I was extremely impressed with Elaine Weintraub’s results from her high school classes voting during our last election. The young women’s concerns and interests were so different from those of her young male students! It brought to mind my own experience in the 1980s while taking courses in Denmark. Apparently in Scandinavia, women must be represented in their parliaments by their percentage in the general population, 52 per cent.

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of Nov. 1971:

Until killing frosts ravage the scarlet cranberries in Manuel S. Duarte’s six-acre bog at Cranberry Acres off Lambert’s Cove Road, there is profuse picking for industrious jelly and sauce makers. The public has been invited to help themselves.

From the Gazette editions of November, 1934:

One of the best indications of whether the Vineyard is getting along well in winter is the presence or absence in the chilly air of the sound of the carpenter’s saw and hammer. We need a business in building to maintain employment between seasons. This year the better housing program of the Federal Housing Administration should make it easier for homeowners to remodel and improve their properties.

It is common knowledge that high school students often struggle with feeling stressed and overwhelmed; and when they do, they typically seek out friends for advice and support.

On Nov. 1 and 2, 40 Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School students who were nominated by their peers, along with four faculty members, were invited to participate in the 7th annual Peer Outreach retreat. The retreat was co-facilitated by six senior student members.

My first description of Dickie Becker as a fisherman who works when it’s light and sleeps when it’s dark and that’s why he only needs one outlet, might have given you the impression that he is a simple man. Dickie Becker is not a simple man. The truth is that Dickie passes out in a  chair well before it gets dark. Same diff, I guess. Dickie is a lobsterman which, when you think about what happens to a lobster, being caught, cooked and ripped limb from limb actually requiring a bib to catch flying body parts, could put him in the category of aiding and abetting a monster.

Anyone who spends any time in, on or around our tidal ponds has witnessed the periodic algae infestations and the consequent foul odors, slimy beaches, floating gunk in murky waters and distressed ecosystems. The pollution of our ponds, even our ocean beaches, has become so bad that they have even periodically been closed for public health reasons. Nevertheless, many people of all ages get sick after swimming, with all kinds of serious symptoms.