Letters to the Editor
Published: February 5, 2009
Heroes
To the Editor:
Dear first responders, I think we have to rename you dear heroes of Martha's Vineyard:
Once again, the Aronies thank you. I still cannot believe how quickly you got there and how generous and capable you all are. I should just have a permanent thank-you note on file and hit send every time you do the above and beyond the call of duty. Dan is home and fine and thanks you, too.
Nancy Aronie
Chilmark
Above and beyond
To the Editor:
I would like to thank the SSA employees of the 9:30 boat leaving Vineyard Haven on January 16, whose names unfortunately I didn't get, and Kurt, a SSA employee on the 3:45 returning to the Vineyard, for going above and beyond to assist us in getting Beverly and her wheelchair close enough to the elevator. Kurt actually moved three lanes of vehicles so that we could get to the car and then helped us get her and her wheelchair in.
I really cannot say enough about how accommodating SSA employees were to make riding the SSA for anyone with special handicap needs very easy.
Maureen, Beverly and Allie Gazaille
Edgartown
Never take away
To the Editor:
A few facts concerning your article about closing one lane of East Chop Drive.
First of all, many East Chop residents were not surveyed. Therefore, the idea that a majority of us support the one-way proposal is like saying that George W. Bush won his two pathetic elections by a landslide. More importantly, the road does not belong to East Chop residents. It belongs to all town residents, who were not surveyed at all.
Secondly, the article states that the "proposal" is to reduce volume and speed. Volume. Oh yes, like it or not, there sure are more people on East Chop Drive nowadays. But, in reality, there is no crisis. Basically, the issue boils down to the fact that a few walkers, bikers, and drivers need to embrace the unostentatious philosophies of the newly founded Rob Hammett's Academy of Common Street Sense. The philosophies, which are ridiculously simple and parallel what my wife and I teach our children, are as follows:
1. Walk or bike single file on the shoulder of the road when facing traffic. It's courteous and you won't get plowed down.
2. Slow down when driving past people in an automobile. It's courteous and you won't plow anyone down.
3. Carry on with your un-plowed down life.
As far as speed is concerned, well that can be very easily remedied by our more than capable police department.
Third, the "proposal" actually creates tremendous safety issues, which, according to my sources, is currently way out of vogue. The section of road in question is straight with no barriers to block driver's views of pedestrians, etc. Quite poignantly, the closing of this safe road will turn the winding Mass Ave. and many of the other side roads with blind spots (which are full of children on bikes) into a literal bloody nightmare.
One last thought, the ride up East Chop Drive towards the lighthouse is an extremely spiritual and personal Oak Bluffs experience. This should never be taken away from any of us. It is, obviously, part of why we all live in the town (and on the Island) that we do. I urge those who agree to write to the editor and to the Oak Bluffs selectmen. Their morally admirable voices will be heard.
Rob Hammett
Oak Bluffs
Tick-free winters
To the Editor:
I for one am thoroughly enjoying the winter weather with all the crunching underfoot and the frozen landscape. What a wonderful way to enjoy the days, discovering and rediscovering the ancient ways, wonderful trails and paths to beaches which for me are a forbidden zone in warmer weather. Those of us who live with Lyme disease are thrilled at being able to access these incredible areas while they are virtually tick free. With the temperatures staying, for the most part, below freezing, ticks remain inactive.
Every morning, I check the thermometer, hoping it is under 32 degrees, meaning ticks are lying dormant, not interested in hitching a ride on Sage, my trusty dog and hiking companion, or me. Soon the temperatures will rise again and my forays to Cedar Tree Neck, Christiantown Woods or Ice House Pond will be limited. But, for now, thank you for the snow and cold. Some people enjoy the Vineyard in the summer, but for me, winter is my favorite time of the year, when I can relax and enjoy the landscape of the Island without daily vigilance about ticks.
Dyan Redick
West Tisbury
What it is
To the Editor:
Free people can't be tied down, even if they say something like circumcision in public. In my bungled attempt to explain what reflexology is at the Chamber of Commerce After Hours event at the Grill on Main, I managed to create quite a stir, leaving an impression of what reflexology is not. So I would like to take a moment here to say thank you to Nancy Gardella and Ken Goldberg of the Chamber of Commerce for giving me the opportunity to present myself and the work I do and make an effort to say something more appropriate. Reflexology is one of those precious healing arts that have been given to us by ancient cultures who knew powerful healing ways such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, and reflexology. The feet are a miniature representation of the body, and the reflexes or points on the feet have a correlation with all body parts and organs. This allows the practitioner 1) a means of reading the feet and in return understanding what is occurring in the client's body, and 2) the means to correct imbalances, congestion, sluggish functioning and help bring relief to many health issues through finger and thumb pressure on the feet. Reflexology relaxes deeply, reduces stress, and increases circulation, thus allowing the body's own built-in healing abilities to be enhanced and work for you.
Thank you for the opportunity through Letters to the Editor to make a rectification here. And thank you once again to the Chamber. Inadvertently, I left an indelible mark. Is it true that bad advertising is still advertising? I promise to do a better job next time.
Betsy Shands
Tisbury
Bring it back
To the Editor:
It is with great sadness that I have to write this letter. Last Thursday, January 29, was the first anniversary of the tragic accident that caused Brandy Gibson to lose her life. A group of us who deeply cared for her assembled a cross of shells with her name on it and placed it at the site. It was a cross that took many months to complete with love and thought. Some heartless person, with no respect for the dead, stole the cross and flowers that were placed by others who came to remember her. I contacted the Oak Bluffs police department and was told that they would not remove anything that was put there to honor her passing. Whoever you are, you have no use for the cross, and I want it back. Please return it to the site immediately, as the police will be notified as well as the state highway department.
Riccie Tucker
Edgartown
Small gain, big mess
To the Editor:
An article caught my attention in the Martha's Vineyard Times on January 29, (Martha's Vineyard Commission asks for shares of Cape Wind royalties). I am a fourth-generation Island fisherman, and I do not want to be paid off for the Cape Wind experiment.
First of all, the turbines have been built and lying around for years; are they obsolete?
The Martha's Vineyard Commission admits the Cape Wind project is going to directly affect Cape Cod and the islands. Who knows to what extent? Money won't be enough for what we will lose. I believe surveys were flawed in Cape Wind's assessment on the impact on the bird population, shellfish, and the impact on the fishing industries as a whole. Island conch fishermen catch million pounds of conch a year. How many did Cape Wind's surveyors catch? One or two.
So, how can we trust the Cape Wind experiment when we cannot trust all the surveys of Horseshoe Shoal done by various agencies. I am losing faith in our federal and state agencies that are supposed to take care of the public properties. You can't help looking at the Big Dig. Paid by taxpayers, the Big Dig company players got their trophy house somewhere on the backs of the taxpayers.
Cape Wind wants to privatize public property for personal gain; introduce foreign materials to Horseshoe Shoal, tons of boulders and rap, miles and miles of underground cable, 120 to 130 turbines over 370 feet tall, with blades that are 180 feet across. I believe Cape Wind expects a 20-year lifespan of the project. Correct me if I am wrong, the IMMS says the wind farm could supply 75 percent of Cape and islands electricity. IMMS did not say it would.
After all, the power is sent to the general grid, so let's say the Cape Wind project goes off without a hitch. The windmills make some electricity, don't kill many birds, have minimal oil spills, no planes crashing into the blades, no sailboats, speedboats, commercial boats caught in the wind and fog and the maze of turbines. We still have to deal with the decommissioning of these 120 to130 wind turbines.
This is where I have a real problem. I went to Cape Wind's general meeting at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. The Cape Wind representative told the crowd of its intentions, which included the decommissioning of the project. He stated everything Cape Wind brings to Horseshoe Shoal would be removed. The reality is all Cape Wind is going to do is cut the structures off the ocean floor, leaving all the miles of cable under the bottom, 450 to 500 steel legs from the platforms will be protruding 3-10 feet from the bottom, with 120 to130 piles of boulder and rap, where nothing will be able to survive.
I believe the bottom line is Cape Wind Farm will have little reward for Cape and islanders. Electric power plants might be able to slow down production of electricity, but will always have to be operational. If Cape Wind leaves Horseshoe Shoal the way Cape Wind wants to, we will never be able to tow mobile gear for squid, scup, sea bass, ocean quahogs, fluke, flounder, etc. Forever lost. How many conch, scup, sea bass, lobster traps will get tangled and lost in my generation, never mind my two sons? If Cape Wind prevails, the head honchos of Cape Wind will get their trophy houses somewhere, and the citizens of Massachusetts and the country will be figuring out how to clean up Horseshoe Shoal.
Glenn Pachico
Tisbury
