The Vine - June 2022

FREE VINEYARD GAZETTE MEDIA GROUP | JUNE 2022

SUMMER ON CIRCUIT AVE.

Plan Your Juneteenth Weekend

Coffee at Aquila • Doughnuts at Mo's Lunch Magic at Island Folk Pottery Trail

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CONTENTS, JUNE 2022

Departments Features 12 The Short List: Guinevere's Guide to Circuit Avenue

BY GUINEVERE CRAMER

16 On the Trail of Magic

Artists Bill O'Callaghan and Heather Goff bring folklore to life in the Chilmark woods.

BY ELIZABETH BENNETT

20 New Kids on The Cliffs For Del Araujo and Jenn Straub, Aquila is perfect timing.

4 Editor’s Note 5 On the Rock The Scoop on Summer 6 Vine and Dine Modern Baker: Korilee Connelly 8 Jubilation!

Juneteenth Jubilee, June 17-19 24 The Oyster Finding Your Financial Footing 26 By the Numbers Mark Your Calendars!

BY ELIZABETH BENNETT

Cover photo: Roger Schilling, owner of C'est la Vie on Circuit avenue.

Photo by Jeanna Shepard.

From the Editor

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Possibilities

F

EDITOR Susie Middleton

or some of us, summer goals are simple. All I want to do is try that new MV Sea Salt Caramel ice cream at Mad Martha’s (page 5)! Maybe slightly more ambitious? Meet friends downtown more often, maybe on the balcony of Oyster Bar 02557 or for brunch at The Sweet Life (see Guinevere’s Guide to Circuit Avenue, page 12). Definitely walk the Island Folk Pottery Sculpture Trail (page 16).

ART DIRECTOR Jared Maciel

Meanwhile, there are those inspiring Islanders who look at summer on Martha’s Vineyard as the fulfillment of their dreams and goals. These are the folks starting new businesses, like Del Araujo and Jenn Straub who’ve just opened a coffee shop called Aquila up at the cliffs (page 20) and Spring Sheldon, whose S&S Kitchenette on Main street in Vineyard Haven is her latest culinary venture (page 5). And the folks willing to do the groundwork to bring a new tradition to the Island – like the Juneteenth Jubilee happening June 17-19 (see page 8).

SALES TEAM Frederica Carpenter, Amy Kurth, Garrett Burt, Carrie Blair

No matter your goals and dreams, we know you’ll be working hard this summer as all Islanders do during the high season.

So please don’t forget to go to the beach, watch the sunset, and yes, eat plenty of ice cream!

–Susie Middleton

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CONTRIBUTORS Elizabeth Bennett, Chris Burrell, Alexandra Bullen Coutts, Guinevere Cramer, Ray Ewing, Laura Holmes Haddad, Nicole Mercier, Jeanna Shepard PUBLISHER Jane Seagrave BUSINESS MANAGER Sarah Gifford DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Skip Finley | sales@mvgazette.com

MARKETING MANAGER Alessandra Hagerty AD PRODUCTION Jane McTeigue, Jared Maciel, McKinley Sanders Copyright 2022 by the Vineyard Gazette Media Group. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

To subscribe to the Vineyard Gazette, visit vineyardgazettestore.com Vineyard Gazette Media Group P.O. Box 66, 34 So. Summer Street, Edgartown, MA 02539 thevine@mvgazette.com | 508-627-4311

ON THE ROCK

The Scoop on Summer SALTY OR SWEET? Both!

This could be your new favorite summer ice cream flavor: Martha’s Vineyard Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream at Mad Martha’s. Our taster, who picked it up at Mad Martha’s in Oak Bluffs, declared it outrageously delicious. But wait! We hear there’s a Chilmark Coffee flavor at Mad Martha’s now, too. Both are part of owner Brook Katzen’s plan to add more locally inspired flavors to the line-up.

S&S Kitchenette on Main With the Vineyard Haven Mad Martha’s moving to 24 Union street, a new eatery and take-out business called S&S Kitchenette has moved into the ice cream store’s former space at 48 Main street (at the corner of Center street). S&S Kitchenette is chef Spring Sheldon’s newest venture. The store will be open for the Memorial Day weekend holiday.

Spring is familiar to many Islanders as the chef/operator of El Gato Grande taco truck and as the creator of delicious

pop-up dinners all over the Island. Her catering business is Sea & Spoon.

Spring's plan for the new store front business is to offer provisions, locally sourced meals to go, and meal kits to make dinner at home. Spring’s food is influenced by her culinary training (she’s a graduate of Boston University Culinary Arts program and worked in fine dining restaurants in Boston), her winters spent in Oaxaca, Mexico, and her love of the Vineyard’s local farms (both land and sea). She is looking forward to showcasing fresh, local food at S&S Kitchenette, where she’ll also use the space for chef dinners, cooking classes and tastings (oysters!). The space will also be available for private rentals.

THE EDGARTOWN SHUFFLE Shop for Shop

store Rainy Day. No, they’re not abandoning Vineyard Haven; the Edgartown location will be a second location for them. Owner Melissa Scammell (below) told us they will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. starting Memorial Day weekend.

Don’t blink – stores are moving around in Edgartown this season. Clothing, photography and gift boutique Kin has moved up to 12A N. Water Street from their original spot on Kelly Street.

We also hear that clothing boutique Nell is moving up from 20 Main to 41 Main Street to occupy the space vacated by Sundog. It’s enough to make your skirts spin!

Moving in next door at 12 N. Water Street is popular Vineyard Haven gift

For more information, find @Kin.mv, @rainydaymv and @nell.mv on Instagram.

S&S Kitchenette will be open every day except Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, sskitchenette.com.

Stay tuned for another food business opening soon in Vineyard Haven in the space that formerly was The Larder at 342 State Road. It will be a charcuterie and cheese shop operated by Rose Willett of North Tisbury Farm & Market, with sausages and cured meats being made fresh on site by Tyler Potter (aka The Swimming Pig).

Jeanna Shepard

THE VINEYARD HAVEN SHUFFLE

Jeanna Shepard

With the new Vineyard Haven location of Mad Martha’s opening Memorial Day weekend, you’ll have three places to make those tough choices: 24 Union street, Vineyard Haven; 7 N. Water street, Edgartown; 12 Circuit avenue, Oak Bluffs.

All three stores are open seven days a week starting at 11 a.m. and going to 10 p.m., with Edgartown and Oak Bluffs staying open until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. For more information, madmarthas.com

It should be a delicious summer in Vineyard Haven.

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VINE & DINE

The Modern Baker Korilee Connelly keeps it sweet at Mo’s Lunch

BY LAURA HOLMES HADDAD • PHOTOS BY RAY EWING It takes a certain amount of imagination and confidence to create a doughnut with Fruity Pebbles cereal and bergamot Earl Grey tea. But that’s just what baker Korilee Connelly brings to the sweets menu at Mo’s Lunch in Oak Bluffs. When you pick up your order at Mo’s inside the Portuguese-American Club, you’ll spot Korilee moving quickly behind the countertop piled high with cookies, brownies and bars – measuring, whisking, and slicing up her sweet treats with a smile.

Her friendly demeanor and whimsical flavors don’t reveal the secret to her baking success: hard work and attention to detail. “When people look at sweets they assume they’re easy to make, but in reality there are a million steps,” she says.

“But anything that is worth it shouldn’t Page 6 · THE VINE

be easy.” Making fillings, sauces, and her own flavored sugars from scratch are just a few of the elements Korilee incorporates into her daily rotation of sweets.

The Edgartown native began working in Island restaurants in the front of the house in high school and moved to San Francisco after graduation. There Korilee embraced the city’s food scene. “The banana cream pie at Tartine changed my life!” she says with a smile.

Korilee returned to the Vineyard and went to work at Morning Glory Farm, eventually becoming the farmstand manager. After work Korilee would go home and bake for fun and to de-stress.

“I baked everything I could,” she says. “I can always be better, always improve this or that, and that was what was exciting to me. There were zero limits.”

When the head baker position at Morning Glory Farm opened up, Korilee asked for the job. Her hard work and eagerness to learn everything she could about both pastry and bread paid off. She remained head baker for six years, overseeing a baking program that produced 3,500 pieces a day, including baked goods, yeast breads, and quick breads.

Korilee became accustomed to a 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule, with the bakery running 24 hours a day during the summer months.

“When you love what you’re doing you don’t think about it [the hours] as much. Every day is a challenge,” notes Korilee. And the seasonal farm produce sparked Korilee’s creativity, inspiring daily scone flavors and muffins topped with different flavored salts and sugars.

But when Chef Austin Racine and Maura Martin arrived at Nomans restaurant in 2019 and asked Korilee to bake for them on her days off, she couldn’t resist. Her work ethic persisted: She would leave Morning Glory at 4 p.m. and

then bake for Nomans at night, four days a week – including her days off. When the pandemic hit and Austin and Maura opened Mo’s at the Portuguese-American Club, they offered Korilee a full-time job as head baker.

Korilee revels in the total creative freedom she has at Mo’s. “Austin and Maura trust me and it’s amazing to be in an environment of trust and respect,” she says.

“The energy in the kitchen is amazing.”

Working alone, Korilee is responsible for every baked item except the sourdough bread – Austin’s specialty.

A normal day for Korilee starts at 6 a.m. preparing cookie dough. And on Fridays, her day starts with prep for the 200 doughnuts sold only on Saturdays. Korilee uses a brioche dough base that needs to rise one day ahead. On Saturday mornings Korilee is at Mo’s by 5 a.m., rolling, cutting, and proofing the doughnuts before frying and filling them. This time-intensive process “makes the texture so much better,” Korilee says. “It makes the donut ‘floofy!’”

Don’t expect to see a plain glazed

VINE & DINE

doughnut on the baking rack. Korilee creates unusual flavors every week that are often seasonally inspired. “With rhubarb in season I knew I wanted to make a strawberry-rhubarb jam to fill one of the doughnuts,” she says. Sprinkles and edible flowers are two of her trademarks. “And I love a crumble and crunchy toppings on anything,” she says. She also likes to use fruit sauces, such as a raspberry coulis.

Korilee lets her creativity dictate the menu but customers will always find her staples: chocolate chip cookies, brownies, a bar and a pie. She uses locally-sourced ingredients whenever she can, and she buys her flour from King Arthur Flour and Maine Grains, which is milled in New England. The key lime pie has become a customer favorite (baked in a pastry crust rather than a graham cracker crust), and she has more cream and fruit pie flavors planned for the summer months. Korilee also makes gluten-free treats like coconut macaroons and brownies and dairy-free gingersnaps and double-chocolate cookies.

Off the clock, Korilee would choose a piece of foie gras over a sweet, she says, although she can’t resist a good cream puff or a spoonful of salted ganache. She indulges her savory side at l’étoile, The Sweet Life and The Covington when she has a night off. Even her hobby reveals her sweet and salty side: Korilee makes custom charcuterie boards as well as custom cakes through her website, korconmv.com.

One thing is for certain: Expect the unexpected when you see the daily sweets list at Mo’s. Korilee is committed to letting her creativity and daily inspiration drive the menu. “You have to leave something up to mystery in this world,” she says with a laugh.

Laura Holmes Haddad is a freelance writer living in West Tisbury.

Mo’s Lunch is currently open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Opening on Mondays as well during the summer.

AT MO'S LUNCH in the P.A. Club, customers line up on Saturday mornings before 11 a.m., waiting for head baker Korilee Connelly's doughnuts. During the rest of the week, Korilee bakes cookies, pies, bars and other surprise sweets to go along with Chef Austin Racine's popular savory lunch and dinner menus.

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Tim Johnson

Jubilation!

Get ready for Juneteenth Jubilee weekend, happening on the Vineyard, June 17 to 19.

Education and celebration will go handin-hand when Martha’s Vineyard marks Juneteenth next month with a weekend filled with history talks, film, food, music and fun.

Juneteenth Jubilee on Martha’s Vineyard, June 17 – 19, encompasses the many events planned islandwide to observe the nation’s newest holiday. Short for June 19th, Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States in 1865.

One goal of the weekend is to draw attention to the maritime equivalent of the Underground Railroad, focusing on the stories of slaves who gained their freedom by sea. Among these is the slave known only as Esther, whose dramatic escape from the hold of a ship in Edgartown harbor was described in the Vineyard Gazette. A plaque recounting her story is part of the African American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard. On Sunday at 11 a.m., a gathering at Memorial Wharf around Esther’s plaque will be held.

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maritime aspect of the Underground Railroad will be introduced by distinguished author Dr. Cheryl LaRoche in her educational talk at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum entitled Freedom by Sea. Directly following at 11 a.m., historian and author Barbara Krauthammer will speak about emancipation.

More than two dozen organizations, individuals and businesses are presenting or sponsoring the weekend of events, including Inkwell Haven, the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce, Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Vineyard Preservation Trust, MV Camp Meeting Association, the NAACP of Marthas’s Vineyard, the African-American Heritage Trail of Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod Five and the Vineyard Gazette.

For a preview of some of the weekend’s highlights that are already planned, read All Around the Island (right) and On the Big Screen (page 9). For a detailed schedule, turn to page 19. And for updates and additions to the schedule, visit bit.ly/MVJuneteenthJubilee.

ALL AROUND THE ISLAND From Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs: While the Martha’s Vineyard Museum in Vineyard Haven will host Saturday morning's talks (left), the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs will be the site of the Juneteenth Jubilee Creative Festival on Saturday afternoon and evening. Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and actress Lynn Whitfield will take part in the program at the Tabernacle.

On Sunday the Dunmere House in Oak Bluffs will be dedicated as the 37th site on the African American Heritage Trail. And in the evening, the Martha’s Vineyard Chapter of the NAACP will present Taste of Juneteenth, a sampling of different foods prepared by local chefs at the Portuguese-American Club.

Timothy Johnson

In Edgartown: In addition to Saturday’s film screenings and book readings (The Inkwell Girl by Nicole J. Edmonds, A Girl of Color by Vikki Young) at the Edgartown Library, Jubilee will continue in Edgartown on Sunday with a gospel brunch at The Edgartown Yacht Club and a tour of the tall ship Shenandoah, which will be docked on the harbor. At 11:30 a.m. Sunday, researchers will gather at Vineyard Preservation Trust’s Çarnegie to talk about how they uncover the stories of escaped slaves.

Jeanna Shepard

ON THE BIG SCREEN Films will show throughout the Jubilee weekend, starting with Thursday night’s Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 at the Edgartown Library at 7 p.m.

On Friday evening at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs, a discussion will follow a screening of the film Jubilee, Juneteenth and the Thirteenth, a special documentary from the Museum of African American History in Boston that recounts how African Americans in Massachusetts took an active role in abolition.

Screening at the Edgartown Library at 1 p.m. on Saturday is Miss Juneteenth, the story of a former beauty queen and hard-working single mom preparing her rebellious daughter for a beauty pageant.

On Saturday night at 8 p.m., The Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival will come to Union Chapel with a program called Resilience and Recognition: Short Films Through a Black Lens. Films include Nomadic, The Panola Project, and We Hold These Truths.

BOOK IT A CURATED LIST OF JUNETEENTH READS Interested in finding out more about the history and cultural celebrations surrounding the Juneteenth holiday and African-American history? The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture has a curated list of books to read for Juneteenth on their website.

From The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free”) to Pulitzer-prize winning author Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth, the selection is widely appealing and includes cookbooks, essay collections and fiction.

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The Short List: Guinevere’s Guide to Circuit Avenue Circuit avenue is ready for summer. Make the most of it with a fresh itinerary from Oak Bluffs influencer Guinevere Cramer.

PHOTOS BY JEANNA SHEPARD In Oak Bluffs, Circuit avenue is looking sharp. There are new, larger sidewalks, new trees, parallel parking – a whole new level of pedestrian comfort. I have to say I am bursting with pride with all the beautification that has happened. It’s a joy to experience the change, and yet it’s also comforting to see familiar favorites open for business. I live nearby so you’ll often find me in town, especially in the mornings with my dog Dashi.

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If you’re new to town (or even if you’re not), come along with me as I stroll down Circuit avenue, stopping to visit some of the spots I enjoy most.

While there are dozens of places I love to patronize on and around Circuit ave. (ask me about my long list sometime!), I’ve chosen 10 favorites to highlight here for a taste of good food, great finds and fun activities for the summer of 2022.

TIGERHAWK SANDWICH CO.

1

TigerHawk Sandwich Co. is one of my new go-to places for breakfast and lunch takeaway. Opened in May of 2021, chef/ owner Jimmy Alvarado is adventurous with flavor combinations. You can get incredible sandwiches (crispy chicken, banh mi) and poke bowls here. If you like kimchi, there are lots of options. Also, keep an eye out for occasional pop-up TigerHawk dinners. The ramen is not to be missed. 12 Circuit ave.

3

OYSTER BAR 02557 The balcony at Oyster Bar 02557 is a great place for people watching with a friend and a cocktail or mocktail. Sitting outside on the second-story porch gives you a perfect vantage point for watching the comings and goings of the busy street. It’s an especially fun thing to do on a warm summer night. 6 Circuit ave.

2

BEN & BILL'S CHOCOLATE EMPORIUM Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium is my family’s favorite place for ice cream on Martha’s Vineyard. We mark the beginning of the season with a visit and I order strawberry cheesecake; I close out the season in the fall with pumpkin cheesecake. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the lobster ice cream. It’s better than you think – more buttery than lobster-y – and you are entitled to bragging rights for trying it. 20A Circuit ave.

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SLIP 77 For Island gifts for family and friends, Slip 77 has you covered. When Slip 77 opened in its original spot across from Nancy’s by the harbor, it quickly became a favorite destination for fun gifts. Now that it’s in a larger location on Circuit, I pop in as often as I can for fresh finds: great hats, local jewelry, handbags and creative Island-inspired T-shirts. To this day, my favorite is one of the originals, which features a ferry and says “7 Mile Club.” Still makes me laugh.

19 Circuit Ave.

RYAN FAMILY AMUSEMENTS Playing skee-ball at Ryan Family Amusements is a must. I’m a sucker for skeeball; it’s been one of my favorite games since I was a kid. I have been known to leave a group to sneak in a game or two at the arcade. There are lots of other games too, but this one has my heart.

19 Circuit ave.

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THE CORNER STORE

THE LAZY FROG

New York bagels from The Corner Store.

Yep, you heard that right. You can get authentic bagels, imported from New York city, at the Corner Store, right in the middle of Circuit ave. They’re delicious!

In season, you can get breakfast from the Corner Kitchen (inside The Corner Store) all day and sandwiches for lunch too. Owners Luke and Danielle DeBettencourt will surprise you with other great things at this family-owned business. 24 Circuit ave.

A visit to The Lazy Frog will add more fun and games to your day. At The Lazy Frog, you’ll find a curated selection of toys, indoor and outdoor games, puzzles and more. Home of Vineyard-Opoly, this shop has a lot of fun packed into a tiny space. You’ll hop over more than once.

It’s a great spot for kid’s birthday gifts and for emergency kites for flying in Ocean Park, too. On your way out, pop next door to Tangerine for an oyster bag for the beach and other unique Island finds. 42 Circuit ave.

DOS MAS

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The second-floor patio at Dos Mas is a little secret I feel like I’m revealing (and may hear about from some friends!).

When you're upstairs, outside, and in the back of the building, you feel worlds away from the hustle and bustle of downtown. If you like jalapeños and margaritas, be sure to order the Spicy and enjoy with your tacos, all while taking in the sunshine or the view of the night sky. 50 Circuit ave.

C'EST LA VIE No shopping trip to Circuit avenue is complete without a stop at C’est la Vie. Chances are you’ll find owner Roger Schilling or his wife Jennifer behind the counter. They are always there to greet you with a smile, making you feel welcome in their shop that’s been open for almost 30 years. Here you’ll always find something unique. Many of the T-shirt designs are created by Roger himself.

One of my favorite pieces is the oversized, open-bottom Martha’s Vineyard sweatshirt. It’s perfect for the beach because you can hug your knees under it to stay warm on chilly afternoons.

51 Circuit ave.

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THE SWEET LIFE Going to The Sweet Life for brunch on weekends is a treat. I love brunch; it feels decadent to me for some reason, and Sweet Life does it just right. From the tangerine or pomegranate mimosa to the gourmet French toast (think lemon curd and caramel and whipped cream) to the relaxed atmosphere, it’s always a great way to spend part of your Sunday.

63 Circuit ave.

Guinevere Cramer is managing director at Point B Realty and a resident of Oak Bluffs. Follow Guinevere on Instagram @guinevere_marthasvineyard.

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On the Trail of Magic Artists Bill O’Callaghan and Heather Goff transformed the woods near their Chilmark home into a magical trail where dragons and faeries beckon you to join the tree spirits and leave your cares behind.

BY ELIZABETH BENNETT • PHOTOS BY JEANNA SHEPARD In the hills of Chilmark, a mer-person perches on a tree limb with its tail flipped under the branch. A goat stands tall and still in a clearing of trees, his lute slung around his neck while he waits patiently for an audience. Sculpted eyes nestled in the hollows of tree branches peer at passersby. Alongside Lir, a towering dragon made of driftwood, a card tells his tale of being “born from moonPage 16 · THE VINE

light, on the sea.”

The magic is real at the Island Folk Pottery Sculpture Trail.

Created by artists Heather Goff and Bill O’Callaghan, the trail features the whimsical, mythology-inspired pottery figures of dragons, faeries, tree spirits and castles that Island art lovers recognize as works of The Mad Potter, Bill’s moniker. Bill also creates sculptures, fur-

niture and mirrors of wood, clay, stone, shell and glass. On the trail, Heather’s artistry is represented in poems and stories posted on tree trunks; she also created the sculpted eyes and clay masks installed in unexpected locations.

Heather and Bill recently re-opened the sculpture trail, which they created two years ago at their home on Marion’s Way in Chilmark.

In Good Company along the Island Folk Pottery Sculpture Trail

ADULTS AND CHILDREN ALIKE are enchanted by a walk around the Island Folk Pottery Sculpture trail in Chilmark. In addition to the company of faeries, minstrels, dragons and the spirit of the trees themselves, discoveries of hidden compartments (in one, find a notebook to leave a message) and surprises at every turn (eyes and faces peering from trees) transport walkers to another world – one imagined and brought to life by artists Bill O'Callaghan and Heather Goff.

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Many Vineyard artists are lucky to have home studios but the spread where Heather and Bill live and work is unique.

Their front yard is an artists’ workshop full of driftwood, tiles, art tools and works in progress. A lower level exterior wall is covered with Heather’s handmade tiles of colorful creatures and designs on earthen-colored pottery squares. Outside the house is a small gallery shop from which they sell mosaics of stones, shells and pottery figurines, tiles depicting recognizable Island buildings or icons, and vases, bowls, and jars adorned with mer-people and dragons. Alongside the driveway is a new Story Circle and sculptures leading the way to a carved wooden gate marking the trailhead.

The sculpture trail is free and open to the public every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cars and bicyclists can access the trail by following Middle Line Road to Marion’s Way. Anyone walking the Land Bank’s Middle Line path can incorporate the sculpture trail into their visit. Bill has observed that visitors sometimes park on Meeting House Road or near Tea Lane Farm and walk the wooded trails up to the sculpture trails.

The multi-circle trail began as a collaborative project to create a home for Bill’s sculptures. The artists started with the raw woods.

“Bill led the way and I followed with our brush cutter. We got around the rocks and just pushed our way through it and put in a path,” Heather recalled.

“We put in the trail and put his sculptures on it, just for us and our family. But when Covid came, we decided to open up the trail to the public and really make his dream come true. We created a place that people could come and experience his work in the environment.”

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The trees on the couple’s five-acre property are not the primary source of wood for the sculptures. Bill forages the Island’s beaches, bringing home driftwood made hard and preserved by the ocean’s salt waters. Sometimes a piece immediately inspires a creature, as happened recently when some wood at Lucy Vincent Beach became a dragon head after a handcrafted eye was added to give definition to a face. Blueberry branches from the property of Heather’s parents were re-purposed to create the gate to the sculpture trail.

The result is not just an opportunity to experience an art installation in unusual surroundings. The artists offer the trail as a place to revive and spur the imagination.

“If you go in by yourself without other people and just soak it in, it can be an almost mystical experience,” Bill said.

“It’s a place where you can just let go of the world around you. I think some people come back just for that – an escape.”

It has also been a gathering space for friends and families to safely enjoy being together again. “People discover things,” Heather noted.

“They make up their own stories,” Bill added. “I love hearing people when they read the Story Circle out loud. We see groups that act it out. Or people perform for the trees. They let go of inhibition and get into it.”

The trail also becomes a place for visitors to slow down and pay closer attention to what is around them. “Once you leave the trail, you’re still looking.

You start to notice things that you don’t notice in your regular life. After walking the trail, if you really pay attention for a short period of time afterwards, you no-

INSIDE THE ISLAND FOLK POTTERY SHOP, Heather Goff's ceramic tiles (top) and coffee mugs are displayed on the left, while Bill O'Callaghan's pottery and folk figures (above) are arranged on the right. The shop is open Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m. The trail is open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit Islandfolkpottery.com for directions.

tice the way a tree is twisted or you can see spirits in the trees,” Bill said.

Visitors can experience the trail from any direction they choose and have the freedom to spend as much or as little time as they want with each artwork.

Though the trail encourages exploration, the artists ask visitors to not step off the paths through the bushes or trees: doing so damages the under-story, where wild blueberries and other woodland species thrive. That, too, is a message the cre-

ators want to convey; they hope all who visit will join them in caring for the environment and respecting Mother earth.

As good weather sets in, Heather and Bill are excited to offer visitors a destination but are also curious and eager to see how people experience and interact with their artworks. “It’s a gift to the community but it’s also a gift to us,” they declared.

Elizabeth Bennett is a community news editor for the Vineyard Gazette.

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The New Kids on the Cliffs For young Islanders Del Araujo and Jenn Straub, the opportunity to open a new shop at the Gay Head Cliffs was perfect timing.

BY ELIZABETH BENNETT • PHOTOS BY RAY EWING The constellation Aquila is visible right above the Gay Head Cliffs in summer months, so the star formation representing the messenger of the gods – the eagle – seems the right presence to watch over the home of the Wampanoag people.

And now there’s an Aquila perched overlooking the cliffs. On May 1, Oak Bluffs residents Del Araujo and Jenn Straub opened Aquila, a shop featuring hot, iced and creamy coffee drinks. The coffee is sourced from local small batch roastery Martha’s Vineyard Coffee Company. Del and Jenn have also filled the shop with Indigenous artwork and handcrafts, a variety of locally made products including jewelry and jams, and a selection of gourmet snacks chosen for their ability to be easily resealed as visitors travel on their bikes, in cars, on tour buses and to the beach.

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Del and Jenn offer a big welcome to all visiting one of their favorite places: the town of Aquinnah. Each has strong professional experience in customer service and they take seriously the responsibility of being one of the first shops visitors will encounter on the cliff walk.

local coffee shops and checking out the vibe,” Jenn recalled. “We both love the way you feel when you’re getting a cup of coffee in the morning and can drink it slowly. It brings us so much joy.”

The location of Aquila has other benefits for them, too. They describe themselves as avid sunset chasers who dash outdoors after their workdays, searching for sunsets and nature. They love the peace and beauty of Aquinnah’s hills, and the legends that the land inspires.

They found the means to make that possible when Del spotted an unusual opportunity in July 2021: a “For Sale” sign on the cliff shop space long owned and operated by the Widdiss family.

After years of looking at vacant spaces and picturing what they could make of them, Del and Jenn saw their chance. A handshake deal with Jason Widdiss took place three days later; they signed a lease with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and Del began planning a graceful exit from his job at Merritt Electric so that he could focus on transform-

Starting the new business fulfills the couple’s dream of opening a coffee shop. The brew has played a role in their personal relationship, which began at Southern Connecticut State University.

“We spent a lot of Saturday and Sunday mornings – date mornings – going out to

“And we want other people to experience that joy,” Del added.

ing Wayward Wampum into Aquila in time to open for the 2022 spring season.

What followed was a family effort to make the dream a reality. Jenn used her design savvy, honed by her full-time job at Vineyard Decorators, to map the layout and visualize the experience of the space. Del and his father Derick did the construction. The completed shop includes cutting boards handcrafted by Del’s uncle and blankets and sweaters knitted by his grandmother and uncle.

Three days a week, Del’s mom Rachel – who teaches during the school year at the Oak Bluffs School – works the cash register. Del will work the coffee bar five or six days a week, busy as a barista and a friendly host, and Jenn will join him on one of her days off. Cousins and other tribal members will take turns helping out throughout this first summer.

motivated me to become involved.”

Jenn, who hails from central Connecticut and is not Wampanoag, has been inspired by watching Del get involved in the community. They both are grateful for the welcome they’ve received from the other Wampanoag shop owners.

Aquila gives Del, a 2012 graduate of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, the opportunity to do something meaningful for his Island family and friends, and to uphold tribal traditions. Though a tribal member by birth, he grew up in Oak Bluffs. Playing three sports a year left little time to participate in Aquinnah-based activities but when the tribe created youth programs at down-Island locations such as Rocco’s, he had more opportunities.

While working at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Del experienced more deeply what it meant to be part of a tribe.

“I got to go to meetings with elders [from the Mohegan tribe], experienced cultural traditions, and saw what the tribe there was doing to help people with scholarships and stipends,” he remembers. “It

Del and Jenn have made it a priority to create opportunities for Indigenous craftspeople. At Aquila, some of the works they’re featuring include jewelry made by wampum artist Tracey Leigh Adams of Martha’s Vineyard Native, knitted goods by Tyler Araujo, and dreamcatchers crafted by a 20-year old Sioux artist named Sapphire. Del hopes visitors will appreciate these items as souvenirs of their time spent on the Island, while the sales will go to support their makers.

With their new business on the cliffs, Del and Jenn will be perfectly situated to watch some beautiful sunsets during the summer season. But their favorite sunset may come on October 1 when they marry here on the Island.

Between wedding planning and a new business to manage, they’re fueled by adrenaline, the coffee served in the shop, and doing what they’re passionate about.

“There are moments,” Del says, “when Jenn and I think, ‘does it get any better than this?’

Elizabeth Bennett is a community news editor for the Vineyard Gazette.

AQUILA, THE NEW COFFEE AND GIFT SHOP at the cliffs, is a dream come true for Del Araujo, who grew up in Oak Bluffs and is Wampanoag, and his fiancé Jenn Straub. The two met in college and live in Oak Bluffs now. In addition to coffee drinks made from Martha's Vineyard Coffee Company and snacks to go, local and Indigenous art is for sale at Aquila.

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MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

BY NICOLE GRACE MERCIER • ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHRIS BURRELL

160 YEARS

BLUE RIBBON. The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair (Aug. 18-Aug. 21) celebrates 160 years this summer at the fairgrounds in West Tisbury.

GET SPORTY 10 bowling lanes at The Barn Bowl & Bistro.

22 Games BATTER UP! The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks collegiate baseball team will play 22 home games at the Shark Tank this summer season (June 7-July 30).

3 public golf courses.

13

EVENTS

8

FOR FREEDOM. The first annual Martha’s Vineyard Juneteenth Jubilee (June 16-June 19) will feature 13 events highlighting art, music, lectures and more by leading scholars of Black history.

locations to play tennis.

30 Acts PLEASE DON’T STOP THE MUSIC. The threeday Beach Road Weekend (Aug. 26-Aug. 28) festival will showcase 30 musical acts at Veterans Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven.

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3 courses at Riverhead Disc Golf Course.

MAKE YOUR GUESTS FEEL AT HOME. A handy shortcut to all of the Island’s charms.

Martha’s Vineyard

ISLAND GUIDE Best Bets & Local Favorites

W H E R E T O E AT, S TAY, S H O P, S W I M , D A N C E , H I K E , B I K E , P L AY & M O R E

2022

ALL NEW FOR 2022!

The award-winning insider’s guide to where to go and what to do on Martha’s Vineyard.

Pick up a copy on newsstands for just $9.95.

Order online at vineyardgazettestore.com.

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Welcome to The Oyster, your all-season, on-Island survival guide for young adults (and the young at heart!) You’ll find me – Alex – here in each print issue of the Vine with musings, interviews and tips for staying connected all year long. The party continues online at vineyardgazette.com/vine/oyster and on Instagram (@OysterMV), where this month you’ll find more “Money Talk” and news about upcoming workshops and events. Drop us a note in the comments section online or email us at oystermv@gmail.com.

Jeanna Shepard

Finding Your Financial Footing

Beau Begin suggests asking yourself the hard questions – and making choices.

BY ALEXANDRA BULLEN COUTTS Financial consultant Beau Begin is known for a level of professionalism that is perhaps a bit more buttoned-up than many of his Island contemporaries. But at a series of workshops co-sponsored

by Rockland Trust and our very own Oyster MV a few years back, Beau created a roundtable environment that was comfortable and laid-back. This is key, he says, to getting people to talk – and learn – about money: how to get it, how to keep it, and how to put it work.

“All we did was share,” Beau remembers, when I catch up with him on the phone, two years after the first series of Money Talks workshops was cut short by the pandemic lockdown. “It was a real forum. We had a bunch of young people sitting around a table, discussing their views on money and learning from each other.”

Beau admits that he brings a particular skillset to the table; since earning a Masters in Finance from Boston College in 2008 he’s worked in the world of finance and banking, now serving as vice president and financial consultant at Page 26 · THE VINE

Rockland’s RT Investment division. But in the end it was the atmosphere of open sharing and “getting real” about what it means to be financially secure as a young person, particularly an Island young person, that made the workshops a success.

“There are a lot of challenges specific to living on the Island,” Beau says, and this is often where he opens his roundtable discussions. First, he has participants consider not just what they’re doing here on the Island — did they land here in a seasonal job that they’ve now outgrown?

Do they see potential for growth in their current position? — but also why they’re here.

“We start by asking a bunch of questions,” Beau says. “Do you want to make the Island your home? What are you going to do for work? How are you going to participate in the community and is that participation going to provide you with the means you need to achieve the ends?”

Ends and means come up frequently in conversation with Beau; it’s another way of thinking about a personal bud-

get. It may sound simple, but for many young adults, creating budgets and personal cash flow statements are not skills they’ve been formally taught, and the seasonality of Island life can complicate the prospect of getting on solid financial footing even further.

According to Beau, one of the most important financial decisions a young person can make when thinking about saving for a down payment on a home or planning for retirement is to recognize that working towards financial security is an intentional choice. And as someone who spent summers on the Island as a teen and in college, he’s aware of the temptation of what he calls “the party.”

“Living on the Island in the summer, there’s a party going on around us all of the time,” he says. “What we have to understand is, a lot of these people have been saving up all year long – sometimes all their lives – to come here in the summer and enjoy their disposable income.

The hardest thing to do,” he says, for a year-rounder looking to build a nest egg, “is to not get caught up when the music starts.”

This change in focus can help shift basic habits, like cutting back on meals out, but can also encourage folks to participate in “the party” in different ways.

“We don’t want to live in the shadow of the party,” Beau says, “So what can and can’t you participate in? What part in the economy can you play to get your means?”

For Beau, this line of thinking has led to the creation of his own side gig, a second job he takes on during the high season and shoulder months in order to pad his savings and afford small luxuries like family vacations during the winter.

For 20 years Beau has worked shucking oysters at weddings and cocktail parties, ultimately starting his own business,

Clambulance Raw Bars. “It was a way for me to provide a service based on my skills, while being a part of producing the party, as opposed to just enjoying it.”

Beau still finds time to enjoy Island living when he can, offshore fishing and spending time with his wife and two young daughters. He also clearly enjoys the challenge of finance, and though living on the Island has put its own twist on the arc of his career, he’s eager to share what he’s learned with others looking to make saving, investing and credit-building a priority.

“I started trading stocks when I was 19,” he says. “I loved the idea of being able to check companies and see them grow. It’s sort of the American dream.”

But after leaving graduate school and entering an uncertain job market deep in the recession of 2008, Beau returned to the Island under less-than-dreamy circumstances. “I washed back up here, as a lot of people do, with a mountain of debt and school loans,” he says.

Being candid about his own journey is part of what makes Beau’s workshops so accessible; he comes to the table as both a facilitator and a participant, and he refuses to sugar-coat the challenges of making an Island life work.

“It can feel like the cards are stacked against you,” he says. “It’s expensive to live here and the job options are limited.” This is why it’s important, he believes, for folks to come together and talk through the choices they’re making and how they might rethink their relationship to earning and saving. “Once we realize we’re all in the same boat – we’re all in this together – we can start to have a real conversation.”

Alex Bullen Coutts is a writer living in West Tisbury and editor of the Oyster.

Jarrett Hurwitz | Keller Williams Realty | 845-596-6740

A spectacular generational estate designed with entertaining in mind. This private 1.64-acre property is located at the end of one of the most sought-after streets in Katama: Beach Plum Meadows. The main residence features three floors all of which have ultra-high ceilings and a ton of natural light. The first floor offers three large bedrooms, two full bathrooms, laundry, and an office. All of the rooms have sliding doors out to the expansive deck / porch. The second floor offers spectacular sunsets and has an open floor plan with a chef’s kitchen, two dining areas, a living room with a gas fireplace, and a full bathroom. The walk-out lower level has a large bedroom, full bathroom, additional laundry room, a gym, and sports court!

Each floor has elevator access. The detached structure features a three-car garage, large office, full bathroom, and deck with sunset and farm views.

The property comes with recently purchased and installed solar panels which not only completely cover the electric bill but also produce a surplus of energy/credit. The property features beautiful landscaping and an open lawn that offers plenty of space for a pool. Exclusively offered at $5,395,000.

Contact Jarrett Hurwitz at 845-596-6740 for more information.

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