Author Archives: Susanna J. Sturgis
SMF’s Land Grab Continues
The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation (SMF) — a Vineyard conservation nonprofit that has long since lost sight of its founder’s mission — is still trying to steamroller Ben Ramsey and Nisa Counter into giving up their land on Blue Barque Road … Continue reading
On the Ballot
It took less than a week for the town clerk to certify my signatures and get my nomination paper stamped by three of the town’s registrars of voters. Why does it take three registrars to certify that a candidate is … Continue reading
No Dogs! No No No!
So last December the West Tisbury Parks and Recreation committee threw up a NO DOGS sign on the new public basketball court near the West Tisbury School. Trav and I had been using it a few mornings a week for … Continue reading
I Hate Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
The other day X declared that she’d taken to her bed with raw spinach poisoning. A friend noted that X’s symptoms sounded suspiciously like those of the nasty stomach bug she herself had just gotten over, and she had not … Continue reading
Fear
I’ve been thinking about fear since last Tuesday’s special town meeting. Well, no: I’ve been thinking about fear since my right retina detached in the summer of 2004 and set me on the road that led to “My Terrorist Eye: … Continue reading
A Candidate’s Progress
One month to the day after I picked up the instructions and a blank petition (see “Rumor Control” for the backstory), I filed my nomination papers to run for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC). This required a trip to Town … Continue reading
The Politics of Personalities
Neither the town of West Tisbury, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, nor the United States of America is going to stand or fall based on the votes that were taken at last night’s special town meeting. Most of them were about … Continue reading
Dogged
Last November, at a special town meeting (STM), West Tisbury voters very narrowly voted to ban dogs from Lambert’s Cove Beach between June 15 and September 15. Up till then dogs had been allowed on the beach before 10 a.m. … Continue reading
Shoelaces
Nearly all my shoes are boots. I do possess one pair of genuine shoes (sensible, of course), along with a pair of sneakers and an ancient pair of Birkenstock knockoffs, but most of my shoes are boots. When I was … Continue reading
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 