Commentary
BIKE PATH EXPANSION
Editors, Vineyard Gazette:
Regarding the Gazette story last Friday about bicycle paths.
A couple of clarifications are in order, as some of my quotes were out of context, some were mixed together, and some I never made at all.
It was late spring of Ali’s 42nd year. She telephoned, asking me to come over to see what her father did for her. Upon arrival at Ali’s wonderful old home of her late grandmother, I found her in this immense, newly turned garden all set for planting. To the artist in Ali this was a blank canvas, new brushes and a box of fresh paints. A finer garden spot one couldn’t dream of, yet from behind the shed she came with a weeding tiller. The metal part was antique but the long, gently arched wooden handles were new.
Summer Conversation
There are different ways to mark the beginning of summer. By the calendar it begins on the solstice Sunday. Then there are all the other small ways that signal the start of the season. At the Gazette office in Edgartown loyal subscribers to the newspaper have begun to drop in, to change their addresses so the paper can be delivered here, to say hello, perhaps comment on the latest news, ask about how our winter was on the Island.
Long and cold, deliciously quiet, sometimes a little too quiet, we reply.
Pedal Politics
Islanders are invited to celebrate the dedication of two West Chop homes that will become part of the Trail of Thai Royalty in Massachusetts on Sunday at 1 p.m. The ceremony is at 703 Main street in Vineyard Haven. The event is part of a daylong program of authentic Thai cultural experiences designed to honor the Island’s special connection with Thailand, put together by the King of Thailand Birthplace Foundation.
Juneteenth is the celebration of African Ameri can freedom and achievement and the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Tex., with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation — which had become official on Jan. 1, 1863.