News in Brief

Posted October 20, 2005

Heavy rains flood Five Corners

Although Martha's Vineyard escaped the brunt of the torrential rains that fell across New England last week, there was more than enough precipitation to flood a section of Beach Road leading at the busy Five Corners intersection in Vineyard Haven.
On Saturday, the Long Point Wildlife Refuge weather station recorded a total of 1.49 inches of rain. So far this month, almost four inches of rain had fallen on Martha's Vineyard, according to the weather station's historical report.

Suspects arrested in break-in at Louis' Tisbury Café

Four teens, who police say broke into Louis' Tisbury Café and Eatery on the night of October 7 and stole more than $3,600, have been apprehended by the Tisbury police.

William Felder, 18, of Tisbury and Norman Boisvert,18, of Edgartown will be charged with breaking and entering in the nighttime, malicious destruction of property and larceny in a building. Two other juvenile suspects, age 16, were also charged.

The suspects got into to the café by prying open a skylight, cutting through a screen, and dropping down onto a display counter sometime between 10 pm Friday night and 6:30 am Saturday morning.

After walking through the kitchen and upstairs to the manager's office, they broke in and removed three cash boxes and canvas bank bags containing more than $3,600. They also took a large plate of lemon chicken and 35 ice cream cones from the freezer, according to the police report.

After the break-in, the suspects split up the money, then drove to a beach in Edgartown where they threw the emptied metal cash boxes that had contained the money bags into the water off the beach.

Leslie Hewson, the café owner, reported the break-in on Saturday morning, suspecting it was done by someone who had knowledge of the business and where the money was kept. Two employees were considered suspects, and upon investigation and interviews, Tisbury police made the arrests.

Money taken in the theft totaled $3,600, and damages to the cafe plus stolen items, including a gold bracelet, were estimated at a value of $897.

On Sunday, October 9, women walking the Light House Beach in Edgartown found cash boxes and money bags, which they turned in to the Edgartown police department. A total of $2,883 was recovered from the suspects by police.

Libraries band together to help storm victims

Massachusetts libraries and library users will be asked to contribute to the American Library Association Hurricane Katrina Library Relief Fund to raise money to help rebuild libraries in the Gulf Region during the week of October 24-30.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita severely damaged school and public libraries. Island libraries, through the Martha's Vineyard Library Association, are joining the Massachusetts Library Association and the Massachusetts School Library Media Association to collect monetary contributions to aid libraries affected by the hurricanes.

All funds will go to supporting the library relief efforts of the state associations in the Gulf Region, according to a press release. For further information, call Marjorie Convery, Vineyard Haven Library director, at 508-696-4211, ext. 11.

Robert Yapp retires from SSA

Robert J. Yapp sat in the Vineyard Haven Steamship Authority terminal on his last day of work Friday.

Robert Yapp, at 80 the oldest SSA employee still on the job, retired Friday after 26 years on the job.

"Very busy," he said, when asked to comment on his years working for the boatline.

Mr. Yapp first arrived on the Island from his native Wisconsin with the Coast Guard. "I liked the Island as soon as I got here," he said.

His wife Louise was a long-time nurse at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital until her retirement. For now, Mr. Yapp says he plans to relax.

Patricia Neal hosts yard sale to benefit Vineyard House

Even Academy Award-winning actresses need to "de-clutter" once in awhile, and after redoing the downstairs floor of her home at 80 South Water Street in Edgartown, Patricia Neal is hosting a "one and only" yard sale on Saturday, October 22, from 11 am to 4 pm.

The proceeds will benefit the Vineyard House, a nonprofit organization in Vineyard Haven.

"Everything will be priced reasonably," she vowed, adding that, "I want a lot of people to come."

Ms. Neal is a longtime Vineyard resident who has donated generously to many Island organizations such as Vineyard House over the years. Julie Norman, an honorary board member of the Vineyard House, who helped her arrange the yard sale, will assist her on Saturday.

Vineyard House provides safe, sober, supportive group home environments for men and women of Martha's Vineyard who are in the early stages of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. The organization operates three separate houses.

"Residents do pay rent, but our operating costs are primarily provided by generous gifts and donations like Ms. Neal's," said Mr. Mackey. "It's very thoughtful of her and certainly very helpful to the organization. We appreciate it and encourage people to go and see what's there."

Sloat F. Hodgson

Sloat Fassett Hodgson died on October 13 at his West Falmouth home. He was 94. Mr. Hodgson was as a carpenter on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, and he worked at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he calibrated bathythermographs and other instruments. His son Thomas Sloat Hodgson is a West Tisbury resident. A memorial service will be held at the West Falmouth Quaker Meetinghouse at 1 pm, November 6. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Penikese Island School, Falmouth Academy, the Falmouth League of Women Voters, or to a charity of one's choice.

A complete obituary will appear in a future edition of the Times.

"Duck Shoot" celebrates Island's waterfowling heritage

The Long Point Wildlife Refuge, 633 acres of woods, salt marsh, pond, and barrier beach overlooking Tisbury Great Pond and the Atlantic Ocean was a gift to the Island public from three elderly duck hunters.

And Martha's Vineyard was once home to some of the country's finest decoy carvers — men like Ben Pease, Keyes Chadwick, and Ben Smith.

On Sunday, the Martha's Vineyard Rod and Gun Club will celebrate the Island's waterfowling traditions and rich outdoor heritage with a "Duck Shoot" competition open to Island adults and youngsters on the club's skeet range overlooking Sengekontacket Pond in Edgartown.

The afternoon event will feature an adult two-person team competition; a youth video target shoot open to all youngsters free of charge sponsored by the Wampanoag Tribe natural resources department (WTNRD); and a waterfowling presentation by the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society.

Young people between the ages of 12 and 18 will be able to experience the fun and excitement of the shooting range using the tribe's video target shooting system, equipment used for hunter education training purposes. High scorers will receive trophies and prizes.

Brett Stearns, WTNRD director, and Jeff Day, a Chilmark police officer, both of whom are certified hunter education instructors, will provide tips and answer hunting and firearms questions.

The adult competition is open to any two-person team. Each team will receive two boxes of shells and sit in a symbolic duck blind. The goal will be to try and break as many clay targets as possible. The team entry fee is $40.

Duck hunting once figured largely in the rural quality that attracted people to Martha's Vineyard. Many people enjoy the benefits of that heritage.

In 1979, the Long Point property that is now enjoyed by thousands of Island residents and visitors each year was given to The Trustees of Reservations by Frederick Blodgett, Carl Gilbert, and William Rogers, the three remaining members of the Tisbury Pond Club, a duck hunting club formed in 1912.

In a conversation before he died in 1999, Mr. Blodgett, then 95 years old, said that despite offers of a great deal of money he and the remaining club members wanted to ensure that the property would be "forever for the public and would never be developed."

More than a century ago, duck hunters in many of the simple clubhouses that dotted the Island's salt ponds used decoys carved by men like Ben D. Smith, described by noted Island artist, muralist, and decoy collector Stan Murphy, in his book "Martha's Vineyard Decoys" (David R. Godine, Publisher, 1978), as a carver of some of the finest decoy ducks ever seen, a loner "who made his decoys for the ducks only, not for men, yet his carvings are a distillation of great natural talent, the keenest powers of observation, and superb technique."

To highlight the Vineyard's rich history of gunning, Matthew Stackpole, director of the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society will be present to talk about the society's collection of duck hunting objects used by Vineyarders in the past.

The Duck Shoot begins at noon, Sunday, October 23, rain or shine, on the club grounds located off Third Street in Edgartown. Adult entrants must pre-register between 11:30 am and noon.

For more information, call Bob DeLisle, club president, at 508-627-3019 or Nelson Sigelman, Times news editor and fishing columnist at 508-693-6100, extension 13.

The duck shoot is sponsored by the Rod and Gun Club, The Martha's Vineyard Times, and the Wampanoag Tribe Natural Resources Department.

Business Briefs

Vineyard Gazette average circulation continues decline

The Vineyard Gazette's continued to lose on-Island and off-Island subscribers, according to the Edgartown weekly's latest annual postal statement, which was published on October 7.

The Gazette sent an average number of 1,883 newspapers to on-Island subscribers over the past 12 months. In Sept. 2004, the reported number was 1,896.

Off-Island subscriptions dropped from 4,914 to 4,686 over the same period, according to the Gazette's postal service statement of ownership, management and circulation published in the newspaper's classified section.

Newsstand sales dropped from 3,087 to 2,985.

The publisher of the Vineyard Gazette, which lists a business address of 34 South Summer Street, Edgartown, is Richard "Dick" Reston, a resident of Sarasota, Florida. The editor is Julia Wells.

According to the postal statement, the newspaper is owned by four members of the Reston Family: James B. Reston, Jr. of Chevy Chase, Maryland; Thomas B. Reston of Washington, D.C.; and Richard and Mary Jo Reston of Sarasota, Florida.

Boucle launches new treatment line

Susan Chapman, owner and stylist of boucle Salon and Spa in Edgartown, recently attended an education program at Bumble and Bumble University in New York City. The course involved Bumble's new treatment line which boucle launched last week.

Boucle was voted "best hair salon" on Martha's Vineyard by Boston Magazine in their August issue. For more information, call 508-627-3853.

Vineyard Complementary Medicine has new location

Vineyard Complementary Medicine is now located at 489 State Road, West Tisbury, formerly known as The Wellness Center.

The integrative health clinic's newly renovated building is handicap accessible and includes six private treatment rooms, a therapeutic gym and a new Yoga studio

Owner Susan Sanford owner said she has also expanded the staff. For more information call 508-693-3800.

Sharky's to remain open

Sharky's Cantina on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs will remain open for the remainder of 2005.

The owners said they had originally planned to close the restaurant for the season, but their loyal customers persuaded them to stay open.

"We kept getting phone calls and comments from our customers," said Josh Aronie of Sharky's. "People were a little upset with us, and we realized that there would still be enough business to get us through the fall."

Sharky's will reopen on Friday at 4 pm. The restaurant will serve food and drinks seven days a week from 4 pm to midnight Monday through Friday, and 11 am to 12:30 am Saturday and Sunday.

The restaurant's owners said that they now plan to close on Jan. 1, and reopen on April 1 for the 2006 season.

Becca Morrow completes training program

Becca Morrow of Becca Morrow Bookkeeping recently completed a two-day training program by Intuit, the creators of Quickbooks software.

Called "Mastering Quickbooks," the program consisted of 11 modules covering a variety of topics, from creating a company file, financial statements, setting up and running payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable to working with reports.

Ms. Morrow began her bookkeeping business last winter, taking care of the bookkeeping needs of contractors. She can be reached at 508-627-2004.