Letters to the Editor
Posted July 13, 2006
Oak Bluffs
candidate withdraws
To the Editor:
It is with much consternation, careful consideration, and complete resolution that I write this letter announcing the withdrawal of my candidacy from the campaign to win the position of Oak Bluffs selectman in the upcoming August election.
Raising my children is by far the most important task I have taken on in my life. I am so very proud of the job I have done and the circumstances under which I have worked to achieve such rewarding results. I have come to realize that throughout their teenage years my children need me more than ever. These years are fleeting and critical times requiring much attention from loving, watchful parents. With the loss of their father six years ago, James and Catherine only have me to make sure they are given every possible opportunity to fully blossom. If I am not here to see to their needs and guide them in a healthy positive direction there is no one else to count on.
My children must take priority over anything else. The time I would commit to campaigning for office and then serving my community after winning the election is time taken away from my kids. In a flash these years will pass, and I must be vigilant as they do.
The support I have felt from so many people in our town reflects a strong desire for someone in office with a fresh approach. Throughout the campaign, your voices have come through loud and clear. We are a population of thoughtful, concerned, intelligent, and motivated individuals, with no strings attached, looking for positive change in our government. We are interested in creating a governing board of independent thinkers where honesty, integrity, and dignity guide the decision making that serves in the best interest of the citizens of Oak Bluffs. We will move forward with these ideals clearly etched in our minds and seek to elect candidates best suited to these goals.
I encourage everyone reading this to continue or begin your involvement with our government in any capacity that best suits you. Whether you join a committee, attend a meeting or write a letter, your voice is an important one that deserves to be heard. Do not miss the opportunity on Aug. 8 to exercise your right to vote. As we found out in April, your vote can and will make a difference.
My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you who have supported me throughout my campaign and who continue to support me in my decision to withdraw at this time. I think the world of my committee and look forward to working with you all again. Our journey has just begun.
Christine Todd
Oak Bluffs
Power and limits
To the Editor:
Dan Cabot (letter, June 29) rightly attacks the excessive use of deceptively worded slogans instead of plain language about government actions. The Bush administration coins the slogans, but its opponents argue about them instead of about the real situations that the slogans obscure. He cites the example of "war on terrorism," when terror is a tactic used by many unrelated groups, instead of "Islamic extremism," which motivated Osama's suicidal hijackers. Even worse is the misuse of "war" to justify Mr. Bush's reiterated claim that as Commander-in-Chief he can and should disregard any law that would impede his efforts to protect us.
Ever since 1787, Americans have on occasion been killed or had their property taken by foreign enemies, and their government has responded to secure appropriate justice for them. While some of these occasions have involved enough killing and destruction to be popularly labeled wars, presidents have been able to deal with most of them without exceeding normal limits on executive actions. Congress, representing the will of the people, has declared war only five times. If Mr. Bush had asked for such a declaration after 9/11 he almost certainly could have gotten it, and there would have been fewer disagreements on his powers since then.
The important difference between declared and undeclared wars is not in their length or numbers of casualties. For example, the Philippine Insurrection lasted longer and cost us more in lives and money than the Spanish-American War that led to it. (But T.R. and Taft "stayed the course," despite strong objections from the N.Y. Times, and successfully force-fed U.S. democracy to "our little brown brothers," many of whom, unfortunately, welcomed the Japanese invasion 40 years later. These things do take time.)
In foreign affairs, the Constitution gives our President wide powers to match those of the absolute rulers with whom he may have to deal, but with limits. He can negotiate treaties, but the Senate must ratify them, and he can wage war, but only Congress can declare it. The Founders knew that to meet national peril the President might need extraordinary powers, but they also knew human nature and distrusted it, and left to us a government of laws and limits, even in time of war. When a man whose duty is "to take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" responds to an enemy attack by declaring on his own that we are at war, and that therefore he can decide which laws he will obey, he needs at the least to reread the Constitution that he is sworn to "preserve, protect, and defend."
George Washington knew from sad experience the difficulties of working with a contentious Congress as he led the nation during its war against Britain, but after independence he declined the crown and unlimited royal power that some of his officers offered him. History has judged him the most honorable and honest of men, and George Bush may profit by his example.
W.R. Deeble
West Tisbury
A matter of
language
To the Editor:
For a number of reasons, Nis Kildegaard's letter on "How to read the papers" was as sweet a piece of writing as we are ever likely to see anywhere.
Then, your editorials on the West Tisbury tax case and the Girl Scout camp provided us with a further blast of much-needed fresh air. What a happy coincidence that in the same issue your At Large column was devoted to the effective use of the English language.
Thomas E. Norton
West Tisbury
Sharing limited
resources
To the Editor:
I would like to respond to Mr. Visconti's recent letter to the Editor complaining about how he got "ripped off" by the Steamship Authority. In mid-June, Mr. Visconti tried to use an expired automobile ticket for a reservation that he did not use in mid-May. This was not a situation where Mr. Visconti arrived late for a reservation due to traffic congestion or another compelling reason, in which event our policy is to allow the ticket to be used later the same day on a standby basis. Rather, we declined to issue Mr. Visconti a refund for the unused reservation or to allow him to use it for a later trip because it had been neither cancelled nor changed with any advance notice.
The Authority's longstanding cancellation policy is intended to encourage our customers to call ahead - even on the day of sailing - if they are not going to be able to use their reservations so that we can assist other customers looking for available spaces. Our customers can also use our redesigned web site to make, change, or cancel their reservations even up to a few hours in advance of their reserved trips.
As most of our customers know all too well, reservations on our most popular trips are often hard to get. If Mr. Visconti had called ahead to change his reservation to a later day, another customer could have obtained his reservation and showed up just prior to sailing instead of waiting (possibly for hours) in the standby line or canceling his plans to travel that day altogether. Mr. Visconti's failure to let us know of his change of plans did not just affect the Steamship Authority, but also unnecessarily inconvenienced our other customers.
The Steamship Authority has a statutory mandate to provide adequate transportation of persons and necessities of life for the island of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. We don't have unlimited resources to fulfill our mission and, therefore, have to adopt certain policies to encourage our customers to share our limited resources in a fair manner with other customers. This is one of those policies, and we believe it is a reasonable one.
Wayne Lamson,
General Manager
Woods Hole,
Martha's Vineyard and
Nantucket Steamship Authority
Impact on abutters deserves review
To the Editor:
Having read Ms. Mendez-Diez's letter addressing the Girl Scouts going to the MVC, I thought that I'd like to share too. Having been to the neighborhood where the camp is, I can certainly see how the abutters are less than favorable about a plan that is broad in scope of use and expands the potential for impacts of noise on those around them.
Ms. Mendez-Diez, a writer whom I normally respect, forgets one important thing. In our small community, where we can easily impact one another and the quality of life we strive to maintain, unmanaged change can be very hard. If you enjoy quiet in your back yard, and suddenly there is a large increase of noise and activity it can affect your quality of life and equally important, it can affect your property value. With the Scouts' many affiliations and size, there is room for significant change that may be hard for most of us to imagine.
The desire to increase use by the scouts in and of itself isn't wrong. Perhaps at the MVC they can address how the change impacts people who already deal with noise issues and fear that the duration and volume from use will rise dramatically. Working conscientiously with the abutters would be one way to mitigate the perception of what can and cannot happen and arrive at an understanding or even, gasp, a compromise.
Ms. Mendez-Diez is certainly not shy about voicing her concerns for change by her own abutters which I read time and time again with an open and sympathetic mind. Ms. Mendez-Diez should consider how her quality of life was potentially impacted by her abutters when attacking others who face similar challenges. Regardless of whom the challenge is against, a big celebrity star or a 3.6-million member non-profit corporation, we all deserve to be treated equally and fairly.
Jim Feiner
Chilmark
Proper referral
To the Editor:
I read your editorial in July 6 edition of the Times, and while I agree with you the Martha's Vineyard Commission, due in part to lack of firm referral criteria, takes on projects inappropriate to their mission, the Chilmark Girl Scout camp is not one. I am reasonably familiar with the project circumstances, and believe the Commission was responding appropriately to a request for help from the Chilmark selectmen in lieu of an ability of town planning or zoning board to provide a public hearing. This circumstance was brought about through advice of town's counsel that Girl Scouts as an education entity were exempt.
The Girl Scout camp was in existence prior to advent of zoning in the 1970s, and hence carries with it conditions that are not valid by today's standards. Proposed changes were presented to Chilmark planning or zoning board, including a number of conditions warranting public hearing regardless of educational exemption. Board of selectmen recognized this as an inequity to abutters, which they judged would be best addressed by a referral to the MV Commission. The following are some of the factors which contribute to rationale for a public hearing.
1. There are four abutters on Middle Road to the Girl Scout property with a primary interest in maintaining the tranquility all have experienced in the past in rural Town of Chilmark.
2. Abutters have no fundamental objection to the Girl Scout proposal for improved campsite, providing it does not impact unfavorably on neighbors, and are willing to work with Scouts.
3. Abutters have concern the Girl Scouts' original proposal to Chilmark's planning board included making the Scout property available for rent or lease to other non-scouting third parties.
4. With proposed third-party usage, abutters have concern that access to Girl Scout property is not of legal width, and parking provisions were not presented consistent with a leased usage.
5. Location of the Girl Scout site near the intersection of Middle Road, Tea Lane, and Meetinghouse Road could present a level of traffic congestion undesirable in the rural town of Chilmark.
6. Adequate area exists on the Girl Scout property for locating proposed new camp with less impact on neighboring abutters by siting new building further back in plot away from abutters.
7. Details of building plans provided to the planning and zoning boards were insufficient to determine if septic provisions would be sufficient to accommodate number of persons for rental use.
8. Rental usage, traffic congestion, road frontage, parking area and septic provisions may be sufficient to warrant commission review even without courtesy of public hearing for abutters.
In summary, I believe the Chilmark board of selectmen made a proper judgment in referring the proposed Girl Scout project to Martha's Vineyard Commission, both to provide a public hearing for abutters and because rental use has an impact in rural area.
I thank Times reporting and editorials for being a "conscience" that helps sustain the Vineyard the way we found and want it.
Art Flathers
Tisbury
Stinging story
To the Editor:
A few years ago, while vacationing with a friend on St. Martin, I decided to go alone for an early morning swim. No one was about. I was swimming near a pier when suddenly I felt a terrible pain in one elbow. I could see from the spots on my skin that something had wrapped itself around my arm three times, but couldn't see any trace of a tentacle. Still, I decided that if something was on my skin the way to get rid of it was to jump in a nearby swimming pool. Much later I learned that jumping from salt into fresh water was the worst thing I could have done, for it released all the toxins into my bloodstream.
Almost immediately I felt I was in trouble - in shock. How did it feel? Like I wanted to get out of my skin. Guessing I might be having some sort of allergic reaction, I hurried to the room and took two allergy pills, then asked the hotel clerk about getting to a hospital; they got us a jeep and driver. By the time we got there I was coughing and frothing at the mouth and my friend had to carry me inside.
The doctor wouldn't arrive for two hours, but they put me in a bed where I writhed around and conversed with my roommate - a 47-year-old island woman who had just discovered to her amazement that she was pregnant. Finally the (French) doctor arrived, and I went to his office. I described in French what had happened. Like the hotel people, he hadn't a clue what was wrong with me. I told him that I thought I was "shockay" and perhaps needed an adrenalin shot like people who are allergic to bee stings. He thought that made sense and gave me a shot, after which I returned to my room.
About 20 seconds after getting the shot I felt perfectly all right. My friend and I decided to go for breakfast (he'd already eaten my hospital breakfast of bread soaked in milk that I hadn't wanted). I went first to pay my bill. "Who are you?" the nurse asked me. I told her I'd been in the bed in the next room. "That was you?" she exclaimed, unable to connect me with the "shockay" woman who'd been writhing there a few minutes earlier.
The sting, which I attributed to a man-of-war, although I never saw him, hurt for about three weeks - no one told me about meat tenderizer or vinegar. Then one day in the surf off Oak Bluffs, I encountered some very tiny jelly lumps. Needless to say I was out of the water in a nanosecond. I don't think I've swum in the sea since.
Nina Galen
Oak Bluffs
License mopeders
To the Editor:
Tragically, once again there is a death on the Island involving a moped or scooter. Seems to me that everywhere in America proper, mopeds require the young operator to be licensed and insured. Scooters are treated as motorcycles in that they must be licensed, insured, and the rider must possess a motorcycle endorsement in order to be a legal operator. To not have any one of the three requirements current at a traffic stop subjects the rider to tickets, a fine and anything else the officer can come up with.
Allowing untrained albeit intelligent people to climb aboard a scooter or moped that they probably have never operated before and head out onto the public roadway with cars, buses, and other things that distract the rider's attention creates a situation that could be called a dangerous Disneyland. Mopeds themselves, as with other things requiring special skills (fighter jets, bulldozers, hot air balloons, etc) are not inherently dangerous. Would this woman have attempted to operate any of the aforementioned things without taking training courses to learn?
That said, the fact remains that if you continue to offer people the opportunity to make decisions disregarding their own safety (that looks like fun, let's rent one of those), they will. No one thinks it will happen to them. The fact that these rentals are available to unqualified people will continue to produce these and other tragic occurrences! Require renters to be licensed motorcycle endorsement holders to rent a moped or scooter, and you will be dealing with people who understand the implications of riding a two-wheel vehicle. Less income for the vender, for sure, but is that not a fair trade for saving a few lives? Remember it is not the scooter that kills people, it is the unskilled renter that must take responsibility for their actions.
Kirk Sawmiller
Columbus, Ohio and
Vineyard Haven
Moped mayhem
To the Editor:
When Island businesses rent mopeds as transportation for visitors to tour the Island, they invite our guests to be like lambs to the slaughter, because driving mopeds on our roads presents a significant risk of injury or death. Recently, Zeljka Matutinovicâ's life was needlessly nipped in the bud and her companion seriously injured when their rented moped careened off the highway and collided with a utility pole. Had they taken the bus or rented a car they would have undertaken far less risk.
Island moped rental businesses greedily insist on profits despite the substantial risk of injury or death to their customers. These businessmen should be ashamed, as should the selectmen in the towns that regulate their businesses.
Driving mopeds in town by experienced owners reduces traffic and is reasonably safe and economical. Renting mopeds to inexperienced riders unfamiliar with the narrow up-Island roads, sandy shoulders and unforgiving car, truck and bus traffic is a grossly negligent and unforgivable way to provide transportation for our visitors. It is our civic duty as members of this small Island community to ensure that this mayhem does not continue.
Michael Stutz
Aquinnah
Flush
To the Editor:
After reading in the paper all winter about the indoor outhouses for the electricians and other working folks of the Cozy Hearth subdivision, I now understand the reasoning behind allowing the private club subdivision to have flush toilets. It is easy to keep the houses in Cozy Hearth perpetually affordable by forcing them to contain the indoor outhouses known as "composting toilets." You have got to be "flush" to flush.
Andrew Spencer
Edgartown
Informing
the enemy
To the Editor:
On Sept. 24, 2001, just 13 days after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and what may have been a attempt on the White House, but thanks to the heroic passengers on flight 93 the hijackers' mission was aborted, the New York Times printed a Op-Ed article titled "Finances of Terror." In that article they pointed out the need to cripple the flow of money to Osama bin Laden, and other terrorist groups. They also knew if the Bush administration and our allies were going to be successful they would have to disable these financial networks used by bin Laden & other terrorist organizations.
The Times also knew that Bush's administration was already preparing new laws to track terrorists through their money laundering activities and was readying an executive order freezing the assets of known terrorists. The Times even stated more was needed. They wanted stricter regulations, recruitment of specialized investigators and better cooperation with foreign banking authorities, and also closer coordination among America's law enforcement, national security and financial regulatory agencies.
They wanted the Bush administration to pressure countries with dangerously loose banking regulations to adopt and enforce stricter rules, to be accompanied by strong sanctions against doing business with financial institutions based in these nations. They knew the Treasury Department needed new domestic legal weapons to crack down on money laundering by terrorists. They also knew prosecutors should've been able to freeze the assets of suspected terrorists more easily. New regulations requiring money service businesses, and banks to register and imposing criminal penalties on those that do no were scheduled to come into force late 2002. The Times felt the effective date should've been moved up to the fall, and rules should be strictly enforced the moment they take effect. The Times stated that if America is going to wage a new kind of war against terrorism, it must act on all fronts, including the financial one.
But that was then. The Times got what they wanted, the Bush administration was successfully secretly tracking the flow of money to terrorist groups. So what does the Times do now. They decided to make this successful operation public by printing it. That, in my view, makes them Osama bin Laden's, and any other terrorist faction we are at war with, their number one informant. It's not the first, nor the second, but the third time they have reported on secret operations. Our country is fighting a war on terrorism against terrorists in Afghanistan, and Iraq. But it seems like the Bush administration also has to fight a war with liberal left news media, liberal left politicians, and the liberal left people. These three groups have one thing in common with bin Laden, and other terrorist groups and their leaders, they all want to see Bush and his administration fail. You can't claim you support our troops, but condemn what they are doing.
For over 20 years, our nation did nothing while Islamic terrorists were blowing holes in our naval ships, blowing up bombs in the World Trade Center, in 1993, long before the 9/11attacks, blowing up our embassies, taking Americans hostage, slaughtering innocent Americans, hijacking airplanes, seizing cruise ships, killing Americans in nightclubs in Europe, and on and on. Now, following the 9/11 attacks we finally have a commander-in-chief who said we are going to fight back. The anti-war left doesn't understand this.
Weeks before the start of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson stated, "My dream is that, as the years go on and the world knows more and more of America, it will turn to America for those moral inspirations which lie at the basis of all freedom, that America will come into the full light of the day when all shall know that she puts human rights above all other rights, and that her flag is the flag, not only of America, but of humanity."
Today, in that same spirit the American flag is flying proudly in Afghanistan and in Iraq, not over a conquered people, but to plant the seeds of liberty into a region that is void of freedom.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi addressed a joint meeting of Congress on Sept. 23, 2004 and stated, "The overwhelming majority of Iraqis are grateful. They are grateful to be rid of Saddam Hussein and the torture and brutality he forced upon us, grateful for the chance to build a better future for our families, our country and our region. We Iraqis are grateful to you, America, for your leadership and your sacrifice for our liberation and our opportunity to start anew."
President Kennedy stated in Berlin June, 1963, "Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free."
This is what our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq are fighting for. Freedom. I hope you all enjoyed your Fourth of July.
Robert Reed
Oak Bluffs
Gratitude from
Edgartown School
To the Editor:
As part of our physical education, health, and guidance program, the Edgartown School is so fortunate to have the support of our community organizations. They come in to our classrooms and share their expertise with our students to help align our curriculum with their resources and knowledge.
Many thanks to The Dukes County Sheriffs Department, Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Troubled Shores, Inc., Edgartown Juvenile Probation Office, Women's Support Services, Our Edgartown School Alumni (Jessie, Leeanne, Gaby, Ana, Alexa, Zoe and Cody), Martha's Vineyard Regional High School and friends who came out of retirement and other commitments to help with our program.
Edgartown School Physical Education, Health and Guidance Departments
What about hurricanes?
To the Editor:
I wonder what hurricane education and/or preparations are available on Martha's Vineyard this summer season, as the entire Northeast, including the Cape and the Islands, are under a severe hurricane threat this summer into fall. In fact, this threat is more significant than expected in Florida this year! Is there community awareness, concern, and are there preparations taking place regarding this very serious threat to the Island? Are there evacuation plans structured? There are numerous web sites for further information, including www.accuweather.com and www.redcross.org. Is there not a need to become informed, involved, and prepared now? The world is changing, including the Island.
Jesse Chase
Vineyard Haven
Simple economics
To the Editor:
Ask most people on the Island this summer what they think about when they think of Martha's Vineyard, and they'll probably say the Gay Head Cliffs or the ferry ride. I think of gas prices.
That might seem a little pessimistic, but I'm a graduated regional high school senior, and my salary at Tufts University for the next four years will be approximately negative $50,000 a year. Forty-five bucks to fill my 1992 Subaru clunker seems a little excessive, especially when I burn half of it from Oak Bluffs to Edgartown in the summer traffic.
Who am I to complain? The British pay almost "a bloody pound per litre" (more than $7 a gallon) for their petrol. But there's a big difference between British and American gas: Her Majesty's Government is the direct catalyst for the increased price. That's because the British gas tax accounted for about $3.64 for every gallon of British gas in 2005. The federal American gas tax in 2005 was 18.4ยข per gallon.
But just because our taxes are lower doesn't mean we're off the hook from excessive prices at the pump. It just means that American oil companies are profiting more from oil sold in the United States. It costs an oil company about $20 to extract a barrel of crude oil from the ground, whether that oil is in Alaska, Saudi Arabia, or Venezuela. That same barrel is sold to the United States for $70.
Of course companies need to make a profit, and over 300 percent is quite handsome. The excessiveness comes in the federal subsidies to oil companies stipulated in Congress's 2005 Energy Bill. More than $6 billion was authorized to subsidize oil and gas companies, companies that provided more than $115 million in federal campaign contributions since 2001.
That means that the British pay more for gas, but get more in return in public services, road reconstruction, etc. In the U.S., oil companies walk away with all the profit plus subsidies from the federal government. Does ExxonMobil, a $350-billion company, really need a helping hand?
Granted, the Bush administration has taken steps to ease the pain on families paying for gas. Bush recently signed his second major tax cut into law, promising about $1,600 to a "typical family of four." He cited increasing gas prices as a reason for supporting this bill.
This tax cut simply adds fuel to the fire. Instead of addressing the issue, the Bush administration has continued to feed the American oil monster, encouraging families to buy more and more gas. It's like giving Winston Churchill a shopping spree at Mrs. Smith's Cigar and Chocolate Emporium. It might feel good, but it doesn't help.
Instead, the federal government should adopt a policy of gas price inflation. Why not stop subsidizing oil companies, and tax the pants off gas sold in the United States? Why not truly reduce our dependence on foreign oil and stop consuming 925 million gallons of oil daily, twice the average per capita consumption of the industrialized world, and increase demand and price? Maybe that would force Americans and American companies to consider more seriously energy alternatives that are better for our air, our foreign policy, and (eventually) our wallets.
One caveat: Tufts doesn't allow freshmen to keep cars on campus. Enjoy the gas prices this fall.
Duncan Pickard
Oak Bluffs
Carole Larsen
To the Editor:
A Menemsha legend has died. Her name was Carole Larsen. All the people of Menemsha will never forget Carol. Her spirit will always live on, in a small fishing village that everybody loves, called Menemsha.
Michael J. Flynn
West Tisbury
Time for a bridge?
To the Editor:
In reference to letters "Missed The Boat" and the response by CEO Wayne Lamson I would suggest that at least it is possible to give concert tickets to another person unlike the policy of the SSA. After 55 years as a Vineyard year-round resident, and the hassles I have endured by the SSA, I think it's time to build a bridge to be used by Islanders. The summer tourists can continue to enjoy the ambiance of the gleaming white ships of the Steamship Authority.
Don Macdonald
West Tisbury
Photo show
you must see
To the Editor:
For the past nine months several residents of Windemere have become "buddies" with the children of Jack Regan's second/third grade class at the Chilmark School.
The Recreation Therapy Department received grants from the permanent Endowment Fund and from the Chilmark PTO to begin an intergenerational program with the residents and the Chilmark students. The grants enabled us to buy cameras and film for each of the students. The students would then come down to Windemere monthly to visit their "buddy" and show him/her photographs of their lives.
The program was entitled "Growing Up Island". Relationships developed over the school year. Friendships were created. The program concluded with a show of the students' photographs at the Featherstone Art Gallery. The residents attended the reception and had a great time.
We want to thank everyone who made this program so successful:
Mosher's Photo (especially Carlos for this generosity), Alison Shaw, Tisbury Printer, Kathy Morris at M.V. Framing, Chris Porterfield from the Dietary Dept. at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, Diane Gamby, Chilmark School Principal, The Permanent Endowment Fund, Chilmark PTO, Jack Regan for his time and patience, but mostly for his enthusiasm for this program; the Featherstone Gallery for opening their doors to us; and last but not least to all the children for their friendship: Peter, Brigida, Andrew, Kate, Erin, Chase, Ben and Connor. Thank you.
The students' photographs are now on display in Windemere's two dining rooms. Everyone is invited to come into Windemere to see the photographs.
Betsy Burmeister
Recreation Therapy Director
For the residents of Windemere
Way to donate
To The Editor:
Last week's M V Times mentioned that "three final vanity plate designs have been selected." This is close, but not quite right. It is not a vanity plate. The plate designs, by Regional High School students, are for the brand-new Martha's Vineyard special license plate, which will sold exclusively to benefit Island nonprofit organizations (in the same way the Red Sox plate benefits the Jimmy Fund).
The license plate will have a logo, to be selected from the three designs depicted on the www.mvdonors.org web site, and the letters M V followed by up to four digits. People may select the number they want, between 200 and 3,000, on a first come, first served basis. They may download the application form after voting, even before the final design is selected, and mail the form plus $40 check to reserve a plate with their favorite number.
The lowest 25 numbers will be auctioned, to add to the fund, with a silent auction on eBay starting July 17 and ending August 4.
Beatrice Phear
President
Martha's Vineyard Donors Collaborative
Getting to know you
To the Editor:
On June 12 and 13, the Tisbury School held the second half of the Martha's Vineyard Schools' Brazilian Heritage Festival, begun in Oak Bluffs last April. Once again, children and adults sang, danced, read, recited, learned, and celebrated all things Brazilian. There were maps, posters, art projects, a sub-titled Brazilian movie shown by Richard Paradise of the Martha's Vineyard Film Society, and a fabulous Brazilian lunch prepared by parents. Islanders from Brazil had an opportunity to share with the rest of us about their native country and culture. In the process, Island kids and other wash-ashores got to know some neighbors a little better and shared and explored some of their own experiences in, questions about, and knowledge of other cultures. Lots of people worked very hard making this happen. Kori Thomas led this effort, with support from Rebecca Geary, Maureen de Loach, the staff, parents and students of the Tisbury School, and students from other Island schools. Congratulations and a happy summer to all.
Debbie Hart
English Language Learning Director
Tisbury School
Failing to see the
humor - twice
To the Editor:
For the second time, my sign for Martha's Vineyard Framing has been stolen. Last time they just took the closed portion. For additional fun, this time they took the entire sign, using bolt cutters. For even more enjoyment, they came into our yard and egged both our cars.
If someone has a problem with me, they should confront me. If it's just an act of punkish vandalism, I say - grow up.
I work six or seven days in the summer and had to spend a good part of Sunday getting the eggs off both cars, laughing the entire time.
I have been told it is probably young kids with too much time on their hands. May I suggest getting a job, or possibly volunteering to do something constructive, instead of spending your nights being destructive.
Kathy Morris
West Tisbury
