Welcome to the parlor of Cleaveland House in West Tisbury. For at least half a century, this cozy room has served as a salon of sorts for Island poets who gather to share and critique each others' work.

A flock of mallards quacked outside and a small wood stove crackled from within Rick Brown’s boat workshop on Lagoon Pond in Vineyard Haven, where he was sanding an oar and preparing to replace the ribs of a 14-foot wooden wherry.

The coveted silver trophy is back on Martha's Vineyard, with the Vineyard football team defeating Nantucket 14-0 in the annual Island Cup Saturday. Sophomore Jacob Cardoza carried the day with two touchdowns.

The long history of the Island Cup game is often cast in tales of football rivalry between the two Islands. But how did the tradition of a shared trophy actually begin? Bob Tankard tells the story. Meanwhile, kickoff is at 1 p.m. today on Nantucket.

High school athletic trainer Tania Laslovich's job entails being part diagnostician, part clinician, part therapist, part cheering squad and part buzz kill. She says the hardest thing is having to tell an eager athlete they can’t suit up or have to be removed from a game.

This year marks a tipping point in the annual Island Cup rivalry, now in its 35th year. Since 1978, when the familiar silver trophy first commemorated the end-of-season game, the Vineyard has won 17 times. Nantucket, too, has won 17 times. At stake during Saturday’s contest at Vito Capizzo Stadium on Nantucket are bragging rights for an entire series.