More than six weeks past the official change of season, Martha’s Vineyard finally has some spring in her step. Warming days and a quickening pace to Island life convey a sense of optimism that we have turned the corner on winter. Sounds of human activity are everywhere, from Main Street, Edgartown, to Main Street, Vineyard Haven. Nature chimes in as well, and the morning chorus of birds delights us.
There are signs to this seasonal shift, some obvious and others not so apparent. In no particular order, we welcome the following benchmarks.
Since 1930, the smell of fresh-baked pizza pies wafting from the corner of Lake Avenue and Circuit Avenue has meant one thing to generations of Islanders: Gio’s is open for business. Biting into a cheesy slice of pizza ordered from Giordano’s restaurant takeout window is a seasonal ritual, and a harbinger that dormant shops along Circuit Avenue and elsewhere in town will soon be open. We welcome back familiar faces and newcomers.
This week, the open doors of the Capawock Theater in Vineyard Haven provided a nostalgic view for any Island passerby with fond memories of excursions to the venerable movie house and the community socializing while waiting in the ticket line that was a part of that experience. Workmen are proceeding to transform the moribund theater into a venue for film, lectures, and whatever the creative minds among us can envision for this intimate, faded Main Street gem.
The seats have been removed. Walls and ceilings are being painted. The movie screen has been set back to provide room on the stage. A new sound system is set to be installed, and Mark Snider, the man with the vision and the enthusiasm, and creator of the Martha’s Vineyard Theater Foundation (MVTF), says the project is on track for an opening the end of the month.
Mr. Snider, MVTF founder and director, has persevered through a long winter and arduous lease negotiations that would try the patience of any man. Irrespective of what transpired behind closed doors in his negotiations with the Hall family, he has remained cheerful and optimistic that the job would get done. He has managed to enlist a stellar group of board members, signed a 20-year lease, and continues to move toward a $1 million fundraising-goal finish line.
We welcome signs of life at the Capawock and the cultural prospects a renovated theater will bring to Main Street, Vineyard Haven.
On Saturday, the Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club will help to introduce a new generation of Islanders to the joys of catching fish. The club has been at it for 41 years, supplying worms, stocking trout, and making sure every child, irrespective of skill or equipment, gets a chance to experience a tug on the end of a fishing line.
Years ago, when the tournament began, there were no video games to keep youngsters transfixed indoors, and soccer and T-ball were not organized sports. These days, Island youngsters have many choices about how to spend their time.
As dawn breaks, longtime chairman Cooper Gilkes and his wife Lela, along with a cadre of volunteers, will be on hand to welcome Island boys and girls to the shore of Duarte Pond in West Tisbury. Osprey will soar overhead hunting for an easy trout breakfast, and geese will honk away, annoyed by the intrusion. There will be moms and dads holding tiny hands who will remember when they first fished the trout derby.
There is something memorable about an early morning spent fishing for trout. We welcome a new generation of memories.
For years, a small dam at the foot of the Tiasquam River created a pond for Rainbow Farm on land farm owner David Douglas leased from The Trustees of Reservations.
Eric and Molly Glasgow purchased Rainbow Farm, created the Grey Barn and Farm, and took over the The Trustees’ lease. This spring, the Glasgows, mindful that herring and white perch would be returning to spawn in the freshwater-sweetened coves of Tisbury Great Pond, and with assistance from Johnny Hoy, West Tisbury herring warden, and the support of the Chilmark and West Tisbury conservation commissions, removed the dam that had served as an impediment to fish passage for so many years. It is a thoughtful and far-reaching action.
There was no reason to be optimistic that herring would return this season, but they did. “Nature finds a way,” Chris Kennedy, Trustees superintendent, said.
With any luck, future generations of Islanders will be able to watch the annual return of herring to the Tiasquam as our early ancestors did, and see it as a welcome sign and source of optimism after a long hard winter, just as we do today.