Unofficially the first poet laureate of the Island was Dionis Coffin Riggs, who began hosting a poetry group at the Cleaveland House in West Tisbury in 1960.
Here is Dionis’s poem Wait, Spring, which was published in the April 19, 1996 Gazette:
Photography
Shadows dapple up-Island roads. Leaves whisper in early breezes. Tree limbs reach across roads to tenderly touch. The air is fresh. Webs of dew on the grass sparkle in the sun. An occasional rabbit sniffs curiously at a roadside wildflower. It's June on the Vineyard.
June 27, 2023
June has made it to our shores, even though the cool wet weather seems more suitable for May. Despite the weather, the nesting season is well underway, with many of our common nesting birds now fledging their first brood.
June 27, 2023
As per tradition, Camp Jabberwocky counselors dressed in high style to greet campers at the ferry. After hugs and hellos they all headed up to camp to begin a busy month of activities, beach trips and a summer play.
June 26, 2023
June can be a bit maddening because it brings on so many aspects of the season, but still it is a month on the margin of summer. Then comes July, and we know the wild ride of summer is on.
June 25, 2023
Today was the last day of classes for most Island schools. Cheers echoed from every classroom as the noon bell rang at the Edgartown School, signaling the end of another school year and the start of summer vacation.
June 20, 2023
This year is the second annual Juneteenth Jubilee celebration on the Vineyard, held for the first time as an Island-wide event last year. The theme this year is Free as the Wind.
June 19, 2023
Islanders, day-trippers and summer residents all found their way to Oak Bluffs a day later due to rain on Saturday for the annual Harborfest.
June 19, 2023
Vineyarders made their way to Tisbury Wharf this weekend to tour the historic Amistad, a replica of the historic vessel that was the setting of a slave revolt in 1839. The ship is the centerpiece for events remembering and celebrating Juneteenth.
June 19, 2023
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years." So said Mark Twain in Old Times on the Mississippi in 1874 and the same holds true today.
June 18, 2023
Blooming Art is on display at the historic Old Mill in West Tisbury this weekend, the Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club’s biggest event of the year.
June 17, 2023
Dressed to the nines, Islanders came out to the historic Dr. Daniel Fisher House Thursday night for the 37th annual Taste of the Vineyard, a super-sized soiree and smorgasbord that benefits the Vineyard Trust.
June 17, 2023
The Amistad was at rest at Tisbury Wharf Thursday morning, after spending the night off Cuttyhunk on her voyage from Mystic, Connecticut.
June 15, 2023
More than 80 people gathered at Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway in Vineyard Haven Saturday for the launch of Nat Benjamin’s 100th design, a custom 26-foot, gaff-rigged sloop called Marta.
June 15, 2023
Surrounded by family, friends, and members of the community, the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School class of 2023 gathered at the Tabernacle Sunday for their graduation ceremony.
June 12, 2023
Rainbow-attired Islanders celebrated the Vineyard’s second Pride parade on Saturday. The parade began at the Island Queen dock and then wove up Circuit avenue and back down to Ocean Park. A large contingent of people walked in the parade and many more cheered from storefronts and patios.
June 11, 2023
The summer season really kicks into gear as the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market begins its season. Radishes, greens, lupines and peonies are June's highlights. But the market is more than just a place to buy your gifts from the ground, grown right here on the Island.
June 11, 2023