Ask an Island Expert: What exactly is a beetlebung tree?
By Abigail Higgins
Beetlebung: a beautiful tree with a wonderful name. Many people are not especially tree-aware, but everyone perks up when they hear “beetlebung.” It is a catchy name, and belongs to a native...
Ask an Island Expert: What is a pinkletink?
“Pinkletink” is a Vineyard name for a tiny frog, known to biologists as Pseudacris crucifer. I’ve never heard “pinkletink” used anywhere other than on the Vineyard; “spring peeper” is a more widely used common...
Seaplanes coming to the Vineyard
Cape Air announced last week it had acquired the assets of Shoreline Aviation, a seaplane operator based out of East Haven, Conn.
The acquisition includes 10 seaplane aircrafts, three owned by Shoreline and seven which...
Wampum: The jewel of the Island
The Wampanoag people of Martha’s Vineyard (originally called Noepe by the Wampanoag) have been crafting wampum out of the quahog shell (hard-shelled clam) for thousands of years. The purple and white striations and patterns...
Vacation or staycation? Twenty four hours on Nantucket
I’ve lived on Martha’s Vineyard for almost four years, and recently returned from my second trip to Nantucket in all that time. Chances are, most of you reading this don’t get there too often...
Reverend Alden Besse has a high-flying 92nd birthday
Reverend Alden Besse celebrated his 92nd birthday by taking a biplane ride with his son Mark. Rev. Besse has long been well-loved in the community. He has been pastoral assistant at Grace Episcopal Church,...
Bill Anderson knows a lot more than bikes
AKA the bicycle man, Mr. Anderson helped create a wall of protection against nuclear threat, starting with Chilmark's Peaked Hill.
In 1946 in the Westminster College gymnasium in Fulton, Mo., Sir Winston Churchill warned about...
Bob Woodruff’s solar sailboat
Bob Woodruff and Porter Thompson. – Stacey Rupolo
Bob Woodruff moves about the deck of his 24-foot Kittiwake sloop with an agility that defies his 82 years. “You could say I was born with a...
Historic cows come home to Chilmark
I’m not a big cow person. They’re sort of like rural wallpaper, nothing to get overly excited about. And then I saw my first North Devon or Ruby Red cow out at the Beach...
Who needs a ferry to get across Vineyard Sound?
66-year-old Bud Raymond swam from Naushon to the Vineyard on Sept 2. - Jim O'Connor
Mike Mayrand got up early on the morning of Sept. 2, and from his house in Gay Head he looked...
