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Letters
to the Editor
August
11 , 2005
Chappy needs ordinary folk too
To the Editor:
This is a copy of a letter to the Edgartown Zoning Board of Appeals.
Some people feel that Chappy, with its three-acre zoning, is only
for the wealthy. The truth is that many “just folks” live
there, seasonally and year-round, and happily contribute to the
warm, friendly atmosphere that makes Chappy a great place to call
home.
Chappaquiddick is just as “affordable” as any place else
on Martha’s Vineyard. Some suggest that affordable housing
candidates can’t afford to live on Chappy mainly because of
the ferry cost; however, affordable housing candidates would be
year-round people who would enjoy the deep discount on ferry cost
that year-round residents enjoy.
Also, the one-acre home site (not the 15,000 sq. ft. mentioned in
the July 21, 2005, Martha’s Vineyard Times, page 11 article),
provided enough land for a productive, cost saving vegetable garden
if desired. This, along with the fishing and shellfish bounty available,
would more than offset the ferry cost, if needed.
If the affordable housing candidates are service people — plumbers,
electricians, etc. — all the better. We could possibly look
forward to one day having all our service needs met by neighbors.
Having more young year-round families on Chappy will provide a positive
benefit to all who live on Chappy and should be encouraged —
not discouraged. We encourage you to give favorable consideration
to the affordable housing candidates coming before the zoning board
of appeals.
Ed and Betty Trider
Edgartown
Cookies
and DVDs
To the Editor:
“Literally, I was at an audit client for PricewaterhouseCoopers
when I received a phone call telling me to report to the HQ
in Quincy ASAP. I left the audit immediately and arrived at
HQ an hour later. I have been on active duty since.” –
CPT Mark Judson, Iraq.
During the early 1980s, as a teenager on Martha’s Vineyard
Island, Mark Judson spent a great deal of time amidst the sun
and sand at places such as Lucy Vincent Beach, Quansoo, and
South Beach. Today, Mark is spending a great amount of time
amidst the sun and sand again, but at a different location:
Central Iraq.
When asked how I could bring my cousin a bit of joy, he responded:
“Thank you so much for your offer to send stuff. The things
that are the best are crunchy snacks like cookies and such,
and if you have an in somewhere — DVDs. Movies are worth
their weight in gold here as they kill a lot of time. If you
can dig up some cheap ones please send them, but please don’t
drop a bunch of dough.”
We are launching “DVDs for the Dedicated.” If you
drop off DVDs at Basics Clothing Company in Oak Bluffs, we will
mail them for you.
If you prefer to send goodies directly, Mark’s address
is:
CPT Mark Judson
TF 793rd MP BN / HHB 102d FA
APO AE 09391
When Mark is not serving with his unit he works as a certified
public accountant at the Boston offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers,
LLP.
Mark attended MVRHS from 1980 to 1982 and joined the Army the
following year. He spent eight years on active duty before attending
the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth where he earned
a baccalaureate degree in accounting. Mark maintained his affiliation
with the U.S. Army by enlisting in the Massachusetts Army National
Guard when he started college. During his senior year of college,
Mark completed the Army’s rigorous Officer Candidate School
program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery.
Mark, his wife Christine, and their rambunctious dachshund Bailey
currently make their home in Massachusetts’s Blackstone
Valley.
Thank you for taking the time to show you care.
Laurie (Woodruff) Welch
Oak Bluffs |
Save the
Capawock
To the Editor:
I have been coming to Martha’s Vineyard all my life and was
very upset to discover that the Vineyard Haven movie theater has
closed down. I have enjoyed many movies there in the past, and I
believe it is such a nice addition to the town. It is also very
convenient, because it’s so close to my house. Now the paint
is chipping, the windows are cracked, and it is basically abandoned.
It is so sad to see as you’re walking through the beautiful
town.
Can anything be done to save this Vineyard Haven landmark?
Caitlin Kennedy
Vineyard Haven
Haul back on the fishing columnist
To the Editor:
Nelson Sigelman needs to be reeled in.
Kevin Keady
Chappaquiddick
Great time
To the Editor:
Thank you to Sam Griswold and Ben Scott for a great article and
photographs in this week’s Martha’s Vineyard Times [“Boston
kids on course”], which just came out today. We had such a
fantastic time there — from mini golf and the beach to learning
about Darfur with Ken Sweder and the making of wooden boats with
Nat Benjamin.
We’re now more than half way through our inaugural Summer Session.
We’re learning a lot and are inspired daily by the Beacon Academy
students. They truly are “on a mission,” as Sam writes
in the article. There’s much more to come.
Thank you so much to Mary and Raymond Gosselin at Island Cove Mini
Golf for putting together such a great time for us
Cindy Laba
Beacon Academy
Boston
Big loss
To the Editor:
Thanks to Cathy Brennan and Kathy Fitzgibbon, I have benefited from
Hospice Care. Their departure from the organization is a big loss,
especially to the community. What is it with the board of directors?
Alice R. Murphy
West Tisbury
Champions all
To the Editor:
Congratulations to the Martha’s Vineyard Little League nine-year-old
all star champions.
This past weekend we had the opportunity to provide accommodations
for the above-mentioned team, along with their coaches.
It was a truly unique and pleasurable experience to interact with
those boys, and to watch them relate to each other. They were good
listeners and followed instructions well. We were very impressed
with their politeness and good attitudes. Please and thank you were
used often without reminders.
In closing, we’d like to congratulate and commend the parents
and coaches of these boys for a job well done.
Vineyard, be proud of your champions in more ways than one.
Sandy and Steve Pietruska
West Tisbury
Wonderful people
To the Editor:
This is a copy of a letter to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital:
This is a letter to say thank you to a lot of wonderful people,
many of whom we have no way of contacting because we don’t
know their names.
At 1 am on July 16, I awoke to find that my wife, Meg Verret, had
a very high fever and was having difficulty breathing. I called
911 and an EMT was at our door in Chilmark within minutes followed
by an ambulance. En route to the hospital the ambulance stopped
to pick up a paramedic who quickly and expertly started an IV while
we were moving.
At the hospital an incredibly talented and caring team of ER staffers
stabilized her and took care of her throughout the night. Their
diagnosis was that she was suffering from a tick borne illness (ultimately
determined to be Lyme Disease). She was admitted and we discovered
just how lucky we were to be at MVH. The nursing staff and the technicians
were wonderful. They were very professional and the care was better
than at any medical facility we have ever encountered. On Sunday
evening Meg suffered from an episode of “flash’ pulmonary
edema that, but for the quick-thinking and fast-acting nurses and
doctors at MVH, might have taken her life. She could not have been
in better hands. One of the doctors at Mass General commented that
“If I ever suffered from a tick borne illness, I think I would
ask to be transported to MVH; those folks really know how to handle
this type of illness.” Meg recovered in the intensive care
unit and is now safely home with her family.
Thank you to the wonderful EMTs and Paramedics from the Tri-Town
Emergency Service Team. Thank you to Rich, Dr. Kendall and the amazing
folks in the ER, and to Linda Fischer and Dr. MacDonald. Thank you
to all of the other nurses and doctors who were so wonderful to
us in this most stressful of times. All of us on the Vineyard should
be so grateful to have such a wonderful facility and such a talented
group of medical professionals available to us. I know the Verret
family will be forever in your debt. God bless all of you, you are
the best.
John and Meg Verret
Chilmark and Sharon
No right to rape
To the Editor:
Most of us have many strong reactions when we learn that one of
our children has been hurt. It is one of our worst fears as parents
and community members. We want to think that our children will be
safe in this world, and it has been our experience that parents
and schools work very hard to educate and inform their children.
We agree with Maia Smith (Letter to the Editor, MV Times, August
4) that education is very important; as parents it is always our
hope that our children will make safe and good decisions. But we
would doubt Ms. Smith would agree that just because the two young
women she mentioned made “uneducated” or “uninformed”
decisions, in her view, they therefore deserved to be assaulted,
kidnapped, raped, or murdered. However, her letter left the impression
that it was either the parents or the victim’s fault.
As a community, we need to be very careful about keeping the focus
where it belongs. We need to remember who committed these crimes
and not blame the victim. We live in a victim-blaming society. “She
shouldn’t have done this or that,” “she shouldn’t
have been at that place,” “if she hadn’t been drinking,
this wouldn’t have happened.” This is blaming the victim.
Bad choices do have their consequences, but it doesn’t give
others the right to assault, kidnap, rape, or murder someone.
Jan Hatchard
Director of Development
And the staff at Women’s Support Services
Martha’s Vineyard Community Services
Dead wrong
To the Editor:
This letter is in response to Maia Smith of Vineyard Haven, whose
letter was published on August 4. The rape in Ocean Park happened
for one reason and one reason only. A sick person decided he could
by force have what he wanted, when he wanted, because the word no
was not part of his vocabulary. Ms. Smith’s assumption that
this girl was never educated is dead wrong.
Ms. Smith babbles on and makes another asinine remark about the
girl in Aruba. She said she was an adult, she should know better.
Then, she says, “By choosing to substitute babysitting for
education, her parents neglected her aid and contributed to her
likely death.” I find these remarks to be ignorant to the point
of being disgusting. You can preach and preach to your children
about the dangers that exist in this world, but it doesn’t
mean that they won’t make a mistake and let their guard down.
The facts are not in yet on the girl missing in Aruba, she may even
have been drugged. In both cases, a bad judgment was made, but neither
girl nor their parents are at fault or to be blamed for what happened
to them. The only people to blame are those that committed the crime.
The only way a parent can be almost sure their children stay inside
the AC, is to camp outside the door and pick them up as they come
out. Friday night is for the 16-20 year old crowd. Maybe it’s
time for a 13-15 year old night.
I believe it’s time for tougher laws like Florida passed, 25
years to life for the first offense, no early release. I don’t
know what Ms. Smith does for a living, but one job comes to my mind.
She may be one of these shrinks that always finds a way to blame
someone else for what some low life has done. If neither Ms. Smith
nor anyone in her family has ever been the victim of a sexual assault,
she is lucky. But, she should please keep her thoughtless remarks
to herself.
Name withheld at the writer’s request.
All your help
To the Editor:
The family and friends of Peter Duart would like to express our
extreme gratitude for the outpouring of the generosity shown at
the spaghetti dinner held at the P.A. Club on August 4. The night
would not have been possible without the many donations and volunteers
who gave graciously of their time.
The family and friends of Peter Duart would like to give special
thanks to Marc Hanover and Lanie Bonito for their fabulous talents
in the kitchen and the donation of the food, to the P.A. Club for
the use of the hall, to the members of the Benevolent Community
for their time and efforts in the kitchen, serving a multitude of
other tasks, to Sam Koohy of Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop for
the donation of the cakes, and allowing the sale of tickets by his
employees, to DaRosa’s for the donation of raffle tickets,
to Adam Bresnick of IFP for their donations of desserts, to the
Seafood Shanty and Fiesta Mexicana for the gift certificates, and
to Willoughby’s Art Gallery for the sketching.
Thank you to the many people who donated their time to sell tickets,
raffles, cleaned tables and performed a multitude of other tasks.
To the many people who gave donations, purchased tickets, and bought
raffles, thank you for your support.
The event would not have been such a success without the help of
you all.
I have received many calls from members of the community who missed
the event but would like to make a donation. Donations can be made
to the Peter Duart Cancer Fund in care of the Dukes County Savings
Bank, P.O. Box 1069, Edgartown, MA 02539.
The Friends and Family of Peter Duart
Wonderful volunteers
To the Editor:
On behalf of the trustees, staff and users of the Chilmark Free
Public Library, thanks to the Friends of the Chilmark Library Inc.
and a team of wonderful volunteers for their very successful book
sale on July 30 and 31. The planning committee of Sarah Andresen,
Carol Merry, and Becky Kaplan, under guidance from president Jane
Naylor, did a great job as a team. All of the volunteers were so
very helpful in setting up and working during the event. Chris Dreyer
sorted and priced the books during the off-season, as she has faithfully
done for more than a decade. Rodney Bunker deserves special thanks
for helping to move books to the basement. It is a wonderful show
of community togetherness which results in necessary and welcome
funding for the library’s well-being. We are grateful for all
of the good cheer and effort.
Cathy Thompson
Library Director
Chilmark Free Public Library
Off to the SJC
To the Editor:
It is interesting to note the lack of coverage by the Island newspapers
concerning the death of Edgartown Great Pond. The last news was
printed by the other (newspaper of record) stated that the Administrative
Law Judge (ALJ) said the Edgartown Wastewater Treatment Facility
has no effect on Edgartown Great Pond. We (Friends & Fishers
of Edgartown Great Pond) appealed the ALJ’s decision to the
Appeals Court but no mention was made of that in either newspaper.
This last Friday the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC)
removed the case from the Appeals Court to their court. It is noteworthy
that the SJC asked for this case; we did not ask them to hear it.
We have been fighting for the fish and plants of this great pond
for 10 years and the industry we have been fighting is the most
powerful industry in the state (tourism). Now they will have to
go before the most powerful court in the state.
Perhaps now you will give the fish and plants the coverage they
deserve? Could it be that the fish and plants do not advertise in
your so-called newspaper, so you choose not to write news about
their demise in our pond? If you doubt their demise look at the
annual town report for Edgartown over the last 200 years. The last
article written by Will Pfluger many years ago was investigative,
truthful, and straightforward. As you know he was let go by your
newspaper shortly after.
I know it is difficult to report bad things about your advertisers,
but you have an obligation to be truthful and not slant your reporting
to keep the money coming in. Edgartown has devastated the fish populations
in Edgartown by allowing the tourist industrial waste to be dumped
in our great pond. It had forgotten that this pond belongs to the
people, not the tourist industry. Somehow the leaders of Edgartown
have duped the taxpayers into paying for high-priced Boston lawyers
to defend the actions of the town. With the money they have spent
on legal battles and studies of the pond they could have simply
moved the discharge site near the ocean into an artificial wetland.
If this had been done the town’s fishers would be landing millions
of dollars of fish products. By the way, that money, unlike tourist
industry money, stays on the Island.
Michael Picciandra
President
Friends & Fishers of Edgartown Great Pond
Shuckers must consider presentation
To the Editor:
With the fair rapidly approaching, I hope it’s not too late
to at least open a dialogue about the clam shucking competition.
No disrespect meant to the participants (they are following the
rules), but it has degenerated into a clam-ripping contest. Many
of the premier shuckers do not participate because of this. The
shellfish opening should be judged not only on speed, but presentation.
They should be on an unbroken half-shell, and not look like the
cat has already eaten them. I hope this year’s judges will
take this under consideration and restore dignity to this event.
Mark Grandfield
West Tisbury
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