To the Editor:
I am an Ocean Heights resident who has a genuine concern for the safety and preservation of the town landing on Sengekontacket Pond. For many of us the landing on Sengekontacket Pond has been an extension of our own backyards. It is a place to walk your dog, kayak, take your boat out on the pond to go fishing or to go to the beach and just enjoy the beauty of this place which we call home. It is a place where people capture pictures of their families or a beautiful sunset. It is a place where people watch fireworks on a warm summer evening. It is a place where children go to skip rocks and catch minnows and smile in doing so. It is a place where people like to cast a fishing pole or go quahogging.
These are all but some of the things that come to mind when thinking of how fortunate we are to have such a beautiful place in our neighborhood. Unfortunately this is no longer our reality.
This has become a place where careless fishermen dump their fish carcasses to rot on the shoreline leaving behind sharp bones which are dangerous to pets and people alike. This has become a place where there are piles of scallop shells and guts left behind for rodents to feast on. This has become a place where hunters dump deer carcasses in the reeds. This has become a place where people abandon motorless boats that break off moorings only to have them wash in and out with the changing tide. This has become a place where you can find a variety of empty beer cans and bottles, nips, empty cigarettes packs, and other miscellaneous garbage. Worst of all, this has become a place where you can find used hypodermic needles thrown in the sand.
Sadly, this beautiful area has over time transformed into a dumping ground by apathetic people who are doing this to our backyard. I do not want to accept this as our reality. I am hoping in writing this there will be some type of solution to this extreme disappointment and safety issue. I don’t feel that I should have to settle for the fact that this is just the way it is. All of the positive features of this lovely place are being overshadowed by the negative ones.
Sarah Levesque
Edgartown
