Sunday: Winter Walking on Tisbury's Ancient Ways
Join
your VCS friends on Sunday (Feb. 9) for our next Winter Walk, an
exploration of ancient ways and nearby conservation lands that lie
between Lambert's Cove and State Road. The walk will set out at 10 am
from the Wakeman Center (located on Helen Ave., off Lambert's Cove
Road).
Please note that due to the road closure, you will need to take the
"lower" entrance to Lambert's Cove Road, i.e. the one closer to Vineyard
Haven.
Ancient Ways & Grey's Raid
In the final days of 2019, the Island received a gift thirty years in
the making. Shubael Weeks Road and Red Coat Hill Road were formally
designated by the MV Commission under the "Special Ways" District of
Critical Planning Concern, ensuring permanent public access to these
ancient ways (see Gazette coverage and our testimony in support of the decision). We will walk both paths this Sunday to commemorate the occasion!
 These
roads, Red Coat Hill in particular, mark the site of our local
Revolutionary War history. In September of 1778, British General Sir
Charles Grey anchored 47 warships containing 4,333 troops off Vineyard
Haven harbor. After bringing his troops ashore, and marching them along
an old way running past the residence of local Selectman Shubael Weeks,
General Grey seized the high ground west of Tashmoo that would come to
be known as "Red Coat Hill."
Should anyone need a reminder of the grim reality of war, one of the men
– an English Brigadier, but just a raider as far as the locals were
concerned – related that they:
. . . caryed off and destroyed
all the corn and Roots two miles around (the) Harbour; Dug up the Ground
everywhere to search for goods the people hid; even so Curious were
they in searching as to Disturb the ashes of the Dead. (Charles Edward Banks, History of Martha's Vineyard)
Apart from the outright destruction, Grey's Raid expropriated a total of
315 head of cattle, 10,574 sheep, and considerable coin from Martha's
Vineyard.
From Chikamaug to Chickammoo, Onkokemmy to Lambert
Similar to the site of our previous Winter Walk, Chappaquonsett, which was given the name Pilot Hill by English settlers (some history here; photos from the walk here),
this Sunday's walk will again visit places with both pre- and
post-colonial names. The area was known by its native inhabitants as
Chikamaug, later anglicized to Chickammoo, an Algonquin reference to weir fishing.
Fish trapping was an important activity at what was then a fairly large
community on Onkokemmy Bay – which is itself today more commonly known
as Lambert's Cove.
For more on the history of the area, Grey's Raid, and beginnings of the effort to protect these ancient ways, see the cover story from our 1989 newsletter.
Photo above: Red Coat Hill Road, by Brendan O'Neill
Plastic Free Kids Take Bottle Ban Down-Island
Last
spring, a group of students at the West Tisbury School pulled off an
impressive hat trick, winning passage at Town Meetings in Aquinnah,
Chilmark, and West Tisbury for their bylaw to ban many disposable
plastic bottles (water and soda bottles of less than 34
ounces). Following through on a commitment made last year, the group
known as "Plastic Free MV" is now bringing the bylaw to the rest of the
Island.
Last year's up-Island campaign was not without challenges, and based on our own experience with a ban on plastic bags (see second story here),
it seems likely the down-Island towns will have even greater concerns.
Plastic Free MV have already presented once before the Selectmen in
Tisbury, Edgartown, and Oak Bluffs, and received a generally favorable
reception. However, at their Oak Bluffs presentation, Selectmen shared
that they have heard considerable pushback from businesses who are "completely unhappy with this conversation."
Before deciding whether to put the article on the warrant for Town Meeting, the Selectmen will hold a public hearing at their regular meeting this Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 4:30
in the Library meeting room. Business owners have been invited to the
hearing to voice their concerns; if you are an Oak Bluffs voter who
would like a chance to vote on this at Town Meeting, please do come out
and voice your support.
100% Renewable MV
Next week, on Weds. Feb 12 at 5:00,
Vineyard Sustainable Energy Committee Chair Rob Hannemann will give a
talk at the Chilmark Library explaining VSEC's ambitious proposal: that
by 2040, all the energy consumed on our Island would come from
renewable, carbon-free, sources. A resolution
to that effect will be up for a vote at Town Meeting in all six Towns,
so make sure to catch this presentation to learn exactly what this means
for all of us.
For more on the 100% renewable goal, take a listen to this great story
produced by WCAI earlier this week, featuring many quotes from our
local climate and energy experts (including a very brief recap of the
recent presentation by Marc Rosenbaum of South Mountain Co. and the VCS
Board). For more energy and climate related events, see the Island Climate Action Network.
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