With a bonfire blazing in late afternoon sunlight behind them, eight women gathered to celebrate the summer solstice. These women have special reason to celebrate the passing of spring into summer and the new cycle of life it brings — they run Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard.
SueEllen Rothery already had bought a sandwich at 7a Foods, but for the second time on the day of its grand opening she was back at the new take-out eatery behind Alley’s General Store, waiting patiently. “I bought a sandwich just now to share with my sister, and I brought it home and she had one bite and said, ‘I’m not sharing this.’ So now I’m back again waiting in line for my own sandwich.”
Even on a gray Monday after noon in mid-June, with a cool wind blowing off the sea, Oak Bluffs still feels like the place you want to be. Circuit avenue is crowded with everyone from teenagers to seniors all looking for that special memento; wherever you lie on the spectrum, you can find a place for yourself, and something you want.
Considering the chilly spring, some might have made dour forecasts for the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market season opener, but they would have underestimated the resilience and enthusiasm of both this Island’s growers, bakers and artisans, and the community that supports them.
Saturday dawned grey, but the rain held off for the morning, allowing vendors and visitors alike to buy, eat and socialize at the first meeting of this annual summerlong institution.
A life on Martha’s Vineyard, last year in Delhi, next year in Cairo and Stanford after that. Some people might relish the comfort and security of the bounded Island domain, but Sarah Johnson, this year’s co-valedictorian at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, wants to explore.
She shares the honor with Mary Harrington, who could not be reached for an interview.
It had been 67 years since Fred B. (Ted) Morgan Jr. had been back to La Fière, Normandy, in France, but it was certainly worth the wait. “It was the most amazing trip of my life,” the much-decorated town father of Edgartown said this week upon his return from visiting the place where he played a part in making world history on June 6, 1944.
