14 IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Here’s what to know before you go to the Edgartown Village Market.
By Susie Middleton16 PASTA PASSION
Katie Leaird turns her passion for hand-made pasta into a small business.
By Brooke Kushwaha4 EDITOR’S NOTE
6 ON THE ROCK
8 Q&A
Committed to Community: An Interview with Julia Tarka
10 VINE & DINE
5 Things to Eat and Drink... at TigerHawk Sandwich Co.
18
Walker T. Roman’s figurative and abstract art work together.
By Thomas Humphrey20 THE BIKE GUY
Jon Malone is in it for the long haul at Edgartown Bicycles.
By Thomas HumphreyEveryone has a different idea of what constitutes a perfect summer day on the Vineyard. For you, it might be all about the beach (grab a great beach towel, page 6); for another it might mean a long bike ride, perhaps on a shiny new bike. (Jon Malone can set you up, page 20). Good eats are crucial –take that fried chicken sandwich from TigerHawk (page 10) to the beach, too.
For me, shopping and provisioning at an outdoor market is one of the loveliest things about being on an Island that’s home to so many dedicated farmers and talented artisans. But I can't always make it to the up-Island markets. That’s why I’m excited about the new Edgartown Village Market happening on Tuesdays behind the Dr. Daniel Fisher House (page 14). I can hop over there on foot from my office and buy handmade pasta from Katie Leaird (page 16) or a bunch of flowers from Fire Cat Farm. Or I can check out artists such as Walker T. Roman (page 18) and Zach Pinerio (page 14) who complete a great mix of vendors at the new pedestrian market.
Perhaps you're thinking the end to an ideal summer day on the Vineyard is a paddleboard or kayak cruise on Sengekontacket (page 26)? Well then, I’ll see you out there.
- Susie Middleton
24 BY THE NUMBERS
Animal Kingdom
26 INSTA ISLAND
Sengekontacket
EDITOR
Susie Middleton
ART DIRECTOR
Jared Maciel
CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth Bennett, Sissy Biggers, Chris Burrell, Ray Ewing, Laura Holmes Haddad, Thomas Humphrey, Brooke Kushwaha, Jeanna Shepard
PUBLISHER
Jane Seagrave
GENERAL MANAGER
Sarah Gifford
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
Skip Finley | sales@vineyardgazette.com
SALES TEAM
Frederica Carpenter, Garrett Burt, Carrie Blair, Serena Ward
MARKETING MANAGER
Alessandra Hagerty
AD PRODUCTION
Jane McTeigue, Jared Maciel, McKinley Sanders
Copyright 2023 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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Island mainstay Murdick’s Fudge is celebrating its 45th year on the Vineyard this summer, serving up confections at stores in all three down-Island towns. In addition to their regular roster of 15 fudge flavors – including double dark chocolate, butter pecan and cranberry — the Murdick’s stores will be debuting a new espresso chocolate flavor this season, developed in collaboration with Blackbird Cafe, a Massachusetts-based coffee and breakfast/lunch business that opened earlier this summer next to Murdick’s Edgartown location at 21 North Water street. For more information: originalmurdicksfudge.com and myblackbirdcafe.com.
Located in the historic Vanderhoop homestead, the Aquinnah Cultural Center, a Wampanoag museum, will be debuting a new exhibit of Wampanoag wampum this summer. On display from July 6 to 25, the centerpiece of Wampum: Stories From the Shells of Native America will be a new wampum bead belt, the construction of which was led by members of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). The exhibit, in addition to their permanent collection, will be open to the public Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Looking for a change of scenery on your morning stroll? Try Edgartown’s new half-mile trail easement that begins on Robinson Road (near the Edgartown Library parking lot) and goes to Clevelandtown Road.
Prepping for sand and sun
Gearing up for serious summertime fun takes some planning – and the right equipment. Fortunately, Island stores are stocked with smart items to make the sand-and-sun experience a pleasurable one, not a miserable one.
Connect the dots. Tired of your beach towel flapping in the wind? Try the Tucca towel from Salte in Edgartown. Designed with holes and clips to pin it down to the sand, the towels also clip together to create a bigger surface area. Prices start at $57. Saltemv.com.
Hat trick. True to its name, the Sunday Afternoon hat ($52) provides solar protection for a long afternoon on the beach: breathable fabric with a 50 SPF rating, a sunglasses holder and a chinstrap. Available at Island Trading Co. in Oak Bluffs. (Hat model: Jim Brooks.)
Fishing season is here and so are the stripers. Stephen D’Angelo, store manager at Kismet Outfitters in Edgartown, has a few tips for fly fishermen:
“It’s important to check your reel and examine your backing before you go out. Make sure your fly box is organized and ready to go. The squid, sand eel and clouser minnow fly patterns are always a hit with stripers. And be sure to practice your casting before you go out.”
BY SISSY BIGGERS • PHOTOS BY RAY EWING
Julia Tarka’s first summer job as a teenager in Edgartown was on South Summer street. Today the mother of three young children still works right across the street at the popular Rosewater Market which she started in 2015 with her father, Christoper Celeste, and stepmother, Nancy Kramer. That same year she met her husband, Zachary Tarka. In 2020 they extended the market brand with the addition of Rosewater Wine & Spirits. In addition to serving as president of the Edgartown Board of Trade, Julia serves on the Edgartown historic district commission, sits on the town’s sign advisory committee and was elected to the town’s finance committee. She also recently joined the board of the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club. Julia’s civic commitment is evident, and her fresh voice is one that will help define the future of Edgartown.
Q. How did you first come to the Island?
A. I’m the last of six children and when I was six years old I kind of got sent here to go to camp. My family would visit for two weeks. I moved here from Colorado after college in 2012.
Q. What a place for a kid to be sent to in the summer!
A. Little did they know I was winning the lottery! I started working when I was 15 – actually across the street [from Rosewater] at a place called Edgartown Clothing Company. So I’ve been working on this block in Edgartown for 15 years.
Q. How challenging was it to restore Rosewater’s historic building in Edgartown?
A. My family, with my dad, Christopher
Celeste, had already restored the Yellow House on Main street (now home to Lululemon). When we took ownership of the Rosewater building in 2015, we knew it had once been a business called the Penn Street Market, so it felt nice to bring it back as a market. And we added the commercial kitchen.
Q. Is there a responsibility that comes with taking on these historic buildings?
A. As co-chair of the historic district commission here in Edgartown, I feel a lot of responsibility in terms of stewardship of the properties that I’m in – whether it’s the property I rent on Main street [Rosewater Wine & Spirits] from Geno Courtney or the properties that we own and manage or rent to others.
Q. How does that responsibility extend to the off-season?
A. Being open year-round at the market is a big part of that responsibility. We are open at the liquor store as long as we have a liquor license – from April
until the end of December. We kind of pushed to have a presence in town to keep the lights on for folks who are here working year-round. And it’s really important to keep the market open for other people in the off-season. The high schoolers host a climate café on Sundays and when we’re closed, we’re available for fundraisers. We are just trying to be supportive of others who are doing things in the community.
Q. What is the biggest challenge of serving on the historic district commission?
A. There’s a lot of development happening in town and I feel like there are ways to curb that, there are ways to develop properties responsibly, and I hope that our board is moving towards a place where we can be more encouraging of that.
Q. It seems being a community activist comes naturally to you!
A. Civic responsibility is something that was a big part of my family growing up. I take a lot of joy in being
able to give back to the town. I think it’s important for all of us to take an active part in our towns – to be able to come to a place where everyone can sit in a town meeting and say their piece. That’s the beauty of direct democracy.
Q. Is there a common mispercep tion of Edgartown that you would like to clear up?
A. It’s much bigger than most people understand, certainly bigger than I understood when I was buying jelly bracelets at Sheila Allen’s and going to the Quarterdeck. It’s easy to come here as a visitor and think that the town is Main street. You wander four blocks and you’re in Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary – such a beautiful piece of property. Three blocks in the other direction and you interact with the incredible people at the library. And we have Katama!
Q. The tagline on your Rosewater Market website says “our true mission is to spread kindnessto make you feel something, not just buy something.” How is that mission tested in the height of the season?
A. All of us get tired and overwhelmed and have moments when we are not our best selves. I think the goal for us is to recognize the gift of being able to feed people. It’s something special and always elicits a response. As much as we can, when we’re being the best versions of ourselves, you’ll get a smile, a good cup of coffee and a sandwich.
Q. Any celebrity sightings you’d care to mention?
A. Don Cheadle came in last summer with a Rosewater reusable cup…that was cool for me.
Q. Tell me about your involvement in the new Edgartown Village Market on Tuesdays.
A. We first had the idea to do an in-town farmers’ market in 2020. We had begun permitting, started a layout and branding, and even bought the URL for the Edgartown Village Market, but the pandemic got in the way. I was so happy this year when Grace Romanowsky and Zach Pinerio took the ball and ran with it. It’s still an Edgartown Board of Trade initiative but they’ve really been the power behind it. And a new idea
was the partnership with Vineyard Preservation Trust. I think it’s going to be wonderful for the town!
Q. You are beginning another busy season, this time with three-month old Peggy joining siblings Theodo ra, four, and Zachary, three. How are you balancing it all?
I benefit from a wonderful partner so it’s not a one-woman show in any aspect. My husband is my teammate in parenting. We have a great longterm staff at the businesses, and both of my older kids go to the Vineyard Montessori School and they’re absolutely wonderful there. My dad and my brother both live here full time so I’m not of the mindset that one person raises children.
Q. What’s next for the Rosewater brand?
A. For Rosewater, we’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing and hopefully doing that well. For me, I’ll get to enjoy my kids and continue to put time into the town and Edgartown Board of Trade and the Boys & Girls Club. I’m trying to find the balance to enjoy this phase of my kids and continue to be part of the other organizations that I’ve made a commitment to and that I care about.
Q. Describe your perfect July day in Edgartown.
Let me say my perfect day off! It still involves walking into town and checking on the stores, but with my kids; they can name the Pagoda Tree from two blocks away! Maybe go to visit the library and check in on Elise and the summer reading program;
walk to Fuller Street Beach past my parents’ house and bother them on the way, and come back into town for ice cream at the end of the day.
Sissy Biggers is a regular contributor to The Vine and a frequent contributor to Martha’s Vineyard magazine.
BY LAURA HOLMES HADDAD • PHOTOS BY JEANNA SHEPARD
While I love a lobster roll or a fried fish sandwich as much as any New Englander, I also crave the umami flavors of teriyaki chicken or a piece of perfectly crunchy fried chicken. At TigerHawk Sandwich Co. in Oak Bluffs you can get both and so much more — including vegetarian dishes.
Since TigerHawk opened on Circuit avenue in May 2021, chef/owner Jimmy Alvarado has served up hearty portions of fresh and flavorful Asian-fusion food, blending his Peruvian roots with Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese influences. Jimmy has a long history in Island kitchens, including Isola and the restaurant at the Lambert’s Cove Inn (now called Woods).
This year Jimmy’s wife Rachel Alvarado joined the business. With a background in program management and a master's in arts and cultural management, Rachel has always helped Jimmy with events and popups, and is now happy to put her skills to use helping to run TigerHawk fulltime. TigerHawk will also be doing more catering gigs this season.
What to eat when you visit TigerHawk? The menu now includes breakfast items (available 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and noodle specials (like spicy dan dan and mama ramen), that are available Thursdays through Saturdays. You may have a hard time deciding, but we've chosen five things we'd put at the top of our list (see next page).
1. PORCHETTA MY HEART ($16)
The blend of flavors in this sandwich makes it a standout: roasted pork with caper mayonnaise, sharp provolone cheese and slightly crunchy broccoli rabe. The sandwiches are big enough to share, but you won’t want to!
2. EGG BANH MI ($12)
If you want to up your breakfast sandwich game, try the TigerHawk version: two eggs, pickles, umami mayonnaise, jalapeno and cilantro on a baguette. It’s a flavor explosion, and what better way to start the day?
3. FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH, TIGER-STYLE ($16)
People drive across the Island for the fried chicken sandwiches at TigerHawk and now I know what they're after: a piece of perfectly fried chicken on a brioche bun, topped with pickles, sweet chili sauce and miso mayo.
4. FRENCH FRIES ($4)
On an Island with a lot of French fry options, TigerHawk’s fries are a standout. Thin, crunchy, with just the right amount of salt, they are a must alongside any sandwich.
5. SMOKY BEETS ($5 SMALL / $8 LARGE)
Beet lovers will adore these and beet haters will be converted with one bite of these intensely flavorful beets. Order them topped with the house umami sauce and crispy garlic and onions.
The new Edgartown Village Market is a true collaboration – and an idea whose time has finally come. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Vineyard Preservation Trust is presenting the Edgartown Village Market in partnership with the Edgartown Board of Trade and with Grace Romanowsky and Zach Pinerio.
Grace is the owner of Sea Legs, a retail shop on Dock street in Edgartown, and Zach is the creator/owner of Chappaquiddick Wood Company. Grace will be managing the market’s vendors.
Grace and Zach brought the idea of a down-Island market back to life after Julia Tarka of the Edgartown Board of Trade had initially worked on the idea before the pandemic shutdowns. “We
BY SUSIE MIDDLETON
picked up the baton from her,” Grace said. “We wanted to make the goods of our wonderful local artists and vendors more accessible to a downtown audience. So many times I’ve heard from my customers that they just can’t get to the up-Island markets because of time and transportation.”
And after a successful Christmas fair on the Village Green last December, Edgartown Board of Trade executive director Erin Ready was eager to work with Grace and Zach on a possible summer market. They put their heads together and when it came time to settle on a location, they approached Nevette Previd, executive director of the Vineyard Preservation Trust, who
loved the concept but had a suggestion for an alternative location.
“I loved the idea of expanding the use of Vineyard Preservation Trust properties. I suggested that the Village Green might be too small and that the lower lawn at the Dr. Daniel Fisher House might be the perfect place. Personally, I love the Trust being part of introducing local farmers and artisans to a new audience,” Nevette said.
“And we're fortunate to have a great benefactor this year - the Chappy Point to Point Race. Proceeds from the race will fund our start-up costs and allow us to make the market accessible to smaller vendors by offsetting their fees,” Nevette added.
Zach has been instrumental in gathering this year’s vendors (see the complete list on the next page); he’s a veteran of the Vineyard Artisans Festivals. And as a resident of Chappaquiddick, he’s thrilled about the possibility of Chappy residents being able to provision on foot right in the heart of town, since taking a car over is so tricky in the high season.
“We’re bringing the produce and artists to downtown Edgartown for a change. It’s a simple idea that has the potential to make anyone’s week a little easier. And the hope is that it will also bolster our other downtown shops and restaurants,” he added.
The Edgartown Village Market is located on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel Fisher House, a property of the Vineyard Preservation Trust, next to The Old Whaling Church at 99 Main street. The market is in the lower garden between the Dr. Fisher House and the Vincent House Museum, across from the Church street bus station. There is no parking on site; this is a pedestrian market. Shoppers are encouraged to take advantage of VTA buses: bus numbers 1 and 13 drop off at Church street regularly. Cyclists are welcome and there are bike racks on Peases Point Way as well as throughout downtown. Handicap drop-off is available at Peases Point Way. Find more information at edgartownvillagemarket.com and @edgartownvillagemarket.
The Edgartown Village Market is an artisan and farmers’ market comprised of 20 Island vendors selling a broad spectrum of handmade and Islandgrown goods.
“I’m really excited about our assortment of vendors,” Grace Romanowsky said. “I feel like we have one of everything — fresh produce, seafood, meat, baked goods, flowers, coffee, artwork, jewelry, textiles, pasta! I’m especially excited about the pasta.” (Turn the page to read more about KL Pasta and another market vendor, Walker T. Roman.) Find a complete list of vendors below.
June 27 to September 26, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free to the public.
Althea Designs @altheadesignsmv
Avery Schuster Painting @avepaints
Cecilia Designs @ceceliadesigns
Chappaquiddick Wood Company @chappaquiddickwoodcompany
Chappy Chips @chappychips
East to West Coffee @easttowestcoffee
Fire Cat Farm @fire.cat.farm
The Hungry Farmer Crepe Cart @thehungryfarmermv
Island Alpaca @islandalpaca
Island Cocktail Company @islandcocktailcompany
Juniper & JK Design Co. @juniperedg
KL Pasta @katieleairdfood
Kulture Klub MV @kultureklubmv
Lightship Bracelets @lightshipbraceletsmv
Marshall Farm @marshallfarmwoodworks
Martha’s Vineyard Smokehouse @mv_smokehouse
Merry Farm Pottery @merryfarmpottery
Morning Glory Farm @morninggloryfarmmv
Signature Oyster Farm @signatureoysterfarm
Walker T. Roman @walkertroman/Danielle Mulcahy @archil_designs
For culinary professional Katie Leaird, the Edgartown Village Market will offer a chance to turn her passion for handmade pasta into a small business.
When Edgartown visitors stop by the new Edgartown Village Market on the grounds of the Dr. Daniel Fisher House this summer, they’ll have the chance to purchase fresh, handmade pasta in all colors and sizes. From medallionshaped corzetti stamped with octopus designs to ribbony pappardelle, each noodle is hand-cut and formed by recipe developer and chef Katie Leaird.
“It’s very much a passion project,” Katie said of her new business.
Offering a variety of shapes week to week, KL Pasta is exactly the kind of low volume, slow business model made possible by the new farmers’ and artisans’ market. Katie tests each recipe in her home kitchen before making larger batches in a commercial
BY BROOKE KUSHWAHA • PHOTOS BY JEANNA SHEPARDkitchen. She mixes, shapes, cuts and partially dries (for better storage) each batch of pasta herself – a process that can take several hours per batch.
“I almost want to have a video up at the stand to show people what goes into the process,” she said. “It’s a labor of love.”
Katie cut her teeth in the culinary world at Chilmark Chocolates – her first job in food service – before eventually heading to culinary school and then the fine dining scene of southern Italy. It was in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Puglia that she learned her first pasta shape, orecchiette, named for its resemblance to an ear. Her mentor Maria Ciccerella had her own distinctive way of shaping the pasta
that Katie had never seen before.
“Maria, she had very big thumbs!” Katie remembers.
“The minutiae of how you make pasta is so individual,” she said. “It varies from person to person, town to town…it’s a very regional thing.”
Hoping to master the ins and outs of every pasta shape, Katie traveled to a village in Italy at Maria’s recommendation. The moment she drove in she was greeted by a crowd of curious nonnas (grandmothers) who ushered her into a kitchen.
“They must not get many visitors because they greeted me outside in their Sunday best,” Katie laughed. “And then they showed me how to make pasta.”
She took her pasta studies on as a research project of sorts before settling back in the U.S. to work for America’s Test Kitchen and a variety of food publications. She moved to the Vineyard with her daughter Hazel four years ago, where she continued to develop recipes and make pasta in her spare time. It wasn’t until this year, after the birth of her second child, Joy, that she decided to turn her love for pasta into a small business. To find a business model that worked best with her lifestyle, Katie drew from both her experience as a home cook and as a professional chef in commercial kitchens.
“It’s a medium-sized operation,” she said. “It’s more involved than what you’d make at home, but it’s not approaching commercial levels.”
Katie’s own pasta style uses a combination of Italian and American techniques. Unlike pasta from Northern Italy and pasta sold in the U.S., pasta from Southern Italy is rarely made with eggs; this type of pasta has a more delicate flavor and texture. Fresh pasta is also thicker and chewier than the dried pasta sold in boxes because it doesn’t have to stand up to shipping and storage.
Although Katie makes her pasta fresh, she learned to partially dry each noodle on large screens so they don’t get crushed on the trip to the market.
“The pasta still only takes two to four minutes to cook like any other fresh pasta,” she said.
The shape of each pasta varies by
what method Katie uses. Pasta shapes such as orecchiette and ravioli are shaped by hand, but extruded pastas –the tube-shaped noodles such as ziti and penne – take extra equipment.
In planning for the market, Katie said she’ll start with some shapes and see what customers prefer. She’ll have her beloved orecchiette for sure, as well as her favorite extruded pasta, bucatini. (She loves the pool-noodle shape so much that she named her dog Bucatini.) From there, the shapes get a little more creative. The corzetti, a coin-shaped pasta, will be stamped with octopuses for an extra touch of whimsy, and she’ll also offer capunti, a delicate, peapod-shaped noodle.
Because Katie oversees every aspect of pasta production, she has the opportunity to add even more creative touches throughout. Her “garden party” pasta is dyed with spinach, red bell pepper and beets to create green, orange and pink noodles.
“It imparts a really beautiful color, but also adds nutrients,” she said of the all-natural dye.
A 12-ounce box of plain, uncolored pasta will be priced at $14 at the market, and the colored variety will be priced at $16. Each box serves roughly two to three people.
“It’s definitely more expensive than what you can get from the grocery store, but it’s still a whole lot cheaper than going to a restaurant,” Katie pointed out.
From mixing the dough to drying and packaging each noodle, Katie’s only paying herself pennies for the hours of work she puts into the product. The price she has set for the pasta is one she hopes people recognize as befitting a high-quality, small-batch product.
“I hope it’s something people try on a special occasion and taste the difference,” she said.
“It’s time consuming, but it makes me happy,” she added. “That’s why I do it.”
For more information on KL Pasta, visit katieleaird.com and follow Katie @katieleairdfood on Instagram.
Like two sides of a tapestry, Walker T. Roman’s figurative and abstract art work together.
If you encounter Walker T. Roman’s paintings at the Chilmark Flea or Edgartown Village Market (page 14), you might spot two works that seem to have little in common. One might be a dynamic Island scene of waves crashing against rocks, a work that epitomizes his figurative style. Another might be an abstract work, strokes of gray on a circular canvas.
But after gazing at the boulders amidst the waves in the Island scene, you’d begin to see the abstract brushstrokes within the figurative work.
“The language is the same, it’s just a matter of changing the context,” Walker said during a recent interview at his West Tisbury home, as haughty turkeys sauntered through his garden.
To compare his abstract and figurative styles, he uses the analogy of two sides of a tapestry. “On one side is the image,” he said, “and on the other side is how it works.”
Walker has only recently begun to
show his two painting styles together, the latest development in his journey of becoming a professional artist.
“I’ve been painting as long as I can remember,” he said, recalling inspiration taken from art programs in
Island schools. The inflection point for his artistic development, Walker said, came during a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where he saw Boy in a Red Waistcoat by Paul Cézanne.
“I think it was the first time I ever really saw a painting,” he said. “Every moment I spent looking at it I found more to see.”
From then on Walker pursued a career as a professional artist. Working a stint as an assistant at the Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School gave him both the flexibility and inspiration to pursue that goal. “Watching children having these big "aha!" moments was very cool,” he said, “and I had summer vacation from the job so I could do the markets.”
Working with children also helped him gain a different perspective on how to approach his art, one he still looks back on as he continues to sell at summer markets. By way of explanation, Walker recalled a comment made by Jackson Pollock. “You don’t need to understand the flower for it to be beautiful,” Walker said, paraphrasing Mr. Pollock. “I want people to look at my paintings like they are looking at a flower.”
But even if the beauty of a flower (or a painting) is obvious, there is still much going on beneath the surface, a fact evinced by Walker’s basement studio. His workplace is a crucible of creativity: precise, functional and stylish. A thick metal support pole, jutting through the center of the space, is peppered with magnetized pencils and brushes.
“That was the biggest "a ha!" moment for me!” he exclaimed, of the discovery of the pole’s magnetic properties. Indeed, Walker relishes the nuts and bolts aspects of the artistic process. For instance, when he couldn’t find a brush large enough to make the strokes he envisioned for his canvas, he jury-rigged three brushes into a tool purpose-built for the job.
“We’re so used to purchasing products that solve a particular problem for us,” he said. Putting in the time to solve them on his own, he said, keeps
him in touch with the creative process.
After ensuring he has the right tool for the job, Walker also completes his theoretical preparation for his compositions. In a sketchbook on his studio desk, he lays out a planning sheet for one of his paintings, with an annotated matrix dotted with paint splotches, mapping out a color palate. Developing this “color gamut,” he said, helps him understand interactions between light and color in a scene.
Walker is acutely aware of the effects light can have on a work. While works in a gallery can be lit to his specifications, displaying his canvases en plein air means he is at the mercy of natural light.
But this too, Walker explained, has only sharpened his skills.
“In a painting I make now, I see in it a painting I was trying to make 10 years ago,” he said. Now, as he begins to sell his art at the Edgartown Village Market, who knows what the light of a new town might bring?
For more information on Walker T. Roman, visit walkertroman.com. This summer, Walker be at the Edgartown Village Market (page 14) on Tuesdays and at the Chilmark Flea on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
If Jon Malone’s affinity for endurance sports is any indication, he’s in it for the long haul at Edgartown Bicycles.
On the first floor of Edgartown Bicycles, where bikes hang from the ceiling and pack the floor, the bike repair stands in the back are almost always occupied. It’s there that you’re likely to find owner Jon Malone tinkering with bikes and chatting with customers. The Island is starting to feel like home to Jon who moved to the Vineyard in 2020 to work at Edgartown Bicycles and purchased the shop soon after.
“Luckily every place I’ve lived there’s been a biking culture,” Jon said in a recent interview with The Vine. An avid endurance athlete, Jon spent the last two decades in Boston, working in bike shops and as a personal trainer, and participating in numerous cycling races. “Living in a city, you’re more likely to have accidents happen and you get that spider sense going,” he explained.
When the pandemic hit, shutting
BY THOMAS HUMPHREY • PHOTOS BY RAY EWINGdown gyms and taking his personal training business with it, Jon said he was ready for a change. “I was totally ready for this; it felt like the natural next step,” he said of his decision to take over the bike shop.
Jon’s new venture coincided with a huge boom in cycling as a hobby. “Biking has grown more and more on the Island in the last few years. It started with the pandemic — more people being outdoors because they could no longer be indoors,” he said. “They’re getting off the pavement. There’s a little more biophilia in the woods, more Mother Nature.”
Along with setting up shop and taking time to land a few BMX tricks at the Martha’s Vineyard Skate Park, Jon said he has spent much of the last three years familiarizing himself with the Island’s cycling trails. Though he declined to name his favorite trail on
the record, he noted that all the best hills are located up-Island.
Ironically, the 2020 cycling boom also coincided with global supply chain shortages, making it difficult for repair shops to acquire their necessary parts. The biggest challenge at first, Jon said, “was keeping the shop organized, figuring out where everything was, what we needed and what customers wanted.”
While he was getting organized, Jon also got a feel for the most frequent repair needs for Islanders. The two most common culprits when it comes to bike maintenance, he explained, are sand and salt, both of which lead to corrosion of a bike’s mechanical systems.
“The biggest thing is people not taking care of the chain, not wiping it off and lubricating it the right way,” he said. Cleaning and lubrication should
be frequent, he said, especially on an Island where these corrosive elements are ubiquitous. When a bike comes in, Jon always lubricates first, letting the liquid set in to “work its magic” on the chain.
The sandy nature of Island trails also leads Jon to make different recommendations to new bike shoppers. In terms of tire width, for example, he typically suggests they go for thick “29ers,” rather than the thinner “700” tires (700c or 27.5 inches) more common for road bikes.
For those most serious about conquering the sand on two wheels, however, Jon suggests a more targeted approach: a purpose-built beach bike with extra-wide tires, its chain coated in liquid wax to prevent corrosion. Jon said he managed to circumnavigate the Island – specifically on the Island’s beaches – on such a rig during the off-season.
One of the more exciting parts of Jon’s job is watching cycling technology continue to advance. In the world of gear-shifting mechanisms, for instance, a major advancement has moved the functionality of a part called the front derailleur to the back wheel. “It changes the whole geometry of the bike,” Jon said, which allows for new designs.
Jon said he has also seen great developments in electric bike technology as these bikes rise in popularity with commuters. But that explosion has also seen a rise in lowerquality brands. “Prospective buyers should take a close look at warranty policies,” Jon said, recommending that people also go online and look at legitimate reviews — and familiar brands.
E-bikes are getting sleeker, too. “A lot of electric bikes now just look like normal bikes to people,” he said, showing off one of his newest models. Its battery, he pointed out, is hidden in the front part of the frame, making it indistinguishable from a conventional
bike at first glance.
But as exciting as the new tech can be, much of Jon’s time is spent fixing up older models, even if they turn out to be obsolete. “I’m thinking about my 2004 Jeep. He’s my buddy and we’ve been on adventures together,” he said, by way of explaining the emotional attachment people can get to their vehicles, two-tired or four.
Now that he has his feet — or perhaps his wheels — on the ground with the store, Jon said he has big plans for the future of Edgartown Bicycles, from bike maintenance workshops to yoga classes in the upstairs loft to organizing a trailbike race on the Island.
“I feel like I’m getting to a place now of balance and becoming more a part of the community,” he said. “I want to make this place more of a hub for how we all train for our endurance sports, for like-minded people to come together.”
TEAMING UP. Hilary Blocksam brought the first team of oxen to Brookside Farm 40 years ago. Buck and Shorty were the first residents, followed by Buddy and Boy in the early 2000s. Pete and Bub joined the farm in 2022.
WELCOME BACK, KITTY. Bookmark, Bunch of Grape Bookstore’s resident kitty, has made 6 escapes from the store to the streets of Vineyard Haven since she began her employment 7 months ago.
14 tick surveys were completed in Tisbury last year.
NOT BY BREAD ALONE. 11 piglets were born to North Tabor Farm’s Crouton the pig this season. Affectionately known as The Breadcrumbs, the brood is also looked after by Crouton’s daughter Meatball.
1,000 wild turkeys roam the Island, by some estimates.
7
baby calves were born on Morning Glory Farm this spring.
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BYE-BYE BIRDIE. 5 sculptures of famous extinct birds will be on display at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum until May 2024 as part of The Lost Bird Project, which commemorates the passenger pigeon, the Carolina parakeet, the great auk, the Labrador duck, and the heath hen.
stranded adolescent seal was relocated from Lucy Vincent Beach to Mystic Aquarium this past May.
Shellfishermen, small-boat sailors, and shell collectors all enjoy the calm waters of Sengekontacket Pond during the day, but the golden hour is magic at Sengie, as the 716-acre brackish pond is familiarly called. Photographers biking along Beach road stop to grab shots for Instagram. Island Spirit Kayak, located conveniently at the Little Bridge, will rent you a SUP (stand up paddleboard) for three hours or a week – or lead you on a sunset cruise. Felix Neck Sanctuary offers daily kayak adventures as well. You might want to waterproof your iPhone!
@STEVE.HOOVER66
