Gazette Chronicle
From the Vineyard Gazette edition of Jan. 5, 1940:
It was New Year’s Eve, and Vineyard Haven slept or celebrated according to time-honored practice. All was still and peaceful out of doors, beneath the dark winter sky. Not a breath of wind stirred and little traffic moved along the snow-covered streets. Suddenly a strange, thrilling sound filled the air. Starting at a low pitch at first, it grew louder and more thrilling. Young men, bailing out a noggin of lemonade, leaped into the air and cracked their heels together.
From the Vineyard Gazette edition of Dec. 17, 1948: A matter of a few hours may well alter the overall picture of the Island Christmas, but as this article is written the temperature is in the fifties, the sky is clear and blue, the sun shines brightly, the grass is still green, and flowers are still blooming in many, many gardens. Nature has not done its part yet in awakening the traditional Christmas spirit, which traditionally requires a biting atmosphere and a powdering of snow.
Headline From the December 14, 1979 Reflections of That Man Friday column by William A. Caldwell:
A strange and reassuring thing happened off to the southwest at 4:11 p.m. Monday, just in time to safeguard the sanity of a man confronted with a stack of Christmas cards.
From the Vineyard Gazette editions of December 1921:
Queer how few people really believe in Santa Claus. Just about this time of year almost everyone gets worked up into an ecstasy over Christmas spirit and pretends that he believes in Santa.
From the Dec. 4, 1964 edition of the Vineyard Gazette, by Joseph Chase Allen: Taking them full and by, as the old sailormen would have said, Martha’s Vineyard people have always been a neighborly sort, living at peace with each other for the most part through the generations.
Naturally, this being the week before Thanksgiving, the subject was how to make Christmas wreaths. Naturally. This is not quite to be construed as a complaint. Quite the contrary. There may be grounds for grumbling about the onset, just after the regattas and just before Labor Day, of mail-order Xmas season.