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
A holiday crowd of kids wearing red antlers and parents sipping hot cocoa filled Healey Square Saturday evening for the annual Oak Bluffs tree lighting. Sean McMahon and Rose Guerin, and then Brian Weiland led everyone in Christmas carols.
November 26, 2023
Here on the Vineyard the frost is on last month’s pumpkin, and there’s always a chance the bird bath will have a thin sheet of ice. Past time to turn off the outdoor shower and roll up the hose. Fill your bird feeder and keep your soup on the stove simmering all day.
November 24, 2023
In a preemptive move before carb loading on Thursday, the Chilmark School held their annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, where kids run, walk, or trot their way down Middle Road from Beetlebung Corner to the end of Keith's field and back.
November 22, 2023
November brings cooler weather and the arrival of winter residents, especially waterfowl. Transient migrants continue to be found, including some summer resident species, though they appear in newer numbers.
November 22, 2023
On the Vineyard autumn lingers like two friends over coffee; no need to rush to the next appointment on the calendar. Lawns are still green, herb gardens redolent with rosemary, farm fields freshly turned.
November 19, 2023
Lagoon Pond was calm in the early afternoon inviting scallopers to search for the tasty treat. Volunteers at Cranberry Acres harvested and sorted Thanksgiving's favorite fruit. Later the horizon sky clouded over just at sunset; the evening was suffused in golden light.
November 12, 2023
The Veterans Day parade in Oak Bluffs stepped off at 10:45 on Lake avenue and was a multigenerational affair, led by an honor guard of three young Coast Guardsmen dressed in crisp blues, and followed by servicemen including Boy Scouts.
November 11, 2023
The Island honored its veterans on the eleventh day of the eleventh month beginning with a display of patriotic pride as members of the American Legion Post 257 raised 450 flags on the Avenue of Flags in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven.
November 11, 2023
Button-up time is here. Or, if you prefer, hunker-down time. Take your pick, up or down. We've fallen back on the clock, springing ahead is months down the road. Trick or treating is over. It's time to get ready to hibernate, the annual rite of fall.
November 5, 2023
What better time to share some verses of poetry with temperatures dropping, leaves turning and frost on the pumpkin.
November 1, 2023
Edgartown was the place to be Sunday when Happy Haunting brought little ghosts and goblins to Main street for trick or treating.
October 30, 2023
The Upis Land Band led a throng of enthusiastic listeners and dancers up Circuit avenue Saturday night in what has become an end-of-season tradition. This year Best Fest celebrated on Halloween weekend with live music, costumes and a New Orleans-style street parade.
October 30, 2023
The Vineyard football team rallied with 17 points in the second half in an epic 24-21 win to secure the 43rd playing of the Island Cup. The Vineyarders now hold a 22-21 advantage in the best of Island competition.
October 29, 2023
Halloween falls on Tuesday and the epicenter for all things scary on the Island will be William street, where goblins, ghosts, princesses and mermaids of all shapes and sizes go to trick-or-treat.
October 29, 2023
The family of scarecrows that has made a home in Vineyard Haven can’t manage to scare people away. Main street has been jammed with cars that slow to a snail’s pace as drivers and passengers check out Tisbury’s Halloween visitors.
October 28, 2023