Tisbury: Veterans Memorial Park

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—MV Times

Heard on Main Street: One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.

By tomorrow at noon: Applications for Community Preservation Act funding of community housing, historic preservation, recreation, or open space must be submitted, with the eligibility application, to town hall by noon Friday, Sept. 23. For more information, contact Heidi Dietterich, CPC administrator, 508-687-9286, tisburycpc@gmail.com.

Be proud of the Islanders who rushed to help the Venezuelans abandoned on our shores.

Tonight begins the Manhattan Short Film Festival, running through Sept. 25 and hosted by the M.V. Film Society.

In two weeks the M.V. Museum will host Chris Pellettieri, a traditional stone carver and founder of Pellettieri Stone Carvers’ Academy. He will set up a workshop at MVM where visitors can watch him work, ask questions, and maybe try to use a simple hand tool to chip away at a block of stone. Chris will spend the day sharing the tradition and stories of some of his work and training programs. The event is free from 10 am to 4 pm, on Saturday, Oct. 1, with museum admission.

Did you know that our Veterans Memorial Park in Tisbury was built as a true memorial to the soldiers from our town who served in WWII and didn’t come home? Also called Veteran’s Park, it was made by those soldiers who came back. They joined the American Legion and created this memorial. It was no easy job. The area was a mess. It had been filled with gray silt and muck dredged from the harbor. Pipes still drained water into it from the harbor.

I won’t name my source, but, as a little girl, she brought her beach pail there when she discovered she could gather fresh quahogs by the pipes draining water from the harbor.

The returning vets worked hard to clean up the whole area. They planted trees around the park, one each for the soldiers who didn’t come home, with a plaque naming the soldier. Now only three or four trees remain, only one with a marker.

Three boulders contained plaques listing the soldiers, one of these was moved to Oak Grove Cemetery. The other two are there. Our nation’s flag used to fly here. The vets created a playground of swings, climbing bars, and a slide. They made a soccer field and a diamond for baseball and softball. Now that’s destroyed.

Happy anniversary to my daughter Laurel and her husband Kevin Olson on Monday and on Wednesday, to Joe and Susan Canha.

Big bunches of birthday balloon wishes go out to Judy Federowicz, Kathy Rogers, and Kenny Davey on Saturday. Happy birthday to Kathy Ivory on Tuesday (she loves cards: P.O. Box 1665,  02568) and to Ashleen Cafarelli in Florida. Also to Eric B. Davison and Jason Lew on Tuesday. Tristan Israel parties on Wednesday.

Heard on Main Street: Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.

If you have any Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Kay Mayhew, tashmoorock@gmail.com.