Making Main Street Music Again

The holiday shopping season was much in the news this week, as the warmth of Thanksgiving quickly faded to Black Friday, followed in close succession by Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. The stuttering economy has put retail sales under the microscope, and consumer activity during the run-up to Christmas is occupying the center of attention for business journalists around the globe.

Editor’s Note: The following piece by Gazette Vineyard Haven columnist Nancy Gardella was published in June 2007. It appears here again in appreciation for Ms. Gardella’s dog, Haley, who died on Nov. 7 at the age of 16 and a half.

Am i the only voice crying in the wilderness about the new town parking lot? Well, surely last Saturday I was the only voice crying in the wilderness of Tisbury. This is how it happened:

Thanksgiving 2011

Rain and drizzle fell softly this week over the fields and lawns of November, still green from a mild fall that has seen Islanders out in their shirtsleeves right through last weekend. That’s when gusty winds finally blew the last leaves off the trees and sent them skittering around the yard. Raking at last! The warm weather has served to take the urgency out of fall chores this year, as if these days might stretch on forever with no hard winter ahead.

A FIRM STAND

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

T he proposed roundabout has generated strong feelings as well as unwarranted accusations. The project does not warrant so much negative energy, as there will be little impact on the Vineyard, whether or not it is built at this time.

I wrote an op-ed piece for the Sept. 16 edition of the Gazette on the problems inherent in our Social Security system, and the failure of our elected leaders, including Cong. Barney Frank, to acknowledge that a problem exists. This elicited a rebuttal from Prof. David Salkever, which was published in the Gazette on Oct. 7.

In hopes that a continued discussion of this subject might produce consensus that significant change is needed to reform Social Security, I wish to respond politely but emphatically to some of Mr. Salkever’s comments.