Esther writes from the year 2035
By Patricia Moore
My name is Esther. The year is 2035, I’m 80 years old — and like lots of Vineyard residents these days, I treasure living in this “aging-friendly Island community” because:
We’ve...
Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living looks back and to the future
By Leslie Clapp
It was wonderful to read the “Vineyard dreams” essays submitted by various organizations and individuals in the Dec. 29 issue of the Times. We certainly live in a community that is forward-thinking,...
My dream for Island health care
Instead of being worried about losing access to the health-coverage expansions that resulted from the Affordable Care Act, my vision for 2017 and beyond is that Massachusetts continues to provide progressive leadership in developing...
We can have both affordable housing and land conservation
Affordable housing has been part of the Land Bank’s planning since 1989, when it first adopted a housing policy. As a result, the Land Bank has been part of many of the affordable housing...
The Vineyard comes together to support kids
For many years the Vineyard had a void in service to our young people. We have seen a major shift in awareness from this reality to one in which opportunities to learn, grow, and...
What if Martha’s Vineyard had a college?
It could be named Caleb’s College, to honor the first native American graduate of Harvard, who grew up near Tashmoo Pond in the mid-17th century. It could specialize in marine biology and oceanography in...
Funding those housing dreams
What if we charged a Land Bank–like tax on all seasonal rentals, and used the income to develop affordable housing for year-rounders? And what if we made all of that housing rent-to-own, so that...
My 'blue-sky' dream for Martha’s Vineyard
Our Island is rich in natural resources and blessed with a variety of local food sources. We can fish, farm, milk, and churn, and by doing so produce healthy local food for those on...
A year at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services
From the very beginning, collaboration has been at the root of our work at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. It all began in 1961 with a small dedicated group of year-round and seasonal residents collaborating...
A great year, thanks to volunteering
Volunteering to become the Daisy Girl Scout Leader on Martha’s Vineyard, for Troop 66210, has given me the most change-your-mood, uplifting, and heartening feeling that anyone could ever experience.
Being a leader to 10 of...
Island as incubator
Twenty-five years from now, my grandchildren will be able to live and thrive here because we will have successfully weaned ourselves from the addictive demands of the tourism “industry.” Milton Mazer pointed out 40...
Let’s be a beacon
My dream for the Island I love is that we all embrace in word, and most especially in deed, the ever-growing diversity on the Vineyard, while ensuring that all know why that is important....
Advice for the New Year
In 2017
let’s climb a tree
take a swim
do something unexpected on a whim
walk a dog
ride a horse
and have a lot of intercourse.
—Anonymous
Letters from your neighbors
Goodbye to 2015, with a glance back and a look ahead to 2016. Again this year, The Martha's Vineyard Times invited several Island leaders and community members to consider some of the accomplishments and...
Taking stock of the year past and looking ahead
I rang in the 2015 New Year in my beloved Aquinnah with much happiness and cheer among a small gathering of close friends and family. They included a healer, a writer, an artist, an...
Superintendent of schools advises us to find the force within us
“The Force Awakens,” the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise, was released last week. I watched the movie with my 13-year-old son, 38 years after seeing the first movie, “A New Hope,” when...
Martha’s Vineyard must build consensus to address housing
This past fall I left one meeting in Edgartown early to get to another in West Tisbury. Not an unusual occurrence for business on the Island, and a matter of course for those who...
Oak Bluffs continues to change and evolve amid challenges
Goodbye to 2015, with a glance back and a look ahead to 2016. Again this year, The Martha's Vineyard Times invited several Island leaders and community members to consider some of the accomplishments and challenges...
Martha’s Vineyard follows a healthy path into the new year
Reflecting on the year in health care, a decidedly positive and gratifying theme is apparent: Islanders now have access to a range of locally grown, innovative solutions to longstanding and emerging problems through programs...