connect participants to their culture, like a ceremony space in the healing center for spiritual practices. Participants would also be more connected to sustenance through traditional harvest and preparation of wild food, like cranberries, sassafras, fish, and game.

While the project is not run by the Aquinnah Wampanoag Tribe, the applicants noted the town is a region in which the tribe suffered “cultural and spiritual traumas from colonization and governmental intervention.” However, it did receive a

$250,000 grant from the tribe. There were some concerns raised by commissioners last Thursday, like details over traffic and the landscaping.

Doug Sederholm, West Tisbury commissioner, asked for input on security measures to keep residents safe.

“It might be the most important thing,” Sederholm said.

Coffey said a key fob would be required to enter a building unless buzzed in by a door attendant. He highlighted that there are very few entrances to buildings, and the loop driveway makes it so the property caretaker, who would live in one of the four units, can see when someone enters and leaves the property.

The only public concern came from abutter Tony Shaw, who lives west of the proposed property with his family. While in support of the proposal, he worried about decreased privacy from clear-cutting and activity. Coffey said the current iteration of Aquinnah Headwaters added 10 feet of buffer space, so there’d be 30 feet of vegetative screening between the properties. The commission will return to the issue on July 23. Meanwhile, Kinship Heals plans to hold an information session about Aquinnah Headwaters on July 22 at Stillpoint in West Tisbury.

An illustration of the proposed residential buildings at Aquinnah Headwaters.

Across an inner universe

Continued from A1

the music used as a narrative tool to tell the story of war, protest, and personal triumph. In those years, the Beatles weren’t just writing love songs anymore.

So Taymor changed the title she was originally given for the film (“All You Need Is Love”) to its working name, which references the Beatles’ song “Across the Universe,” featured on the 1970 album “Let it Be.” Taymor collaborated with Goldenthal, and together they made sure that vital distinction in the direction of their music came through in the movie.

“When the studio came to me and said, ‘We’d like you to direct this,’ I went, Well, first of all, I’m not going to call it ‘All You Need Is Love,’ because I don’t believe in that sentiment,” Taymor said. “But I do think it’s earned by the end of the film. You have to go through hell in order to say: ‘All you need is love.’”

“There was a lot of rage, and then there was a lot of confusion ... young men who gave up life and limb and came back broken people. And they had to ask themselves, ‘For what?’” Goldenthal said of the era.

Those artistic choices by Taymor and Goldenthal are a few of many they made over a long career in the industry. The pair has collaborated for nearly all their projects. Many of those works have earned them international and national recognition, and nominations for the Academy Awards, Tony Awards, and Golden Globes. Goldenthal, even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for music, won an Academy Award for best original score for his compositions in “Frida,” was nominated for four Oscars, and received a Lifetime Achievement at the World Soundtrack Awards; Taymor made history as the first woman to receive a Tony Award for best director of a musical for her Broadway adaption of “The Lion King.”

“We’ve been working for 40 years together, every project,” Taymor said of Goldenthal. Throughout those four decades, Taymor and Goldenthal have found commu-

nity and respite on Martha’s Vineyard, and eventually, they even created some of their works here. Taymor wrote the script for “The Glorias,” a 2020 film based on Gloria Steinem’s autobiography, “My Life On the Road,” at the couple’s home in Chilmark. And Goldenthal recorded the composition for “The Glorias” in their home studio.

dency, support systems and networks, that show up in wide-netting ways. Not just education, not just fun, not just the water, not just people getting away from their hectic real world to relax,” McCoy said of the Vineyard. “This community has been allowed to, and has taken ownership of, its potential to blossom. And the blossoming is evident.”

Jo-Jo, McCoy’s character in “Across the Universe,”

Several of their ideas have come to fruition on the Island, a place known for attracting a wide variety of artists, musicians, and creatives. A few of the actors who played in their films have also found refuge here, including Martin Luther McCoy, who played Jo-Jo in “Across the Universe,” a character based on rock musician Jimi Hendrix. McCoy’s been coming to the Vineyard since the 1990s.

“There’s been an enduring movement in the AfricanAmerican and Wampanoag communities coming off the Island, going back a long way: an interdepen-

sings an acoustic, strippeddown cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” originally from the “White Album” (1968) by the Beatles. As he sings the song live in the film, which Taymor said all actors did, in order to have the emotion come through, the film scene tackles the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; a speech by King resounds through the music.

“It’s an interesting position to be in, to be named after somebody, and to be in a movie dealing with his assassination,” McCoy, whose first and middle name are “Martin Luther,” said of the moment. “You can’t AI that. It’s different

when it happens for real, in an authentic space.”

On Monday, “Frida” was shown at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, and during a discussion with Taymor and Goldenthal that followed the film, the pair discussed their creative decisions in the film, many of which were by necessity because of the low budget.

But from a Day of the Dead sequence with skeleton marionettes in

outside,” Taymor said at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse of her directing style.

“The inspiration is Julie’s work,” Goldenthal said at the Playhouse regarding “Frida” and his collaboration with Taymor. “It’s a reactive process.”

That motif was elevated perhaps the most in their film “The Glorias,” which Taymor directed, produced, and co-wrote with Sarah Ruhl.

er was a big political person in Boston. I knew about the movement. I was in the arts my whole life,” she said.

Four actors play Steinem in the film: Ryan Kiera Armstrong as a child, Lulu Wilson as a teenager, and two adult actors, Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore. They all ride that Greyhound bus, often with the past and future versions who play Steinem in conversation with each other. In the bus

“Frida” to a multimedia, psychedelic performance of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” by the Beatles in “Across the Universe,” Taymor is known for surrealist scenes that bring the watcher face-to-face with the character’s inner reality. Goldenthal’s awardwinning film scores create the soundscapes to match.

Just as the Island is often considered a microcosm of the world, regarding real-life issues like housing, affordability, and environmental concerns existing among the arts, music, agriculture, and community events, Taymor and Goldenthal said they illustrate each character as a smaller version of their environment, and a maker of change within that system. It’s that tightrope balancing act, the inner life versus world that holds it, that the pair focuses on through their films.

“I like to go inside and

“The Glorias” is about the life and impact of women’s rights activist and journalist Gloria Steinem.

Since Steinem’s childhood was defined by transience and as an adult, and she was often on the road, advocating for women at abortion rallies and protests, Taymor chose the visual motif of a Greyhound bus to illustrate her inner life. “The bus was instrumental in gluing the pieces together,” Taymor said in an interview with The Times.

“The road is messy in the way that real life is messy,” Steinem wrote in her 2015 autobiography, “My Life on the Road,” on which “The Glorias,” released in 2020, is based.

Taymor read Steinem’s autobiography, and asked Steinem to take on the project. She said she was reminded of the values she had been raised with. “My moth-

scenes, the color gradient is pulled into black-and-white, with the actors’ expressions often tender and deep in thought. Tears are shed. Monologues sweep the audience through the trauma Steinem experienced. As the film progresses, color eventually seeps into the bus and the actors’ expressions.

“Gloria says in the book, and in the film, that people think the safest place is at home. But for women, that’s the most dangerous place to be,” Taymor said.

A few other choices by Taymor and Goldenthal were intentionally bold, they explained in interviews. The through-line that spanned many of their productions was a resounding message of social justice, human rights, and war.

“If you look at these three films, especially ’The Glorias’

Continued

The black-and-white bus scene in “The Glorias,” with two actors who play Gloria Steinem.

Martin Luther McCoy in the film “Across the Universe” when he sings an acoustic cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”

A protest scene from “The Glorias.”

COURTESY JULIE TAYMOR AND ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL

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COURTESY JULIE TAYMOR AND ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL

Across

an

inner universe

Continued from A8

and ‘Across the Universe,’ it is a lot about the protest: what motivated these kids to get out there and involved in their futures,” Taymor said. The theme of movement

comes up in a much different way in “Frida,” the first film that Taymor directed. It was a semibiographical look into Frida Kahlo’s life, and was intention-

ally about more than her artwork. While Kahlo is widely regarded one of the most influential artists in history, it was the reason she painted at all that stuck with Goldenthal.

“The big challenge for me with “Frida”: was finding a motive, or a glue, that could

take me through the whole picture: a music metaphor,” said Goldenthal.

Kahlo was born in 1907, and throughout her nearly five decades of life, she encountered physical traumas, became involved in the Communist movement in Mexico, expressed her sexuality freely with both men and women, and challenged gender norms of her time through her fashion. But her classic suit and tie, full unibrow that swept across her face, and the piercing reds and blue hues in her paintings are ways the world saw Kahlo, not necessarily the way Kahlo saw herself.

The final song in the film, titled “Burn It Blue,” featured music by Goldenthal and lyrics by Taymor. The Mexicaninspired plucked acoustic guitar and serene voice in the song became the culmination of many of the themes Taymor and Goldenthal brought to the film. He and Taymor won a best original song

nomination at the Academy Awards for the song.

“The one constant in her life was being alone in a bed, dealing with her life, while the world around her was turbulent. She wanted to be part of everything. So I thought, What instrument can she crawl into bed and cuddle with? A guitar. So

acoustic guitar and Mexican music became the foundation,” Goldenthal said.

“Frida was a devout Communist at a time of real abuse of capitalism in Mexico, hardship for farm workers, and a politically turbulent period in the U.S. as well,” Goldenthal continued.

The relevance of their films haven’t changed much, Goldenthal and Taymor said. The violence, human rights violations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, and people questioning the actions of their government remain.

Father and son in electric dirt-bike accident remain in critical condition

Continued from A1

that Nolan’s doctors are going to begin trying to wake him up.

While a preliminary investigation and the press release by Searle said Michael was driving the electric dirt bike with Nolan “seated forward of him” at the time of the accident, Borza told The Times on Sunday that Michael’s 12-year-old son, Brian Ellis, was on a bike alongside his brother and father and witnessed the event.

“Michael and Brian told me that Nolan was on the back of the bike,” Borza said. She added that they both said Nolan “had his helmet on.” Borza said she’s shared updates online as they come and when she’s able. “I believe in the power of prayer,” she said.

“While they focus on

healing, Brenna [Nolan’s mother] is staying in Boston with Nolan, trying to be by his side every moment she can while also caring for their family. The emotional toll is unimaginable, and the financial burden is growing every day,” Borza wrote in the GoFundMe post, which has raised more than $80,000, as of Wednesday, July 15, at 11 am. Oak Bluffs Police, Fire, and EMS personnel were dispatched to the entrance of the Island Inn and Nomans Restaurant at around 8 pm Thursday. Massachusetts State Police troopers from the Oak Bluffs barracks responded to the scene as well. Troopers for Crime Scene Services and the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section (CARS) assisted

3D Scanning & Modeling

with the investigation.

Massachusetts State Police stated Thursday that the injuries appeared to be “lifethreatening.”

According to the press release Friday, the 38-yearold male operator (now identified as Michael) of the electric dirt bike, described as “an electric-powered, dirt-bike style motorcycle” by emergency officials, and his son were transported initially to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The pair were then flown by the U.S. Coast Guard to Boston.

A preliminary investigation by state and local police revealed the operator of the pickup truck was traveling southwest on Sea View Avenue (toward State Beach from Oak Bluffs) and was attempting to “negotiate”

• “Across the Universe” will be at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on Wednesday, July 22, at 7:30 pm.

• “The Glorias” is on Tuesday, August 11, at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse at 7:30 pm. Both showings will be followed by talks by Taymor and Goldenthal, and McCoy will be joining them at “Across the Universe.”

• McCoy will also be performing a concert at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse on Wednesday, July 29, at 8 pm.

“Lucy’s trajectory in ‘Across the Universe,’ from a life destined to be a ‘trad wife’ into a politically active woman; Frida’s deeply political life; and ‘The Glorias,’” Goldenthal said. “The Glorias” speaks for itself, he said, in its outward message of women’s rights. “There’s this incredible internal fight, which is, how do we relate? How do we keep our love going?” Taymor said.

a right-hand turn into the parking lot of Nomans. The bike was traveling northeast on the shared-use path. The bike was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed when it collided with the front left corner of the pickup truck. Investigations remain ongoing.

“A thorough and comprehensive investigation into the factors surrounding this incident is actively underway. No information regarding potential criminal charges will be released until the investigation is concluded,” Searle said in the release. Police blocked off a large segment of the road near Nomans as they responded to the accident, turning away vehicles. One witness who was waiting in the line of cars, Gabrielle Whitcombe, said she’d “never seen so many EMS,” and offered prayers for the recovery of the patients.

Julie Taymor directing a scene in “Across the Universe.”

Nolan,

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JETSKI INSTRUCTORS / BOATCREW NEEDED FOR SUMMER 2026 AT MV OCEANSPORTS reat pa reat

MVCSISLANDWIDEYOUTH COLLABORATIVEEMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITIES:

ProgramDirector($73,000$88,000/year).

TheProgramDirectorwillleadthe IWYC,aMassachusettsFamily ResourceCenter.Responsibilities includeprogramoversight, designingandplanningtheIWYC program,supervisingstaff,working withLeadershiptodevelopprogram budgets,managingstateand federalcontractcompliance,and collaboratingwithcommunity partners.Someeveningand weekendhoursarerequired.SignOnBonusavailabletoemployeesin goodstanding! Quali cations:Bachelor’sdegree required(relevant eldpreferred) and1–3yearsofnonpro tprogram managementorleadership experience.Strongcommunication, leadership,andorganizationalskills required.Passionateabouthelping familiesthrive?Weencourageyou t oapplyat: mvcommunityservices.org/ employment

SchoolLiaison($23.00-$28.50/ hour)

TheSchoolLiaisonwillserveasa resourcetofamilies,schools,and thecommunity,connectingfamilies experiencingCRA-relatedissues withservicesandsupports. Responsibilitiesincludeproviding referrals,helpingdevelopFamily SupportPlans,maintainingfamily servicedata,meetingregularlywith Islandschools,andassistingwith IWYC/FRCprogrammingand events.Someeveningandweekend hoursarerequired.

Quali cations:Backgroundinsocial servicesoramentalhealthsetting preferred.Strongcommunication, organization,con dentiality,and collaborationskillsrequired.Valid MassachusettsDriver’sLicenseand reliabletransportationrequired. Applyat:mvcommunityservices.org/ employment

FELIX NECK IS HIRING! ti

MARTHA’S VINEYARD REGIONAL

HIGH SCHOOL

Seeking applicants for the following open coaching position

Assistant Cross Country Application of Support Staff can be found by visiting our website at: www. mvyps.org under Employment; forms r at the ce the perintendent of Schools, 4 Pine Street, Vineyard Haven, 02568 508-693-2009

Return completed application to the perintendent s ce Deadline: Until Position is Filled No person shall be excluded or discriminated against on the basis of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. EOE.

NOW HIRING MEDIA

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: JOIN OUR AWARD-WINNING TEAM!

We are seeking a driven, community-minded Account Executive to support our ad sales and marketing efforts. Help local businesses grow while supporting exceptional local journalism. Part-time (20 hrs/wk) with potential for full-time advancement. Primarily in-person with remote fle ibi it . $ 5 hr $ r p s b n s and commission potential. 1-2 years of sales or marketing experience preferred. To apply, email your resume to sean@mvtimes.com.

SCHOOL RECEPTIONIST & ENGLISH-PORTUGUESE TRANSLATOR

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School has an opening for a full-time r nt ce Recepti nist rans at r to start September 1, 2026. We are seeking a friendly, organized, bi in a individ a t this c bined position, serving as the school’s front desk receptionist while providing translation and interpretation services for students, families, and staff. petitive sa ar and bene ts provided. Please email a resume and

1

s t ce and full bathroom. Located right on Lagoon Pond Road, steps from 5 corners. Includes 2 parking spaces. $ 00 a chris 50 5 4 FURNISHED OFFICE SPACE VH 00 . itab e r ce se only. Includes conference room, 2 ces recepti n area. ti ities n t included. Includes 2 parking spaces. 508-221-0858.

COMMERCIAL SPACE

n 1 nin es e R ad

in VH. 1400-2100 SF available. Drive in access, heated with bathroom. (508)294-4261

APARTMENTS/ROOMS

STUNNING NON TOXIC (NO CARPET/NO MOLD) COMPLIMENTARY/MEDICAL/ OR OTHER RETAIL SPACE. 2000 sq.ft. West Tisbury across from Cronigs. Two full baths. Laundry. hree ces and h e centra space where 10 w r spaces c d t. ew appliances in Kitchen. Ample parking (15 cars) Coy pond. Outdoor space. $ 500 per nth r share 4500 with sin e d ct r. e t isa 10- 1 -54 . YEAR-ROUND ROOMS FOR RENT - GENTLEMEN PREFERRED Edgartown. 1,500 Per PersonYear-Round Washer and dryer. Shared bath, outside shower. No kitchen, small refrigerator. Outside grill, Walking Distance to the bus. No overnight guests, no alcohol, no drugs, no smoking on the property. mvhaven@yahoo.com YAMAHA UPRIGHT PIANO FOR SALE... Full upright, model U3, amazing! Delivery available August 2nd. We have a complete selection of acoustic and digital pianos available. www.eastcambridgepiano.com

YARD SALES

HUGE TAG SALE

JULY 17 & 18

FRI - SAT. 9 AM – 5 PM wnsi in c eanin t. Huge collection of beautiful glassware, serving pieces, dec ratin i t ivin . ve table linen, Victorian lace set, Victorian 3-glass-door collectible or bookcase cabinet, English pine dresser/buffet, Chinese inlay chair,

Jobs

letter of interest to Chris Nace, Director, atcnace@mvpcs.organd complete an application on our website atwww. MVPCS.org.

MVPCS LEARNING FACILITATOR

The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School has an opening for a Learning Facilitator in our special education department starting September 1, 2026. Please email resume, letter of interest, and completed application to Peter Steedman, Director, psteedman@ mvpcs.org. Applications can be found on the school website: mvpcs.org

TEMPORARY RECEPTIONIST/ ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Greet clients, answer phones, and pr vide basic ce assistance t the staff at the Dukes County Health are ccess ce. i in a pre erred (English/Portuguese).

Health Care Access Specialist- bilingual preferred. The Health Care Access Specialist provides public health insurance application and enrollment services for state and federal systems including MassHealth and Medicare. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required. r cienc with ice e ip ent MSO 365 and requisite software programs, ability to input/manage data and aintain c n dentia it required. Must be able to work independently and be a positive team member in our busy multicultural ea th are ccess ce. 40-h r week position, Portuguese- and or panish-spea in he p . ene ts include a competitive salary; health insurance; discounted dental plan; and a full retirement package based on years of service. Dukes County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Full job descriptions and job application available at https://www.dukescounty.gov/ employment-opportunities Send letter of interest to manager@ dukescounty.gov

TheCapeandIslandsDistrict Attorney'sOfficeservesallofthe peopleoftheCapeandIslands withofficesinBarnstable,Orleans, Falmouth,Edgartownand Nantucket. Weareseekingafull-timeVictim WitnessAdvocatetoworkMonday throughFriday8:30am-4:30pmin ourEdgartowno ce.Thisisaninpersonpositionandprior experienceispreferredbutnot required.Pleasesendcoverletter andresumetocpihumanresources@mass.govand/or visitourwebsiteformore informationathttps:// capeandislandsda.gov/

TICK STUDY DATA COLLECTOR h rt-ter appr . wee s. i diversityWorks seeks reliable, detail-oriented e d w r ers t st d tic spra e ects n artha s ine ard. i background helpful but will train the right person. Variable hours, must be on-Island and have reliable car. For details, email resume to mpelikan@ biodiversitworksmv.org or visit biodiversityworksmv.org/work-with-us

TISBURY COMMITTEE

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The Town of Tisbury is seeking Tisbury residents to serve on the Council on Aging and Spring building committee. Please submit letter of interest including address, experience and knowledge that would be bene cia t the c ittee t the isb r e ect ard ce attenti n en atche b 5th. 1239 Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 or email jgatchell@tisburyma.gov.

Classifieds

ish d b e sin e r c ers ch re. seh d ite s books, fabric, jewelry, guy stuff. Too much to list! Everything must go. Don’t miss this great sale! 11 hns a a s Vineyard Ave. Follow signs. 508696-9523

ARTICLES FOR SALE

DELOREAN FOLDING E-BIKE rand ew. st se st h sin . R n flat tire. $1 100. - 4 -0 .

FORSALE-MVMADOMAINS Edgartown.com,Tisbury.com, GayHead.com,OakBluffs.com Chappaquiddick.com, EastChop.com,....

FOR SALE: E-BIKE MODEL OUXI-V8 st $ 50 nditi n rand new mint Interested? Call Wolf! 0 1 - 4

ISMJEWELGUARDSAFE TL-30HighLevelSecurityRating Approx2’x2’x2’ $500orBestOffer ContactTedat202-329-6399or emailted@eascolaw.com

VINTAGE PAINTINGS BY

ISLAND ARTIST S MV Vintage Fair Posters, framed/ unframed, some out-of-print; Maritime and other Artifacts, etc.; text for photos: 860-391-1893.

AUTO SALES

2000 MERCEDES ML430 SUV i e ce ent c nditi n. $ 500. call 508-360-8822.

2018 SHELBY GT350R

Lead Foot Grey (1 of 5 this color produced), 1400 miles, not tracked, fully documented, showroom condition. (508)294-4261.

2004JEEPWRANGLER INGOODCONDITION. 118,029miles.Standard transmission,5gears,four-wheeldrive.Redexteriorandblack interiorwithsoft,removabletop. Hasawinchandsnorkel.Priceis $9,000.Availabletopickupon Martha'sVineyardafterLabor Day.617-905-8076

TOWN OF TISBURY IS LOOKING FOR A RECEPTIONIST AT THE COUNCIL ON AGING. art ti e nbene ted p siti n pa rate $ 1.0 -$ . c ens rate with experience. Under supervision of the Council on Aging Director. Some duties include Answering phones, scheduling, using my senior center. For more information contact the Council on Aging 508 696 4205. Please submit application found on the town website www.tisburyma.gov/ towndepartments/humanresources. pen nti ed. wn isb r is an EOE.

TOWN OF TISBURY IS LOOKING FOR AN ASSISTANT ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICER. MUST WORK WEEKENDS. art ti e nbene ted p siti n pa rate $ .1 - $ . c ens rate with experience. Under general supervisi n the ni a ntr cer. Some duties include Enforcing state and local Animal Control laws, issue warnings and citations, Aide and or transport injured animals, respond to complaints. Please submit application found on the town website www. tisbury.ma.gov/town departments/huan res rces. pen nti ed. wn of Tisbury is an EOE.

VINEYARD SCRIPTS IS HIRING A YEAR-ROUND CERTIFIED PHARMACY TECHNICIAN

Pay commensurate with experience. 11 each Rd. . ease st p by for an application or email your resume to vineyard.scripts@gmail. com.

SEEKING CAREGIVER

Seeking a compassionate and dependable caregiver for approximately 5–6 hours per day. Responsibilities include assisting with dressing, bathing, and light housekeeping. References are required. Competitive compensation offered. Please call ac ie at 1 - 1 r re information.

1999AQUASPORT21.5 Dualconsoleingoodcondition, activelyinuse,withonlyminor scratchestothedecals.Powered bya2006YamahaF225TXR outboardwithjust700hours.A solid,ready-to-runboatfor anyonelookingtogetoutonthe waterwithoutneedingtosink moneyintorepairs.

SERVICES MY HANDYMAN

SERVICES/PROPERTY PAINT, DUMP RUN, TILE/STONE WORK, CARPENTRY, WINDOWS/ DOORS, SHINGLES, GUTTER CLEANUP, DECK REJUVENATE, POWER R R R erti ed d nspect r Re ediat r COURT CLEANING, French Drain Installation. 508-684-0242., RENATO myhandymaninmv@gmail.com

Real Estate

$1,245,000MARILYNMOSES617462-0381OCEANPARKREALTY, OAKBLUFFSCLASSICCAPE Charmmeetsmoderne ciencyin thismove-in-ready3-bedroom home.Thoughtfullymaintainedand beautifullypresented,thehome featuressun- lledlivingspaces,an updatedkitchen,andcomfortable bedroomsdesignedforeasy everydayliving.Enjoyyear-round comfortwithenergy-e cientminisplitsystemsprovidingbothheating andairconditioning,offeringcosteffectiveclimatecontrolinevery season.The nishedbasement addsvaluablebonusspaceidealfor amediaroom,homeo ceor workoutroomgivingyouthe flexibilityto tyourlifestyle. Outside,aprivateyardoffersthe perfectsettingforrelaxingor entertaining.Awonderful opportunityforayear-round residence,vacationgetaway,or investment...thisclassicCape blendstimelessstylewithmodern upgrades.

$2,250,000MARILYNMOSES OCEANPARKREALTY 617-462-0381 NEWCONSTRUCTION WelcometoLagoonRidge,Oak Bluffs’newestandmostsoughtafterneighborhood.Buildyour3bedroomdreamhomeinthis elevatedenclave,set95feetabove LagoonPondandcapturing sweepingskyviews,colorful sunsets,andrefreshingsea breezes.Thisexceptionalhomesite representsoneofthe nal opportunitiesinthisthrivingnew community.Tobebuilt—The Naushon—features3bedrooms, 3.5bathrooms,andover2,400 squarefeetofthoughtfullydesigned livingspace.Agrandwrap-around coveredporchprovidesawelcoming entryandtheperfectplacetoenjoy morningcoffeeorcoolevening breezes.Inside,theopen-concept floorplanconnectsthechef’s kitchenwithspaciouslivingand diningareas,idealforentertaining familyandfriends.Eachbedroom suiteincludesatileden-suitebath withcustomizable xturesand nishes,andthesecond-floorsuites mayofferprivatebalconiesfor addedrelaxation.ClassicOakBluffs cottagearchitecturemeetsmodern comfortandenergye ciency, makingTheNaushonanidealyearroundorseasonalretreat.Lagoon Ridgeoffersdirectaccessto conservationlandswithwalkingand bikingtrails,andnearbyLagoon Pondinviteskayaking,sailing,and shell shing.Allutilities—electric, townwater,andaprivate,state-ofthe-artAmphidromewastewater system—arelocatedatthestreet. Thisinnovativesystemservesthe entireneighborhood,providing convenienceandpeaceofmind. LagoonRidgeisacovenantprotectedcommunitywith architecturalreviewand professionalmanagementbyFirst PropertyManagementCo.This beautifulhomesiteisreadyforthe constructionofyourVineyarddream home.Elevenlotshavesold—only tworemainavailable.Callfor details!

CLASSICOAKBLUFFSVICTORIAN

$2,575,000MARILYNMOSES 617-462-0381

OCEANPARKREALTY,INC

Builtin1875byrenownedarchitect SamuelPratt,thisclassic4bedroomVictorianisjustoneblock fromthebeachandmomentstothe harbor,ferries,shops,and restaurants.Enjoywaterviewsfrom themahoganywrap-aroundporch andprivatebalcony.Historiccharm iscomplementedbythoughtful updates,includingmini-splitheating andcooling,Harveyreplacement windows,arebuiltmahoganyporch, newerroof,updatedelectrical, outdoorshower,andtownwaterand sewer. Establishedrentalhistorywith2026 bookingsinplace.Partially

$1,795,000

Nestledattheendofaquietstreet, thisroomyandspaciousCape-style homeoffersprivacyand conveniencejustashortdistanceto theOakBluffsSchool,towncenter, andwithinwalkingdistancetothe Lagoon. Sun- lledmainlevelwithopen floor plan,largewindows,andagenerous kitchenwithamplecounterspace, openingtothediningarea.Sliders leadtoabackdeck,yard,and bluestonepatio..perfectfor entertainingorrelaxing. Radiantheated floorsintheprimary suiteandlower-levelplayroom.Twocargaragewithbonusspaceabove. Beautifulstoneworkdriveway. Updatedfurnace(2020)andwater heater(2024).

$1,395,000

CALLORTEXTALANSCHWEIKERT 508-221-1708ORMICHAEL SCHWEIKERT774-563-9112 OCEANPARKREALTY

ThisexquisiteVictorianhome, lovinglypreservedbythesame familyforoverageneration,stands inoutstandingconditionandis perfectlysituatedinthevibrant heartofOakBluffsCenter.Enjoythe convenienceofbeingjuststeps awayfromthePublicBeach, SteamshipAuthority,OakBluffs Harbor,asupermarket,andavariety ofcharmingrestaurantsandshops thatcontributetoOakBluffs'allure asapremiersummerdestinationon Martha'sVineyard.Thisdelightful three-seasoncottagehasbeen carefullymodernizedovertheyears, offeringarareinvestment opportunity.Locatedwithinthe highlysought-afterB1Zone,this residencehasbeencherishedasa familyhomewhilealsoprovidingthe potentialforcommercialendeavors. Thepropertyfeaturesawelldesigned floorplanthatincludes fourbedrooms-oneconveniently locatedonthe rst floor-alongwith afullbathroom,twohalfbathrooms, alaundrystoragearea,aneat-in kitchen,andacozylivingroom.The homeisadornedwithstunning wood flooringthroughout,brightand a iryroomswithoriginalwindows,a newhotwaterondemandsystem, andacharmingfrontporch,perfect forleisurelyafternoons.Withits fourbedroomsandprimein-town location,thispropertyoffers substantialrentalpotential,making itanexceptionalopportunityfor bothpersonalenjoymentand investment.

OAKBLUFFSWATERVIEWLOT FORSALE

$1,200,000

CALLORTEXTReneBenDavid's

Cell508-847-4864

OCEANPARKREALTY

Welcometo#0TemahiganAve& DoverStreet,OakBluffs.BuildYour Martha’sVineyardDreamHome. Rareopportunitytoownalevel, clearedcornerlotindesirableOak Bluffs,withpavedroadsbordering twosides,readyforconstructionof yourMartha’sVineyarddream home.Approvedforupto6 bedrooms,thisexceptionalproperty includesanapproved6-bedroom septicdesign,withroomfora possiblefuturepool.Locatedinthe sought-afterEastvillearea,where manyhomesenjoybeautifulwater views,thislotoffersthepotentialto capturestunningviewsofVineyard Soundandbeyondfroma thoughtfullydesignedhome.Create a customresidencethatembraces allthebeautyandlifestyleMartha’s Vineyardhastooffer.Enjoyashort walktoEastvilleBeach,whereyou cantakeinspectacularsunsets, watchtheferriescomeandgo,and experiencethecharmofisland living.Justashortdriveaway,you’ll haveaccesstoeverythingthat makesOakBluffssospecial— additionalbeaches,shell shing, swimming,boating,andthevibrant energyofCircuitAvenue,featuring boutiqueshopping,diverse restaurants,andconvenientferry servicetoandfromtheislandvia theiconicOakBluffsHarborand nearbyports.Thisismorethanjust land—it’sanopportunitytocreate somethingtrulyspecial.Don’tjust dreamit—makeitreality.Owninga pieceofMartha’sVineyardisan investmentinalifestyleyou’llnever regret.Pleaseincludeapreapproval orproofoffundswithoffer.Selleris offeringabuyersbroker consideration.

IMPROVEDPRICE:$1,795,000** CONTACTMARILYNMOSESAT 617-462-0381FORMORE DETAILS! OCEANPARKREALTY

Discoverthebeautyof**THE PRESERVEatTHEWOODLANDS** inthehighlycovetedOakBluffs community!Thisisyourchanceto ownoneofthelastremaining buildinglotsinthisprimelocation, justmomentsawayfromtown, beaches,harbor,ferryports,andthe FarmNeckGolf&TennisClub. Undergroundutilitiesarealreadyin place,makingthisrareoffering perfectfordevelopingyourdream familycompound.Enjoyapeaceful andprivatesetting,surroundedby conservationlandandtrailsidealfor hiking,walking,andbiking. Don’tmissoutonthisincredible opportunitytoembracetheOak Bluffslifestyle!

SOLDFULLPRICEIN5DAYS!!

$895,000CALL ORTEXTMARILYNMOSES

617-462-0381

Charmingyear-roundrenovated Victoriancottageinthehistoric Martha’sVineyardCampMeeting Association,locatedintheheartof WesleyanGroveinOakBluffs.This 3-bedroom,1-bathhomefeatures shiplapwalls,knottypineceilings, originalwood flooring,andsun- lled interiorsthroughout.Theupdated kitchenoffersquartzcountertops,a farmhousesink,stylishlighting,and newerenergy-e cientappliances. ImprovementsincludeMarvinwood windows,anewerroof,hotwater tank,andenergy-e cientheat pumpsforACandheat.Enjoya welcomingfrontporchwithcolorful gardensandaslatepatiowith fencedgardenspaceforoutdoor diningandrelaxing.Juststepsto CircuitAvenue,OakBluffsHarbor, andnearbybeaches.

Real Estate

WESTTISBURY

NEWLISTING INEASTCHOPOAKBLUFFS MARILYNMOSES

617-462-0381

$1,199,000.52ACRES

66MunroeAvenueand17Madison AvenueOakBluffsEastChop~Build yourcustomislandretreatin covetedEastChoponthisoveronehalfacreparcel.Offeringthe potentialfora6+bedroom residence,thisexceptionalhomesite includesatopographicmapand featuresexpansivegroundsthat mayaccommodateapool,subject tolocalapprovals.Ideallylocated justminutesfromtheEastChop BeachClub,OakBluffsHarbor, beaches,ferries,restaurants,shops, andvibrantdowntownOakBluffs. Buyersshouldperformtheirown duediligencewiththeappropriate townagenciestoverifyall informationregardingbuilding requirements,approvalsand

SOLD PRICEADJUSTMENT,NOW

$2,600,000 COMMERCIALB-2OR RESIDENTIAL OFFEREDBYRENE’BENDAVID/ REALTOR®,OCEANPARK REALTYINC. 23CircuitAveExtension Cell508-847-4864

SOLD NEWLISTINGINOAKBLUFFS

$968,750 ALANSCHWEIKERT OCEANPARKREALTY

508-221-1708

NEW LISTING IN EAST CHOP

NEWLISTING$1,399,000

CallorTextMarilynMoses 617-462-0381

3 bedrooms/1bathroom,Rare OpportunitywithEndless Possibilities–UnmatchedHarbor& VineyardSoundViews.Location, Location,Location!Atrulyrare offeringintheheartofOakBluffs, wherepropertieslikethisseldom becomeavailable.Positioned directlyacrossfromtheiconicOak BluffsHarbor,thispropertyboasts unobstructedharborviewsand sweepingvistasofVineyardSound— asettingthatcapturestheverybest ofislandliving.Fromyourfrontyard, watchferriescomeandgo,boats driftthroughtheharbor,andenjoy thestunningbackdropofopen waterstretchingtowardVineyard Sound.Thisisapropertythatputs yourightinthemiddleofeverything, whilestillofferingthecharmand characterofaclassicislandhome. ZonedB-2Commercial,the opportunitiesaretrulyendless. Continuethelegacyofasuccessful tourist-orientedbusinesslikethe longtimeAndersonBikeRentals, createanewcommercialventure,or reimaginethepropertyasyour personaldreamhome.Whetheryou renovatetheexistingstructureor buildfromthegroundup,you’ll bene tfromoneofthemostvisible andvibrantlocationsinOakBluffs. Walktoeverything—ferries,beaches, themarina,restaurants,movies, shopping,OceanParkconcerts,the OB shingpier,andthebelovedOak BluffsFireworks.Thisisamust-see, legacypropertywithrarepotentialin a locationthatcan’tbebeat.Very easytoshow.Pre-approvalorproof offundsrequiredwithalloffers.

OAK BLUFFS MARILYN MOSES 617-462-0381 $1,199,000 .52 acres 66 Munroe Avenue and 17 Madison Avenue Oak Bluffs East Chop~Build your custom island retreat in coveted East Chop on this over one-half acre parcel. Offering the potential for a 6 + bedroom residence, this exceptional homesite includes a topographic map and features expansive grounds that may accommodate a pool, subject to local approvals. Ideally located just minutes from the East Chop Beach Club, Oak Bluffs Harbor, beaches, ferries, restaurants, shops, and vibrant downtown Oak Bluffs. Buyers should perform their own due diligence with the appropriate town agencies to verify all information regarding building requirements, approvals and intended use. All offers should include proof of funds.

HAVEN

HOUSES-VINEYARD

Coastalcontemporaryresidenceis locatedonaprivate1.60-acrelotin WestTisbury,withconvenient accesstoLongPointWildlife Refugeandaccessto"Coveted" Lambert'sCoveBeach.Thehome featuresfourbedroomsandtwofull bathrooms.Onthe rst floor,you'll ndtwobrightbedrooms,a modernizedbathroom,andsliders fromthelivingareathatleadtoa newAZEKdeckandenclosed fencedgardens,perfectforoutdoor enjoyment.Theopen floorplan includesattractivebeadboard ceilingsthatcreateasenseof spaceandlight.Recentupgrades featurearemodeledkitchenwitha tiledbacksplash,granite countertops,andanLGinduction stovealongwithmatching stainless-steelappliances.The rstfloorbathroomhasbeenfully renovatedwithatiledshowerand glassdoor,tiled floor,newtoilet, vanity/mirror,rainfallshowerhead, andallnewhardware.Additional updatesincludeanewerroof,Azek windowtrim,anoutdoorshower enclosure,andgutterswithleaf guards.Thebasementhasa9-foot ceilingwithfourwindows,providing potentialforfurther nishingwith townapproval.Otherimprovements includeupdatedplumbingand electricalsystems,anewwell pressuretank,newCulliganWater FiltrationandConditioningsystem, andaGeneracwhole-house generatorinstalledin2022.

OakBluffs:HomeSweetHome Situatedonoveraquarteracreof beautifullylandscaped,level groundswithcolorfulperennial plantingsandmaturetrees,this sun- lledranchoffersaperfect blendofcomfortandcharm.The openkitchen,dining,andliving areasfeaturecathedralceilings, classicverticalknottypinewalls, andacozybrick replace.Enjoya convenient rst-floorbedroomanda spacioussecond-floorprimary bedroomwithaprivatedeck.The nishedbasementprovides additionallivingorhobbyspace. Updatesincludea2017oilburner andRothoiltank.Aninviting outdoorshowercompletesthiswellmaintainedhome,offeredfurnished andreadyforyourpersonal touches. Locatedinaquietresidential neighborhoodclosetoallthatOak Bluffshastooffer.

BargainBox

no trailer. 508-627-2139. FREE Eight foot church table. Two 64 inch love seats with pillows and slip covers. A camelback couch needing a seat cover. 508-939-0314

HOOVER: POWER DASH RUG-CLEANER Needs power switch or pedal; or Steam Vac Spin-Scrub, needs trigger-switch. Handyman needed to repair or, free for-the-taking. csepp@comcast.net

NEW CHEAP SHEERS In box. Brand: GDjob. 550 watts. $60. 508-939-1414 - text. NEW Men’s Work grade hi-vis rain jacket with reflective bands.-$40. Rain pants with reflective bands.-$15. csepp@comcast.net to see/ pictures.

SOLD$2,400,000MarilynMoses 617-462-0381,Michael Schweikert774-563-9112,Alan Schweikert508—221-1708 15MainStreetVineyardHaven $2,900,000 PrimeCommercialBuilding–Main Street,VineyardHavenExceptional opportunityintheheartof downtownVineyardHaven.This well-maintainedmixed-useproperty offersover3,100sqftofversatile space,featuringtwoground-floor retailstorefrontswithexcellent streetvisibilityandtwoupdated1bedroomapartmentsabove—ideal forstaffhousingorrentalincome.A fullbasementprovides flexible storageorutilityspace,anddeeded rearaccessallowsfordeliveriesand logisticalease.Recentupdates includeplumbingimprovementsand afullyrenovatedapartment. Whetheryou'reaninvestorseeking steadyincome,abusinessowner lookingfora flagshiplocation,ora developerexploringmixed-use potential,thispropertydelivers exceptionalvalueinoneofMartha’s Vineyard’smostdesirable commercialcorridors.

HOUSES-OAK

Oak Bluffs votes to join regional water protection fund

The town is the first on the Vineyard to join the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund.

BY EUNKI SEONWOO

Oak Bluffs is now flush with funds to augment its wastewater system after becoming the first town to join the Cape and Islands Water Protection Fund.

At a special joint meeting of the Oak Bluffs Select Board and the Oak Bluffs Wastewater Commission last Tuesday, board members unanimously approved joining the fund, which was created in 2018.

The fund pools money for member municipalities’ water-related projects, such as expansions to wastewater treatment plants or improving water quality. It was first established to help Cape Cod towns, all 15 of which are fund members, address the region’s need for wastewater infrastructure and degraded water quality.

The funds are sourced from a 2.75 percent excise tax on short-term rentals and hotels, which places a partial burden of funding the region’s water projects on visitors, a population that typically increases in the summer months. Oak Bluffs wouldn’t have been able to add this additional excise tax without becoming a member, since it already hit the local excise tax limit of 6 percent, which is

in addition to the state excise tax of 5.75 percent.

Among Island towns, Oak Bluffs is at the forefront of expanding its wastewater capacity. The work is based on the town’s comprehensive wastewater management plan, a multiphase initiative that is estimated to cost $105 million over 30 years. Though this includes the amount some people will need to pay for septic system upgrades, it doesn’t reflect the total amount the town will pay.

A large contributor to pond degradation is from excessive buildup of nitrogen, which can be found in human waste. While nitrogen is a necessary nutrient for aquatic plants and algae, too much can lead to toxic cyanobacteria blooms. This led to a push by the state to get more property owners to replace their septic systems with innovative and advanced (I/A) systems for better wastewater management.

Oak Bluffs officials at the meeting were wary of the large, looming projects the town faces, so they are pressing to fund increases to the town’s wastewater capacity, which also helps limit the amount of nitrogen that enters into the watersheds. Included in the upcoming

projects is a new campus for Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School that is expected to start construction next summer, and Green Villa, a 116-unit housing development, approved by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in May in a split decision.

Green Villa’s site abuts Tackenash Knoll, a 60-unit Island Housing Trust project already under construction.

While town officials went over the details of joining the fund, the consensus was that while residents of some areas may pay more than others, such as those who become newly attached to the municipal system, it would ultimately save the town and taxpayers money.

“Everybody means everybody. It means the hospital. It means the rest of the Campgrounds. It means everybody else,” Dion Alley, select board chair, said.

Cassandra Bowler, wastewater commissioner, said joining the fund is estimated to save the town $17 million in the long run. The fund can subsidize 25 percent of qualifying projects over $1 million, and 50 percent for qualifying smaller projects. Oak Bluffs also has a $23.3 million state revolving fund, a low-interest

Legal Notices

WEST TISBURY ZONING

Public Hearing

Martha’s Vineyard Commission

The public is invited to a public hearing concerning the following Development of Regional Impact #694-M2 Caleb Prouty House Demolition

Applicant: Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC; Geoghan Coogan (Agent)

Location: 15 Cromwell Lane, Vineyard Haven. Map 7-F, Lot 7 (0.171 acres).

Proposal: Demolition of a Greek Revival house built circa 1838 listed in MACRIS with no replacement structure proposed

Date & Time: Thursday, July 23, 2023 at 6:35 p.m.

Place: Hybrid Meeting MVC Office - 1 st Floor, 33 New York Ave, Oak Bluffs, MA and Zoom Meeting ID: 874 5304 8704; Password: 545639

The application and plans are available on the MVC website. Written testimony may be submitted prior to or during the hearing. Check for updates on the online calendar.

LEGAL NOTICES W. TISBURY

WEST TISBURY ZONING

BOARD OF APPEALS

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

On Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 5:15pm the ZBA will hold a public hearin at the - nd fl r meeting room on an application for a Special Permit from Steven Katz and Iris Gold to allow the operation of a seasonal chiropractic and acupuncture home occupation in a 12’x16’ gazebo to be erected and attached to a plywood platform under Section 8.5-1 of the West Tisbury Zoning Bylaw at 46 Buttonwood Farm Rd., Map 8 Lot 14.2, in the RU district.

Interested parties are invited to send comments via email to: zba@westtisbury-ma.gov or mail comments to: Zoning Board of Appeals, PO Box 278, West Tisbury, MA 02575. Please call 508-696-0107 for information on the application.

BOARD OF APPEALS

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

On Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 5:30pm the ZBA will hold a public hearin at the - nd fl r meeting room on an application for a Special Permit from Vineyard Land Surveying & Engineering, Inc. on behalf of Everett K. Bramhall to allow the construction of a 16’x34.5’ inground swimming pool and hot tub under Section 8.5-4C of the West Tisbury Zoning Bylaw at 35 Forest Rd., Map 14 Lot 6, in the RU district.

Interested parties are invited to send comments via email to: zba@westtisbury-ma.gov or mail comments to: Zoning Board of Appeals, PO Box 278, West Tisbury, MA 02575. Please call 508-696-0107 for information on the application.

LEGAL NOTICES OAK BLUFFS

Cottage City Historic District Commission

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Wednesday August 12, 2026 at 5:15 PM

RE: 34 Massasoit Ave Map 11 Parcel 43 Iman Farrior

This is a HYBRID meeting with both in person & Zoom participation available. The meeting will be held in the downstairs meeting room at the Oak Bluffs Town Hall, 56 School Street, Oak Bluffs MA or Join Zoom Meeting https://oakbluffs.zoom.us/ j/86490473241?pwd=Z5a7OFPA8p2WyC4PGvkObMaQikstRr.1 Meeting ID: 864 9047 3241 Passcode: 140692

Remove existing 2-story rear portion of house, construct a new, larger 2-story addition per plans. Replace all windows and doors (except in front gable & side of entry) with Norwood Historic Double Hung windows with white exterior. New French

door to be custom made of Mahogany or similar. Cedar shingles to be natural.

R n shin es to be asphalt to match existing.

r p sed p ans are n e in the i ding Department at Town Hall. Written correspondence can be addressed to:

Cottage City Historic District Commission PO Box 1327, Oak Bluffs MA– 02557 email: buildingadmin@ oakbluffsma.gov

LEGAL NOTICES EDGARTOWN

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

EDGARTOWN CONSERVATION COMMISSION

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 4:30

p.m. the Edgartown Conservation Commission will hold a hearing via Zoom on a Request for Deterinati n pp icabi it ed b Robert Moriarty (MMV) on behalf of Stephen Turner under the Edgartown Wetlands Protection Bylaw. The applicant is seeking permission to construct a pool in the buffer to the fl d p ain.

The property is located at 39 Slough Cove Road (AP Map 44, Lot 12.2).

For a copy of the application or for questions related to participating in the meeting via Zoom, please contact: conservation@edgartown-ma.us

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

EDGARTOWN CONSERVATION COMMISSION

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 4:35 p.m. the Edgartown Conservation Commission will hold a hearing via Zoom on a Request for Determination pp icabi it ed b R bert riart (MMV) on behalf of Edward Jepson under the Edgartown Wetlands Protection Bylaw and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. The applicant is seeking permission to temporarily mow a grass path to safely access the property’s pier.

The property is located at 81 South Water Street (AP Map 21B, Lot 14).

loan for municipal projects, that the protection fund can help cover.

“We’ve been, ‘Oh no,’ [in] O.B. forever,” Bowler said of the limited availability of wastewater. “It’d be nice to go, ‘Yeah, you can.’” Even if the town doesn’t get as much back as was put in through the excise tax, Oak Bluffs officials noted this was an investment into future projects, or as wastewater commissioner Thomas Hallahan put it, a “good neighbor fund.”

Expansion of the wastewater facilities include adding nearly 400 homes to the Lagoon Pond neighborhood connected to the municipal system. While the new members would pay for the upgrades over time, the amount will be lower if the town split the costs with the protection fund.

Oak Bluffs would also have access to a large library and a cohort of municipal officials to consult for questions through the fund. The town still has a variety of tasks to accomplish, including codifying data on who uses wastewater and setting forums to educate residents on the timeline and updated cost estimates.

For a copy of the application or for questions related to participating in the meeting via Zoom, please contact: conservation@edgartown-ma.us

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING EDGARTOWN CONSERVATION COMMISSION

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 4:40 p.m. the Edgartown Conservation Commission will hold a hearing via n a tice ntent ed b George Sourati (SEG) and Barbara Lampson (BLLD) on behalf of 55 The Blvd LLC under the Edgartown Wetlands Protection Bylaw and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. The applicant is seeking permission for after-the-fact permitting of two reconstructed decks and of on-going renovations of an existing single family residence, and the installation and maintenance of plantings and hardscape.

The property is located at 59 The Boulevard (AP Map 12A, Lot 59.2). For a copy of the application or for questions related to participating in the meeting via Zoom, please contact: conservation@edgartown-ma.us

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING EDGARTOWN CONSERVATION COMMISSION

On Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 4:45 p.m. the Edgartown Conservation Commission will hold a hearing via Zoom n a tice ntent ed b Richard Johnson on behalf of Katie Ryan under the Edgartown Wetlands Protection Bylaw and the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. The applicant is seeking permission to remove non-native species and conduct view pruning on a coastal bank. he pr pert is cated at 0 itch e d Road (AP Map 30, Lot 231). For a copy of the application or for questions related to participating in the meeting via Zoom, please contact:

A busy day at courthousethe

Numerous ongoing cases were heard at the Dukes County Superior Court last week.

Numerous ongoing cases continued their hearings at the Dukes County Superior Court in Edgartown on Wednesday, June 8, including those involving a manslaughter suspect, alleged cocaine and fentanyl traffickers, a former select board candidate charged with rape, and individuals who allegedly were in possession of largecapacity firearms.

Among the cases last week was a superior court motion hearing for Macaleer Schilcher, 41, who has a final trial conference scheduled for Oct. 5. A jury trial was also scheduled for him on Oct. 26.

Schilcher was indicted by a grand jury in Dec. 2024 on four counts of rape. According to superior court documents, the motion sought cell phone location information from the alleged victim, which would reveal the location of the alleged victim throughout the alleged incident that occurred in 2019.

“If the cell site location information still exists — and I recognize, as does the defendant, that is a long shot — the records are potentially relevant and, depending on the alleged victim’s testimony, potentially exculpatory and useful for impeachment,” Superior Court Judge Peter B. Krupp wrote in court documents.

BY MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES

In July 2025, Schilcher violated one of the conditions of his release by sitting behind his victim in an empty courtroom. Schilcher’s attorney argued that it was a textbook case of incidental violation, and Schilcher spent the night at the Dukes County Correctional Facility.

Schilcher ran for the Tisbury Select Board in 2023.

Another notable case heard in Edgartown last week was for Aimee Cotton, 42, who has both ongoing criminal and civil cases. She was charged with manslaughter for an incident in 2025 that allegedly resulted in the death of an infant in her care.

At a status review hearing, Cotton’s criminal case attorney, Harrison T. Barrow, proposed a motion to change the venue of her criminal case to Barnstable Superior Court, which was approved by Judge Krupp. Both Barrow and Assistant District Attorney Courtney Scalice agreed the change would help get more frequent court dates.

Cotton’s civil attorney, Marielise Kelly, also submitted a motion on Wednesday that resulted in a pause of a civil case against Cotton. Kelly said continuing with discovery in the civil case brought against Cotton by Julie and Matthew Rodenbaugh, parents of Frankie Rodenbaugh, who allegedly died due to her negligence,

would violate Cotton’s constitutional rights while her ongoing criminal case for manslaughter continued.

Many of the other cases that were processed last Wednesday were status reviews or motion hearings with limited action taken.

A status review was held for the case against the Viera family.

In August of 2025, Travis J. Viera, 26, was arrested by the Oak Bluffs Police as he entered Oak Bluffs from the Steamship Authority ferry. According to police, officers allegedly recovered a kilogram of cocaine, estimated to be worth around $100,000, after searching him and his motorcycle. According to police reports, investigators learned of a joint effort among members of the Viera family to recover a backpack containing cocaine by monitoring phone calls made to Viera by his family as he was in custody. Although police didn’t recover the cocaine bag after searching vehicles and executing search warrants at the suspect’s homes, Viera’s family, including Nicholas C. Viera, 36, David M. Viera, 57, and Jessica Donahue, 34, were indicted by a grand jury in November of 2025 for conspiracy to violate drug laws, acting as accessories after the fact, and committing interference with a police officer.

All three pleaded not guilty at a superior court hearing on Feb. 18 and are currently released on personal recognizance. Travis Viera, however, remains in the Dukes County Correctional Facility. Travis Viera was scheduled for a change of plea hearing Oct. 5 during his status review hearing last week. A trial assignment conference, where they will assign a trial day, and motion hearing are scheduled on Oct. 9 for alleged accessories to Travis: Nicholas, David, and Jessica. Jordan Dwayne Creech, 30, and Christine Anthony Kurth, 60, were also brought before the superior court for trafficking over 100 grams of what was believed by officers to be pressed fentanyl.

According to district court documents, Martha’s Vineyard Drug Task Force detectives witnessed Kurth parked in front of the Steamship Authority on Water Street in Vineyard Haven. Creech was seen getting into the front passenger seat of Kurth’s vehicle, court documents stated.

According to the report, Kurth let Creech out after

Island man breaks own record as world’s fastest kitesurfer for one mile

Rob Douglas earned his eighth world record in La Palme, France. BY

NICHOLAS VUKOTA

Rob Douglas, one of the Island’s most notable figures in watersports, has always been drawn to the ocean’s high-speed winds. Douglas, 55, set a new world record for the top kitesurfing speed on July 1 in La Palme, France.

The record marks Douglas’ eighth world record in kitesurfing. Douglas averaged 42.75 knots (49.10 mph) over a one-nautical-mile open-water course at Plage du Rouet during the Prince of Speed world record attempt.

“I’m super-lucky to be able to continue to compete at my age, at 55 years old,” Douglas said.

But what he said is more valuable than any record, or

the joy of competing, is seeing his 8-year-old son, Robert Douglas III, fall in love with the sport, too.

“He has taken an interest in the sport. Being able to continue to compete and see him interested and getting him on his path has probably been the biggest joy I’m receiving,” Douglas said in an interview with The Times. “Being able to pass that down to an excited son, who wants to visit France and kitesurf, that’s the biggest plus that’s come out of continuing to compete.”

Douglas said he previously thought of taking a step back from competing as he was getting older, but changed his mind because he was still

having fun and continues to feel healthy.

“I’ve been doing it since 1987, so it’s just a continuation of doing what I love to do,” Douglas said. “For some reason, windy conditions have always been very attractive to me, I just really enjoy it.”

Douglas said he’s traveled to La Palme to compete since 2011, and he has set a new record in the mile four times now, in 2019, 2023, 2025, and now 2026.

On July 1, in France, Douglas said the forecast was perfect. It was on his very first run of the day that he set the record.

“We saw a good forecast and went over there, and I got it on the first run, which is crazy,”

Douglas said. “Usually it takes the first couple runs to get the feeling back — I thought it would come later in the day.”

High winds and calm waters create the perfect conditions to travel as fast as possible: The force of the wind pulls the kite away from the beach, and the weight of the kitesurfer, with his body angled low, pulls back toward the beach. “Primarily, we call it ‘square condition,’” Douglas said. “It creates a lot of wind in the kite, and a lot of pressure in the body, and it just comes with sailing windy conditions.”

Douglas said on-Island, he typically uses kites that are nine to 10 square meters, and when chasing records, the

driving around the parking lot. Detectives who believed they had just witnessed a drug transaction conducted a traffic stop on Kurth, and recovered several blue pills, which officers said in the report they believed to be pressed fentanyl.

The pills were weighed in excess of 100 grams. Kurth was arrested, and Creech was arrested on the ferry before it left. Officers believe Creech delivered the drugs to Kurth, according to court documents. Creech and Kurth had status reviews at the courthouse on Wednesday last week and have motion hearings scheduled for Aug. 4 for at the Dukes County Superior Court in Edgartown. Kurth also has a jury trial scheduled for Oct. 13. Creech and Kurth were indicted in Dec. 2023.

Kamel Timmons, 19, and Kamari Clements, 22, who are facing firearm and drug-related charges after an illegal tattoo parlor in Chilmark was investigated by police in Feb. 2025, were also brought before the Superior Court on Wednesday.

Chilmark Police obtained warrants to search the

property in Chilmark, where they seized illegal tattoo supplies, a digital scale, a small amount of marijuana, pepper spray, and a black GSG 522 .22LR caliber rifle, with the butt stock removed so it fit inside a backpack, according to court documents. Police charged Clements with possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card, although he denied to police that he owned the gun. A search warrant was conducted at Timmons’ residence as well, where officers discovered multiple items indicating drug distribution, such as plastic bags, a digital scale, over $3,400 in cash, and a white powdery substance in a clear white bag, according to a police report. He faces charges for the possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of firearms without a firearm identification card.

Clements has motion hearings scheduled at the Edgartown Courthouse on Oct. 9, and Timmons has a motion hearing and trial assignment conference scheduled for the same day.

kites he uses are around 12 square meters. “We try to maximize the size of the kite and be in the windiest conditions possible,” he said.

Douglas said that to prepare for this record attempt, he spent a lot of time mountain-biking and going to the gym for strength training.

On the Island, we don’t have a clear one-mile stretch of calm water with strong winds. “It’s hard to replicate

[La Palme’s conditions], because it’s a mile-long run. We don’t have a mile-long straight run on a regular basis [on Martha’s Vineyard],” he said. “But I know what’s expected from a physical standpoint; I try to replicate it on the Vineyard.” Edgartown resident Bill Lynch has sponsored all of Douglas’ world speed-sailing record attempts since 2008.

MV TIMES

The Edgartown Courthouse.

COURTESY ROB DOUGLAS

Rob Douglas speeding down Plage du Rouet during the Prince of Speed world record attempt.

The ladies lead in Fluke for Luke fishing report

BY LISA BELCASTRO

Family, friends, and fishermen of all ages gathered this past weekend to compete in the ninth annual Fluke for Luke tournament. The tournament commemorates and celebrates Luke Gurney, a commercial fisherman from Oak Bluffs who lost his life on June 20, 2016, while setting conch pots from his boat No Regrets. The easiest way to win Fluke for Luke is to spend time with people you enjoy, because that is the spirit of this great event. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The sun was shining, the temperature was warm, and the wind was gentle. The Flukettes — Anna McLaughlin, Midge Jacobs, Ursula Kresky, and myself — were up before the sun and boarding Tenacious, with Capt. Ed Smith at the helm. Let me be clear: We were not the early birds. Team Payback, led by Capt. Donny Benefit, was on the water in the wee hours of the morning. I heard reports of 1, 2, or 3 am. Don’t ask Donny, though. You’ll never get a straight answer. He’s led his team to five first-place finishes, and he isn’t giving anything away. We got into fish as soon as we dropped our lines. Lots and lots of little fish. Sea bass, scup, sea robins, and baby fluke. We weren’t bored, but we weren’t putting anything in the cooler. This went on for an hour or so. We moved, drifted, drifted, moved, and drifted some more. Finally, Ursula reeled in a keeper fluke. Our hopes rose, and we rode that drift again and yet again. We couldn’t find another keeper fluke, but the dogfish had shown up. Every other bite seemed to be an annoying little shark stealing our bait and wasting our time. Don’t get me wrong, dogfish are cute, deceptively strong, and gave us a few laughs. But when you feel a tug on your line and you’re hoping for a fluke or a sea bass, you don’t want to see or feel your line peeling off to the left or right.

Throughout the day, we all got fish and put some in the coolers, but Ursula, our 86-year-old teammate, had the hottest rod. She caught the most fish, the biggest sea bass, and the biggest fluke. While she wasn’t in the top three at the end of the day on Saturday, our female team was thrilled to see Jena Beauregard had claimed the lead in the adult fluke division, and Martha Montesion was once again leading the adult sea bass division.

We met Capt. Ed bright and early on Sunday morning. The wind was up a bit, and it was a tad cooler, but fluke fever was running high. We fished hard. The wind died down by 9 am. Captain Ed tried a couple of new spots. We couldn’t find keeper fluke. Our team had weighed in one fluke — Ursula’s. We needed three more.

Once again, we all caught plenty of fish. We released all but a few of the sea bass, as we knew they weren’t heavier than the top three on the board from Saturday’s weighin. The ones we kept would be dinner on some cold night this winter when we need a reminder of summer.

After six hours of fishing hard with no fluke over 17.5 inches, we motored over to a known sea bass spot that had the potential to produce a winner. We dropped our squid and immediately had nibbles. The four of us reeled. Nothing huge, but big enough to motivate us to keep jigging.

Anna, who had the hot rod on Sunday, was reeling in another fish when she yelled, “Fluke!” She got the fish in the boat. It was absolutely a keeper. No need to measure it.

OK, we had a couple of hours left to catch two more flukes. Lines in the water, we jigged and waited. We added fresh squid, more squid, less squid. We followed that same drift multiple times. We reeled in fish. Just not fluke. Then Anna’s rod bent. At first tug, she thought it might be a dogfish, since it was heavier than the average sea bass we were catching. Fortunately, her line wasn’t zigging as she reeled. Finally, the fish came into view. A

fluke. A decent fluke. Not a top three, but a beauty.

Now we had three flukes for our team. We needed one more. We rode that drift multiple times. Flukeless. We reeled in, stowed the rods, and headed to the dock. Time for a shower and the awards ceremony.

Joe El-Deiry began the awards ceremony with a special announcement.

“The tournament has raised enough money to put Jacob and Sam [Luke and Robyn Gurney’s son] through college. We have just formed the Luke Gurney Foundation,” said El-Deiry to cheers and claps.

“The community has been so good to us in their unwavering support,” said Robyn, Luke’s widow. “As of this year, the tournament will fund the Luke Gurney Foundation. We want to give back to the people who have given to us.

“The tournament has surpassed what I thought it would be,” said Robyn. “Luke’s life can’t be measured in years, but he obviously touched people. Everybody comes together, they share stories. It’s a happy event, not a sad one.”

Jena Beauregard had a lot to be happy about on Sunday. She’d spent two days on the water fishing, her fluke held onto first place (8.39 pounds), and her team, Three Buoys and a Gull, won the team competition for the second year in a row.

“We had a good captain,” said Jena of her partner, Julian Pepper. “He knows how to put us on a drift. We had four drifts in a row that we were on fluke.”

I asked Jena if she had a picture of her catching the fluke to share for publication in the paper. She shook her head and smiled. “No pictures. It was a quiet celebration, and we put it in the cooler,” said Jena.

“No hooting and hollering,” added Julian. Why no pictures, no celebration? Simple: Team Three Buoys and a Gull didn’t want any nearby boats to see or hear or even think that they were on big fish. They didn’t

want anybody motoring over and following their drift, potentially hooking up on a winning fish. Jena and Julian’s teammate Patrick Martone picked up the third-place fluke (6.63 pounds) on Sunday, which helped their team to first place overall. Three Buoys and a Gull also finished first in 2022, and finished second in 2024 and 2021. When I asked Julian about his team strategy, his answer was short and sweet: “Beat Donny.”

I laughed so hard. We share that sentiment on Tenacious as well. Now Capt. Ed and Donny are brothersin-law and best friends, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bit of friendly (or fierce) competition going on. I confess we had some fun chatter going on over the radio and our cell phones. When Donny mumbled some information about their location and catching that may or may not have been factual, I showed Capt. Ed a picture of a small halibut that I’d caught in Alaska two summers ago. A small halibut looks an awful lot like a winning fluke. We sent the photo to Donny. The phone rang instantly. Team Payback didn’t finish in the top three this year, but Martha Montesion was hotter than the Fourth of July again. For the third year in a row, Martha won the adult sea bass division (3.68 pounds).

Martha fishes with her boyfriend Donny on Payback. I don’t know if Martha is the lucky charm or if all her lucky charms are what keep her in the winner’s circle. “I wore my lucky shirt and my lucky pants. I wore my Aunt Lorraine’s Valentine socks for good luck. I also had two hearts from Trish [Bergeron] and Roy’s [Scheffer] service,” said Martha. Martha has been fishing Fluke for Luke with Donny since 2018. She enjoys the

Mark Grandfield

A celebration of life for Mark Grandfield will be held at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs on Monday, July 20, which would have been Mark’s 72nd birthday. From 7 pm till late, including live music.

Ann M. Lees

tournament, but would be just as happy tanning on Norton Point. “I scallop. I’ll go fishing to fill our cooler for the winter, but I like to be on the beach. There’s nothing better,” said Martha. After the awards ceremony, we went back to my house, cooked up our sea bass, sat on my deck, ate fish tacos, and talked about how blessed we are.

I hope to see you on the beach, and I hope we’re living our lives with no regrets

Ann M. Lees 91, of Brookline and Chilmark, died on July 8, 2026, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was predeceased by her husband, Robert S. Lees, who died in June 2017. She was the mother of David, Steven, Martha, and Sarah Lees. Her services are private, and a complete obituary will appear in another edition of this paper. Visit chapmanfuneral.com for online guestbook and information.

JULIAN PEPPER

Jena Beauregard shows off her winning fluke — at home, where no one will guess the location where she caught it.

Local sailors unite for the beloved Vineyard Cup

It was a reunion of seafarers last weekend when the Vineyard Cup Regatta, a great annual sailing race around the Island, celebrated 20 years.

It is hosted every year by Sail Martha’s Vineyard, and many local sailors compete in the Island race that is also a fundraiser for the Tisbury-based nonprofit’s youth sailing groups.

Before the races over the weekend, on Thursday, June 9, the 35th annual Sail MV Seafood Dinner and Auction fundraising banquet was held at the Tisbury Wharf in Vineyard Haven.

Andy Nutton, executive director of the nonprofit and race organizer, said they raised just under $10,000 for youth sailing groups.

Nutton said he was pleased with the race’s results, and that the weekend went as expected.

Sailors involved in the

regatta, Nutton said, mostly come from within the local sailing community. The participants know the waters well, and it is mostly a calm, relaxing race, he added.

The good weather, though, was a bonus; Friday’s sunshine carried on into Saturday, which was previously forecast for rain.

The race started Friday, June 10, at noon in Vineyard Haven Harbor, and with partly cloudy skies and 80° weather, sailboats could be seen dotting the horizon all day on Vineyard Sound.

Saturday’s weather was as peaceful as Friday’s conditions, and a light breeze started the day and picked up through the afternoon.

Alex Goldhill’s Mah Jong, a 52-foot Sparkman and Stevens yawl made mostly of teak, originally built in 1957 at a shipyard in Hong Kong, but restored by builders at Gannon & Benjamin

in Vineyard Haven, won the Classics class, and took first place both Friday and Saturday.

“The wind was fairly light in the harbor but picked up as we went past West Chop. We had a nice downwind leg on the sail back to the finish line,” Luke Sederholm, Mah Jong crew member, said of the Friday race. “I thought it was a great race. We had very good wind and weather compared with other years I’ve done it.”

On Friday, sailors raced 11.9 nautical miles in a fleet race, where boats all start at the same time. Mah Jong’s journey to first place on Friday was 11.9 nautical miles, taking 1 hour and 58 minutes. But on Saturday, the race was a pursuit race where the slowest boat starts first, working back to the fastest boat starting last. The race on Saturday was 14.8 nautical miles, and lasted 5 hours and

Vintage baseball returning to Oak Bluffs after a century

Seven balls is a walk; a foul ball is not a strike; and if a player gets hit by a pitch, it’s only a ball. This is vintage baseball. The game is played by a very different set of rules compared with modern ball, where batters get three strikes and four balls, a foul is a strike, and getting hit by a pitch earns you first base. But when the Westfield Wheelmen and the Providence Grays come to Martha’s Vineyard to face off in a vintage baseball doubleheader, they will be playing by the original rules of the game for the first time on the Island since the early

20th century. The two games are scheduled for Waban Park in Oak Bluffs on July 25, featuring one game of overhand pitching with 1886 rules, and another played with 1864, Civil War–era underhand pitching rules. Waban Park historically served as the Island’s main hub for the baseball scene in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Local teams, like the Cottage Citys, competed out of Oak Bluffs.

Dan (“Gunner”) Genovese, who founded the Wheelmen 20 years ago, said the old rules force players to master baseball as it was played when the game was created.

“The overhand game … you could get hit seven times before you take your base, but bats would be flying by then,” Genovese said in an interview with The Times.

“But you really get to learn the rules of the game and how the players manipulate the rules.”

Genovese also said that in the underhand game, if a fly ball hits the ground, it can still be caught for an out after the first bounce.

“The ball is a little softer, but you can hit it a mile. We use wood bats. There’s also virtually no gloves. We take our bumps and bruises for sure,” Genovese said.

5 minutes for the Mah Jong. All classes of boats compete in the Vineyard Sound or Nantucket Sound besides the Catboat Division, which stays in the vicinity of Vineyard Haven Harbor.

First place in the Modern Classics class was Karena Hammarlund’s Maitland, a Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 25, a wooden racing sloop. Maitland finished its race Friday morning in first after sailing for 2 hours and 7 minutes, finishing with a corrected time of 1 hour and 23 minutes. The Maitland finished second in its race Saturday morning. In sailing, corrected time is a sailboat’s finishing time after a handicap adjustment is applied. The boat with the lowest corrected time wins, even if it

Coming first in the Schooner class was Lars and Peter Forsberg’s Spirit, which is an Alden Schooner, a traditional sailboat designed by American naval architect John G. Alden. Spirit finished in 4 hours and 59 minutes in its Saturday race to earn first place in the Schooner class.

In first place in the Spirit of Tradition class was Zebra, a W Class 46, a lightweight carbon-fiber rig with foils below, owned by Frank Sutula. Zebra finished in exactly 4 hours and 52 minutes on Saturday, beating the second-place boat Saphira by only 42 seconds.

Finishing first place in the Vintage class was Trevor Fetter’s Black Watch, a custom yaw, a unique, two-masted

is positioned aft of the rudder post. Black Watch came in second in its race on Friday, but won on Saturday with a time of 4 hours and 1 minute.

In the Non-Spinnaker class, Adam T. Hayes’ Bliss won. Bliss, riding on his J35c, finished first on both days it raced. On the first day, Bliss finished in 1 hour and 39 minutes and a corrected time of 1 hour and 29 minutes. On the second day, Bliss finished with a time of 4 hours and 49 minutes.

In the Spinnaker class, Stephen Besse’s Après won first place in the class on a J/120. On the first day, Après finished second in its race, but on Saturday, Besse finished first in its class with a time of 4 hours and 8 minutes.

The Wheelmen earned their name from highway bicycle riders, who rode bigwheel bikes in the 1880s and 1890s, Genovese said. The bikes, known as penny-farthings, were famously made in factories in Westfield. The bikers took on the responsibility to scare horses, livestock, and wild animals off the road.

Robert (“Bubba”) Rudolph, a Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School graduate who was in “Jaws,” is hosting the Wheelmen at his Katama home, where they will stay in tents.

“He is a true Islander … that was his dog that got eaten early on in the film,” Genovese said.

Genovese is set to discuss the Waban Park games, their significance, and the history of vintage baseball at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in a presentation at 5 pm on July 23, two days before the doubleheader.

On the 25th, the first pitch will be at noon. The Wheelmen will set up the field with measured base paths, painted foul lines, old-school canvas bases, and a portable backstop to recreate the historic pastime as closely as possible. Spectators are encouraged to dress in attire that reflects the time period, such as fancy clothing with big parasols.

Additionally, the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks mascot, Sharky, is expected to engage in a footrace with the Wheelmen’s Wheeler, which has the head of a baseball, at the event.

The Westfield Wheelmen to take on the Providence Grays at Waban Park. BY NICHOLAS VUKOTA

The annual race celebrated 20 years of racing through Vineyard and Nantucket Sound. BY CHARLIE GIROURD

COURTESY DAN “GUNNER” GENOVESE

The Westfield Wheelmen.

Vintage baseball in Waban Park.

CHACE LEWIS

Saphira, a 91-foot boat built by Brooklin Boat Yard in Maine, “running,” or sailing, southwest down the Sound.

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2026 "As You Like

DENA PORTER

CELEBRATING ISLAND DIVERSITY

When I first invited Islanders to answer one simple question — What does freedom mean to you and your community? — I knew I was curating a special section. I didn't realize I was beginning a long-overdue conversation. Since publishing the first installment of Voices on Freedom, which has been appearing in our News section, readers have stopped me at coffee shops, community events, and on sidewalks across Martha's Vineyard to share their own reflections. Some spoke about essays that resonated with them. Others simply answered the question themselves. To me, that has been the greatest success of this project. Not that everyone agreed. But that people listened. As I reflected on the voices shared in these pages — and those that will continue throughout the summer — I realized something. No two people defined freedom in exactly the same way. Yet every perspective expanded my own understanding of it. Perhaps freedom has never had one definition, one community, or one generation. Perhaps it has always asked us to make room for one another's stories. That feels especially meaningful as Martha's Vineyard prepares to enter August. For generations, August has been more than the height of summer on this Island. It is a season of homecoming — a time when families reunite, traditions are renewed, and

bySharisse The conversation continues

No two people define freedom in exactly the same way.

BY SHARISSE SCOTT-RAWLINS

history is carried forward. Throughout the month, the African American Film Festival, Black Book Festival, Comedy Fest, HBCU Legacy Week, Vibe Fest, Black Brand Bazaar, family reunions, and countless other community gatherings, both historic and new initiatives, will once again bring people together to celebrate culture, creativity, scholarship, and joy. At first glance, these may seem like separate events. I see something different. I see freedom. The freedom to gather. The freedom to preserve culture. The freedom to tell our stories. The freedom to honor those who came before us while inspiring those who will come next. That is what freedom looks like on Black Martha's Vineyard. Not simply the absence of barriers. But the presence of belonging. As Voices on Freedom continues throughout the summer, my hope is not that we arrive at one definition of freedom. It is that we continue making space for many. Because communities are not strengthened when everyone thinks alike. They are strengthened when people believe one another's stories are worth hearing.

Freedom is measured not by what we claim for ourselves, but by what we are willing to extend to others.

WHAT DOES FREEDOM LOOK LIKE?

Two hundred and fifty years later, we are still asking.

Not because we do not know the word.

But because we have never fully lived its promise. Because we have watched it change shape depending on who is speaking.

For some, freedom was a declaration signed in ink.

For others, it was a language nearly erased and stubbornly remembered.

For some, freedom arrived on a ship.

For others, it arrived despite one.

For some, freedom was the right to own land.

For others, it was the right to remain on it.

For some, freedom sounded like fireworks.

For others, it sounded like silence after generations of being told to wait. Wait your turn.

Wait your place.

Wait for rights already promised. Wait for justice already deserved.

Wait.

Two hundred and fifty years later, we are still asking.

What does freedom look like?

Does it look like a flag?

Or does it look like a grandmother teaching her grandchildren who they are?

Does it look like a ballot?

Or does it look like a family finally able to stay in the home their ancestors built?

Does it look like speaking?

Or does it look like being heard?

Perhaps freedom is not a destination.

Perhaps it is a practice.

A daily choice.

A willingness to make room for someone else's story alongside our own.

Perhaps freedom looks like dignity.

The dignity to worship.

To love.

To gather.

To remember.

To dream.

To belong.

Perhaps freedom looks like knowing that your existence does not require permission.

That your humanity is not up for debate.

That your history cannot be erased.

That your future is yours to imagine.

But if freedom is only ours,

is it freedom at all?

If one community thrives while another struggles to be seen, if one story is celebrated while another is forgotten, if one voice is amplified while another is silenced, are we free?

Or are we merely comfortable?

Two hundred and fifty years after a nation was founded on an idea, perhaps the question is no longer whether freedom exists.

Perhaps the question is whether we are brave enough to extend it.

To protect it.

To share it.

To recognize it in forms that do not look like our own.

Freedom has never belonged to one people.

One race.

One faith.

One language.

One generation.

It asks something of all of us.

And maybe that is the work before us now.

Not simply to celebrate freedom.

But to practice it.

To make room for one another.

To listen when stories differ from our own.

To protect the dignity of every person who calls a place home.

Here on Martha's Vineyard, an Island small enough to know one another, yet diverse enough to challenge one another,

We have an opportunity.

We can choose to be the community we wish the world would become. A place where history is remembered. Where differences are respected.

Where belonging is not reserved for a select few.

Where freedom is measured not by what we claim for ourselves, but by what we are willing to extend to others.

Because if we can do it here — across generations, across cultures, across year-round residents and seasonal visitors, across Wampanoag, Black, immigrant, and Island communities— then perhaps we offer something larger than an example.

Perhaps we offer proof.

Proof that community is still possible.

Proof that people can choose one another.

Again and again.

Until freedom is no longer just something we celebrate.

But something we practice.

PHOTOS: DENA PORTER

In a world increasingly built around convenience, I have found myself falling into the same habits as everyone else.

Audiobooks have replaced physical books on many of my long drives back and forth from Martha’s Vineyard to Atlanta. Summaries compete with full stories. Efficiency often wins over experience.

So when I was asked to read and reflect on “The Rough Side of the Mountain” by Keisha Lance Bottoms (Mariner Books, April 2026), I felt two things at once: excitement and intimidation. Not because I don’t love books, but because somewhere along the way I had forgotten how much I love the act of reading them. Long before podcasts and endless scrolling, my favorite place in

One of Bottoms’ greatest achievements as a memoirist is her refusal to rewrite the past with the certainty of hindsight. Many memoirs quietly smooth uncertainty into inevitability, allowing

the world was the Oak Bluffs Public Library. My Nana and I shared a love of books, but even more than reading them, we loved talking about them. Whether I had spent the afternoon beside her or reading alone at Inkwell Beach, every book eventually found its way back to one conversation — with Nana.

Reading wasn’t simply something we loved. It was one of the ways we loved each other.

As I opened “The Rough Side of the Mountain,” I found myself thinking, Nana would have loved this one. The finest memoirs do more than tell us someone else’s story. They quietly return us to our own.

While “The Rough Side of the Mountain” chronicles an extraordinary public life — from attorney to mayor of Atlanta — it is remarkably uninterested in building a monument to accomplishment. Instead, Bottoms, who is currently running for governor of Georgia, introduces us to the people who shaped her. We meet Keisha the granddaughter before Keisha the mayor. The daughter before the public servant. The young woman learning to navigate grief, identity, marriage, infertility, motherhood, and faith long before she ever steps onto a political stage. This is not, at its heart, a political memoir. Politics simply becomes one of the many mountains she climbs. At its core, “The Rough Side of the Mountain” is a memoir about becoming.

begins instead with Georgia, family, church, and generations of inherited stories. Only after readers understand the people and places that formed her does she finally introduce herself. It is a bold literary choice. In doing so, she quietly argues

Returning home

“The Rough Side of the Mountain” by Keisha Lance Bottoms.

BY SHARISSE SCOTT-RAWLINS

readers to believe success was always destined. Bottoms does the opposite. She allows us to sit beside her while nothing is certain. We witness the daughter trying to understand her father’s incarceration before she knows how that story will shape her. We experience the quiet battle with shame and an eating disorder before healing has a name. We endure years of infertility before motherhood arrives. We experience campaign losses before election victories. Bottoms never rushes readers toward the ending she already knows. Instead, she trusts us to remain in the waiting. That restraint builds extraordinary trust between writer and reader. Rather than asking us to admire the woman she became, she allows us to love the woman she was still becoming. The structure of the memoir reflects that same confidence. Bottoms makes a bold structural choice by delaying her own introduction. She

People disappoint us. And somehow, love remains. She writes not from blame, but from understanding. Throughout the memoir, recurring images quietly gather meaning. The mountain becomes more than hardship — it becomes inheritance. Family photographs become proof that memory deserves preservation. Genealogy becomes an act of reclamation. The beauty salon transforms into sanctuary, community, and classroom, where generations of Black women quietly shape one another’s lives. Together, these recurring images elevate “The Rough Side of the Mountain” beyond autobiography. They transform it into a meditation on memory, identity, and inheritance. Ahead of our conversation at Islanders

Write, I asked Keisha what legacy she hoped readers would remember — not about Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, but about Keisha the daughter, the mother, and the woman. Her answer became, for me, the emotional center of the entire memoir: “It’s all of our rough edges — not just ourselves, but that of our loved ones — that make us who we are and that sharpen us.”

Later, I asked what writing the memoir had taught her about truth, vulnerability, and freedom. She paused before answering: “Truth, vulnerability, and freedom — they go hand in hand.”

Celebrating Our MVRHS Grads

Dan Zoll

Journalist and producer doing good in the world. BY

MARGE HARRIS

Dthat identity is never created in isolation. Before we can understand who she became, we must first understand who made her possible. Perhaps no relationship illustrates this more beautifully than her relationship with her father, influential American R and B singer Major Lance. It would have been easy to reduce him to incarceration or addiction — to define him by the hardest chapters of his life. Bottoms refuses. Instead, she presents him the way so many children know their parents: brilliant and flawed, generous and disappointing, loving and wounded, full of possibility and burdened by choices. She never asks us to excuse him. She simply asks us to see him fully. This offers something much harder than judgment for the reader: compassion. Throughout the book, Bottoms resists simple heroes and villains. Parents are complicated. Children misunderstand. Marriages evolve. Dreams change.

Then she shared something that deeply resonated with me. Writing the memoir, she explained, became an extension of therapy. Sometimes she wrote first and processed later. Other times, therapy gave her the courage to return to the page.

As someone who also wrote a memoir — much of it during chemotherapy at 22 years old — I recognized that every writer’s path toward healing looks different. My own process unfolded in reverse. I wrote long before I was ready to fully understand what I had written.

Listening to Keisha Lance Bottoms describe writing as part of healing reminded me that memoir is never simply an act of remembering. It is, as I noted above, an act of becoming.

Memoirs are not written simply to tell us who someone was. The very best ones remind us who we are.

Keisha Lance Bottoms will be talking about memoir writing with Belle Burden in a conversation moderated by Jenny Allen at Islanders Write on July 16, at 4 pm at Featherstone Center for the Arts. islanderswrite.com.

an Zoll, class of 1987, has good memories of high school, especially of friends like David Wright and Greg Coutinho, with whom he still keeps in touch. He remembers teachers like Dan Sharkovitz and John Morelli, and credits Coach Schofield for preparing him for today’s pickleball craze. He always liked writing; he wrote for the high school newspaper, and served on the student council. Dan did a column for The MV Times called “High School Confidential” — perhaps a precursor to “High School View”? Dan was accepted to UC Berkeley; he traveled to California, stayed with family and friends, and worked full-time delivering furniture for six months in order to establish residency, which would secure him in-state tuition. What a creative way to get a topnotch university education! As a student at Berkeley, he majored in English, focusing on journalism. In the summers, he returned to the Vineyard, as many graduates do, to work multiple jobs. His favorite was driving for Adam Cab. Dan didn’t have any concrete plans for postgraduation, so he went to England and worked as a bartender for six months. The following year, he was

able to get work at the San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper as an intern, and later as a reporter and editor, learning a lot about city politics. In 2003, he started freelancing at a San Francisco NPR station, KQED, and worked on a daily news and talk program called “Forum.” That eventually turned into a job as senior producer, working with a team researching and pitching topics, booking guests, and writing scripts. People like President Carter, Joan Baez, and John Updike were among the guests. He is currently program manager at Commonwealth Club World Affairs (CCWC), where he produces live events such as panel discussions and author interviews. The work is similar to what he did at KQED. I sensed excitement in his voice re developing future programs. He and his wife Katie live and work in the Bay Area, where they raise their 10-year-old son, Sam. Dan’s enthusiasm about the importance of the work that CCWC does, especially in these divisive times, made me so proud of another graduate not only using their skills but their passion. Kudos to you, Dan!

Marge Harris was a teacher at MVRHS for 27 years. You can contact her at margeharris@comcast. net. This column appears twice a month.

FABIAN BUTTS

TOWN COLUMNS

Tisbury

By Taylor Stone tisburycolumnist@gmail.com

What a whirlwind of the past couple of weeks! Not only are we holding more events than ever on our little Island, but the weather has been absolutely brutal. I’m one of those people who stubbornly make sure not to complain about cold winters because — I just can’t handle the heat in the summer. And this beginningof-July weather has had me reminding anyone who will listen: The current weather this summer is not the same Martha’s Vineyard summer as 20 years ago.

With more people, more cars, more ticks, and more extreme heat warnings than ever, I have been having so many conversations lately around the importance of rest. If all you did was wake up and spend the day at the beach, that alone will take a lot more energy and effort than it would have years ago. Take your time. Be present. Slow down. Rest when you can. If you know me outside of this column, you may have heard I’ve had a couple of tumbles this summer that are forcing me to slow down too. It’s like a reminder that

Edgartown

By Marnely Murray marnely@gmail.com

This week, there are a lot of questions. First up: What happens when an artist and a writer build a life together, raising a family, spending summers on Martha’s Vineyard, and recording what they discover along the way?

On July 17, starting at 5 pm at the Eisenhauer Gallery, the question will be answered in an evening of books, paintings, and Island moments. Stop in to discover more. Then we’re asked, What happens to a person who

wants an abortion but cannot get one?

“The Turnaway Play,” with actress Amy Brenneman, on July 16 at the Old Whaling Church, will answer that one. Join M.V. Sexual Wellness and Reproductive Equity Now for a presentation of “The Turnaway Play,” di-

even if you feel totally fine, your body might be telling a different story on the inside. Something as simple as sitting and listening to the birds, waking up without setting an alarm, receiving a bear hug from a friend, or choosing to bike and feel the wind on your face instead of driving around and sitting in traffic can make a huge difference during the summer crazies.

Last Wednesday was Tisbury’s 355th birthday party, complete with all the necessities of a good street fair: yummy street food, live music, and people walking up and down our Main Street with goodies picked up along the way. If you braved the crowds yourself, you may have seen me in front of Act Two, slinging First Friday Ts and representing Visit Vineyard Haven.

rected by the Island Theatre Workshop. Inspired by the revelatory Turnaway Project, a 10-year scientific research project led by MacArthur fellow Dr. Diana Greene Foster, the play brings to life stories of women who were denied access to abortion care while exploring that essential question: What happens to a person who cannot get one? Tickets online starting at $50; mv-swell.checkoutpage.com/turnawayplay. One of the best ways to answer deep questions, in my opinion, is by reading. Join authors this week

And then just a few days later on Saturday, July 11, Owen Park Beach was transformed into an outdoor movie theater showing “Jaws” on the water. I may have snuck in for the beginning of the movie to see how the space was transformed — people waiting at the bus stop near the Steamship Authority could hear just enough of the iconic soundtrack and other clips heard over the water to wonder what might be lying in wait for us out in the ocean …

The Martha’s Vineyard

Museum is celebrating its 103rd birthday with a free Museum Day event Thursday, July 16, 3 to 5 pm. Also on Thursday is Main Street photographer and community staple Michael Johnson’s “Inkwell Folks!” artist reception over in the Oak Bluffs library downstairs meeting room, 5 to 7 pm. Then on Friday, July 17, from 5 to 7 pm, stop by the Louisa Gould Gallery for an artist reception welcoming new work by worldrenowned bronze sculptor Gwen Marcus, and Fellow of the American Society of

Marine Artists realistic oil painter Paul Beebe. Both of these bigger-than-life artists will be showing their bigger-than-life-size artwork through August 31. A very happy birthday to my dad, Bruce Stone on Thursday, July 16! Do you have an upcoming birthday, event, or just something you want shared in a future Tisbury column? Email me at tisburycolumnist@gmail. com with your own stories of our town, or upcoming events you’d like to see spotlighted here.

This beginning-of-July weather has had me reminding anyone who will listen: The current weather this summer is not the same Martha’s Vineyard summer as 20 years ago.

at Edgartown Books for conversation and book signings. On the 17th from 2 to 4 pm, Annabelle Gurwitch, author of “The End of My Life is Killing Me,” will be there talking about her book, described as a “hilariously and deeply affecting meditation on mortality.” Then on the 23rd, Elisa M. Speranza will be there also from 2 to 4 pm, signing her book “Triage,” an intimate portrait of a woman’s hard-won journey through love, loss, and a quest for redemption.

From July 18 through the 23rd, celebrate catboats, MVAA artists, Manuel Swartz Roberts, and our nation’s 250th birthday with the Old Sculpin Gallery’s event, Sail Sculpin 2026. Stop in during its business hours and explore art, chat with artists, and more! If you’re hungry this week, the FARM Institute has incredible classes lined up: Sourdough Basics with Matt from Beetlebung Farm on July 20, Sausage Making with Tyler Potter of the Swimming Pig on July 21, Ice Cream Making on the Farm and

On the 17th from 2 to 4 pm, Annabelle Gurwitch, author of “The End of My Life is Killing Me,” will be at Edgartown Books talking about her memoir, described as a “hilariously and deeply affecting meditation on mortality.”

Oak Bluffs

By Joanne Lambert joannelamber@gmail.com

“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.”

–Hippolye Taine

My big news is that I adopted a kitten. Or perhaps she adopted me! It had been a few years since my last cat died, and I thought I was ready to begin another feline journey. What I forgot is how they entertain you endlessly with crazy antics, find dangerous corners of your

house you didn’t know existed, and grab hold of your heart. She’s tiny and white, with subtle calico markings, and she can catch balls of paper in midair with her paws. My husband says she is the best thing that has ever happened to him, which is somewhat dismaying to his wife and children.

The annual Feast of the Holy Ghost is this weekend! This cherished tradition since the 1920s honors Queen Isabel’s crown and Portuguese culture. Head to

the P.A. Club on Saturday the 18th from 5 to 10 pm for food, live music, games, and more. On Sunday, the parade at 11:30 am, featuring Portuguese culture, costume, and music, will carry the crown through Oak Bluffs to the club, where there will be more festivities.

The Sunset Concert series continues on the Tabernacle lawn with Phil DaRosa this Friday, July 17. Bring your lawn chair and picnic at 6 pm for some great local music.

Doug Thompson of Trinity Park will present “It Sounds So Sweet: Folk Music on Martha’s Vineyard, 19581963,”at the M.V. Museum on July 18 at 5 pm. He will share his extensive collection of photographs, memorabilia, and recordings to bring alive the events of that trans-

formative era in American music, and the music scene in Oak Bluffs.

Musical Mondays at Featherstone features Sarah Shaw Dawson and Friends on July 20, from 6:30 to 8 pm.

On Monday, July 20, a celebration of life will be held at the P.A. Club for Mark Grandfield, beloved Island musician who left us way too soon on March 1. The gathering will begin at 7 pm, with music from Mark’s many friends, including Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish, Jon Zeeman and friends, and

more. All are welcome.

Looking for summer reading? The Oak Bluffs library book sale is coming next weekend – July 23–25. Hours are Thursday and Friday, 10 to 4, and Saturday 10 to 2. This is a popular event to benefit the awesome programs that Alison Cohen and staff put together for the community, so go grab some great books to get you through August!

Happy birthday to Joanne Cassidy on July 16! She shares the day with Sophie Combra and Beth Healy.

Cooking From the Island: What’s Fresh and What’s Local on July 22, and Fermentation for Beginners: Kimchi, on July 23. Head to thetrustees.org/things-to-do and find out details there! Birthday shout-outs this week go to Alison Wilson (July 20) of the Edgartown Collection, and to Skip Finley, celebrated local author and historian, and the Rev. Joseph Pasala of Good Shepherd Parish (both July 23)! And a “get better soon” to my best friend Abby Gardner — it’s not often one gets hit by a car, that’s nothing to joke about, and she’s recovering fine, but consider this your reminder that during these busy summer weeks (and always!) watching out for pedestrians crossing the street is a must. Be safe out there, friends!

Summer Clements DeSouza celebrates her day on July 17! Suzanne Reagan Pond celebrates her birthday on July 18, sharing the day with Nelson Mandela. On the 19th, sing happy birthday to Lynn Webster. Nikki Mercaldo Dority celebrates on the 20th, along with Monica Maxim and Laurie Leonard. Big birthday hugs to Kate Lefer and Janet Robichaud on July 21. My neighbors Lisa Fitzpatrick and Charlene Alley celebrate on the 22nd. Send me your news!

My husband says the kitten is the best thing that has ever happened to him, which is somewhat dismaying to his wife and children.

TOWN COLUMNS

Chilmark

By Claire Ganz cganz@live.com

Last week’s traumatic accident has us reeling and praying for Michael, Brenna, Nolan, Bryan, and Nathaniel Ellis. Praying the family feels strengthened by the love and support that is and will continue to be there for them, no matter how long it takes.

Praying for complete healing, and along the way relief from pain, for Michael and his son Nolan.

Prayers of thanks and for healing to all who responded. Prayers for all who were directly and indirectly involved for complete healing from the hidden damage.

Prayers for Delores Borza, mother and grandmother, who quickly reached out for

prayers, keeps us updated, and created a GoFundMe so we can directly help the family: https://bit.ly/GFM_ HelpEllisFamily. May we catch our breath, find our hearts, and therein find the strength to benevolently encapsulate impatience, indifference, and selfishness. It’s impossible to ignore the undercurrent of worry about tick-borne illnesses and the very real experience of those illnesses. Mitigating the worry isn’t as easy as preventive measures and tick checks with a sense of humor. Perhaps today’s worry can be lessened by the knowledge that as Tick Free MV’s executive director, Virginia

Barbatti reminds us much is being done.

Indigo Sundays at Native Earth Teaching Farm have started again. The community vat of indigo is available from 2 to 5 pm. Bring something to dye, or you can purchase something there.

The Chilmark library and Chilmark Community Center continue to offer wonderful gatherings, talks and events all week.

North Tabor Farm’s veggies are in, and we are encouraged by the announcement there will be some open-to-the-public farm suppers.

Pick up a lobster roll, 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Tuesdays, from the Chilmark Church on Menemsha Crossroads. At 5:30 on the Yard campus off Middle Road, the Chilmark Community Trust offers Family Fun Night: classic lawn games, limbo, musical chairs, Yommi pops, etc. Thank you to the directors, Sarah Bell, Jan

North Tabor Farm’s veggies are in, and we are encouraged by the announcement there will be some open-to-the-public farm suppers.

West Tisbury

By Hermine Hull hermine.hull@gmail.com

When I was a kid in Ridgefield, orange daylilies bloomed at the beginning of July, just as they still do. They made big displays in yards, along roads, and at the entrances to driveways. A hearty plant, it was no surprise that they flourished mostly on their own wherever they were started. Daylilies and lilacs are the stars of old-fashioned New England gardens.

I had never seen daylilies other than the orangeflowered ones until I moved to West Tisbury. John Gadowski, who started Middletown Nursery, had several varieties: tall, short, single and double flowers, thick petals, ones with delicate, spidery flowers. Several years later, Wendy Forrest and Nancy Rogers opened daylily farms in town, opening my eyes further to the infinite numbers of hybrids breeders had developed. The dozen or so varieties that John had, which had seemed so exotic, paled beside fields with hundreds of plants that bloomed from late June into September, in colors that ranged from the palest cream

to the brightest orange and red. There are even lavender and dark purplealmost-black ones.

I was smitten, of course, and enjoy the annual appearance of those lovely flowers. One of my favorite garden chores is going out in the morning to deadhead the spent flowers, and to see what colors are blooming that day. Unfortunately, even with spraying, deer often sneak into my garden during the night, leaving chewed stalks where colored flower buds had been bursting to open. They really are a lovely flower if allowed to bloom.

This Saturday, July 18, Island kids will meet in Menemsha to participate in Swim Across America. Started on the Island by two high school juniors, Leah Thomson and Zoe Treitman, kids of all ages will swim various distances to raise money for

cancer treatment and research. They hope to raise $200,000 to donate to Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Please contribute and support their efforts. For information: swimacrossamerica.org/ mv, or 508-808-8664.

Tents will be set up on the lawn of the West Tisbury Church for the annual Berry Festival, to take place this Saturday, July 18, from noon to 4 pm. There will be berry shortcakes, smoothies, parfaits, and pies. Yum. Across the street, paintings by Max Decker and Jeff Hoerle will be featured at an opening at the Field Gallery Saturday afternoon. It will look very festive in town with two events just across the road from one another. Also on July 18, Micah Thanhauser of Merry Farm Pottery will welcome visitors to his studio from 2 to 5 pm to see his newly fired collection. He has invited two guest potters to show their work, as well. They are Gillian Doty and Allie Stack from Asheville, N.C. Friends of the West Tisbury Free Public Library, their official name, are

Buhrman, Vicki Divoll, Marcy Gringlas, Nancy Grundman, Michelle Levin, Steve Lewis, Vin Loccisano, Alexi Ashe Meyers, Jennifer Prakash, Heather Quinn, Catherine Rychowski, Nathaniel Scott, and Allison Simon, for this expansion of community events.

Sig Van Raan has been away, but thanks to cocommissioner Ed Eger for the following notes from the softball field: “A perfectly beautiful Sunday morning and a full house of players and spectators. A guy named Jake came with his dad, who was celebrating his 85th birthday.

“Hans Solmssen celebrated turning 90 with a strong pitched first game.

Junior Farrel hit another mammoth shot over everything. Caleb Caldwell pitched a strong second (bullpen) game — one of the outfielders made a throw to home plate that sailed through the backstop into tick territory.

“Katie and Ben Coates came with their brand-new baby. Again a great assortment of young and old players, kids and dogs, and loyal fans. Time stands still on Peaked Hill.”

looking for volunteers to help sort and move books for their upcoming book sale at the end of July. If you are interested, email westtisburylibraryfriends@gmail.com.

I couldn’t have been happier when I saw that Jean Tatelbaum is the recipient of this year’s Spirit of the Vineyard Award. Jean was working at the Vineyard Veterinary Clinic when Mike and I met her. She recommended us as adoptive parents for a lovely golden retriever that Tara Larsen had found in Key West. We named the dog Molly, and she was a beloved companion and Mike’s truck dog for many years. Molly brought Jean and Tara into our lives, too, beginning a friendship that continues to this day. Dog rescues were only one of Jean’s many contributions to the Island; she and her husband rescued retired grayhounds. She has turned up in many surprising places and situations over the years. I intend to be among the crowd acknowledging her accomplishments next Thursday, July 23, at 5 pm at the P.A. Club.

July 18, Island kids will meet in Menemsha to participate in Swim Across America. Kids of all ages will swim various distances to raise money for cancer treatment and research.

Aria Ann Jacobs

Anna Jacobs and Andrew Jacobs of Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Aria Ann Jacobs, on June 25, 2026, at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Aria weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces.

Sofia Rose McElhinney

Cecelia McElhinney and Andrew McElhinney of West Tisbury announce the birth of a daughter, Sofia Rose McElhinney, on July 8, 2026, at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. Sofia weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces.

President’s list

Emily Gilley of Edgartown, at the University of Rhode Island.

Kaio Pereira of Edgartown, at the University of Rhode Island.

Dean’s list

Nico Arroyo of Vineyard Haven, at the University of Rhode Island.

Morgan Caruso of West Tisbury, at the University of Rhode Island.

Cribbage Club results

Eighteen members of the Vineyard Cribbage Club met on to play our favorite game at the American Legion in Edgartown. The results from last night are as follows:

First, Sebastian BennettRock with a 10/5 + 80 card

Second, Merrily Fenner with a 10/5 +8 card

Third, Ed Montesion with a 10/4 + 82 card

Fourth, Jack Silvia with a 10/4 + 63 card

Fifth, Bill Russell with a 9/4 + 81 card

ACADEMIC HONORS Aquinnah

BY MARY ALICE RUSSELL

We had five 24-point hands this week, with two of them going to Frank Fenner, and one each for Bill Russell, Byram Devine, and Sebastein Bennett-Rock. Collin Evanson had the rare flush crib!

Eight people got skunked (a loss of greater than 30)!

By Kathie Olsen aquinnahcolumn@gmail.com

Kathie's column will return next week.

If you are interested in cribbage,give us a try! We meet at 5:30 pm on Wednesdays. Call 508524-1220 or email me at maonmv@mac.com. Publishing August 20 Deadline to advertise 8/13

Celebrating Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub

The Martha’s Vineyard Arts Icon Awards.

BY NICOLE GALLAND

On Tuesday, July 7, under a stormy sky, the Agricultural Hall was ablaze with light and energy, as Circuit Arts held its third annual Martha’s Vineyard Arts Icon Awards.

Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub — actors and longtime seasonal residents of the Island — were celebrated during an evening that included sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and a delicious multi-course meal by Quitsa Kitchen.

Brian Ditchfield, executive director of Circuit Arts, welcomed the crowd with a brief history of the organization, which began 17 years ago with a mailing list of 250 people, “and I knew everybody on the mailing

list.” It has since expanded to offer year-round programming — live performances, screenings, workshops, and camps — to thousands of Vineyarders and visitors.

The evening was in part a fundraiser for Circuit Arts, the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, and their atten-

to introduce them and then stepped back, asking them to introduce each other.

Adams began with a hilarious off-the-cuff description of their courtship, quipping, “When I met Tony, I didn’t want to get married, I just wanted to have an affair with another leading man, as I usually did.”

Shalhoub’s wit was just as quick as hers, but he pivoted quickly to a gentler, heartfelt tone: “All of my friends in the world are here in this room tonight.”

ing the massive fundraising efforts for the building’s renovation. “We donated a bathroom,” recalls Adams. “I think we got a toilet.” (Note: There is a stall in the women’s bathroom with their names on it.)

Artists the two have worked with over the years were also at the Ag Hall in full force, including actress Amy Brenneman, who has

"All of my friends in the world are here in this room tonight.”

Adams and Shalhoub have a long history with Circuit Arts, but even more so with the Playhouse and its artists, which began with the late playwright and director Robert Brustein inviting them to do a reading there. They stayed invested in the Playhouse — literally so dur-

–TONY SHALHOUB

known Shalhoub since she was an undergrad at Harvard and he was a company member of the American Repertory Theater (ART) there. Scott Barrow, who has worked with Adams and has a long history with

both organizations, said, “I’m about thrilled that the success of Circuit Arts can embrace one of my favorite institutions, that being the Vineyard Playhouse.” Brooke Hardman-Ditchfield, the new Playhouse artistic director, closed the evening with heartfelt thank-yous to the many people whose efforts over the years contributed to the organization’s success now. These include MJ Bruder Munafo, who recently retired from running the Playhouse. It also included the attendees themselves. “Circuit Arts is … connection,” she said. “It’s shared experience, it’s belonging, it’s that feeling of … knowing that you’re part of something larger than yourself. That doesn’t happen by accident.”

dant programs. These include the Martha’s Vineyard Children’s Theater Camp, which this year merged with the Playhouse’s Summer Starz camp. Said Chris Roberts, director of the program: “As someone who had kids who went to both, I was very excited to make them into one louder, faster, funnier camp.”

Also louder, faster, and funnier was auctioneer John Terrio, whose exhortations kept the paddles waving for an experience-based auction. The highest bidder of the evening paid $11,000 for Carly Simon to write a song for them. But the highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Arts Icon Award. Author and producer Tamara Weiss, a friend of the couple, began

Brooke Adams and Tony Shalhoub on their way into the Ag Hall.

Tamara Weiss, Amy Brenneman, Brooke Adams, and James Lepine chat before the auction begins.

Adams and Shalhoub with their Arts Icons awards.

Auctioneer John Terrio in action.

gallery

Nature’s stories

To stand before Adam Guy’s large Vineyard landscapes is to feel nature’s very spirit. They are not an exact representation; rather, they are an elemental response to wonder. Guy walked the Island’s woods and shorelines this spring, gathering inspiration for his current show at Stillpoint, on view through July 22: “I took a couple of weeks to simply observe and connect with what’s going to move me. I go through life connected to nature, and then try to share that with people so they can feel it when they

are in front of my paintings.”

Guy says, “These landscapes emerged from sustained observation — where light, atmosphere, and memory gradually dissolve the boundary between the physical and the imagined. The resulting works inhabit a space beyond representation. Trees become gestures. Water becomes movement. Light becomes memory. Together, they form ‘Unreal,’ a body of paintings inviting viewers to experience nature not simply as landscape but as presence.”

This presence is supremely evident in “North Road.”

The bulging rocks pulse with energy, and the overhanging

trees cast animated shadows that dance along the ground ahead of us. The dappled sunlight and shadows, in seductive shades of blue and violet, evoke the cool air blowing in through the car window as we drive down the familiar roadway. There is a quieter sense to the very large piece “Unreal,” which shares the exhibition's title. Here, we walk through the woods, stopping inches from a tree. There is the barest hint of human presence in the boat and shack

far off in the distance. The sunset pouring in from the right gives the scene a magical quality, illuminating Guy’s strong colors with bright highlights of gold, pink, and bright turquoise.

Guy lays the groundwork for the stories we imagine when looking at his enigmatic scenes. Who are the two figures paddling in the canoes over the roiling waves in “Msquepunauket”? And what will happen to them? The painting was inspired by a moment at Msquepu-

nauket, the Wampanoag name for Squibnocket Beach.

Guy explains, “There was a big storm coming in, and these two kids grabbed the canoes and were like, ‘Yeah, we’re going in.’ The waves were pumping, a huge fog bank was coming in, and it was getting toward sunset. It reminded me of my childhood. I grew up on the North Shore of Kauai [fourth-largest Hawaiian island], where we fished and night-dived and were crazy.” Watching these two boys, Guy says, “opened my heart up to the rawness of being a kid and working with nature. They ended up making it through the waves. I love it when we can work with nature so it becomes part of our lives.”

Guy says of his art, “They’re not depictions of reality. They’re better than reality.”

The landscape “Cliff” was inspired by a view from where Guy stays up-Island. He uses colors not in nature to capture the breathtaking view at the edge of the land, where it breaks off, with the vast ocean filling the rest of the composi-

tion. He says of the painting, “The scene is the complete cycle of life, with parts of the cliff falling into the water, the sun pulling the water up, and the rain pouring it down. I love change, our impermanence, and the world around us. It allows me to pull back from the whirlwind, recognizing that we are a speck of dust in the flow of things.” Guy moves into abstraction in his tall painting “Space in Between.” Here, we look up at the tangled tree branches, which entwine to create bright, creamy, golden “negative” spaces like pieces in a geometric jigsaw puzzle that fit snugly into place. Ultimately, in whatever form, nature is Guy’s sustenance. He hopes viewers will come away with “awe, a little childlike wonder, and a sigh of openheartedness toward nature and one another. I believe that’s my primary purpose in life: to uplift others and keep the smiles rolling.”

“Unreal” is on view at Stillpoint in West Tisbury through July 22.

“These landscapes emerged from sustained observation — where light, atmosphere, and memory gradually dissolve the boundary between the physical and the imagined.” –ADAM GUY

Adam Guy’s “Unreal” exhibit at Stillpoint. BY ABBY REMER

“Space in Between”

“Unreal” “The Cliff”

Adam Guy with “Space in Between.” “Msquepunauket” “Lilacs” “North Road”

PHOTOS: ADAM GUY

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” likens human life to a theatrical performance. This summer, you can enjoy that stage and its performing players in this ebullient romantic comedy presented by the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, running from July 15 through August 8. Bring an outdoor picnic to the Tisbury Amphitheater, and be entertained by people you might know.

"As You Like It" at the

BY ABBY

“As You Like It,” written around 1599, is a delightful pastoral comedy in which disguise and role-playing are central to the story. Set in the Forest of Arden, the play follows the fortunes and misadventures of the banished young noblewoman Rosalind, who dresses as a young man named Ganymede to seek refuge alongside her cousin, Celia. The forest becomes a place of romantic intrigue, with the disguised Rosalind testing the affections of Orlando, the man she loves.

The 14-member cast is almost evenly divided between Amphitheater veterans and rookies. One of the returning members is Amy Barrow, who played Rosalind in the Amphitheater 18 years ago; this time, she is

playing Rosalind’s mother.

“In many ways, it feels like a reunion of sorts, while welcoming the next generation of actors of our Island,” says director Brooke Hardman, who became the artistic director of the M.V. Playhouse when the organization merged with Circuit Arts in late March.

The production process began with an open casting call in early April, and the first rehearsals started in mid-June. Rehearsing and performing outside offers all sorts of benefits — and sometimes challenges. “Shakespeare is meant to be performed outside,” Hardman says. “It wants to be there. When his plays were being produced, there was no electricity. They were doing them out in the open air, and

An "all for one" moment in the Shakespearean play.

Touchstone, Le Beau, Rosalind, and Celia.

Orlando subdues Charles the Wrestler to the ground with glee.

Amy Barrow, left, played the role of Rosalind 18 years ago, and now plays the father (Duke Senior) of the current actor of Rosalind, Leslie Field.

there’s something about being blessed to be performing in the beautiful outdoors.”

The play takes place in the Forest of Arden, which makes the venue a natural setting; the design by Mac Young adds a theatrical element. Young is also playing Jaques, the melancholy court exile who delivers the “all the world’s a stage” speech.

“So many of us are used to spending the majority of our time indoors or staring at screens, not really connecting with nature,” says Hardman. “That’s a shame when you live in such a naturally beautiful place like the Vineyard. To be outside and working is a true pleasure.”

The modern world can intrude, of course, and Hardman points out there can be air traffic at

times: “But it just presents an interesting opportunity for some moments of improv. You never know what’s going to happen.” She continues, “We’ve also taken preventive measures against ticks. We spray and

mow, and we provide the actors and audience with a variety of repellents.” They have treated the costumes with permethrin, and recommend that the actors treat their rehearsal clothes with it as well: “We are trying to be very diligent and to take care of the place, not just because of the hazards, but also because it’s an incredibly beautiful spot. We feel so privileged to be out there, and responsible for the upkeep and well-being of that venue so the whole community can come in and enjoy it.”

Hardman speaks to the magic for both the audience and actors during Amphitheater

“Shakespeare is meant to be a dialogue with an audience. Everything was in full view, and with ‘As You Like It,’ there’s a lot of direct address to the audience. You can see them, talk to them, and sit with them.” –BROOKE HARDMAN

performances. “Shakespeare is meant to be a dialogue with an audience. Everything was in full view, and with ‘As You Like It,’ there’s a lot of direct address to the audience. You can see them, talk to them, and sit with them. I’ve known an actor to occasionally steal a snack from a picnic that’s been laid out.”

She continues, “An audience is what makes theater theater. We could be out there rehearsing on our own and having a grand ol’ time, but that wouldn’t be theater; that would be us playing in the woods. With an audience there, suddenly there’s somebody who has shown up who wants to listen to a story. Now we have theater. An audience is an incredibly important part of the equation that makes theater happen. And when they are lit by a beautifully setting sun over Lake Tashmoo, and a summer breeze blowing through the trees — it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

“As You Like It” runs Wednesday through Saturday at 6 pm, from July 15 to August 8. Tickets are pay-what-you-wish, with a suggested donation of $25 for adults and $15 for children.

PHOTOS: DENA PORTER

The cast of "As You Like It" at the Tisbury Ampitheater.

Ensemble cast members Emily Hewson and Jo Orr in song.

Celia, Rosalind, and Touchstone look deep into the Forest of Arden.

Rosalind has an altercation with Silvius.

Rosalind (Leslie Field) and Phebe (Liz Hartford).

Event spotlight for the week of 7•17 — 7•22

FRI 7/17 SUN 7/19

Joel Harrison concert

Catch a concert by Joel Harrison on guitar, Stan Strickland on saxophone, Chico Huff on bass, and Tauras Biskus on drums.

The quartet will play Harrison’s original music and jazz tunes. Free. 3 pm. West Tisbury library, 1042 State Road, West Tisbury.

SAT 7/18

Featherstone 2026 Gala

On Saturday, July 18, join in Featherstone's largest fundraiser of the year outside the Art Barn. Guests will enjoy cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and dinner along with a silent auction and Golden Ticket opportunity to win one of five unique experiences. Proceeds from this event support year-round

programming and community outreach. $300, 5:30 pm, 30 Featherstone Lane, Oak Bluffs, featherstoneart.org/gala.html.

Sale, demonstrations at Up-Island Pottery

Candy Shweder will display her pottery and give throwing demonstrations.

Pieces with small glitches will be on deep discount, and her perfect pottery will be for sale also. Come sit on the patio and enjoy a cup of coffee out of one of her mugs.

TUES 7/21 MON 7/20 WED 7/22

Live Music: Victoria Cardona

MVRHS 2026 gradu-

ate Victoria Cardona is a guitarist, vocalist, and multiinstrumentalist one-wom-

an band whose live performances include guitar, bass, percussion, and vocal harmonies. Rooted in her Cuban heritage and spanning jazz, blues, soul, Afro-Cuban, and AfroCaribbean music, salsa, and rock ’n’ roll, she fuses rhythm and harmony to deliver performances that are both technically impressive and deeply emotive. $25. 8 pm. Grange Hall, 1067 State Road, West Tisbury, circuitarts.thundertix. com/events/266811.

CnC Ole Skool Dance Cafe with DJ Smooth B

CnC Productions presents the Ole Skool Dance Cafe featuring DJ Smooth B on Tuesdays, through Sept. 7. CnC welcomes community members and visitors for a great night of dancing and fellowship. $10, 8 to 11:30 pm, P.A. Club, 137 Vineyard Ave., Oak Bluffs.

Events

THURSDAY, JULY 16

Dance Fitness and Strength

Training with Kris Martin

7-8 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. A creative blend of rhythmic resistance, cardio conditioning, manageable mobility and core strength exercises all set to crazy-FUN music. 508-696-8000, workout568@aol.com.

Virtual Kripalu Flow Yoga

7:30 am, West Tisbury Library. On Zoom with Yogijay. Sign up for free by emailing wt_mail@clamsnet.org. 508693-3366, wt_mail@clamsnet.org.

Polar Bears MV Celebrate Their 80th Season on 4th July

7:30-8:30 am, Inkwell Beach Oak Bluffs. The Polar Bears of MV, a historic African American swim/ water aerobics club, open their 80th Birthday Season on 4th July at 7:30 AM at Inkwell Beach. 617-710-9312, jazzze3@aol.com. Early Birders Walk

8-10 am, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. The early bird gets the worm, and early birders, the binoculars. Walk with our birders to listen to and observe the sanctuary’s avian residents. 508-627-4850, felixneck@massaudubon.org.

Islanders Write

8 am-5:30 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs. A day of panel discussions about the art, craft, and business of writing. Wake Up and Write! workshop. Author signings. 508-693-6100, kate@mvtimes.com. Kaiut Yoga

8:30-9:30 am, Peaked Hill Studio, Chilmark. Kaiut Yoga works through chronic pain and injuries, general aches and stiffness, and is good for the inflexible, hyper flexible and the aging body. 774-5638282, valerie@peakedhillstudio.com. Art Exhibition: Cincotta, Howells, Dowlin, Ledesma, Clough, and Rodney

9 am-6 pm, Old Sculpin Gallery, Edgartown. Art Exhibition: Cincotta, Howells, Dowlin, Ledesma, Clough, and Rodney 508-9394092, art@oldsculpingallery.org. Balletics

9-10 am, Up Island Council on Aging, West Tisbury. Total body conditioning, learning body’s strengths & weaknesses, how to prevent injury. coa-staff@ westtisbury-ma.gov, 508-693-2896.

Active Arts Preschool Camp

9 am-1 pm, Island Children’s School, West Tisbury. We know that chidlren learn best while having fun... and what better way to do that than outside with your friends! 586-943-5559, activeartsmvy@gmail.com. Kayak & Stand Up Paddle Board Quest

9 am-3:30 pm, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. Enjoy Sengekontacket on this self-guided kayak tour. Clues lead you through the pond. Call to reserve for up to 3 hours; returning the boats by 3:30. 508627-4850, felixneck@massaudubon.org.

VCS Summer Walk Series: Long Point Wildlife Refuge with The Trustees 9-11 am, Long Point Wildlife Refuge, West Tisbury. Discover one of Martha’s Vineyard’s largest publicly accessible conservation properties alongside The Trustees. 508-6939588, lucas@vineyardconservation.org.

ACE MV presents a Latin Dance Class with Lorena Crespo 9-10 am, Stillpoint, West Tisbury. This Latin dance class is a fun and inclusive space where everyone is welcome to learn rhythms like salsa, bachata, merengue, pop, and more info@stillpointmv.org.

Free Fairy Sculpture Trail at Island Folk Pottery

9 am-6 pm, Island Folk Pottery, Chilmark. The enchanting Island Folk Pottery Fairy Sculpture Trail meanders 1/4 mile through a magical wooded landscape populated with whimsical sculptures. 508-955-9944, islandfolkpottery@gmail.com. Tennis Morning Clinic Level 3.5+ 9-10:30 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. 1.5 hours of group instruction with a focus on strokes, volleying, strategy and drills. Advance registration required, please call to reserve spot 508-696-8000, workout568@aol.com. Docent-Led Arboretum Tours 9:30-10:30 am, The Polly Hill Arboretum, West Tisbury. Learn about the incredible history, people, and plants that make the Polly Hill Arboretum a local and global landmark. Free with admission! 508-693-9426, info@pollyhillarboretum.org. Exhibit: Margot Datz: Recreator 10 am-3 pm, THE CARNEGIE HERITAGE CENTER, Edgartown. This exhibition highlights the creative process of muralist Margot Datz, whose work transformed the Old Whaling Church and Flying Horses Carousel. 774-5499107, THECARNEGIE@mvpreservation.org.

Sunset Wellness, Lambert’s Cove

Head to Lambert’s Cove Beach for a special sunset evening of wellness. Hosted by the town of West Tisbury's parks and rec department, this event provides a unique opportunity for community wellness in a slice of heaven. This is an all-levels class, and is limited to 20 participants to preserve the beach and free use of space. Participants

Carnegie Heritage Center

10 am-3 pm, the carnegie heritage center, Edgartown. Carnegie Heritage Center reopens Easter weekend, Friday and Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM. Admission: $5 (ages 12+). vineyardtrust.org/events/ 774-549-9107, thecarnegie@mvpreservation.org.

Artists’s premiere: Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd 10 am-5 pm, Granary Gallery, West Tisbury. Artists’s Premiere featuring new work by artists, Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd, Anne Bell Robb. 508-693-0455, info@granarygallery.com.

Goat Yoga MV 10-11 am, Native Earth Teaching Farm, Chilmark. Slow Flow Yoga with baby pygmy goats. goatyogamv@gmail.com.

Origins -Drum Circle with Roots 10-11 am, Milokan Cultural Center and Drum Museum, Chilmark. More than just a jam.... 774-563-0870, rick@drumrol.org.

Read to a Dog 10-11 am, Oak Bluffs Library. Take turns reading to Lollie, a silver standard poodle. She is very sweet and a trained therapy dog. She love kids! Pre-registration required. 508-693-9433, mlynch@clamsnet.org.

will gather at the opening to the beach by the water and walk together to the designated spot. Free 7 to 8 pm, Lambert’s Cove Road, West Tisbury. Register at wholesomemv. com/communityevents.

The Cottagers’ 39th Annual House Tour 10 am-3 pm, Cottagers’ Corner, Oak Bluffs. The Cottager’s Annual House Tour offers guests a unique opportunity to experience some of Martha’s Vineyard’s most distinctive homes. 312-497-8515, mcgheeosse@gmail.com. Atlantic Soap Co. & Cosanila Pop Up Shop 10 am-7 pm, MV Botiga, Edgartown. Cosanila & Atlantic Soap Co. Pop Up Shop July 12th-18th atlanticsoapco@gmail.com. 29th Annual Vineyard Artisans Summer Festival 10 am-2 pm, The Grange Hall, West Tisbury. Meet island artisans and browse a multitude of mediums, all handmade on Marthas Vineyard. For more information visit our website- vineyardartisans. com artisan02557@yahoo.com. Kayak Dreams at Sea Level 10 am-5 pm, Turpentine Gallery, West Tisbury. Kayak Dreams at Sea Level oil paintings show takes you on a meditative journey along the costal plains 508-6935963, mitch@turpentinegallery.art.

Free, 9 am to 1 pm. Up-Island Pottery Studio, 4 Fulling Mill Hill, Chilmark, upislandpottery.com.

'Power Ballad':

Always room for a love song

BY ABBY REMER

“Power Ballad,” playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center starting July 17, touches on fame, love, family, friendship, self-respect, and the price of ambition.

Co0-writer John Carney directs this feel-good film, which opens with Rick Power (Paul Rudd) crooning cover tunes with the wedding band “The Bride and Groove.” Rick is a middle-aged, Kansas City–born rocker who’s lived in Dublin for 15 years, having given up his dreams of stardom to marry an Irish lass and raise a teenage daughter he adores. But Rick hasn’t completely abandoned his rock ’n’ roll dream. At the end of the reception, he sings a final tune — one of his own — and, in his imagination, the smalltown wedding venue shifts into a dream of performing in an enormous arena filled with fans. Later, when reprimanded by the band’s leader for getting carried away, Rick says, “I know, I

Continued from B10

Pokemon Club

11 am-12 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Bring your Pokémon cards to show to others! This is a club to talk about Pokémon, look at cards, and draw! No trading allowed. Ages 5-11. 508-693-9433, mlynch@clamsnet.org.

Tech help

11 am-1 pm, Up Island Council on Aging, West Tisbury. Free tach help 508-6932896, coa-staff@westtisbury-ma.gov.

Loïs Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence

11 am-5 pm, Center of Knowhere, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition - Lois Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence 917-9609344, info@knowhereart.com.

Summer Show

11 am-5 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. New works by: Carol Caradimos, Wooley Dutton, Nadia Mahfuz, Joseph McCarthy, Donna Nyzio and Nick Paciorek. 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein

11 am-4 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein 508696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org. Fault Lines

11 am-5 pm, Knowhere Art Gallery, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition: Fault Lines 917-960-9344, info@knowhereart.com. Family Yoga Play

11-11:30 am, West Tisbury Library. Playful, fun yoga for littles & their caregivers. Rec. for ages 0-5! Free and no registration needed. 508-6933366, hburbidge@clamsnet.org.

Seaweed art

11 am-5 pm, Aquinnah Seaweed Art Gallery, Aquinnah. Colorful, natural seaweed art made on handmade paper by local artist Corinna Kaufman. Victorian art form. Open till 7/15. Private showings available. ken@newlivingexpo.com.

know. But these songs need to get played.” The leader responds that the guests “want something safe — something familiar. Not your late ’80s, possibly early ’90s hard-to-define rock that you do.”

The thing is, Rick’s own music is good, as we discover at the next wedding the band plays. It happens that a friend of the bride and groom is the devilishly handsome young American superstar Danny Wilson (Nick Jonas), who was part of a popular boy band, but whose solo career is faltering. During the reception, the bridal couple plead for Danny to be allowed to sing a tune, to Rick’s initial dismay. But when Danny invites Rick to join in, the two give a dynamite performance. Rick and Danny end up hanging out after the reception late into the night, drinking, smoking marijuana, and playing their music for each other. The two are simpatico, helping each other improve the pieces they are working on. A particularly compelling song is Rick’s original “How to Write a Song (Without You),” for which he hasn’t yet found a successful bridge. The song is a stirring power ballad, an impas-

Author Talk – “Feed Us with Trees” with Elspeth Hay 12-1 pm, Chilmark Library. Join Cape Cod author and journalist Elspeth Hay for a discussion about her new book. Co-hosted by the Vineyard Haven and Chilmark Libraries. 5086964211or 5086453360, vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org. Free CPR Class 1-2:30 pm, West Tisbury Library. led by Alan Ganapol. Gain valuable skills that can help save a life. Not a certification course. Email wt_mail@clamsnet.org to sign up. 508-693-3366, wt_mail@clamsnet.org. Children’s Afternoon Art: Printmaking (ages 9+) 1-3 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs. These classes will introduce young artists to some printmaking techniques, while encouraging them to find their artistic voice. 508-693-1850, featherstone@featherstoneart.org. Farmer for a Day – Child Drop-Off Program

1-3 pm, The FARM Institute, Edgartown. Spend the afternoon on the farm with this hands-on program. 508-627-7007, thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org. VHPL Book Club Reads “The Book Club for Troublesome Women: A Novel” 2 pm, EMS Facility, Vineyard Haven. Email vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org to be added to the list. A Zoom link will be sent via email if you’re joining virtually. Everyone is welcome! 508-696-4211, vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org.

Adult Cow Connection at The Farm Institute

2:15-3 pm, The FARM Institute, Edgartown. Come meet, cuddle, brush, and walk with our cows at The Farm Institute! 508-6277007, thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org. Chair Yoga

2:30-3:30 pm, Up Island Council on Aging, West Tisbury. Chair Yoga 508-693-2896, coa-staff@westtisbury-ma.gov.

sioned tune with emotional lyrics that starts soft and gradually builds to a dramatic finale.

The next morning, Danny leaves an expensive, rare vintage Gibson acoustic guitar for Rick as a token of friendship. But when Danny returns to Los Angeles, a series of events leads him to finish the song and pass it off as his own. “How to Write a Song (Without You)” becomes an instant smash megahit, launching the wildly successful solo career he has longed for.

The film unfolds in an amusing, caper-like fashion as Rick tries to prove that the song was originally his, with plenty of entertaining twists and turns.

The soundtrack, featuring original songs and score by Gary Clark and Carney, beautifully performed by Rudd and Jonas, who sing their own parts, is immensely appealing. At one point, Rick’s daughter informs him that old-school love songs no longer cut it with young women,

Events

MVM Day

3-5 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Vineyard Haven. Celebrate Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s 103rd birthday with free family fun.

508-627-4441, events@mvmuseum.org.

Community Knitting Circle

3-4:45 pm, Chilmark Library. Join us for a relaxed afternoon of knitting. Our knitters love to share their knowledge and beginners are welcome! 508-645-3360, chil.programs@gmail.com.

Ukulele Jam

3:30-5 pm, West Tisbury Library. All ages and abilities. The library has ukuleles to borrow, or bring a guitar or banjo, or come to sing. wt_mail@clamsnet.org, 508-693-3366. Chillin’ In Chilmark: Missis Biskis 5-6 pm, Chilmark Community Center. The CCC and CFPL present Chilmark’s beloved Missis Biskis will get folks up on their feet with Americana standards and folk music.

508-645-3360, chil.programs@gmail.com.

Family Style Catch and Cook with The MV Shellfish

5-7 pm, The Farm Institute and Katama Bay, Edgartown. Family-friendly shellfish harvesting in Katama bay, with cooking at the Farm!

508-627-7007, thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org.

Table Tennis

5 pm, Tisbury Senior Center, Vineyard Haven. Table tennis for all ages and skill levels. 508-728-5898, raeobmv@gmail.com. Artist Reception – Michael Johnson “INKWELL FOLKS!”

5-7 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Artist Reception – Michael Johnson “INKWELL FOLKS!”

508-693-9433, cphelan@clamsnet.org. Meditation

6-7 pm, Bodhi Path Buddhist Center, West Tisbury. Group meditation available both in person at Bodhi Path in West Tisbury, and online via Zoom. marthasvineyard@bodhipath.org. As You Like It

6 pm, Tisbury Amphitheater, Vineyard Haven. As You Like It 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

“Power Ballad” is playing at the M.V. Film Center, starting on July 17. For

explaining that they aren’t interested in falling in love anymore but, she says, in “revenge.” But for those who like the genre, “How to Write a Song (Without

Music in the Square - Mike Benjamin & The Keepers 6-8 pm, Eisenhauer Gallery, Edgartown. Eisenhauer Gallery presents “Music in the Square” with Mike Benjamin and the Keepers 508-627-7003, eisenhauergallery@gmail.com

Plant Spirit Tea Meditation 6:30-8 pm, Stillpoint, West Tisbury. Plant spirit meditations are guided ritual experiences info@stillpointmv.org.

Author Talk: Jill Biden — View From the East Wing

7-8:30 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center, Oak Bluffs. A candid conversation with Jill Biden about her White House years and new memoir, View from the East Wing. 919-219-5834, info@mvbookfestival.com. COMEDIAN CHRIS MONTY

7:30-9:30 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, Vineyard Haven. COMEDIAN CHRIS MONTY Live at the MV Film Center 774-392-2972, rich@mvfilmsociety.com. Film Screening: The Oldest Person in the World

7:30 pm, Grange Hall, West Tisbury. Film Screening: The Oldest Person in the World 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

Summer Institute: The Pursuit of Truth

7:30-9 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, Vineyard Haven. A conversation with Pulitzer-winning journalist Julie K. Brown, who broke the Jeffrey Epstein story. 508-693-0745, mvsummerinstitute.org. The Turnaway Play — what happens when a person can’t get an abortion?

7:30-9:30 pm, Old Whaling Church, Edgartown. Join MV Swell and REN for The Turnaway Play featuring Amy Brenneman and the Island Theatre Workshop. Explore the impact of being denied abortion car info@mvswell.org. Art Class for Kids

10:30-11:30 pm, Chilmark Library. Kids art class 508-645-3360, chilmarklibrarykids@gmail.com.

FRIDAY, JULY 17

Barre Fusion with Kris Martin

7-8 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. Ballet styled flows, barre work, balance and weights incorporating disks, loop bands and Bender balls. Come with sneakers, barre sox, or bare feet. 508-696-8000, workout568@aol.com. Polar Bears MV Celebrate Their 80th Season on 4th July

7:30-8:30 am, Inkwell Beach Oak Bluffs. The Polar Bears of MV, a historic African American swim/ water aerobics club, open their 80th Birthday Season on 4th July at 7:30 AM at Inkwell Beach. 617-710-9312, jazzze3@aol.com.

You),” which we hear frequently throughout the film, is a real winner, proving there are still plenty of us out there who want a stirring, romantic tune.

Pumped Up Intervals with Maria McFarland

8:30-9:30 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. A class alternating cardio intervals and weight work intervals using heavier weights, body bars, loops bands, and weighted balls. 508-696-8000, workout568@aol.com. Free 4A (Fourth Amendment) Workplace Training

8:30-10 am, Edgartown Library. Learn what to do if I.C.E. shows up! Protect workplaces/staff/volunteers from illegal search and seizure. mv4aproject@proton.me.

Art Exhibition: Cincotta, Howells, Dowlin, Ledesma, Clough, and Rodney 9 am-3 pm, Old Sculpin Gallery, Edgartown.

Art Exhibition: Cincotta, Howells, Dowlin, Ledesma, Clough, and Rodney 508-9394092, art@oldsculpingallery.org.

Kayak & Stand Up Paddle Board Quest

9 am-3:30 pm, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. Enjoy Sengekontacket on this self-guided kayak tour. Clues lead you through the pond. Call to reserve for up to 3 hours; returning the boats by 3:30. 508-627-4850, felixneck@massaudubon.org. EFF’n Move Series with Tuni 9-10 am, Stillpoint, West Tisbury. EFF’n Move is a mindful, low-impact training approach focused onwhy you move, not just what you do. info@stillpointmv.org.

Union Chapel 2026 Days of Service

9 am-2 pm, IGI Food Pantry, Oak Bluffs. Union Chapel 2026 Days of Service events@hoverflymedia.com.

Free Fairy Sculpture Trail at Island Folk Pottery

9 am-6 pm, Island Folk Pottery, Chilmark. The enchanting Island Folk Pottery Fairy Sculpture Trail meanders 1/4 mile through a magical wooded landscape populated with whimsical sculptures. 508-955-9944, islandfolkpottery@gmail.com.

Carnegie Heritage Center

10 am-3 pm, the carnegie heritage center, Edgartown. Carnegie Heritage Center reopens Easter weekend, Friday and Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM. Admission: $5 (ages 12+). vineyardtrust.org/events/ 774-549-9107, thecarnegie@mvpreservation.org.

Kayak Dreams at Sea Level

10 am-5 pm, Turpentine Gallery, West Tisbury. Kayak Dreams at Sea Level oil paintings show takes you on a meditative journey along the costal plains 508-6935963, mitch@turpentinegallery.art.

Atlantic Soap Co. & Cosanila Pop Up Shop

10 am-7 pm, MV Botiga, Edgartown. Cosanila & Atlantic Soap Co. Pop Up Shop July 12th-18th atlanticsoapco@gmail.com

Seashore Discovery

10-11:30 am, Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Edgartown. Head to the edge of Sengekontacket Pond to net, catch, and release marine life and discover the coastal creatures that live in local waters. 508-627-4850, felixneck@massaudubon.org.

Exhibit: Margot Datz: Recreator 10 am-3 pm, THE CARNEGIE HERITAGE CENTER, Edgartown. This exhibition highlights the creative process of muralist Margot Datz, whose work transformed the Old Whaling Church and Flying Horses Carousel. 774-549-9107, THECARNEGIE@mvpreservation.org.

Artists’s premiere: Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd 10 am-5 pm, Granary Gallery, West Tisbury. Artists’s Premiere featuring new work by artists, Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd, Anne Bell Robb. 508-693-0455, info@granarygallery.com. Obstacle Course

10-11:30 am, Oak Bluffs Library. Enjoy passing through all the obstacles of the course we created just for you! Box Crawl, Hurdle Jump, Balance Beam, Bucket Stilts and more! Drop-in. 508-693-9433, mlynch@clamsnet.org.

Kid’s Music Class

10:30-11 am, West Tisbury Library. Sing fun songs and play instruments with friends! Ages 0-5 508-693-3366, hburbidge@clamsnet.org.

Fault Lines

11 am-5 pm, Knowhere Art Gallery, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition: Fault Lines 917-960-9344, info@knowhereart.com. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein

11 am-4 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein 508696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

Paul Beebe & Gwen Marcus Show

11 am-5 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. Paul Beebe, Fellow ASMA, and view his new selection of Vineyard realist oil paintings along with award winning bronze sculptures by Gwen Marcus 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com.

Toddler Time 11-11:30 am, Chilmark Library. We’ll read classic and current children’s literature, and sing, move, and play together. Ideal for preschool ages. chilmarklibrarykids@gmail.com 508645-3360, chilmarklibrarykids@gmail.com. Loïs Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence 11 am-5 pm, Center of Knowhere, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition - Lois Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence 917-960-9344, info@knowhereart.com. Summer Show 11 am-5 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. New works by: Carol Caradimos, Wooley Dutton, Nadia Mahfuz, Joseph McCarthy, Donna Nyzio and Nick Paciorek. 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com. Seasonal Crafting 12-4 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Craft projects for ages 3-11. New craft each week! Drop in. 508-693-9433, mlynch@clamsnet.org.

Book Donations Welcome! Friend of the WT Library

1-2 pm, Friends Book Donation Shed at West Tisbury School. Book Donations accepted for the annual Friends of the West Tisbury Library summer book sale. 617-543-7898, kjskin@comcast.net.

Chilmark Community Trust: Hidden History of MV with Thomas Dresser 1-3 pm, The Yard, Chilmark. Join Island historian and author Thomas Dresser for an engaging journey into some of the Vineyard’s most fascinating and lesser-known stories. info@chilmarkcommunitytrust.org.

Children’s Afternoon Art: Ceramics (ages 7+) 1-3 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs. From decorative planters to dragons to mugs, students will learn and experiment with multiple techniques in construction and decoration. 508-693-1850, featherstone@featherstoneart.org.

Book Signing: ‘The End of My Life is Killing Me’ by Annabelle Gurwitch

2-4 pm, Edgartown Books. Actress, Activist, AuthorAnnabelle Gurwitch signs her memoir ‘The End of My Life is Killing Me: The Unexpected Joys of a Cancer Slacker’. 508-627-8463, info@edgartownbooks.com. Joel Harrison Concert 3 pm, West Tisbury Library. featuring Joel Harrison on guitar, Stan Strickland on saxophone, Chico Huff on bass, and Tauras Biskus on drums. 508-693-3366, wt_mail@clamsnet.org.

Tabletop Roleplay Group: MonsterSized Summer Road Trip 3-6 pm, Edgartown Library. Throughout the campaign, you’ll experience highs and lows as you roadtrip across the country 508-6274221, programs@edgartownlibrary.org. Grace Church Lobster Rolls 3-6 pm, Grace Episcopal Church, Vineyard Haven. Grace Church Lobster Roll Fundraiser 508-693-0332, rector@graceepiscopalmv.org. The “Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State” By Emmaia Gelman 3:30-4:30 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Book Talk: The “Anti-Defamation League and the Racial State” By Emmaia Gelman 508-693-9433, cphelan@clamsnet.org. Build It, Build It Better: Poetry Workshop with Donald Nitchie 4:30-6 pm, Edgartown Library. This workshop is perfect for beginning writers or anyone curious about writing in groups 508-6274221, programs@edgartownlibrary.org. Paul Beebe & Gwen Marcus 5-7 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. Meet Paul Beebe, Fellow ASMA, and view his new selection of Vineyard realist oil paintings along with award winning bronze sculptures by Gwen Marcus 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com. Shenandoah II: Designing the Next Generation 5-6 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Vineyard Haven. Designing Shenandoah II, educational topsail schooner continuing Island sailing legacy 508-627-4441, events@mvmuseum.org. Manuel F. Correllus State Forest Bioblitz 5-11 pm, Manuel F. Corellus State Forest, Oak Bluffs. Join us July 17th & 18th at the State Forest to celebrate and document the biodiversity of this premier Vineyard conservation property! mpelikan@biodiversityworksmv.org.

Events

Away to See Book Celebration + Summer Raised II Art Exhibition

5-8 pm, Eisenhauer Gallery, Edgartown. An Evening of Books, Paintings, and Island Moments with Paul Norwood and family 508-627-7003, eisenhauergallery@gmail.com.

Magic the Gathering: Gaming Club

6-9 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. All skill levels are welcome. You can bring food and drink. Under age 14 should be with an adult. mdaniels@clamsnet.org, 508-693-9433.

As You Like It

6 pm, Tisbury Amphitheater, Vineyard Haven. As You Like It 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

PRO PICKLEBALL Exhibition

6-8 pm, Airport Fitness & Sports Club, West Tisbury. Pro Pickleball Exhibition feat. Ryan Fu, Oscar Serra, Cobi Moore + surprise guest. Spectators will sit courtside. Q&A with players after the event. 508-696-8000, info@airportfitnessmv.com.

Friday Nights with Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish

6:30-8 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs. Join us and Johnny Hoy and the Bluefish this summer for Friday night musical performances on our outdoor stage under the trees! 508-6931850, featherstone@featherstoneart.org.

Film Screening: Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)

7:30 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven. Film Screening: Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org. Drive-In Movie: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

8:15 pm, The Vineyard’s Drive-In at the YMCA, Oak Bluffs. Drive-In Movie: E.T. the Extra Terrestrial 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

Crochet a Chicken with Sarah Vail Chilmark Library. Sarah Vail will teach the art of crocheting a chicken in this three-week class. Registration required. Space is limited. 401-649-2180, chil.programs@gmail.com.

SATURDAY, JULY 18

Polar Bears MV Celebrate Their 80th Season on 4th July

7:30-8:30 am, Inkwell Beach Oak Bluffs. The Polar Bears of MV, a historic African American swim/ water aerobics club, open their 80th Birthday Season on 4th July at 7:30 AM at Inkwell Beach. 617-710-9312, jazzze3@aol.com.

Union Chapel 2026 Days of Service

7:45 am-12 pm, IGI Food Pantry, Oak Bluffs. Union Chapel 2026 Days of Service events@hoverflymedia.com. Swim Across America - Martha’s Vineyard Open Water Swim!

8 am, Menemsha Beach, Chilmark. July 18 Swim Across America Martha’s Vineyard will host our inaugural swim to support MGB Cancer Institute at MV Hospital. 508808-8664, anniet1205@gmail.com. Manuel F. Correllus State Forest Bioblitz

8 am-5 pm, Manuel F. Corellus State Forest, Oak Bluffs. Join us July 17th & 18th at the State Forest to celebrate and document the biodiversity of this premier Vineyard conservation property! mpelikan@biodiversityworksmv.org. Dance Fitness with Kris Martin 8:30-9:30 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. A creative blend of rhythmic resistance, cardio conditioning, manageable mobility and core strength exercises all set to crazy-FUN music. 508-696-8000, workout568@aol.com. Greenhouse Soil Therapy! 9-11 am, Community Greenhouse of MV, Oak Bluffs. Get your hands in the soil and help the community greenhouse. Seeding, transplanting, and harvesting; gardening chats and advice are a bonus! 774-563-8417, smiller8690@gmail.com. Beginner Pickleball Clinic

9-10 am, Airport Fitness, West Tisbury. Curious about pickleball? Join a session to learn the basics! Advance registration is required, call 508-696-8000 or go to our website to register. workout568@aol.com. Chilmark Flea Market

9 am-2 pm, Flea Market Field, Chilmark. 08-645-3100, chilmarkflea@gmail.com.

Kaiut Yoga

9-10 am, Peaked Hill Studio, Chilmark. Kaiut Yoga is works through chronic pain and injuries, general aches andstiffness, and is good for the inflexible, hyper flexible and the aging body. 774-563-8282, vsonnenthal@gmail.com. Free Fairy Sculpture Trail at Island Folk Pottery

9 am-6 pm, Island Folk Pottery, Chilmark. The enchanting Island Folk Pottery Fairy Sculpture Trail meanders 1/4 mile through a magical wooded landscape populated with whimsical sculptures. 508-955-9944, islandfolkpottery@gmail.com.

Vinyasa Power Yoga

9-10 am, Edgartown Library. Free and open to the public. Registration is required. Sign up at edgartownlibrary.org. 508-627-4221, programs@edgartownlibrary.org.

Barnyard Buddies

9:30-10:30 am, Farm Institute, Edgartown. Spend your Saturday morning exploring the farm and meeting our friendly animals in this program for families! For ages 2-5, pre-registration required. 508-627-7007, thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org. Artists’s premiere: Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd

10 am-5 pm, Granary Gallery, West Tisbury. Artists’s Premiere featuring new work by artists, Alison Shaw, Dan VanLandingham, Anne Besse-Shepherd, Anne Bell Robb. 508-693-0455, info@granarygallery.com. Carnegie Heritage Center

10 am-3 pm, the carnegie heritage center, Edgartown. Carnegie Heritage Center reopens Easter weekend, Friday and Saturday, 10 AM – 4 PM. Admission: $5 (ages 12+). vineyardtrust.org/events/ 774-549-9107, thecarnegie@mvpreservation.org. Mini-Maker Craft Club

10 am-3 pm, Edgartown Library. A differentthemed craft will be offered every week, drop in and get creative! 508-627-4221, programs@edgartownlibrary.org

Fairy Houses of Highfield Hall & Gardens 2026

10 am, Highfield Hall & Gardens, Falmouth. info@highfieldhall.org

Kayak Dreams at Sea Level

10 am-5 pm, Turpentine Gallery, West Tisbury. Kayak Dreams at Sea Level oil paintings show takes you on a meditative journey along the costal plains 508-6935963, mitch@turpentinegallery.art

Artists’s Premiere: Jeff Hoerle & Max Decker

10 am-5 pm, Field Gallery, West Tisbury. Artists’s Premiere: Jeff Hoerle & Max Decker 508-693-5595, info@fieldgallery.com. Catboats: Sail Sculpin 2026

10 am-6 pm, Old Sculpin Gallery, Edgartown. Catboats: Sail Sculpin 2026 508-9394092, art@oldsculpingallery.org. The Fabulists

10 am, Tisbury Amphitheater, Vineyard Haven. The Fabulists 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org. Atlantic Soap Co. & Cosanila Pop Up Shop

10 am-7 pm, MV Botiga, Edgartown. Cosanila & Atlantic Soap Co. Pop Up Shop July 12th-18th atlanticsoapco@gmail.com. Exhibit: Margot Datz: Recreator 10 am-3 pm, THE CARNEGIE HERITAGE CENTER, Edgartown. This exhibition highlights the creative process of muralist Margot Datz, whose work transformed the Old Whaling Church and Flying Horses Carousel. 774-549-9107, THECARNEGIE@mvpreservation.org.

Misty Meadows Saturday Pony Rides 10 am-12 pm, Misty Meadows Equine Learning Center, West Tisbury. Enjoy a 15 minute Pony Ride on our beautiful property! Each child must be booked into a separate time slot for a ride, and our weight limit is 150lbs. 508-338-7198, info@mistymeadowsmv.org.

Saturday Storytime

10:15-10:45 am, Oak Bluffs Library. Join us for a fun-filled storytime with stories, songs, scarves, shakers and a parachute. Stories are geared toward kids ages 1.5 to 5 years old. 508-693-9433, mlynch@clamsnet.org. Pilates Flow with Camille Beauzile 10:30-11:45 am, Stillpoint, West Tisbury. This upbeat Pilates class blends preventative medicine, mind-over-matter focus, and joyful movement info@stillpointmv.org.

Meet Authors of ‘All the Difference: Six Leadership Actions’

11 am-1 pm, Edgartown Books. Meet the Authors of ‘All the Difference: Six Leadership Actions to Bridge Perspectives, Strengthen Teams, and Create Value’ 508-627-8463, info@edgartownbooks.com.

Goat Yoga MV

11 am-12 pm, Native Earth Teaching Farm, Chilmark. Slow Flow Yoga with baby pygmy goats. goatyogamv@gmail.com.

Summer Show

11 am-5 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. New works by: Carol Caradimos, Wooley Dutton, Nadia Mahfuz, Joseph McCarthy, Donna Nyzio and Nick Paciorek. 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com.

Paul Beebe & Gwen Marcus Show

11 am-5 pm, Louisa Gould Gallery, Vineyard Haven. Paul Beebe, Fellow ASMA, and view his new selection of Vineyard realist oil paintings along with award winning bronze sculptures by Gwen Marcus 508-693-7373, louisa.gould@gmail.com.

Fault Lines

11 am-5 pm, Knowhere Art Gallery, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition: Fault Lines 917960-9344, info@knowhereart.com.

Loïs Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence

11 am-5 pm, Center of Knowhere, Oak Bluffs. Group Exhibition - Lois Mailou Jones: Sphere of Influence 917-960-9344, info@knowhereart.com.

Vision Board Workshop

11 am-12:30 pm, West Tisbury Library. Facilitated by writer, editor, and educator Rachel Rosekind. This event is fun for all ages! No registration required. 508-693-3366, wt_mail@clamsnet.org.

Storytime

11-11:30 am, Chilmark Library. We’ll read classic and current children’s literature, and sing, move, and play together. Ideal for ages 3-6. adubno@clamsnet.org, 508-645-3360.

SIMON GALLERY

11 am-3 pm, SIMON GALLERY, Chilmark. Peter Simon Photo & Ronni Simon Designs. Open Sat. & Sun., 11-3. Open by appointment - 508 325-2242. In Chilmark, Tabor House Rd. Follow Simon signs. 508-325-2242, ronnisimondesigns@gmail.com. Sensory-Friendly Barnyard Buddies 11 am-12 pm, Farm Institute, Edgartown. Spend your Saturday exploring the farm and meeting our friendly animals in this dedicated hour with a reduced number of guests & quieter environment. 508-6277007, thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein 11 am-4 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven. Works by Anna Fitch, Banker White, and Neva Goldstein 508696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org

Sound Bath with Trish Ginter 11:30 am-12:30 pm, Edgartown Library. Registration required. Sign up at edgartownlibrary.org. 508-627-4221, programs@edgartownlibrary.org.

Book Talk – “First in the House” with Lorna Rainey 11:30 am-1:30 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Book Talk – “First in the House” with Lorna Rainey 508-693-9433, cphelan@clamsnet.org. Berry Festival 12-4 pm, First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, West Tisbury. Berry Festival at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, July 18 from 12 to 4 pm, rain or shine. Bake Sale, Raffle, Delicious Berry Treats! 508-693-2842, wtiscong@comcast.net.

Clay Bas Relief Sculpture Showroom Opening 1-6 pm, showroom within M.V.Tile , Vineyard Haven. The showroom displays Juliet’s distinctive, sophisticated, clay bas relief wall sculptures. “highlight of the Art in Embassy Program” U.S. State Dept 502-936-3599, juliet.ehrlich@gmail.com.

Book Signing: ‘Deadly Tides’ by Raemi A. Ray 2-4 pm, Edgartown Books. Author Raemi Ray will be signings copies of‘Deadly Tides’,the fifth installment of her popular Martha’s Vineyard Murder Series. 508-6278463, info@edgartownbooks.com. All Ages Chess Club 2-3:30 pm, Oak Bluffs Library. Join us in a fun and welcoming environment. oakb_mail@clamsnet.org, 508-693-9433.

Pottery & Oysters 2-5 pm, Merry Farm Pottery, West Tisbury. New Pottery, free oysters, North Carolina pottery guests 774-836-4349, micahthanhauser@gmail.com. Ronni Simon Sculpture -- Artists’s Reception 3-4:30 pm, Chilmark Library. Ronni Simon has always crocheted. This show exhibits that technique in her wall sculptures, as well as the super-soft colorful afghans she crochets. 508-325-2242, ronnisimondesigns@gmail.com. An Afternoon at the Carnegie 3-6 pm, carnegie heritage center, Edgartown. Discover new exhibitions at our annual open house: Flying Horses Carousel: An American Treasure + Nantucket Lightship Baskets on Martha’s Vineya 774-549-9107, THECARNEGIE@mvpreservation.org. Artist’s Reception: Ronni Simon 3-4:30 pm, Chilmark Library. Come to the library to see new sculpture by Chilmark artist and jeweler Ronni Simon. 508645-3360, chil.programs@gmail.com. Pet Preparedness: How to Keep Your Pets Safe in an Emergency 3:30 pm, West Tisbury Library. A talk with Jennelle Gadowski of the WT Emergency Management Department. 508-693-3366, wt_mail@clamsnet.org. Artists’s Premiere: Jeff Hoerle & Max Decker 4-6 pm, Field Gallery, West Tisbury. Artists’s Premiere: Jeff Hoerle & Max Decker 508-693-5595, info@fieldgallery.com.

Artist Reception: Catboats-Sail Sculpin 2026 4-6 pm, Old Sculpin Gallery, Edgartown. Artist Reception: Catboats--Sail Sculpin 2026 508-939-4092, art@oldsculpingallery.org. It Sounds So Sweet: Folk Music on Martha’s Vineyard, 1958 to 1963 5-6:30 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Vineyard Haven. Encore talk revisits Vineyard’s folk music boom with vintage photos, memorabilia, + recordings that bring the Island’s early scene to life. 508-6274441, frontdesk@mvmuseum.org. Featherstone 2026 Gala 5:30 pm, Featherstone Center for the Arts, Oak Bluffs. Join us Saturday, July 18th, 2026 for Featherstone’s largest fundraiser of the year on the campus outside the Art Barn! 508693-1850, featherstone@featherstoneart.org. As You Like It 6 pm, Tisbury Amphitheater, Vineyard Haven. As You Like It 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org. Laughing Matters! 2nd Annual Comedy Fundraiser for Stillpoint 7-8 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center, Oak Bluffs. Laughing Matters! The Funniest Evening of your Summer, July 18. Fundraiser for Stillpoint’s Year-round Programming 508-693-1033, deb@stillpointmv.org. Comedy Night with Brian Glowacki at the Seacrest Beach Resort 7-9:30 pm, Sea Crest Beach Resort, North Falmouth. harryflapjackcomedy@gmail.com. Film Screening: Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) 7:30 pm, Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, Vineyard Haven. Film Screening: Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird) 508-6966300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org Ana Vidovic Concert

7:30-9 pm, Chappaquiddick Community Center, Edgartown. Classical Guitarist chappyccenter@gmail.com. Drive-In Movie: Knives Out 8:15 pm, The Vineyard’s Drive-In at the YMCA, Oak Bluffs. Drive-In Movie: Knives Out 508-696-6300, boxoffice@circuitarts.org.

Afriend of mine approached me and told me that a neighbor of people he knew had recently been put on probation for child sexual abuse. Particularly parents of young children were frightened for the safety of their children.

“As a psychiatrist, what can you tell me about that?” he asked. It is terrifying to think that our children could be the victims of sexual violations. At the same time, it is neither useful nor healthy for children (or their parents) to be instilled with a generalized sense of fear towards strangers. “Stranger danger” is often overestimated; in fact, sexual predators are strangers in only 5 to 10 percent of reported cases. Rather, they are generally family members, teachers, coaches, clergy, healthcare professionals, or neighbors. Rather than focusing on the stranger next door, we should teach children how to maintain their boundaries with adults and other children.

But parents should be aware of adults who might be practicing grooming behavior. Grooming is what’s happening when adults or older teens are especially ingratiating, make themselves very present in a child’s life, and become controlling, tending to isolate the child from others. Grooming is often a precursor to sexual boundary crossing, and might start with relatively innocuous sexual remarks or even vaguely sexual “jokes.” Understanding all of this should inform one’s attitude toward a registered sex offender. The phenomenon of adults violating sexual boundaries is surprisingly widespread nationally. Large epidemiologic studies estimate that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will experience sexual abuse by the age of 18. Twenty percent of adult women and 5 percent of adult men recall being sexually abused as children. And due to underreporting because of shame, repressed memories, or not labeling an experience as "abuse," those statistics are almost certainly lower than the actual number. In my experience, perpetrators come from every walk of life and every social, economic, and educational class. On the Vineyard, some I have known about have grown up in poverty and spent lives in and out of prison, while others have been well-heeled, Ivy League professionals (think of Jeffrey Epstein and his collaborators). Sometimes people who should know better look the other way, sometimes the courts seem to let offenders off easily, and other times, the legal system sends them away for long prison stays. In thinking through how to protect our community from the epidemic of sexual abuse, it is useful to understand that its roots are very frequently found in a behavioral addiction. A simple definition of addiction (be it to alcohol, gambling, smartphone use, sex, or anything else that gets in the way of a healthy life) is that it involves continuing to engage in destructive behavior despite the consequences. One of the most powerful predictors of addiction

is early childhood trauma. People who have been neglected or have experienced physical, emotional, and/ or sexual boundary crossings as children go through life compulsively seeking comfort even when it damages them or others. While the vast majority of adults who have a history of child sexual abuse will never sexually abuse a child, most adults who do sexually abuse children have a history of childhood trauma, although not necessarily sexual abuse.

If they’re not apprehended and locked up, sexual predators will likely continue their destructive behavior unless they engage in rigorous work through trauma therapy, group therapy, 12-step meetings, spiritual or religious awakenings, or all of the above. As with all addicts, it is possible for them to change their ways if they dedicate themselves to the hard work of self-healing and recovery.

So should neighbors of a known sex offender be aware that there is a risk? You bet. (Though the risk of abuse is there whether there is a registered sex offender in your neighborhood or not.) The hope is that a registered sex offender is getting treatment (which is generally abundantly available), and that the system provides regular checks on their behavior that can help them to overcome their illnesses. If I were the neighbor of a

registered sex offender, I know that it would be reassuring to me to hear from my neighbor that they were doing the difficult work to heal.

Having compassion for these addicts, who are clearly sick and suffering, might feel unacceptable — an unattainable reach, or even likely to enable their behavior. Let’s be clear: There is nothing acceptable about the cruel and enormously damaging crossing of sexual, physical, or emotional boundaries with a child. When they are engaging in this behavior, it may feel impossible to have compassion for what they may be suffering themselves. However, when they are doing the required, very hard work to find recovery, seeing their behavior for the illness that it is, rather than simply an incomprehensible evil, puts it in a more realistic perspective. We do everyone a disservice by simply reacting from fear. (And there is nothing good about conveying an overwhelming sense of danger to our chil-

“There is a broader societal change that individuals and families can be a part of, which is 'break the silence,’ to 'make the private public.'"

Child sexual abusers

A broader understanding of predators.

BY CHARLES SILBERSTEIN WITH LAURA ROOSEVELT

reason, obtain pleasure, and learn new information shut down, which is useful when we’re facing an immediate danger that requires a fight-or-flight response, but otherwise not helpful. People who cross the sexual boundaries of children don’t change because we fear and hate them, but they might change if we offered them some compassion along with strategies for change and accountability. Beyond being alert to those adults who might cross boundaries with children, there is a broader societal change that individual parents and families can be a part of, which is to "break the silence," to "make the private public." Child sexual abuse is perhaps the biggest public health threat to children, and for that reason it needs to be openly discussed, not a taboo topic. Also, we must understand that punishment alone won't change behavior, and certainly won't prevent it. Legal and child-welfare approaches need to be strengthened, for starters. But also, while never in any way condoning grooming and molestation, we must treat these urges and behaviors as an affliction if there is any chance of preventing them. If we simply punish the perpetrator and shame them, we drive both the perpetrator and the victim into the shadows, when what is needed for healing is honest and open dialogue. My friend asked me if I would be willing to meet with some of the parents who are afraid of the specter of a known sex offender in their neighborhood. I hope that we can arrange that. I have the feeling that all of us, including highly experienced clinicians, put our heads in the sand at times about the epidemic of child abuse. We can hardly spend too much time focusing on it, discussing it, and sharing the stories related to it from our own lives. And this might feel like a pipe dream, but if we do have that meeting, I hope that we can invite the known sex offender to a meeting as well. If he or she is working a recovery program, it might be a remarkable opportunity for all of us to heal.

Here is a great discussion from the Brazelton Touchpoints Center about addressing the enormous public health problems related to these issues: bit.ly/BTC_CSAM_Health

Dr. Charles Silberstein is a psychiatrist on staff at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and at Island Counseling Center, where he is the medical director. He is board-certified in general, addiction, and geriatric psychiatry. He writes regularly about issues Islanders have with mental health.

Laura D. Roosevelt is a poet, journalist, and editor who writes regularly for Bluedot Living and other local publications.

COMMUNITY NOTES

Summer Institute speaker and film series: Thomas Friedman

The Summer Institute hosts speakers who are deeply and actively involved in politics, economics, science, and the arts. Featured speakers have included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer-prizewinning authors and journalists, and political leaders.

Thomas Friedman presents “The Big Trends Shaping the World Today: Seatbelts Required.” New York Times foreign

thor and three-time Pulitzer prizewinner, who will share his observations on globalization, Middle East politics, American politics, wars, and the state of the world. July 23 at 7:30 pm at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, 130 Center St., Vineyard Haven. Tickets at mvsummerinstitute.org/2026-speakers.

affairs opinion columnist Thomas Friedman is insightful, candid, often controversial, inspiring, and a book au-

On Sunday, July 19, catch the film “Oxygen.” Winner of the Haggiag Award for Best Picture at the 2025 Jerusalem Film Festival, Natalie Braun’s antiwar film reflects a politically urgent

exploration of maternal refusal. “Oxygen” follows a mother’s radical act of resistance as she attempts to stop her son from crossing the border into war. At a moment when the human cost of military conflict is being debated globally, this mother and son, Anat and Ido, wrestle with their relationship and their understanding of patriotism, obligation, family, and freedom. 7:30 pm at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, 130 Center St., Vineyard Haven. Tickets at bit.ly/MVHC_SIFilms.

Freddy and Francine

Circuit Arts is expanding its focus on live music with a new year-round, Islandwide series of performances at a range of venues and community spaces.

Freddy and Francine bring a joyful, high-energy blend of folk, soul, and Americana shaped by more than 15 years of touring across the country. Based in Tucson after years in Nashville, the married duo Lee Ferris and Bianca Caruso are known for their dynamic harmonies, heartfelt songwrit-

ing, and engaging live performances. With seven albums and a national touring history, and having shared stages with artists including Idina Menzel, Mary Gauthier, and the Spin Doctors, they have built a devoted following.

Tuesday, July 28, at 7 p.m. Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, 24 Church St., Vineyard Haven Tickets are pay-what-youcan. Tickets and information: circuitarts.org/freddyandfrancine. More information about Freddy and Francine: freddyandfrancine.com.

COURTESY OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD SUMMER SPEAKER SERIES

Thomas Friedman

DINE

COMMUNITY NOTES

‘Flying Horses Carousel’ exhibition

Museum members $15, nonmembers $25. 151 Lagoon Pond Road, Vineyard Haven. Register at mvmuseum.org/ registration-07-21-26.

Della Hardman Day 2026

The annual Della Hardman Day will return to Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, July 25, at 4 pm. This year's theme, “Our Stories, Our Legacy,” honors the enduring power of storytelling.

Nothing like a cold beer

Beer Can Chicken is a winner.

BY ALLISON ROBERTS

America’s oldest operating platform carousel, the Flying Horses Carousel, has been stewarded by the Vineyard Preservation Trust since 1986. This exhibition traces its journey from 19th century amusement to Vineyard icon, exploring craftsmanship and the ongoing preservation that keeps it spinning, one brass ring at a time. Through Oct. 15. Free. Carnegie Heritage Center, 58 North Water St., Edgartown. Contact thecarnegie@ mvpreservation.org.

Piano concert by Judith Merion

Terre Young. “It’s so important for all of us to understand what happens when people are denied basic healthcare services, specifically abortions.”

"Telling honest and authentic stories is crucial so that we understand how we are all connected to this vital issue," explains Amy Brenneman. A longtime summer resident, Brenneman will play the lead narrator’s role, one of the parts inspired by the revelatory 10-year scientific research led by UCSF professor and MacArthur fellow Dr. Diana Greene Foster.

The 2026 program will feature keynote remarks from Mara Brock Akil, the acclaimed creator of “Girlfriends” and the hit Netflix series “Forever,” whose work has defined a generation of storytelling in American media. Her debut novel, “The Revelation of Dionne Daphne,” publishing this summer, explores themes of memory, self-discovery, and the stories we carry.

On Saturday, July 25, at 3 pm, the West Tisbury library will host pianist Judith Merion for a performance of “Goldberg Variations” by Johann Sebastian Bach, along with “Sonatine” by Maurice Ravel.

Fried chicken, baked chicken, grilled chicken, chicken soup … Fried chicken, baked chicken, grilled chicken, chicken soup. After a while, I get a little bored with my usual chicken dishes. So I dug around looking for new chicken recipes, and discovered Beer Can Chicken. This sounded intriguing. With the weather warming up, a nice cold beer sounds pretty darn good. This recipe didn’t require oodles of ingredients. I had a few Modelas in the fridge already, as well as most of the spices.

BEER CAN CHICKEN

SERVES AS MANY AS CAN EAT A WHOLE CHICKEN.

1 whole chicken, around 5 lbs.

1 can of beer

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1½ tsp. salt

1½ tsp. pepper

1 tsp. smoked paprika (I used regular paprika)

1 tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. chipotle chili powder

(I used a Mexican-blend spice)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter at room temperature

(can use vegan butter)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 limes

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Place a baking dish or roasting pan on a baking sheet. Open the can of beer and take a few sips, and/or pour about a quarter of it into the dish or pan. Set the can in the center of the dish. Remove the giblets and throw them out, or set them aside to cook for the dogs who are weaving around your legs while you’re trying to cook. Pat down your chicken with paper towels to dry it off.

In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and chili powder. In another bowl, add the softened butter, add about a third of the spice mix to the butter, and stir until smooth. Lift the skin of the chicken up and rub the butter over the breasts (under the skin) and the thighs. Slice one of the limes into ⅛-inch slices, and slide as many as you can up underneath the skin. Gently sit the chicken on top of the can of beer in the dish. I did a double-take on this at first, but the picture clearly showed the beer can in the chicken’s tuchus.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, and rub the remaining spice mix all over it. Slice the other lime in half, and shove it face-down in the top cavity of the chicken (where the neck would be). Roast the chicken for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When finished, carefully remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for about 20 minutes. It’s the least you can do after making it sit on a beer can. Discard the can and serve. Yum!

“I have been playing piano since a very young age,” says Merion. “I earned my living after college teaching piano at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia, where I also performed. Additionally, I have concertized in many smaller venues, with great delight. I find enormous joy in sharing the music I love.” This concert is free and open to the public. West Tisbury library, 1042 State Road.

The Turnaway Play

On Thursday, July 16, at 7:30 pm, M.V. Sexual Wellness is partnering with Reproductive Equity Now to present “The Turnaway Play,” which was developed in collaboration with the Turnaway Project. The play depicts real stories of patients who have been denied abortion care. The performance features actress Amy Brenneman and Island Theatre Workshop’s local actors. There will be a brief panel discussion following the production.

“We’re excited to bring “The Turnaway Play” to the Island,” said M.V. Sexual Wellness board president

“As Reproductive Equity Now works diligently to defend and expand access to abortion care in Massachusetts, we are proud to continue our fight for protections for abortion care throughout pregnancy to ensure no one is denied abortion care due to arbitrary restrictions,” said Justine Hand, director of development for Reproductive Equity Now.

People can purchase tickets at mvswell.org/eventtickets-1. This event is a collaborative fundraiser, with proceeds from sponsorships going to support M.V. Sexual Wellness and Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, and one-third of ticket sales to Island Theatre Workshop. All three organizations are 501(c)(3) nonprofits. After payment of any event-related expenses, and ticket share agreement, the remaining funds will be distributed on a 50/50 basis to support MVSwell and REN’s charitable missions and programs.

‘The Story of the Holmes Hole Liberty Pole’

Historians Bow and Norah Van Riper share the dramatic story of the Holmes Hole Liberty Pole, and the young women whose midnight act of sabotage became one of the Island’s most celebrated moments of resistance during the American Revolution. July 21, 5 to 6 pm, at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

Dr. Della Hardman was a pioneering artist, educator, and civic leader who made Martha’s Vineyard her home. Through her work, she championed the importance of the arts, education, and cultural preservation, often reminding those around her to “savor the moment.” Over the years, Della Hardman Day has been organized and stewarded by her daughter, Andrea Taylor, continuing a multigenerational commitment to preserving Dr. Hardman’s legacy and creating space for reflection, storytelling, and community.

“‘Our Stories, Our Legacy’ reflects both Dr. Hardman’s life’s work and the continued importance of storytelling in shaping who we are,” said Taylor. “With Mara Brock Akil joining us this year, we are honored to bring together two legacies rooted in the power of narrative — one lived, one still unfolding. And in that spirit, we invite everyone to truly savor the moment together.”

The event will include a keynote conversation and remarks, community gathering and celebration, and opportunities to engage with local cultural organizations. Copies of “The Revelation of Dionne Daphne” will be available. This event is free and open to the public.

Saturday, July 25, 4 pm, Ocean Park, Oak Bluffs. Organizations, businesses, and individuals interested in supporting or participating in Della Hardman Day 2026 are welcome to connect with event organizers. Contact Wole Coaxum at 917-593-2301 or wcoaxum@gmail.com.

Beer Can Chicken plated and ready to eat.

Ingredients for Beer Can Chicken.

PHOTOS: ALLISON ROBERTS

COURTESY OF VINEYARD PRESERVATION TRUST

Flying Horses Carousel.

BY ABIGAIL HIGGINS

Whew — the rains were dramatic, and so was the heat! The rain was very much needed, and does not seem to have overly dampened Fourth of July spirits. On the different rainy days, our home rain gauge measured one inch, half an inch, and 4½ inches. The July 10 evening cloudburst brought it to five inches. All to the good!

Flies and mosquitoes are hatching, and crabgrass is sprouting, but the first monarch butterflies have been spotted floating over sunny gardens too. Delightful smaller ones, painted ladies, skippers, and the like, are busy everywhere, especially on lavenders. Yuccas are candling, and Rhododendron maximum are in bloom.

We have our vote in town meeting of course, but truly, we only control our own little patch of ground. In thinking about gardens and plants in the current context of intense heatwaves, water retention is a hazy area. It used to be an afterthought, or left in the background entirely.

Try to make the garden (what many call their “yard,” but which I prefer to reframe as a “garden”) one that receives — and holds — the gift of rain. Good soil holds surprising amounts of

moisture. Hardscaping that sends rainfall out into the street and down the gutter also radiates heat to your own premises.

A patio shaded by even a small tree sends less heat into the house, compared with one baking in full sun. The shade creates temperature differentials that move air. In our own gardens, we can practice geoengineering, even if it is on a small scale.

Voles

Are small rodents the Almighty’s humorous response to humans’ claim to dominion? As many irritated gardeners know, a population explosion of voles has wreaked havoc in gardens. They are everywhere!

There are multiple possible explanations, and no real cures that do not have downsides. Much like the proverbial lemming, small rodents of all descriptions are subject to both population explosions and crashes, precipitated by unpredicted factors.

At gardens around the Island, rodents seek stone walls and retaining walls. It is secure housing, with a possible bonus of stored radiant heat and access to plants’ roots. Poisoning is a short-term solution but one with dangers: for all domestic pets, not to mention our environment and the food chain.

I recall talking with Gus BenDavid about this. In what seemed like a counterintuitive statement, Gus in-

sisted that the prey controls the predator. This seems to mean that a population explosion brings forth its own control. May it be so.

Daylilies and dahlias: What’s new?

July is daylily season. Two prominent growers, Walters Gardens and Wild & Son, post their latest introductions at bit.ly/WG_Daylilies and bit.ly/WS_Daylilies.

Dahlias are in bloom too. Floret Farm lists its top dahlia sources at bit.ly/ FF_Dahlias.

Chewing insects have been active this year, including earwigs, who inflict dam-

age on dahlia flowers. Traps baited with soy sauce and vegetable oil may help: Place mixture in small, plastic, lidded containers with holes punched in the sides for entry, sunk into the soil.

Nimblewill

Several years ago, I began to notice a new grass in my garden. There had been much talk about a novel invasive, Japanese stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum). From the photographs and descriptions, as best I could tell, that was what my new grassy weed was.

I was mistaken, however. What that grassy weed

turns out to be is a native, lookalike grass species, Muhlenbergia schreberi, observantly nicknamed nimblewill. It is not unattractive, and is a turf grass in many areas. Over the weekend I put a lot of hours into trying to rid the vegetable garden of it. It has settled in and found a home in the raspberries and strawberries, sections that are less cultivated. It may be native, but it is still a brat. Every bit weeded out roots at the nodes, even if the bit has no rootball.

Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ persists

While chasing nimblewill in the raspberries, I was annoyed to find another uninvited guest, a flowering perennial that started out as a heralded 1999 Plant of the Year. I never brought this

plant home into my own garden, yet there it is.

Widely used in drifts and big swathes, Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii  ‘Goldsturm’ has undeniable visual impact in July and August. However, it turns out to be a bit of a thug, needing constant vigilance as it advances into the spaces of neighboring plants.

I had discovered ‘Goldsturm’ among the raspberries two seasons ago, and dug it out. There was a little bit more last season; I took it out. Now here it is again.

In the garden

Mosquitoes: Eliminate all standing water.

It is reorganizing time, with early crops like peas and garlic finishing, and leaving space for succession crops. Carrots are particularly worthwhile, and are sown now. Sow radicchio for fall crops also.

Winter squashes and pumpkins require garden space, unless grown on compost piles. Another round of potatoes is always good. Plan for leeks. Decide where the next garlic crop goes, and work in soil improvements, sowing buckwheat in empty sections. Continue to sow bush beans.

Harder to achieve are salad greens in summer’s heat. Try growing in the shade of anything grown on trellis, or under floating row covers. Tie in or weave tomatoes if grown on trellis; otherwise prune and stake securely.

An annual task is checking grafted witch hazels, or other grafted plants, for understock sprouts; look for dissimilar low growth. In flower beds, deadheading annuals and grooming them yields rewards of cutting material and continuing color. Cut back oregano, thyme, and early lavenders grayed out by rain. Rabbits looking for food and moisture damage bulb lilies’ stems; bloodmeal and spraying may work to repel them. Stake the tall ones, such as Orientals and Orienpets. Deadhead foxglove, delphiniums, and early phlox hybrids; they usually rebloom. Collect and dry lunaria seedheads for dried “silver dollar” flowers. Tick check frequently: Don’t scratch — investigate.

PHOTOS: ABIGAIL HIGGINS

Clockwise from top: July is daylily season. Hurrah! Yuccas are candling. Collect and dry lunaria seed heads for dried “silver dollar” flowers.