11:14 am, March 17, 2015
I saw a definitive sign of the approaching spring on Thursday, March 12. Granted, it was only a flock of about 20 Canada geese, but they were landing on the football field at the high school.
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Birds Show the Way to Spring
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Worship Made Easy at St. Andrew's
1:33 pm, March 17, 2015
St. Andrew’s Church is offering a new, relaxed form of worship service beginning this Sunday, March 22, at 4 p.m. in the parish hall.
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What’s Cooking at the Library
1:43 pm, March 17, 2015
In memory of Laurel Chapman, a longtime officer of the Friends of the Vineyard Haven Library, a series of free cooking classes is planned at the library, featuring well-known Island chefs.
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Virginia Blakesley Was an Artist, Teacher and Political Activist
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - 3:19pm
Virginia (Ginny) Blakesley of West Tisbury died of pneumonia on the evening of March 3, 2015, at age 93, just 10 days short of her 94th birthday, at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Her son Bill spent most of the day by her bedside while her daughter Barb tried in vain to fly across the country in time to hold her hand and say goodbye. Virginia’s faithful friend of many years, Tom Thatcher, sat with her that day as did Hope Hospice.
When Ginny was 88 she took a class on writing her own obituary, but she never quite finalized it since she was expecting to live to 100. She wrote that she intended to still be painting in her favorite watercolor group at Howes House in West Tisbury, telling stories about the past, laughing about adventures gone bad, and assuring those still young and active that life can be interesting when old and confined to a wheelchair.
Virginia Louise Ames was born March 13, 1921 in Toledo, Ohio, to Louise Julia Henrietta Hagedorn and Homer Clayton Ames. Virginia was born in her grandparent’s house back in the day when doctors still made house calls. Her father’s family were early Dutch settlers in New York in the 1700s, while her mother’s father immigrated from Germany to the U.S. as a boy.
She was baptized in the Lutheran Church and went to Sunday school and church every Sunday. Her father stayed home and read Buddhist books while her mother saw to it that Virginia and her three siblings attended church. Although her father wished his children to be musical, Virginia decided as a youngster to be an artist and applied to and was accepted at the Toledo Museum of Art School. She graduated at 17 from the University of Toledo and earned a master’s degree in fine arts from Ohio State University. Virginia married a fellow art student William Henry Blakesley Jr. in 1942. They were married for 33 years and raised two children.
Virginia and her husband Bill came to the Island in 1955 at the urging of Tom Thatcher, an Ohio and Vineyard potter, and became good friends through Tom with Lillian and Daniel Manter. They served as house parents at the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Hostel for many summers in the late 1950s and 1960s. The Manters sold the Blakesleys land off of New Lane in West Tisbury, and Daniel built them a house close to their own home. In addition to working at the Youth Hostel, the Blakesleys owned and operated the Blakesley Gallery on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs for 13 summers, selling the building in the early 1970s. In the off-season, Virginia was the East Muskingum County, Ohio School District art superintendent, teaching art to children in kindergarten through eighth grade while her husband Bill was the chairman of the art department at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. Bill and Ginny hired selected art students from Muskingum College each year to work in the Blakesley Gallery for the summer. Some of these “Gallery Girls” formed lasting bonds with the Island, including permanent Island resident Molly (Prudner) Finklestein. Both Ginny and Bill retired in 1975 and moved to the Vineyard permanently.
After her divorce in 1975, Virginia devoted her life year round on the Island to the Martha’s Vineyard League of Women Voters, where she served as president for a number of years; to traveling with friends Al and Maggie Glotzer to Mexico and the Middle East; to adventure camping trips with her daughter out West, and to her painting. Virginia was very proud of her instrumental role in developing the recycling program on the Vineyard. She was also most proud of her work with children and starting children’s art programs in Michigan and Ohio. She taught art in the down-Island schools and Martha’s Vineyard High School from 1959 to 1961, when her husband was on sabbatical from Muskingum College. To this day, she is fondly remembered by her Island students, some of whom have become professional artists or simply lovers of art.
Ginny loved the Vineyard and expressed her feelings vividly in her many watercolors of Island landscapes. Virginia described herself as a “worrier, obstinate, and having left-field-itis.” If she meant by this that she cared deeply for her friends and family, was bold and let her opinions be known, and that she was creative and progressive politically, her friends and family would agree. Her many friends, family, and former students describe her as kind, funny, intelligent, strong and very beautiful. Her granddaughter, artist Katherine Grey, described her as “a woman very much ahead of her time.” Ginny will be very much missed by all who knew her.
Virginia is survived by her son William B. Blakesley of West Tisbury and his former wife Patty Blakesley of Racine, Wis., her daughter Barbara A. Blakesley and her partner Sarah Allman and former husband Bruce Ackerman of Boise, Idaho; two grandchildren, Alexander James Blakesley and wife Jess of Edmonton, Wash., and Katherine Ames Grey and husband Christian of Boise, Idaho; sister Mary Ruth Daggett (Bootie) of Fullerton, Calif.; brother Bernard Ames (Bud) and wife Rosalee of Key West, Fla., and Burlington, Vt.; numerous nieces and nephews, and devoted Vineyard friends, including Dorothy and Herb Wass and their family of Oak Bluffs and Topsfield. Virginia loved them all.
Ginny was predeceased by her parents, older sister Hildred (Hoodie) Alexander and her husband Dick, her ex-husband and fellow Vineyard artist William Blakesley, and many beloved Vineyard friends such as Al and Maggie Glotzer and Chris and Ben Kahan. Virginia’s family wishes to recognize the friendships Virginia enjoyed with the Howes House staff — Joyce, Ellen, Tanya and Bethany, and especially Virginia’s love of the watercolor group led by Nancy Cabot. The family also wishes to thank the kind and caring staff at Windemere and Hope Hospice for making Virginia’s last days on the Island she loved comfortable.
A celebration of Virginia’s life will be held this summer at a date to be determined at the First Congregational Church of West Tisbury, where she was a member and deacon for many years.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in her name to Howes House, Council on Aging, P.O. Box 3174, West Tisbury, MA 02575 or westtisbury-ma.gov/Boards/council-aging.html.
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Tonya Leonard and Joshua Katz Announce Engagement
3:36 pm, March 17, 2015
Richard and Pia Leonard of West Tisbury, announce the engagement of their daughter, Tonya Leonard, to Joshua Robert Katz, son of Neal and Susan Katz of Portsmouth, N.H.
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Ethics Commission Finds Conflict of Interest Violation by Oak Bluffs Fire Chief
4:47 pm, March 17, 2015
In hiring and supervising members of his family, Oak Bluffs ambulance and fire chief John Rose broke conflict of interest rules, the state ethics commission said Monday. But the commission declined to fine Mr. Rose or call for a hearing, instead sending a letter explaining requirements of the law.
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Exhibit Highlighting Threatened Trees Comes to Polly Hill
10:39 am, March 18, 2015
Participants at last week’s final winter walk at the Polly Hill Arboretum got an unexpected treat: a chance to view a traveling exhibit, Vanishing Acts: Trees Under Threat. Polly Hill is the only New England arboretum to host the exhibit, which aims to bring awareness to endangered trees.
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Rosemary Ribarik Gave Her Time and Talent to Island Community
Wednesday, March 18, 2015 - 10:53am
Rosemary Ribarik of Tisbury died at Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday morning, March 18. She was 67.
Born on June 15, 1947, Rosemary began visiting her sister Ellie Bates on the Island in the 1970s with her family. After purchasing a home in Vineyard Haven in 1984, she worked for the Chamber of Commerce and later ran a small bed and breakfast with her husband John while summering on the Island.
Rosemary moved to the Island permanently in 2004 with her husband. Since then she continuously volunteered at the thrift shop, food pantry, library and countless other charitable events. She loved giving to the Island community.
Knitter extraordinaire, Rosemary belonged to a number of knitting groups around the Island, contributing many hundreds of hours of work to those in need.
Rosemary is survived by her husband John, daughter Natalie and her husband Ken, grandsons Levin and Bryce, and her sister Ellie. She was a most gentle and generous soul who will be missed by all who had the opportunity to know her.
Visiting hours are Saturday, March 21, 10 a.m. to noon with a funeral service immediately following officiated by Deacon Karl Buder at the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs. She will be cremated and the burial of her cremains will be held on Saturday, March 28, at 1 p.m. in the Oak Grove Cemetery in Vineyard Haven. Visit ccgfuneralhome.com for online guest book and information.
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On Chappy: March 20
11:02 am, March 18, 2015
Spring is upon us. Lily Walter of Slip Away Farm tells me that they still have a few memberships available in their CSA program. To sign up, call the farmhouse at 508-627-7465 or visit slipawayfarm.com.
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It's All About Amazing Aloe
11:08 am, March 18, 2015
It is the aloe plants that soar and thrive. They make me feel like I have a green thumb and have become my verdant companions. And I mean plants, plural. Over a dozen aloe plants fill my home, all from the same mother plant.
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A Springtime State of Mind
11:19 am, March 18, 2015
On Sunday morning enough snow had melted to reveal a huge patch of purple crocuses. They hadn’t fully opened but you could tell they were purple. Then, more snow on Sunday evening. No matter, the next day the adorable purple buds were visible in the snow cover.
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Edgartown Town Column: March 20
1:01 pm, March 18, 2015
Well, Boston broke its record, but I have not heard anything about our record. I think if we took a poll nobody would argue this has been the snowiest winter in a long time.
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West Tisbury Town Column: March 20
1:16 pm, March 18, 2015
Well, as you have noticed, the days are getting thankfully longer; we now have more than 12 hours of daylight each day, but the thermometer has not climbed above 50 degrees.
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Oak Bluffs Town Column: March 20
1:32 pm, March 18, 2015
With Oak Bluffs designed as a glorified summer resort, the builders achieved their dream never realizing we would become a year-round community.
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Vineyard Haven Town Column: March 20
1:37 pm, March 18, 2015
Since I was unable to view your wee St. Patrick’s Day parade on-Island, since I was unable to join in the wearing of the green at the Ocean View, Ritz, or other venues of good food and drink, I rose early on St. Patrick’s Day and decorated the house.
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Aquinnah Town Column: March 20
1:42 pm, March 18, 2015
Sunny days have been delightful since Daylight Saving Time, or perhaps it just seems that the days have been sunnier since then. The trees are beginning to bud and the crocus are in bloom. Ice floes in the harbors are melting and the seas are much calmer.
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Library Program Supports Early Childhood Literacy, One Book at a Time
1:52 pm, March 18, 2015
With 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, a new program at the Vineyard Haven library, every opportunity to read aloud to a young child becomes a valuable tool in documenting their earliest learning experience.
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Welcome, Daniel
8:43 am, March 19, 2015
Roseli and Alexandre Bortolotto of West Tisbury announce the birth of a son, Daniel A. Bortolotto, born on March 16 at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
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House Destroyed, One Fatality in Edgartown Fire
9:59 am, March 19, 2015
A man was killed late Wednesday night in a house fire in Edgartown, according to state police. Police said David Cleary, 32, was found dead inside his home on Boylston Drive, which was fully engulfed in the fire. Three other occupants were able to evacuate.
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In Close Vote, VTA Says No to Unionization
10:59 am, March 19, 2015
A narrow majority of Vineyard Transit Authority workers have voted not to join the Amalgamated Transit Union. The final vote, cast by secret ballot, was 21 to 18. VTA employees may again seek membership in the ATU in one year.
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