Moony Dinner Parties Makes it Local
JOIN US AT THE HARBOR VIEW HOTEL FOR THE ANNUAL
SUNDAY, JUNE 23 | 10 AM
Dine with friends or family on a delicious brunch while listening to the inspirational, triumphant sounds of live Gospel singing at the Harbor View Hotel.
Fresh sliced seasonal fruit & berries
Cinnamon buns, Danish and Assorted Muffins
Egg white, sun dried tomato & fontina frittata
Applewood Smoked Bacon and Chicken Sausage Patties
Peach and Heirloom Tomato Salad with Honey Lavender Vinaigrette, Arugula and Spiced Pecans
Local Green Salad with Shaved Vegetables, Herb Vinaigrette
Grilled Organic Chicken Breast over Roasted Potatoes & Asparagus, Mustard Jus
Lemon Tarts with Whipped Mascarpone & Blueberry Compote
Assorted Cookies & Brownies
THIS IS A TICKETED EVENT | ALL ARE WELCOME | TICKETS: $125
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15 TISBURY TUNES UP
New places to eat, great places to shop, plenty to do – it's time to (re) visit Vineyard Haven.
By Susie Middleton18 ISLAND OF OSPREYS
Look up in the sky – there are more than 100 pairs of these birds of prey nesting on the Island this summer.
By Stephen Goodwin20 THE CLAMBULANCE GOES CARBON NEUTRAL
The newest emergen-sea vehicle is solar-powered.
By Thomas HumphreyWhatdo you look forward to most about summer on the Vineyard?
Of course, we all want to get outside. This year be sure to look up in the sky – there are more than 100 pairs of ospreys nesting on the Island this summer, and Stephen Goodwin tells us what to look for on p. 18. We aren’t the only ones looking forward to the beach – did you know that cows like to swim? Last summer, a herd of Grey Barn cattle decided Lucy Vincent Beach was their favorite watering hole (p. 22).
Speaking of watering holes: New spots to eat and drink are popping up all around the Island, and Tisbury seems to be leading the charge (p. 15). Treat yourself to a day in town eating, shopping and sightseeing, or make a reservation to enjoy a true popup: family-style suppers using local ingredients, brought to you by Gina Citarella and Nina Krane of Moony Dinner Parties. The parties take place at Spring Sheldon’s S&S Kitchenette on Main street.
And if you’re planning to host your own gatherings this month, especially around the Juneteenth holiday, we’ve got Kwame K. Wallace’s recipe for A More Perfect Punch on p. 25. Whatever your plans, we hope your Vineyard summer is all you want it to be.
- Susie Middleton4 EDITOR’S NOTE
5 ON THE ROCK
8 VINE & DINE
Moony Dinner Parties, Making It Local
10 Q&A
When Oak Bluffs Is Your Pearl...
An Interview with Billie Jean Sullivan
22 THE VIEW
Cows at the Beach
25 ON THE MENU
A More Perfect Punch for Juneteenth
27 BY THE NUMBERS
It's Party Time!
Cover
Gina
and Nina
EDITOR
Susie Middleton
ART DIRECTOR
Jared Maciel
CONTRIBUTORS
Sissy Biggers, Chris Burrell, Ray Ewing, Molly Glasgow, Stephen Goodwin, Laura Holmes Haddad, Thomas Humphrey, Tim Johnson, Kwame K. Wallace
PUBLISHER
Monica Brady-Myerov
GENERAL MANAGER
Sarah Gifford
SALES MANAGER
Frederica Carpenter
sales@vineyardgazette.com
SALES TEAM
Carrie Blair, Isabela Fernandez, Serena Ward
MARKETING MANAGER
Alessandra Hagerty
AD PRODUCTION
Jane McTeigue, Jared Maciel, McKinley Sanders
Copyright 2024 by the Vineyard Gazette Media Group. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.
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Bite into a Brazilian cheese bread — pão de queijo in Portuguese — and your teeth crunch through a light golden crust and into a chewy center that’s both salty and somehow sweet. This Brazilian snack, best eaten warm, is made with cassava or tapioca flour and a special cheese from the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Here on the Island the pão de queijo is often made with Parmesan cheese and tastes just as good. We love to stop by Sweet Bites in Vineyard Haven (sweetbitesmv.com) and pick up a few of these dense tasty cheese breads, served warm to go for $3.29 each. They make a perfect afternoon snack.
Smash burgers have arrived in Edgartown at the new takeout joint Wicked Burger, located between Al’s Package Store and Larry’s Tackle Shop at 258 Main street and brought to you by chef-owner Christopher Stam of Alchemy restaurant. Featuring two hot and juicy patties with melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, Wicked Good Sauce and grilled onions, the delicious Wicked Burger is $17, and gets two thumbs up from tasters. Four other variations on the burger (as well as single add-ons) are available, along with a veggie burger, a kiddie burger, milkshakes, and a selection of sides. Basic seating is available. For more information and pre-orders, visit wickedburgermv.com.
Good news! Pizza night at Orange Peel Bakery is back, starting Memorial Day weekend. The wood-fired oven will be cranking up in Aquinnah from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25.
While summer cooking can be more casual and care-free, you also want to be prepared for visitors and entertaining with some solid kitchen equipment and staples. Here are two we’ve got our eye on to add to our larder and batterie de cuisine.
A tin of gold. We asked Dusan Veselinovic, co-proprietor of La Strada in Vineyard Haven (65 Main street), to steer us to a great olive oil on the store’s well-stocked shelves. He immediately said that the herbal, fruity, extra-virgin olive oil from Le Due Torri (a biodynamic farm in Perugia, Italy) delivered the best flavor and mouthfeel for the money ($52 for a 3-liter tin).
A pot for every lobster. What’s not to love about this big, bold, graphic lobster (or clambake!) pot? We spied it in the window of LeRoux and fell in love, dreaming of summer lobsters and drawn butter. Made by the Caskata company in partnership with Cuisinart, the enameled steel stockpot has a 16-quart capacity and costs $69.95 at LeRoux, 62 Main street, Vineyard Haven.
A Word of Advice Wait, Wait! Don’t Plant!
It’s so tempting to put your tomato seedlings in the ground as soon as Memorial Day arrives, but here’s why you should wait.
Tomatoes don’t like cold and if they suffer stress early on from cold nights, they can be less productive in the long run. Memorial Day is earlier this year, too, so don’t be tempted. If you have a soil thermometer, check the soil temperature. Once it reaches 60 degrees, it’s a good time to transplant those tomato seedlings.
Though local waters may still be a bit chilly in June, the beaches and ponds look more inviting by the day. Until you’re ready to take the plunge, you can enjoy some armchair (or beach chair) aquatics with these pretty and practical books about swimming.
Start by reading How to Wild Swim by Ella Foote (DK Publishing, $19.99) to learn the basics, then pick up Swimming Holes New England: 50 of the Best Swimming Spots by Sarah Lamagna (Falcon Press, $24.95) and maybe plan a trip off-Island (if you can get a ferry reservation!) to visit some of the more inviting kettles, creeks and falls.
Perhaps you’re looking for warmer, more exotic excursions? Hot Springs:
Photos and Stories of How the World Soaks, Swims, and Slows Down by Greta Rybus (Ten Speed Press, $30) is a beautiful collection of hydrothermal hot spots around the globe.
And if your jetsetting style is more poolside than pondside, check out Swim & Sun: A Monocle Guide: Hot Beach Clubs, Perfect Pools, Lake Havens (Thames & Hudson, $45) for gorgeous photos of some of the most glorious and glamorous international swim spots, from the urban to the off-the-beaten-path. Wherever and however you dive in, may your summer days go swimmingly.
Molly Coogan is co-owner of Bunch of Grapes Bookstore.
Presents:
A Panel Discussion
Wednesday, June 19 | 3-4 pm | Union Chapel, Oak Bluffs
Celebrate Juneteenth with a thought-provoking conversation about representation in the maritime industry.
The maritime industry directly employs more than 2 million seafarers but there is little representation of people of color. Hear from two people working to change that and why it’s important to put diversity at the forefront of the maritime industry.
Panel Speakers:
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER
ALBION LLEWELLYN
Associate Professor at Massachusetts Maritime Academy
PATRICK NOBREGA
Director, Capt. Paul Cuffe Center for Inclusion at Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Moderator: Monica Brady-Myerov, Publisher Vineyard Gazette Media Group
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A pop-up in Vineyard Haven showcases Island-grown ingredients.
BY LAURA HOLMES HADDAD • PHOTOS BY RAY EWINGImagine the best dinner party you’ve ever been to: a beautiful room and table set with vintage dishes, candles flickering, the food made with local ingredients and served family-style, the conversation flowing into the night. Now imagine that in Vineyard Haven. Welcome to Moony Dinner Parties, a pop-up dinner experience from Gina Citarella and Nina Krane. Every Tuesday, Gina and Nina welcome diners to their version of a dinner party in the S&S Kitchenette space at 48 Main street. (You can make reservations by messaging them on Instagram @moonydinnerparty.) Using ingredients sourced from the Island
is the fundamental idea behind each week’s menu.
“If it’s growing and it’s good, we will serve it. But we don’t want to promise you something and then have to buy it from off-Island,” Gina says. Gina, who does most of the cooking, describes the cuisine as “Italian-leaning meets new California.” Nina, who runs the front of the house and makes desserts, notes that these are dishes they cook for friends on their nights off.
The menu isn’t posted beforehand to allow them flexibility in the menu planning, but dishes are served à la carte, and diners can always choose from five options: a salad, a seafood
dish, a meat dish, a vegetable dish and a dessert. The generous portions are meant to be shared, and they come right out to the table as soon as the kitchen has prepared them, making the experience feel even more like a dinner party than a restaurant meal.
A menu in late April featured a snack plate (marinated olives, whipped Mermaid Farm feta + leeks and focaccia, $18); baked Tisbury oysters (with herb + chili butters, $22); meatballs + rice (with North Tabor Farm pork and Mermaid Farm beef, $39); broccoli rabe (with chickpeas, spring onions, Parmesan and lemon oil, $19); Caesar salad (with North Tabor Farm kale, miso dressing and crispy shiitakes, $19); and Basque cheesecake (with rhubarb compote,$17).
The communal seating makes sense for both the physical space as well as Gina and Nina’s vision of how the dinners will work. “With a communal table, it feels like you’re eating in a home,” Nina says. “Our amazing team of servers keeps it all running,”
Gina says. The service is relaxed yet efficient.
Gina and Nina met in 2020 while working at Seaweed’s wine bar and restaurant in Oak Bluffs and have been working together ever since. (Seaweed’s closed in 2022.) They have been in hospitality for over a decade and have also worked in the natural wine industry.
The idea for the pop-up came from wanting to feed locals during the offseason. “It’s nice to feed people who grow the food,” Gina says. “The people who fish and raise the meat can’t sit down during the summer, but offseason they can sit and eat.”
Their approach when sourcing from Island farms is simple. “We start with, ‘What do you have?’” Gina says. The spring months can be challenging given the limited growing season, but Gina and Nina continue to create inventive menus despite the limitations. In April and May, they relied on Beetlebung Farm for herbs, Mermaid Farm for dairy, Allen Farm
for lamb, as well as North Tabor Farm and Blackwater Farm for other ingredients. With warmer weather coming, they’ll be reaching out to even more Island farmers and fishermen.
Gina is looking forward to tomato season and to using more local seafood this summer, especially black sea bass and sea scallops. “What most people don’t realize is that the seasonal aspect of seafood is mostly due to fish and shellfish laws rather than the season of the actual seafood,” she says. Nina is excited for more fruit options for desserts during the summer months.
Celebrating what is grown, harvested or created on the Island is often reserved for home kitchens or friends who cook. With Moony Dinners, Gina and Nina are inviting us all over to join in the celebration.
48 Main Street, Vineyard Haven (S&S Kitchenette space)
Reservations suggested and taken via Instagram messaging only; walk-ins accepted; credit cards accepted. Instagram: @moonydinnerparty
Dinners will be happening every Tuesday in May, as well as Tuesday, June 4, and Tuesday, June 25 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Any changes, as well as July and August dinner dates, will be posted on Instagram @ moonydinnerparty. They are also available for private events.
Billie Jean Sullivan’s connection to Martha’s Vineyard began in a way that feels almost predestined. At age 19, while still a student at an arts school in New Haven, Conn., she visited the Island and instantly felt a deep connection to Oak Bluffs. She started her journey as a chambermaid at the Ship’s Inn (now the Madison Inn) on Kennebec avenue. But it wasn’t until 2010, equipped with an administrative arts certificate and experience working in arts administration in Fairfield, Conn., that she decided to make Oak Bluffs home. Today, she is the executive director of the Oak Bluffs Association (OBA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the town’s businesses, activities and attractions. Her cheerful dedication is the signature of her leadership style.
Q. How do you describe Oak Bluffs to someone who’s never
been here before?
A. It’s more funky and bohemian, with a diverse history unlike any other town on the Island. And live music yearround is definitely a thing for O.B.
Q. When did you decide to get involved and make an administrative commitment to the town?
A. I’ve owned four businesses, including Tivoli Paint in Vineyard Haven, and I had experience in town planning in Connecticut. So I can work with people and numbers. When I was working at Craftworks on Circuit avenue, artist Renee Balter, who started the OBA with Dennis daRosa, told me to apply for the position of executive director, and I succeeded Christine Todd in 2022.
Q. What is your role in the politics of Oak Bluffs and in select board decisions?
about it and I try to back them at town meeting. Business is what makes this town thrive, and I hope we carry some clout when the decisions are made.
Q. As a resident of Oak Bluffs, I’ve seen and appreciated the many improvements, from the refurbishment of Circuit avenue to the new North Bluff roundabout this season. What’s the next project to get much-needed attention?
A. The Oak Bluffs information booth, for which residents at town meeting voted to approve a one-time $15,000 renovation fee. Up to 50,000 people go to that booth in the summer where our longtime Oak Bluffs “ambassador” Leo Gagnon keeps track with a clicker. And now with the spruced up welcome kiosk and the rebuilt variety store next to the colorful Flying Horses, that little triangle is our historic front door to Oak Bluffs.
Q. Right behind that front door is the back door – the Island Theatre. Can you share any progress with that blighted property?
obstacle to advancing any plans there, or at some other properties in town, is the issue of wastewater.
Q. At the kiosk, Leo will provide visitors with the new Historic Walking Tours of Oak Bluffs brochure, which you’ve just launched this season. This free map is a keeper!
A. It’s the first redesign and update in 20 years, thanks to OBA member and graphic designer Linda Bryant and local historian Tom Dresser. It’s a color-coded map of individual historic walking tours laid out so you can walk each of the four different Oak Bluffs districts – The Highlands, The Gold Coast, The Camp Ground and The Copeland – either one at a time or consecutively.
Q. I know you love “all your children equally,” but did you discover a nugget about Oak Bluffs that you didn’t know before this project?
A. Of course people often come to Oak Bluffs to tour the gingerbread cottages
in the Camp Ground – but there’s so much more here. People don’t know too much about the Copeland District, more of a Victorian residential area behind Union Chapel designed by landscape architect Robert Morris Copeland, or the Highlands, over past Our Market and above the old Ocean View. I think it was Oak Bluffs author Skip Finley who named Seaview avenue with the big, glorious houses the Gold Coast.
We also highlighted the African American Heritage Trail sites which are so important to the history and culture of Oak Bluffs. There’s just so much historical information in the map, and with the way it all comes together, I think people will hold onto it, because it highlights a trip, a tour and a memory all in one.
Q. How do you finance these tourism projects like the map and your many events – especially in June with Pride Weekend, HarborFest, and Juneteenth?
A. A few grants come through to help us with our events, and Pride Weekend gets support from all over the Island since it has an Island-wide reach, not just Oak Bluffs.
Q. Who brought the original energy to the Pride effort?
A. This is our third annual event, and it was Sofie Green, vice president of the OBA board and owner of Island Outfitters, who really saw a need that was not being addressed in our community and Island-wide. Now the
event is always the second Saturday in June, and it has grown from a funky little parade down Circuit avenue to being supported by the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and so many individuals, and it’s recognized by the state with funding through the Massachusetts Cultural Council. It’s good for business, it’s good for the town and most of all it’s good for the people of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s just a really joyful, free, fun day.
Q. You barely get a breath, and the next Saturday, June 15, is the 32nd annual HarborFest!
A. Very busy, yes, but all of our OBA events are driven by the shoulder season. There’s enough going on in July and August. We want to see more commerce in the shoulder season. HarborFest this year will have 60 vendors and music. Tivoli Day in September is also shaping up to be great!
Q. How do you approach the week in August when Illumination Night, the fireworks and the Fair stack up?
A. Our Oak Bluffs businesses are working at full capacity. They’re trying to stay open as long as they can to serve the tourists that pour through here in August. I wish those events could be spread out. That’s something to think about! Imagine the fireworks in July. July could use a little boost. That third week in August, everyone is overburdened –especially in Oak Bluffs. I wish the
The new Historic Walking Tours of Oak Bluffs brochure features a color-coded map that covers four distinct Oak Bluffs neighborhoods: The Highlands, the Copeland District, the Gold Coast, and the Camp Ground. The brochure includes 30 numbered highlights as well as Oak Bluffs stops on the African American Heritage Trail. Find the brochure at the Oak Bluffs information booth.
town would think about it.
Q. What’s your favorite Island experience in the summer season to take you away from all these responsibilities?
A. I try to make Vineyard Haven’s First Fridays, and I make a point of exploring Edgartown’s restaurants and shops. I like to go to Menemsha
for seafood and walk about, and I love Lambert’s Cove Beach and the other hidden beaches throughout the Island. The natural beauty here still amazes this washashore.
Sissy Biggers is a frequent contributor to Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and a regular contributor to the Vine.
New places to eat, great places to shop, plenty to do –it’s time to (re)visit Vineyard Haven, even if you’re an Islander.
BY SUSIE MIDDLETONAround this time every year, I like to pretend that I’m a tourist. I know that may sound silly, but hear me out. If you’re like me, you have your routine, your favorite spots, even your town loyalties. Throw in work and life and it’s easy to forget how it feels to spend a day in a seaside town, strolling the sidewalks, peering into shop windows, stopping for coffee or ice cream, poking around a gallery, buying something new, even seeing a film or a play – before or after a delicious restaurant meal, of course.
This year I spent my tourist day in
the town with two names – Tisbury, aka Vineyard Haven. Tisbury is the official town name, a holdover from the days when Tisbury was much larger, encompassing North and West Tisbury as well as the village by the harbor known as Holmes Hole until 1871, and Vineyard Haven thereafter. When Tisbury shrank and Vineyard Haven grew, the two became nearly one and the same.
No matter what it’s called, the town has a special place in my heart. I can remember visiting the Island 25 years ago, walking off the ferry and onto
Main street, and browsing at the old (huge!) Bunch of Grapes bookstore, walking up the tiny staircase to the second floor of Bramhall & Dunn to ogle the Irish wool sweaters and cashmere throws, perusing the dishes and gadgets at Bowl & Board (once a livery stable, now empty), grabbing a bite at Café Moxie.
But it wasn’t nostalgia that drew me to Tisbury this year. It was rumors. Of course – nostalgia and rumors are pretty much what we live on, right?! Seriously, I did hear of new spots opening and old spots freshening up – not to mention
places friends loved that I’d never checked out. But what got me on my feet was learning that La Strada — the Italian-inspired café, charcuterie and wine bar coming from the Salvatore’s Ristorante folks – was finally opening on Main street. That was all I needed to call a friend and meet her there for coffee. And then I was off.
Alas, I didn’t cover nearly as much ground as I would have liked to, so my highlights here (reduced down like a good sauce) are just that – a few gems; there is plenty more to eat, see and do in Tisbury. One day is not enough time!
The newest restaurant opening on Main street is La Strada café-deli-wine bar opened at 65 Main street by Salvatore della Tore and Dusan Veselinovic, the proprietors of Salvatore’s Ristorante around the corner at 20 Union street. Right now they are leading with excellent coffee in the mornings, house-made paninis and salads all day, prosciutto and other charcuterie to go and a handsome floor-to-ceiling wall of shelves filled with Italian pastas, olive oils and other items you would expect to find in a fine Italian grocery.
Even though there aren’t many tables in the small space, it has the vibrant feel of a European café, so I’d elbow your way in. And if you know Salvatore’s food, you know those paninis are really good. Stand by for the opening of the downstairs wine bar, where you’ll be able to order a glass or a bottle and sample a cheese board or dessert at the same time. Currently open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week.
The next new place to open –potentially by the time you have this in your hands or soon after – is 9 Craft Kitchen & Bar, brought to you by Joe and Emily Monteiro of Edgartown’s 19 Raw Oyster Bar and 19 Prime Cast Iron Steakhouse. The Monteiros jumped at the Vineyard Haven opportunity when the former Copper Anchor space at the Mansion House Inn became available. Emily told me that Matty Stencil will be the executive chef and the food will be new world cuisine – a blending of cultures and ingredients.
In addition to renovating the new space – at warp speed – Joe and Matty have been busy developing potential recipes like chicken satay and lobster pappardelle (pictured here). With 9 Craft’s location and the restaurant group’s reputation for fine food and service, it will undoubtedly be both a drop-in and destination spot anchoring the head of Main street.
While you’re poking around Main street, tuck down the public walkway right before the Old Stone Bank. You’ll find yourself in a lovely little pedestrian park, where you can check on the status of El Barco, a new taqueria under construction and slated to be open this summer.
Beyond Main street: Did you miss the reopening of the ArtCliff Diner on Beach Road last year? If you did, be sure to stop in, sit at the new “bar” for your pancakes and crêpes and wish
chef/owner Gina Stanley a happy 81st birthday. Oh, wait – Gina’s not turning 81, the diner is! The diner is open Thursday to Monday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Somehow I missed last year’s July fourth opening of The Ice Box, an ice cream shop next door to the Tisbury Tox Box in Tisbury Marketplace. It gets my vote for best new business name. I’m definitely stopping by soon (it just opened for the season), because co-owner Alex Salop told me their most popular flavors are chocolatelovers chocolate – a rich chocolate ice
cream with brownie truffles, chocolate cookie crumbles and fudge – and peanut butter pie – peanut butter ice cream with chunks of peanut butter cup and graham crackers. Sold. Check mvicebox.com for hours.
I’m also very excited that Spring Sheldon (of the El Gato Grande food truck and S&S Kitchenette) will be taking over The Larder space at 342 State Road this summer, creating a business called The Model Deli, which I’m sure will reflect her fresh and energetic style.
On my walk around town, I had to force myself not to go into Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, The Beach House and LeRoux at Home – the three stores that have the power to lure me into town when I’m not simply on a walkabout. I also had to pass by The Shoe Store, which was very hard.
But as a result, I wandered into The Seven Sisters (19 Main street), which a friend had recommended to me, and I found myself in the most soothing atmosphere of beautiful clothes (vintage kimonos!), bedding and home goods. Designer Ty Sinnett is filling her store with ethically produced and carefully sourced apparel (often handmade) and décor, and it feels very natural and undemanding, unlike many retail experiences. Antique pine furniture and soft lighting add to the warm ambience. Open Thursday to Monday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On my way out of Seven Sisters, I noticed the “coming soon” sign for Weatherly Supply Co. in the window
Lucky for you, there’s more for you to do on your Tisbury day than eat, shop, and walk. But you’ll have a hard time choosing just one activity between the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, and the Martha’s Vineyard Museum each offering something new this month.
At the Film Center (79 Beach Road), The Martha’s Vineyard Environmental Film Festival takes place from May 23 to May 26. It will screen some incredible films, including Every Little Thing, Farming While Black, and Giants Rising. The SPECTRUM Film Festival, honoring Pride month, happens later in June.
Upcoming at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse (24 Church street) is The Lesson, written and performed by Tyrone Davis, Jr., on June 7 and 8, followed by Courage: A Play Based on the Life of “Peter Pan” Author J.M. Barrie, on June 14 and 15. Playwright Kathleen McGhee-Anderson’s Miss Maybelline’s Nocturnal Flights of Fancy will run from July 13 to August 10.
I chose to spend a couple hours at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on my Tisbury day.
If you live here year-round and tend only to go up to the museum when guests are in town or when a special
of the little shop at 9 Main street next to the restaurant space. And across the street, between Bryn Walker at 12 Main street, two new Brazilian clothing boutiques have opened side by side. and Lapie offer both casual and more formal wear for women.
The work of local artists and artisans is tucked all over Vineyard Haven, sometimes in places you wouldn’t expect. Pop off of Main street onto Church street so that you don’t miss the exhibits of fine artists at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse Playhouse Art Space will show the work of oil painter Billy Hoff from May 29 to June 28 (with an opening reception on June 5 at 5 p.m.) followed by Harry Seymour from July 3 to August 10. The art space is open 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday. A new gallery, Bent Wing Pottery, opened up at 5 Beach Road last summer and just reopened for the season. With 30 Island artists on the roster, there’s always something new at Martha’s Vineyard Made at 29 Main street.
event is going on (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), I highly recommend visiting on your own someday. The day I went it was raining lightly, highlighting the lush green growth in the Rose Styron garden, arresting against the gray and tan stones of Lew French’s stonework. I was drawn to the open doors of the big barn in back known as Doherty Hall.
Looking up and all around at the outsized objects displayed there, I felt that childlike awe I used to experience in the Washington, D.C. museums I grew up exploring. I was particularly impressed by an 1836 horse-drawn hearse – the first ever in Edgartown – and Mayhew’s peddler’s cart that made deliveries from Alley’s General Store to up-Island homes. And more: the giant steering wheel from the 1902 steam-powered ferry Uncatena, a headlamp from an Island locomotive, whale vertebrae, and so many boats, including a racing whaleboat. There’s a whole wall of old Vineyard signs – and up in the rafters, Margot Datz’s original panels from the Hot Tin Roof grace the ceiling.
Of course there’s an amazing roster of rotating exhibits inside the museum, including Clifford: Our Big Red Dog which runs through September 8. Right now, Peter Simon’s portraits are on exhbit. And I am most looking forward to coming back to view Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of
The Underground Railroad, a traveling exhibit that originated at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and is based on the work of Dr. Timothy Walker, who’s book of the same title helped to illuminate the lesser known stories and coastal routes of those enslaved people who escaped by water. The exhibit runs from June 8 through September 22.
If you’re supercharged with energy, you may still have time for a round of mini golf at the Cove Golf & Grill, a walk in the West Chop Woods, a class at the Vineyard Haven Public Library, or even a round of nine holes at Mink Meadows Golf Club. But like I say, I think you need more than one day to enjoy Tisbury.
Susie Middleton is editor of the Vine.
From one osprey fan to another, here’s a tip: This is the year to look up in the sky — there are more than 100 pairs of these magnificent birds of prey nesting (and hunting) on the Island this summer.
BY STEPHEN GOODWINLate on a clear April afternoon, I was at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum listening to a trio of Island musicians. I was having a hard time watching them. Visible through the glass wall behind them, about a hundred yards away, two ospreys were engaged in a ferocious battle for occupancy rights to the top of a utility pole. One bird hunched down on the cross tie while the other repeatedly dive-bombed. Then the lower bird would rise to defend itself, and the two would go at each other in mid-air, with a tremendous battering of wings and flaring of talons. Spectacular displays like this one have made me an osprey fanboy. There are a lot of us on this Island, where these godlike birds spend their summers and rear their young. Their nests, those shaggy eyries high atop poles, are familiar features of our landscape. As a summer visitor, I admired ospreys; now that I’ve lived here year-round for three years and learned more about
them, I’m awed by them.
Let me take you through a year in the life of an osprey pair whom I’ll call Zeus and Hera. After spending the winter in South America, each in a different location, they migrate independently on their return to the Vineyard. Zeus arrives first, returning to the same nest he occupied last year, and he sets about making repairs. His work might not be artistic, but he builds on an impressive scale. Some osprey nests, made of tightly woven sticks and seaweed, weigh hundreds of pounds.
Zeus might be challenged by a young male who wants to drive him off the nest. He won’t give it up easily. Ospreys are monogamous, up to a point, but their first loyalty is to the nest. (Those young birds fighting outside the museum were probably freshmen, trying to establish their first nest; if they fail, they’ll stay as floaters and try again next year.)
Zeus will welcome Hera when she arrives. If for some reason she doesn’t make it back, he’ll perform a sky dance to attract another mate. Rising above the nest hundreds of feet into the air,
maybe holding a fish in his talons, he’ll swoop, dip, hover and make a repeated announcement in a loud, screeching osprey voice. Rough translation: “I am a mighty fisherman, and I own
a fabulous house. My mate will be a lucky bird.”
When Hera does arrive, she and Zeus will mate often, and she’ll lay her eggs – usually two or three. During the 38-day incubation period, she leaves them only for short periods each day. Her diet is 99% fish, and Zeus delivers her meals. If you look closely at the nest during the early summer, you might see Hera’s head, white with a black eye stripe. She’ll be peering back at you, and if she thinks you are a danger to her offspring, she’ll take wing, scream bloody murder and try to drive you away.
Zeus is no mere fisherman; he is an apex predator, one of evolution’s exclamation points. In every detail, he is designed to catch fish. On his large foot, the outer toe is reversible so that he can seize slippery fish with two talons in front and two behind.
This same unique arrangement of talons enables him to carry fish headfirst, which is easier than lugging them broadside. Another adaptation: backward facing barbs on his talons help Zeus hold fast to his prey.
Zeus is able to cover a lot of territory, of course, and he’s quick to figure out where the bite is on. He’s willing to range all over the Island, catching herring in Squibnocket Pond, snapper blues in the harbor and menhaden three miles offshore.
every detail, an osprey is designed to catch fish. On
talons in front and two behind. This also allows him to carry fish head-first. Backward facing
The chicks hatch in July, and by midAugust they’re ready to fly. Zeus won’t teach them to fish, and their first efforts might not succeed. Zeus will hang around for a while, supplementing their diet if need be. Hera leaves first, heading south for some R&R.
August is my favorite month for osprey watching. I’m lucky enough to have a porch overlooking the Lagoon, and in the late afternoon there are sometimes as many as eight ospreys patrolling the water. I’ve seen spectacular mid-air dog fights when one tries to take a fish from another. They glide, circle, soar and then they hover, positioning themselves, making precise calculations for their dive and – SWOOSH! SPLASH! They plunge, talons extended, hitting the water so hard that sometimes they are completely submerged.
They are something to behold, these birds. They put on a beautiful, thrilling air show, and I’m happy to have one of the best seats in the house.
Stephen Goodwin is the author of three novels and four non-fiction books on golf. He lives in Vineyard Haven.
The Vineyard osprey population is larger than ever, thanks to a community effort led by naturalist and educator Gus Ben David, the much beloved steward of the Island’s wild creatures. In 1971, when only two nesting pairs summered on the Island, Gus surmised that the only thing limiting the population was a lack of nesting sites. To test this hypothesis, he and a team of volunteers began placing poles in carefully selected locations. This year, the spring census tallied 110 nesting pairs.
Many, but not all, of these pairs are on the poles erected for them. According to Rob Bierregaard, a scientist/researcher whose field of study is birds of prey and who now coordinates the Vineyard’s annual census, about ten pairs occupy chimney nests, and ten are in tree nests. Other sites include a cell phone tower, a light stanchion at the Sharks’ baseball field and a pole
at Veterans Park.
Suzan Bellincampi, director of Felix Neck Sanctuary, extols the citizen science efforts that have contributed to the growth of the osprey population. Observers have provided helpful data by watching single nests throughout the summer. Says Suzan, “Usually, bird watching means seeing a variety of
birds. Watching an osprey family through the summer is a different, very rewarding experience. You see the whole life cycle, and the ospreys are spectacular birds. It’s easy to get attached to them.”
The next time you see an osprey and feel your spirits rise, give a silent thanks to Gus (pictured below) and his crew.
The newest emergen-sea vehicle is solar-powered, but the clams and oysters are still hand-shucked.
BY THOMAS HUMPHREY • PHOTOS BY RAY EWINGIf you’re cruising down-Island in the summer, soaking in the ocean air through rolled-down windows or circling the block to find a parking space downtown, you’ve surely spotted the Clambulance. You can’t miss this distinctive, eye-catching vehicle with a simple mission written on its side: “Emergensea Raw Bar.”
The mobile shucking operation has been up and running for four years on the Island, but for Clambulance founder Beau Begin, the idea germinated during his childhood summers on the Vineyard.
“I’ve had this idea for 20 years,” he said. “When we were kids, we’d laugh about it and say we needed to start a Clambulance.”
“We would sail over here every
summer,” he said of his childhood.
“Clamming was a big part of what we would do. I could shuck when I was four years old.”
In Beau’s teen years, he recalled, he picked up some part-time work shucking oysters for Teddy Karalekas’s raw bars. Teddy is a legend amongst Island shuckers, Beau said, and a veteran champ of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair oyster shucking competition.
When Beau moved to the Island fulltime in 2009 after finishing graduate school, he put that experience to work and created his own raw bar service, Vineyard Sound Raw Bar. But he found that he couldn’t reach as many customers as he wanted.
“I wanted to democratize it, make it
more for everybody,” he said.
For Beau, who lives in Tisbury with his family and works as a financial consultant and vice president at Rockland Trust Bank, the pandemic presented an opportunity. In 2020, he took inspiration from his childhood Clambulance pun, expanded his raw bar and put the operation on wheels.
This summer, Beau said, the Clambulance is reaching a new milestone, as he transitions it to a carbon neutral operation with a new electric vehicle, powered by the solar array he has installed at his home. In fact, he installed a big enough array to power the van, make ice and offset the majority of his family’s personal power usage at home, since they also heat with wood in the winter.
“From the beginning, my goal was to make the Clambulance a carbon neutral program,” he said. “Conceptually I figured it would work, but I wasn’t going to go out and put the cart in front of the horse. So I waited.”
The new, fully electric Clambulance, a Ford E-Transit, is his third vehicle since he began. Driving on an Island can be hard on older vehicles.
“When I sold the very first one, that was hard,” he said.
Despite his sentimental attachment to his older vans, Beau is excited that the new electric van will be a game changer, allowing him to operate his ice maker, mini-fridge, electric griddle and car battery via solar energy.
and fragile ecosystem,” he said.
Those capabilities, in turn, will help him continue his mission of introducing people to diverse varieties of Island shellfish — all while being environmentally conscious.
“The Clambulance is about ecoconscious partying within this beautiful
Beau’s goal is to offer folks, even if they’re only visiting the Island for a single event, as many different kinds of oysters as possible during that party.
“A big thing that I do differently from other guys is that I have multiple kinds of oysters on the table,” he said,
drawing from farmers in Katama Bay, the Lagoon and Menemsha, along with Cuttyhunk and Nantucket.
With oyster farming thriving on the Island, Beau wants to be a link between farmers and consumers, making sure that people are able to experience a wide variety of fresh, local oysters.
“Oysters are really coming of age. There are so many growers now,” he said. “Now it’s about getting them to people.”
Turning back and pointing at the Clambulance, he proclaimed: “This thing’s going to be able to do it.”
Thomas Humphrey is a writer and a former reporter for the Vineyard Gazette.
Reducing its fossil fuel footprint isn’t the only way the Clambulance contributes to Island sustainability efforts. It also participates in the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group’s Shellfish (MVSG) Recovery program, last year contributing 479 gallons of oyster shells to the habitat restoration efforts. MVSG has drop-off locations for participating businesses (restaurants, caterers and seafood stores) to return shells, which are collected, aged and used both as substrate in the hatchery oyster tanks for young oyster larvae to attach to and as building blocks for wild oyster habitats in the ponds. Since oysters are highly valued for their ability to filter excess nitrogen out of the ponds, the shell recycling program and habitat restorations contribute to cleaner waters.
Beau also gives his shellfish bags to the Vineyard Conservation Society to be repurposed as beach clean-up bags.
was quite hot outside. I looked around and there were no humans in sight. I leaned over to Butter, my closest girlfriend in the herd, and asked if she felt like a dip in the ocean. Needless to say, she agreed that it would be quite nice. We rounded up a few other ladies and off we went. An adventure! Over the river and through the woods to Lucy Vincent Beach we went!
VINE · JUNE 2024
alas, the humans we know came to pick us up with the trailer. As we loaded up, I did feel quite famous as the paparazzi were everywhere! Cameras were clicking and everyone was smiling. It had been worth every minute, and we didn’t even have to walk home.
The girls and I have been talking and maybe, just maybe, this year we should hit Lambert’s Cove Beach!
... and a small adventureElizabeth Tarantino photos
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If the weather cooperates (and even if it doesn’t!), from Wednesday, June 19, through Sunday, June 23, there will be gatherings and picnics all over the Island to celebrate Juneteenth. The national holiday is Wednesday, but festivities on the Island continue through the weekend, including the third annual Gospel Brunch, being held this year at the Harbor View
This summer, use the Cook the Vineyard newsletter to plan delicious gatherings, starting with the Juneteenth holiday.
BY SUSIE MIDDLETONHotel on Sunday. To help with menu planning, the Cook the Vineyard newsletter, delivered to your inbox on Wednesday mornings, will highlight ideas and recipes in the weeks ahead – for Juneteenth, and for all your summer gatherings.
For a taste (or more accurately, a sip) of what you’ll find in the newsletter, we’re sharing this recipe for a colorful,
There are layers of flavor at work here in this alluring with a homemade strawberry -rhubarb syrup. The syrup is combined with hibiscus tea, ginger beer and lemon juice. Mixed with bourbon, poured over ice and topped with sparkling wine, it’s a winning combination. Mix the base with sparkling water for a terrific non-alcoholic cocktail.
Serves 4 to 6
For the Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup
• 1½ cups fresh strawberries
• ¾ cup chopped rhubarb
• 1½ cups turbinado sugar
• 1 cup water
For the cocktail
• 8 ounces Strawberry-Rhubarb Syrup
• 6 ounces bourbon (Black owned or Texas made preferred)
• 3 ounces hibiscus tea
• 3 ounces ginger beer
• 2 ounces lemon juice
• 3 strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 6 pieces of chopped rhubarb
• 9 ounces sparkling wine
• 4 basil leaves
Make the syrup
1. Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat, and cook at a gentle simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool and strain it through a mesh strainer.
Make the cocktail
1. Combine 8 ounces of the syrup, the bourbon, the 3 ounces tea, ginger beer, the lemon juice, the berries, and the rhubarb in a jar or pitcher. (Alternatively, combine everything but the berries and rhubarb and use for garnish.)
2. Serve in a high ball or old fashioned glass with ice, topped with sparkling wine and garnished with the basil and fruit. Optional: Stir in an additional tablespoon of syrup for color or taste if needed.
* Note: If you can’t find hibiscus tea, look at the ingredient lists for other red berry teas - hibiscus is often the first or second ingredient.
Kwame K. Wallace has been creating and mixing cocktails since his first bartending job at Atria over 15 years ago.
flavorful and celebratory drink from Kwame K. Wallace. Kwame chose the name for his Juneteenth drink, A More Perfect Punch, as a nod to the idea that celebrating Black independence as a national holiday is a small step towards becoming a more perfect union.
The base for the punch is a knockout combination of a homemade strawberry-rhubarb syrup, hibiscus
tea, ginger beer and lemon juice. Mixed with bourbon, poured over ice, and topped with sparkling wine, it’s a winner. Mixed with sparkling water, it’s a great non-alcoholic cocktail too. Cook the Vineyard is a recipe-packed guide to cooking in season, inspired by the bounty of Martha’s Vineyard. To subscribe to the newsletter, visit cookthevineyard. substack.com.
96,500
AND THE WINNER IS… For the 2023 Martha’s Vineyard Magazine's Best of the Vineyard awards, more than 3,200 voters cast almost 96,500 votes in 97 categories. This year’s winners will be announced at the Best of the Vineyard party at Farm Neck Golf Club on Wednesday, June 12.
25 +
SHOW YOUR COLORS. More than 25 regional and Island organizations joined the second annual Pride Parade in Oak Bluffs last June. This year’s parade and other LGBTQIA+ Pride Weekend events, sponsored by the Oak Bluffs Association, take place Friday, June 7, through Sunday, June 9.
800
IN TASTE WE TRUST. Dressed to the nines, more than 800 guests came out to the historic Dr. Daniel Fisher House for the 37th annual Taste of the Vineyard last June. The super-sized soiree and smorgasbord that benefits the Vineyard Preservation Trust happens this year on Thursday, June 13.
$80,000
GIVE ME SHELTER. The Animal Shelter of Martha’s Vineyard’s Garden Party is the organization’s biggest annual fundraiser, bringing in an average of $80,000 every year. Held in Edgartown, the event is well-attended by humans and canines alike. This year’s party takes place on Monday, June 24, and there is an online auction component as well.
THAT’S BIG!
6,541 Square feet - Big Sky Tent and Party Rentals’ biggest tent.
43 Seats on one of MV Sightseeing’s ten buses that are available to rent by the hour for events.
$225
Sample cost per person of catered dinner at an Island wedding reception.
54 Chefs will be cooking at the 2024 Martha's Vineyard Food and Wine Festival.
