Letters to the Editor
Posted September 6, 2007
No apology at all
To the Editor:
Kate Taylor's apology for climbing the Gay Head cliffs was sincere and classy. Peter Simon's was neither.
After saying he is sorry about taking the picture, Mr. Simon goes on to make excuses, criticize the original letter writer, and shamelessly use his "apology" as a marketing opportunity.
Mark Hahn
Vineyard Haven
End the war, call
To the Editor:
You and I can welcome our congressmen back to Washington this week with a national-call-In, starting Thursday, Sept. 6. We can say, "We gave you a clear mandate to end the war in Iraq (last November). No more excuses. Lead us out of Iraq now. Withdraw all U.S. soldiers and contractors from Iraq on a rapid and binding schedule."
Rep. William Delahunt, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and Sen. John Kerry may be reached by calling 1-866-340-9281 or 1-800-828-0598. The more calls the better.
Chris Fried
M.V. Peace Council
Vineyard Haven
Helo overhead
To the Editor:
I have lived on Martha's Vineyard since 1976, and I would like to share my helicopter story. I had been in the house for a couple of days, computer stuff, finally decided to get some sun, flowers were wilting in the garden. So, I went outside, put up some laundry on the clothesline, then started digging a hole to plant some more flowers, when low and behold, a helicopter circled low overhead, not once, but at least three full rounds. I stood under my Russian olive bush/tree, and all I could think of, besides the Vietnam War, was my extra large personals on the clothesline, hung out of sight from my neighbor's view and out of sight from road. I wanted to flash the peace sign, but I didn't know if I might get shot by raising my arm. That's all. Peace.
Alexa Landi
Edgartown
Wants the
tulip photo back
To the Editor:
On Aug. 6, at the end of the All-Island Art Show, an 8-inch by 10-inch framed color photo of a tulip was left on one of the benches of the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs.
The photographer and owner of the photo appreciates the compliment paid him by whoever considered that photo worthy to be taken home. And perhaps even hung. However, the tulip's rightful home is with the photographer, who asks the present admirer to return it to Peter Dreyer, 94 Clevelandtown Road in Edgartown. Tips as to the whereabouts of the photo may be phoned in to 508-627-9654.
Peter Dreyer
Edgartown
Neighbor's lament
To the Editor:
Woe is I. My laments all these years about the Montessori children's screaming, screeching, shrieking despite Ken Barwick's suggestion for a sound proof fence, and my own efforts to diminish the noise by planting huge firs at my own expense, here at Tashmoo and Main in Vineyard Haven, went unheeded.
Now, thanks to the Tisbury planning board's ill-conceived decision to grant a four-dwelling subdivision on the tennis courts and former wooded area - reduced currently to a desert - led to the erection of the first house, a monster modular structure overnight, whose gigantic height has led to our most capable building inspector's demand for a reduction.
The original plan, which passed the planning board's scrutiny, provided for a grassy area between my property and the new private road, which, unfortunately for me, is to be put directly behind my own 1880 historical house, the original rectory of Grace Episcopal Church and my home for 30 years. That was bad enough, as I am surrounded by Main Street on the front, Tashmoo on one side, the Montessori School on the other, and now another road behind me? Enough. But, no.
Could I dare suggest elder abuse? Could I suggest reprisals for my frequent complaints regarding the despoliation of our unique little part of town or complaints through the years regarding the noise emanating from the adjacent school?
The former grassy area, as seen and described by the reputable surveying company in their designs, is no more. Similar to the disastrous garage morphing into a three-story apartment in Oak Bluffs, there appears to be a sidewalk about to be placed all along the rear of my home, directly alongside my property line. My outdoor shower will be totally exposed to parents and children coming to and fro on this new unexpected and unapproved cement walkway from Tashmoo Avenue, about which none of the abutters, nor the planning board, nor the selectmen, nor Ken Barwick, building inspector, had a clue. Who is responsible? Must I be compelled to seek legal redress? A fence along a property line is acceptable but a non-taxpaying, reputedly nonprofit school walkway?
It is so intrusive and leads to total loss of privacy and invasion of my personal space enjoyed for years. Is such a sidewalk along my rear property line even legal? A fence maybe, but a sidewalk? Do I not as a long-term resident and taxpayer have rights as a citizen to be informed of such an intrusion? This paved sidewalk plus adjacent paved road may create run-off problems, which could come to haunt us all. It is obviously intended to replace the loss of the Roger Seasonwein parking lot, lent to the school, all these years. I have always pondered how a school was even permitted to buy a property lacking its own parking lot. Previously the school was the Sandpiper Restaurant, and before that, the Tashmoo Inn. However, Mr. Seasonwein sold off their parking area where two buildings now are located, thus diminishing the original lot. To permit a school lacking its own parking seems bizarre, and it appears that I personally am reaping the results of such shortsightedness and will bear the brunt of Mr. Seasonwein's decision to sell his property and permit the Montessori School to abuse me even further. Now, to achieve access to the school, a sidewalk, never mentioned in the planning board's meetings with abutters is to be the solution. The intent obviously is to have parents park on Tashmoo and walk in on the new sidewalk. Why not instead park on Main Street, which is wider, and already has a sidewalk leading past the front of the school? Tashmoo is already over utilized by two-way traffic in and out of town. How did the initial plan the planning board accepted, with a favorable grassy area next to the new private road, morph into a cement sidewalk on my property line? Indeed, woe is I.
Doreen Kinsman
Tisbury
