Letters to the Editor
Posted August 24, 2006
See you at the
Capawock, Nov. 1
To the Editor:
I speak for year-round and summertime Islanders when I encourage the Halls to hold to their promise of re-opening the Capawock Theatre in Vineyard Haven on Nov. 1, 2006. Its absence for several years has lost business for all of the Main Street shops. It used to be a refuge in the winter for kids, teens, and adults. If you have memories of past summers when the Capawock was open, there were three times as many pedestrians dining out and shopping before and after the movie hours.
With generous offers to buy the theatre or improve it with the Halls' agreement, it seems their intentions now are to satisfy the community's need. The Vineyard's most precious quality is its identity as home. Home means belonging and caring for one another.
We eagerly await the sight of open doors on Nov. 1, and look forward to quality films all year long.
Nell Coogan
Vineyard Haven
Stewardship
To the Editor:
As Jane Goodall said, every day you make choices and those choices matter. Whether it is turning off lights when they are not in use, including outdoor lights left on during the day; not idling your car or truck when it will be more than a couple of minutes; switching light bulbs to ones that are more efficient; selecting a more efficient car for your next car; walking or biking for shorter trips; not air conditioning your store with the door open. All these things make a difference. Not doing things to reduce our energy use or waiting for some silver bullet to help the earth has an impact in the opposite direction.
A recent Letter to the Editor is a good case in point. I wrote an Op-Ed piece about the difference all Vineyarders can make by switching 15 light bulbs to compact fluorescents (CFLs). It seems a small gesture and yet together, we would save seven percent of our Island's electrical use. The point was made in the letter that CFLs have mercury in them and why not instead switch to LEDs which use even less energy?
At this moment, LEDs are not quite ready for prime time as residential lighting. They are not bright enough for most uses. They are ready and are being used for stoplights, exit signs and, even for signs such as the one that was at the hotel/casino in Reno, where I went to an American Solar Energy conference. There, the change from incandescents to LEDs reduced the electrical usage of one casino advertising sign from 1,000,000 kilowatt-hours/year to 100,000.
It is true that CFLs have a small amount of mercury, and LEDs do not. It is also true that power plants are the greatest contributor to mercury entering our air: also impacting our water quality and fish. Reducing the amount of electricity we use reduces mercury emissions, helps lessen climate change, and lessens the number of power plants that need to be built to keep up with our increasing demand.
Until LEDs are perfected for residential use, CFLs can have a huge impact in the right direction. The Environmental Protection Agency says that over 5 years, a power plant will emit 10 mg of mercury to light an incandescent bulb. By comparison, a CFL contains 4 mg of mercury and 2.4 mg of mercury will be emitted at the power plant to provide the same amount of light. This, in effect, reduces the amount of mercury by one third. That said, they do need to be disposed of properly. Request that your towns' refuse sites provide a way to do this. (Just to give some perspective, CFLs have 4 mg of mercury in them, mercury thermometers have 500 mg and older thermostats 3,000 mg.)
I was inspired to think about our impact on the earth when picking up huge amounts of trash on the beach and having to ask a family who was leaving to help me get it all to my car. What I was struck by was the fact that these people were more than willing to help, but neither they nor any others on the beach thought to pick up the trash on their own.
We are all stewards of the earth, and what we do matters. It matters now, and it matters to those who will live on Earth in years to come. In the scale of things, our time on earth is fleeting, but our impact is large. The choices you make each day really do make a difference, and we all need to pitch in.
Kate Warner, Director
Vineyard Energy Project
Plenty of parking
To the Editor:
This letter was sent to the Martha's Vineyard Commission.
Before the commission imposes parking restrictions on the multi-use building under construction on Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, all members should visit the town and learn the extent of our free public parking.
We have more than 100 spaces in the town center, another 100 around Ocean Park within a five-minute walk of the center, and another 100 on upper Sea View, around Waban Park, around Nashawena Park, and at the town hall/library lot; all of which are within a 10 or 15 minute walk of the center. This number exceeds the combined spaces available at the centers of Edgartown and Vineyard Haven.
The four beaches in Oak Bluffs are not only open to the public, they have free public parking available, unlike Chilmark, Aquinnah, and West Tisbury.
Joseph S. Vera
Oak Bluffs
A correction
To the Editor:
One hates to bring up an issue of fact checking in the context of a laudatory review, but a correction is in order: After the intermission, Delores Stevens was not joined by Mr. Stokes on flute for Barber's "Souvenirs." The piece is written for four hands, and it was Bill Mays who played shoulder to shoulder with Ms. Stevens, who is again to be thanked for bringing this event to the Vineyard.
Arne J. de Keijzer
Menemsha
Neighbors raise
issues with new
hospital plan
To the Editor:
No reporter was at the meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 15, where the Martha's Vineyard Hospital plans were presented by Tim Walsh, CFO, and Tim Sweet, board member, to the hospital's neighbors. The controversies and problems raised in that meeting should be made public.
The planned renovation for the hospital is not really an expansion in terms of beds for patients. It will be an improvement of the facility. It has, however, become an expansion into the surrounding neighborhood that will make some unacceptable changes.
There were three specific problems that the hospital's representatives couldn't give solutions to. There is a recent addition to the plan, not included in the LUPC report to the commission dated Aug. 14, but shown on a picture at the meetings on Aug. 14 and Aug.15, to add a parking lot on the north side of Eastville Avenue across from the current entrance to the emergency room. This would in effect add a public intersection about 300 feet down from the intersection of Eastville Avenue and Temahigan, with a crosswalk that would endanger anyone using it, especially when it's dark. It would also destroy the residential nature of the houses near it, especially ours at 83 Eastville Avenue, which would look out not on woods but on cars, asphalt, and lights.
This parking lot would accommodate approximately 120 cars and pave about an acre of land. At the meeting, neighbors were told there was not enough room south of Eastville Avenue, in the current hospital grounds, for sufficient parking. Some of us think that there may not be enough room in Eastville for the renovated hospital.
The new main entrance to the hospital, including the emergency entrance, will be on Beach Road, somewhat closer to the Lagoon than the current entrance. The entrance road will be 30 feet wide, and the road will circle around the back of the hospital to Eastville Avenue, creating a public thoroughfare. It will be possible for traffic to cut through behind the hospital to avoid traffic on Beach Road, including the inevitable backup behind accidents at the corner where Eastville Avenue begins.
Access to the hospital remains a major problem. Traffic, including ambulances, needs to approach from one of three directions: 1. from Vineyard Haven, through Five Corners and across the Lagoon Bridge, which needs renovation and can be raised from time to time. This approach can be tough in summer traffic and impossible in a storm, when Beach Road can be flooded and, in a hurricane, when the bridge must be raised; 2. From up-Island and Edgartown, via County Road and Eastville Avenue, whose intersection can be under water in a storm (when Brush Pond expands); or 3. From Oak Bluffs, via New York Avenue and Temahigan, which has traffic issues and flooding issues as well, when you track the route back to Sunset Lake in Oak Bluffs. The problem with flooding is not the once-in-a-hundred-years storm when water would rise to just below the hospital elevation, but the frequent flooding that happens with storms every year.
Neighbors were told that the town of Oak Bluffs is responsible for access and traffic safety around the hospital. Is the town of Oak Bluffs aware that they will have to deal with new problems, created by a hospital that serves the whole Island?
The meeting between the neighbors and Mr. Walsh and Mr. Sweet heightened tensions with the hospital's neighborhood. When a neighbor asked whether we would be informed of plans and progress, possibly by e-mail, the answer was maybe. We got a similar answer to the question of whether we could review the plans for landscaping and privacy. Neighbors were assured that trees would be planted to screen the new, closer hospital construction, and that construction staging would take place on Dorchester Road, but otherwise there were no answers to neighbors' concerns.
To his credit, Mr. Sweet accompanied us across Eastville Avenue to see the property they're thinking of paving and the dangerous part of the road that people would have to cross, and he agreed that they'd have to consider alternatives. Our concern is that since no reporters were there and the public doesn't seem to be aware of the intractable problems, the hospital may go ahead and make a big mistake. They say their current plans (costing $42 million) are for the next five years. Then, it seems, they'll have to raise more to demolish and replace the buildings built in the early 1970s. If the neighbors' concerns are taken into account, maybe the hospital will wait a while, find more money, and build in a place from which it won't have to move away in five or ten years.
Kate Gordon Gross
Oak Bluffs and Oakland, Cal.
An honest guy
To the Editor:
I just want to say there are still a few honest people out in the world. On Saturday, Aug. 19, my car was parked in the West Tisbury Fire Department parking lot at The Fair. I went back to my car at 10 pm and found a note under my wiper blade that said, "I swiped the passenger side front end of your car. Please call me. I am truly sorry. Phil."
I just want to say thank you, Phillip, for being so honest and leaving a contact number. It really shows you are an honest guy who will go far in life and also thanks to Phil's family for raising an honest guy.
Kristie Mayhew
Vineyard Haven
Wrong place
To the Editor:
Mark Rodgers's self-serving remarks (Letters, Aug. 17) about Cape Wind's potential for making up the five percent voltage reduction during the early August heat wave fails to mention (surprise!) that realistic conservation measures would do the same.
A comprehensive multi-media electricity conservation program promoted through the public airwaves and other media (as well as in the public schools) would go a long way toward reversing the present mindset of energy waste and misuse.
Such across-the-board public service campaigns worked well in the past (think Victory Gardens; think polio vaccination program). Since the airwaves are still, in theory, public, such a campaign could work again.
However, the concept of "public" ownership suffers greatly in this day and age. Witness the corporate scheme to correct an industrial wind farm in the public waters - the commons, if you will - in beautiful Nantucket Sound.
As previously noted: Cape Wind is the right project in the wrong place.
Dan Ogden
Oak Bluffs
More cell
phone cautions
To the Editor:
I wish to add some advice to your tips on cell phone etiquette. Please never, ever, use a cell phone in a restaurant. This is rude and distracting to the other patrons. If the conversation is so vital, take it outside. Also, one should always turn off the phone before entering a movie theater or a church. People who use their cells in the grocery stores amuse me, however, as they seem ridiculously incompetent to shop without consulting someone else.
Christine Powers
Waltham
Credit where it's due
To the Editor:
My family has lived on the Vineyard for generations, so it was heartfelt to read about the 150th birthday celebration of the Gay Head Lighthouse.
We were surprised to see a historical fact was left out of the Gazette's article. If it were not for William E. Marks, we would not have a lighthouse to commemorate. William saved the Gay Head, Edgartown, and East Chop lighthouses from being torn down by the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1980s, and testified before Congress to convince the U.S. government to turn the lighthouses over to a nonprofit he founded. This was the first time in history our government entrusted the care of an active lighthouse to anyone.
William spent six years raising awareness of our lighthouses, caring for them at his own expense, and fund-raising to restore them. He, and friend, Kevin Fallon, personally painted the interior of the Gay Head Light, and exterior of the Edgartown Light.
On Mother's Day, 1987, William opened the Gay Head Light to the public for the fist time since 1952. As a result, the tradition of letting families in for free on Mother's Day continues today. He also worked closely with his dear friend, Charlie Vanderhoop, who was born in the Gay Head Lighthouse, to give tours to school children. Today, the Gay Head Lighthouse is one of the most beloved field trips of Island students, something my son will gladly tell you. After six years, William encouraged the MV Historical Society (MVHS) to take the over the three lighthouses, and then served as chairman of the MVHS lighthouse committee for three more years.
Certainly, a 150-year celebration should be a time to honor and give thanks for keeping the lighthouses here for all of us to enjoy. This letter serves as my family's deep appreciation for William Marks's commitment to our community. Thank you.
Victoria Dryfoos
Oak Bluffs
Money to spend
To the Editor:
Our Government and others deal in billions and trillions of dollars. It is difficult for most of us to understand what even a billion dollars is. Thus the following might help.
A man gave his friend one million dollars ($1,000,000) and told him to go out and spend $1,000 a day. He also told his friend to come back for more money when he had spent it all. When did he come back for more? ($1,000 time 365 days equals $365,000 spent per year). Thus his friend would be back in about 3 years for more money.
His friend was then given one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) and told to spend $1,000 a day. When would he come back for more money?
Since a billion ($1,000,000,000) is 1,000 million, you would multiply three years by 1,000 and learn that it would take 3,000 years to spend a billion dollars at the rate of $1,000 per day. Wow.
Robert H. Hughes
Oak Bluffs
The Capawock then, and perhaps
tomorrow
To the Editor,
Some years ago, 15 in fact, the theatres on the Vineyard had a bad year, and we were about to lease them for 10 years. The mindset back then was that most of the single-screen theatres across America were closing, no longer cost-effective. You could run 10 screens with the same staff and overhead as one. Today in 2006, in fact, Oak Bluffs has the same number of theatres as Boston (two).
The Vineyard, however, had this incredible phenomenon, large crowds would line up to get into these old single-screen theatres, even with VCRs and copies of "Jaws" in every Vineyard B&B. Tourists were amazed: theatres like these had closed long ago back home. It was very much part of what the Vineyard was to visitors.
Could the Vineyard theatres survive despite the odds? Perhaps, but only if they were special. To that end we scrubbed them down, up went awnings and flower boxes. Only the best movies in the country were booked, we threw out the stale pre-popped corn and made fresh hot popcorn hourly and went to the dairy case for "real" butter (we sold four tons of corn the first year). We rolled back the ticket prices (If God wanted you to pay more than $5, He would have made better movies.). We reinstituted "Bargain Kids Matinees" until parents swore that we were out to empty their wallets. The Late MV Times editor Gerry Kelly even suggested that we add an Earlybird show at 4 pm every Sunday so the more mature filmgoers didn't have to mingle with the "Rug Rats," and they could get home in time for Jack Benny (strangely enough now heard on a Cape Radio station).
The Rocky Horror Show appeared at midnight at The Island Theatre in the first year we leased the Capawock out, one night, to a Clinton administration event - a birthday party. A gentleman knocked on the theatre door and announced that he was there "To make sure that everything went well, and that he would be in charge of the posters." It was Art Buchwald. It seems that Mr. Buchwald was eminently capable of running things as he had been, in his younger years, assistant to Leonard Goldenson, head of all Paramount Theatres in New England, later head of ABC Television, who had hired someone named Eisner. Everything went like clockwork, secret service and all. The next year in fact, when Mr. Buchwald penned a national column insinuating that Vineyard businessmen were not obliging the folks "who had to go." We opened the Island Theatre every day that summer with the "Art Buchwald Free Toilets."
While the politics of the Vineyard have not been kind to the survival of these old theatres, what is really the problem is keeping up the energy to run a 7-day-a-week, 365-day business over the years. In fact, in 1997, I took my then four-year-old son and went to Boston to run WMEX-1060 with talk show host Jerry Williams. I can't say whether or not the theatres have been all that successful since, but then the operators had many interests other than the theatres. It's not what they do for a living. If Mr. Buchwald has survived multi-denominational orphanages and premature obituaries to reignite the candle of energy to reopen the Capawock (and polish the brass), perhaps he deserves to be named "Honorary Manager" even if that candle was really a firecracker. Who knows, maybe many, many years from now, he might even be able to tell the late John Rogers, "Everything's OK down at the theatre."
Fred McLennan
Vineyard Haven
Ten years of success for Featherstone
To the Editor:
When a not-for-profit organization devoted to the arts not only survives, but thrives, it's cause for celebration. Featherstone Center for the Arts has managed that feat for 10 years. In the process we have provided an artistic setting and creative opportunity for people across the Island, visitors and natives alike, to expand and explore their talents.
For a decade Featherstone has offered inexpensive classes in painting and pottery, photography and printmaking, as well as unique courses in jewelry making, tapestry, and wet felting. The Vineyard is so fortunate to have this opportunity, right in our backyard.
Earlier this month we celebrated our tenth birthday with a festival of music and dance, painting demonstrations and flower-arranging, birthday cake and balloons. This was our way to give back to the community for the support we've received over the years. We appreciate the spirit of sharing on the part of so many artists and members of Featherstone, as well as commercial businesses who support our efforts. We'd like to extend our appreciation for those who helped make our 10th birthday party on Aug. 5 such a rousing success:
Holly Alaimo, Marni's B&B, Nancy C. Blank, Mansion House, Helen Bowring, Martha's Vineyard Framer, Lisa Brown, The Net Result, Jane Carey, EduComp, Jeanne Campbel, DaRosa's, Mary S. French, Lambert's Cove Inn, Joan Fresher, MacNelly-Cohen Architects, Nancy Noble Gardner, Farm Neck Pro Shop, Anne Grandin, Farm Neck Golf Club, Dawn Greeley, Good Dog Goods, Thad Harshbarger, Claire Murray of Edgartown, Lynn Hoeft, All Things Oriental, Karen & Frick Jones, Rose Bud Balloons, Nancy Kingsley, Secret Garden, Washington Ledesma, Jean McCarthy, Joanne Mettler, William O'Callaghan, Marcia Randol, Elizabeth Taft, Sue Whiting, Judy Williamson, and Denys Wortman.
The Vineyard is a better place for Featherstone, and I invite you to share in our programs in the coming months and years.
Francine Kelly,
Executive Director
Featherstone
Will prejudice prevail?
To the Editor:
While relaxing on Circuit Avenue one night recently, enjoying ice cream and conversation with some family and friends, I was playfully teasing one of the young people in our group. They zinged me back but good. We all laughed, as I had gotten what I deserved. I exclaimed something like "Gotta love it. Gotta love it." A 30-something black man and his lady companion (I'm a white 53-year-old) were walking by. A few steps past us, and clearly within earshot, he mimicked me in a sort of "hick" tone: "Gotta love it. Gotta love that there Martha's Vineyard." The best I could do was say, "I didn't mean to offend." She looked back half apologetically. He did not. Minor incident, to be sure. But being stereotyped like that bothered me.
I have been teaching in an urban school district for more than 20 years facilitating diversity education, violence prevention, pregnancy prevention, drug and alcohol education, etc. I accompanied groups of students to every one of the Team Harmony anti-racism events held in Boston for many years. I have participated in workshops examining white privilege. I am a financial supporter of the NAACP. I read Charles Barkley's book Who's Afraid of a Big Black Man? I just finished Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father. I am enjoying Jean Nelson's work about the African American experience on this magical Island. I am moved by these new awarenesses. Does this all make me Mr. Wonderful White Dude? No. But I am trying to educate myself, and I hope and pray that that is worth at least something.
I don't want to make this all about poor me. That would be ridiculous and insulting. And living and working in St. Croix as a hated minority for a few months is absolutely nothing compared to the obstacles people of color must overcome/endure/despise every day. But I worry. If we can't make it work in Oak Bluffs - the coolest, most integrated place I know - can we make it work anywhere?
Tim Smith
Tiverton, Rhode Island
Prompt and professional
To the Editor:
This letter was written to Chief John Schilling, Tisbury Fire Department.
Thank you for the prompt, professional response to our alarm. Within moments of my call to the communications center, we had trucks out front, firemen investigating the issue, power stopped at the junction and, happily, a simple resolution to the problem. The response was particularly difficult given the heat of the day, the crowded condition of the Island, and the busiest of seasons for all the volunteers who immediately left work to respond.
It is hard to really find words to express our gratitude. As I watched the scene unfold, I was reminded of the fire three years ago at the Mansion House and your likewise response to that emergency.
From all the people who work in our building, we appreciate your work and volunteerism.
Pat and Dorothy Gregory
Educomp
Vineyard Haven
Still counting
To the Editor:
In this time of peril it should be noted that the radical, Islamist, Arab was the "original" - and still counting - "White Man's Burden."
Peter Colt Josephs
Chilmark
Indicts cell users
To the Editor:
Cell phone addicts: unconscious, disrespectful, discourteous and obnoxious. Public transportation and other areas; doctors' offices; theaters; restaurants; checkout lines; just about everywhere. In their own dream world walking in the street, or "driving" their cars. Their business, everyone's business. Unable to bear silence or be by, or with, themselves for a moment. Totally oblivious to - and inconsiderate of - their neighbors. Cell phones will be as ubiquitous in airplanes and subways as they are in places where we are all held captive (how much did the phone lobby pay for that one?). These insufferable boors ought to be relegated to their own cabin, compelled to suffer one another's inanities. For the entire trip.
Emanuel Molho
New York, N.Y.
Too long to wait
To the Editor:
My family and I are huge fans of Martha's Vineyard. We visit several times a year. Several weeks ago we decided to treat ourselves and see Jim Belushi at the Outerlands. Since we were staying on Chappy, we have to keep one eye on the ferry schedule. The last ferry runs at midnight. My husband Bobby and I traveled to the Outerlands and were very excited about seeing Mr. Belushi perform. We (and our kids) are huge fans of his According to Jim show, as well as his music. Can you imagine our disappointment when Mr. Belushi did not set foot on the stage until 10:15? There was no warm-up band either.
When I inquired of the staff at Outerland why the show was not starting, they retorted that the show was advertised as a 10 pm show. I beg to differ since I purchased our tickets online. The web site clearly said it was a 9 pm show, as did the advertisement in your own paper. When I pointed this out to the staff member, he said it was a misprint.
I think it was extremely rude for Mr. Belushi to begin his show at 10:15, forcing us to miss a good portion of it. Not only will I never attempt to attend another show at Outerland, but I have banned Mr. Belushi's show from my TIVO machine. While he is a wonderful performer and was truly getting the crowd moving, I don't think he's achieved diva status and is worth a 75-minute wait. Thanks for your time.
Laura Stiles
East Islip, N.Y.
Conquering cancer
To the Editor:
Last year, while searching for a relatively painless way to support worthwhile charities, I discovered that my then favorite special Massachusetts license plate, "Cape and Islands," provided very little support to Vineyard charities; it focuses largely on the Cape and Nantucket.
As a cancer survivor, I was drawn to the then-fledgling effort by Susan Zuker and her family to create a special plate that supports Massachusetts charities devoted to helping cancer patients and cancer research. When I called Susan, I discovered that there was nobody on the Vineyard who had joined her quest, and I volunteered to help out. I distributed copies of the brochure of her Conquer Cancer Coalition (www.conquercancer.org) to the MV Hospital, local doctors' offices, pharmacies, and other Island venues where interested Massachusetts drivers were likely to take note. I also e-mailed all my Massachusetts friends and contacts, on-Island and off, to help promote the cause.
Finally, last fall, we achieved the 1,500 applications that were needed to put the plates into production, and earlier this summer the Conquer Cancer plates were finally delivered through the Registry of Motor Vehicles office on the Vineyard, as well as through other RMV offices around the state (www.mass.gov/rmv/express/plates.htm). This morning, Aug. 21, a press conference was held at the Massachusetts State House, in Boston, at which Senate Present Robert Travaglini spoke.
As an Island resident and a supporter of the Conquer Cancer Coalition, I would greatly appreciate your mentioning our efforts in the newspaper.
Allen Willens
Oak Bluffs
A chronicle of growth
To the Editor:
It takes a village. As another Martha's Vineyard summer winds down, the Vineyard Football Association's (VFA) coed adult soccer league ramps up for its final playoff matches. This its 14th season, the VFA has grown from a four-team league loosely organized by the likes of former professional soccer player Charlie Greene and current Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Boys Varsity soccer coach Bob Hammond to a six-team institution.
Unlike most adult sports leagues, the VFA was organized to promote fair and balanced teams by way of a controlled player draft system. It was understood that the player's interest in the league would depend on how competitive the teams were. The VFA didn't want to create an environment where a few stacked teams would dominate from year to year. So, prior to each season, a player registration period was held from which players were then drafted onto teams, the goal to spread the talent evenly.
During the early years, the VFA developed a core group of year-round resident players and also gained in popularity with college students working on-Island for the summer. As time went by, the addition of immigrant labor to the Island started to impact the VFA with skilled soccer players from many diverse nations, including Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Ireland, England, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, and Jamaica. The VFA had grown so in popularity that in 2002 it expanded from four teams to six, which included the Atlantic Football Club (AFC).
The AFC was made up of high school players who trained together and traveled to regional tournaments and competitions for the purposes of exposing local players to a higher level of soccer. The VFA saw an opportunity to invest in the future of these younger local soccer players by providing a challenging and competitive environment from which to learn and grow. Most of the Vineyard players on AFC were first introduced to soccer by volunteer coaches from the Friends of Vineyard Soccer (FOVS) Recreation Program and perhaps later the FOVS Travel Program.
The FOVS is a solely volunteer run non-profit which has been providing fall and spring recreation and travel soccer programs to boys and girls from kindergarten through 8th grade since 1982. The AFC has competed in the VFA league for four years and each year has seen improved standings and has earned the respect from adult competitors. The AFC's success in the VFA has translated into more competitive Martha's Vineyard boys and girls varsity soccer teams and has prepared some to continue playing competitive soccer at the collegiate level.
The successful linking of the FOVS, AFC, and VFA has effectively created a local soccer village, which has combined to support the growth and development of our young players. Starting from the youngest FOVS mini-kicker to the founding fathers of the VFA who still play, soccer on Martha's Vineyard is alive and well. If the AFC defeats Shirley's Hardware in the second round final on Wednesday, Aug. 23, there will be a Champion of Champions game pitting the same sides at 6 pm on Thursday, Aug. 24, at 6 pm at the Veterans Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven. Come support Island soccer and consider volunteering for FOVS this fall. For more information on how you can get involved as a player, volunteer or sponsor for any of these successful programs, please contact Neal A. Sullivan at 508-693-8501.
Neal A. Sullivan
FOVS President
Age Group Coordinator, Referee & Coach;
VFA President, Assistant Referee, Manager and Player
