Editorials
One was a year-round resident who taught music to Vineyard school children for nearly fifty years and handed out daffodils in the name of cancer research every spring. The other was a dynamic leader in the world of fundraising for academic and nonprofit institutions, a seasonal resident who quietly brought her considerable know-how to Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and other Island nonprofits.
The spectacle of an eight-thousand-square-foot home being moved back from an eroding cliff can give a skewed impression of the hardship to the Vineyard caused by Hurricane Sandy and the nameless February storm that succeeded her.
There are few things as enduring in American politics as the tension between individual freedom and community values. In Washington this week, the defeat of an amendment on background checks for gun owners marked a startling victory for those who don’t want government infringing on their personal rights.
The stakes are somewhat lower, but the core issue isn’t all that different in Chilmark, a town of about fifteen hundred year-round residents, where voters will decide on Monday whether to adopt a bylaw regulating the size of houses.
Eat more shellfish. Your mother might not have told you that, but she could have, at least on the Vineyard. Here shellfish is a readily-available and abundant source of inexpensive protein. You can buy it at your favorite fish market or go get it yourself in your favorite pond (shellfish permit required). And if you don’t eat shellfish you can still love them. These filter feeders, especially oysters, are known for their ability to remove pollutants such as nitrogen from saltwater ponds.
Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank, with assets in excess of a half billion dollars, net earnings approaching four million dollars and a new, experienced community banker firmly at the helm seems to be on a solid course.
The bank clearly stumbled last year, but the extent, nature and impact of whatever improprieties occurred are still frustratingly unclear.
Out in the real world, the ebb and flow of the seasons are nature-based. Mother Nature does her thing and coats are pulled out of storage each winter, shorts and flip-flops resurrected come spring, or summer for those not as itchy to feel the grass beneath their toes.