One of the most hallowed of Halloween traditions — the one that makes mere mortals susceptible to vampires because it involves not fake blood but the real stuff — is the carving of the pumpkin.

When my two daughters were young, I would take my life in my hands by taking my knife in my hands and attempting to carve a pumpkin without either: (a) severing a major artery or (b) doing such a horrible job on the face that the girls would giggle and say, “That pumpkin looks just like Dad!”

Toma

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of October, 1982:

Fall Classic Ends

A junior angler won the 19-foot Boston Whaler. A fisherman whose name has been well known on the leader board through the years won the 2008 Chevy Silverado truck. A husband and wife team who are weighmasters retired. A controversy flared up and just as quickly died down, offering an eye-opening educational moment on a striped bass baiting technique known as yo-yoing. A record number of fish were weighed in.

A Season for Islanders

As the last ripples of summer settle, Islanders come into their own again, our own rhythms no longer so dependent on tending to the visitors. Now we can stay up late watching the whole nine innings, or more. Now we can take time to savor the juicy flesh of the Island’s Tiasquin apples, firm and sweet and just tart enough.

Fuel-Guzzling Ferry Fares

Rarely has the Vineyard paid such close attention to the price of crude oil as in recent weeks. Through the eyes of the Steamship Authority, which has been preparing its final budget for the coming year, Islanders have watched the price of oil climb from seventy dollars a barrel to eighty, topping out this week at ninety dollars a barrel.