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Columnists

In good hands with Jennifer Egan

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One of the greatest things about reading a good book is that we are able to learn something as we flip through the pages. A fringe benefit of reading is that we don’t need to travel, because good writing is like traveling. Whether we are reading fiction or non-fiction—if we get the sense that we...
Mansion Road Maples

Martha Ball

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists

T his is the time of year I think with each week the land has peaked. Early flowers and blossoms have come and gone, the beach roses blanket the dunes, and the maples, the weedy trees that grew while we were not watching, have become great green canopies, spreading over roads. When they are trimmed...
The Orchid Lounge reopens

Amy Lockwood MacDougall

Thu, Jun 6

Category:

Columnists

An old piece of Block Island history has been brought back to life. The Orchid Lounge, a popular bar in the 60s and 70s, in what was then the Royal Hotel, has been reopened at the Harborside Inn. How many times do you hear, “I remember Block Island when...” when speaking with islanders, or...
Turning the Tide column: Coastal seal rescues

Rosemary Connelli

Fri, May 31

Category:

Columnists

In a recent article from Hakai magazine, “Reassessing Seal Rescue,” questions and actions are spurred on the topic of seal rescues: Should the seal be rescued, handled by experts, or just left alone? The article shares a coastal perspective from the Netherlands, and the historical account of seal...
Rule of thumb for the summer: situational awareness

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, May 30

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The phone rang and a voice with a southern drawl said, “Hey, Joe, how’re you doin?” “Good, long time no hear Captain, how are you and yours? You still flying the big wagons?” I asked. “Yup, but I’ll tell ya, last week I crashed my Stinson Gullwing in New Mexico, some guy hit me while I was on final...
Eleven Blooms

Martha Ball

Thu, May 30

Category:

Columnists

Years ago I dug up what I thought were a few paper whites which had been blooming in a little circle in my yard. There was a mass of bulbs, I discovered, grown tightly against each other. I read instructions, separated them, counting as I went, collecting them in groups of ten, then hundreds. Some...
Miniature Yews

Martha Ball

Thu, May 23

Category:

Island Notes

A clitter-clatter follows me into the kitchen when I go to refill my coffee cup. I know it is Autumn. She does it all the time, and still makes me laugh, standing there, giving her empty dish — then me — a mournful look. Breakfast was served, I remind her, and she turns, dejected, only to plop down...
Memories of the bridges we’ve crossed

Martha Ball

Thu, May 16

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

S p ring is coming in spurts, as it is prone to do, but not at such extremes as this year. We always wait for the shad to bloom, watching it bud in the cool of April, often to flower and fade in a very few days of bright sun. It is the ornamentals that put the passage of time more certainly at our...
A Summer At Sea

Martha Ball

Thu, May 9

Category:

Island Notes

Th e first year I know there was an egret at the edge of the pond behind my house was 1990. It was May and I was out front playing with my new golden retriever puppy, my precious Shad. The fields were clear, and folks from up the road were out walking. They saw us and came up to see the puppy, or,...
The First of May

Martha Ball

Fri, May 3

Category:

Island Notes

It is the first of May and it is green and gray, the sky a parfait of pale blues and whites over a calm and near-silver ocean. The shad on Clay Head is still waiting for a day or two of full sunshine to burst open. The grass out back is thick but it is heavy with moisture, newly reclaimed, just a...
Class of 1969

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, May 2

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett In 1969 I graduated from Saint Raphael Academy in my hometown of Pawtucket, Rhode Island — I was last in my class. The road to this ranking was rife with academic failure; school was not something I...
Dish off the Block: Thai Chicken and Shrimp Naan Pizza

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Apr 25

Category:

Columnists

Sooo, I just won the Taste of America Challenge with my Thai-inspired pizza on naan bread! Naan is a soft Indian flatbread made with yogurt. A trendy ingredient, it can be readily found in most supermarkets. Naan bread is very versatile and creates the perfect canvas for a time-saving...
April Blue

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 25

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

S ome years ago this paper asked about holiday traditions, be it Christmas or Easter, I do not remember, or it may well have been a theme through the seasons. I had little to offer, no recipes handed down over generations, carried from Europe in someone’s head or on a carefully folded slip of paper...
Cathedral of Spring

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 18

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

A p ril came slowly, the daffodils at the turn off Mansion Road that some years bloom the first of the month opened a solid two weeks later this year. The forsythia, part of the yellow wave that belongs to this part of spring, has finally flowered, tossing splashes of color into the awakening, but...
Dish off the Block: That’s no yolk!

Pamela Gelsomini

Fri, Apr 12

Category:

Columnists

What’s for “brinner” — breakfast for dinner?” Never underestimate the power of placing a sunny-side up egg with a gooey yolk on top of some of your favorite dishes. These meals are taken to new heights when topped with the incredible edible egg… and that’s no yolk! Twice Baked Potatoes...
Stoked

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Apr 11

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

The guy was swimming toward the rocky shore of the Point Judith Lighthouse as the whitewater pounded and rumbled him forward. The swell was pumping well over head and there were 40 surfers out jockeying for position in the crowded lineup. This swell popped up very quickly and the word spread fast...
Head for the Steeple

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 11

Category:

Island Notes

Martha Ball is out sick this week. This column was originally published in April 2011. Y ou can’t go wrong when you head for the steeple. Sage advice, it was, from my cousin the mariner, he still so belonging to the world of deepwater he will not park close to the supermarket door. He...
A saloon musician gets his due

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Apr 4

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

”Bear down on that guitar, Houlihan,” said Jon Campbell from the stage as we were performing a benefit on Block Island for the moving of the Southeast Lighthouse. My response was a sneer at my music mate as I bashed down a solid G chord on my Guild guitar. That’s how Campbell rolled when we played...
Year To Year

Martha Ball

Thu, Apr 4

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

It is April. All of the requisite calendar markers have been passed, the gas station is open on Sunday, the boat is making more runs, the grocery closes later, some restaurants are opening over weekends, others posting countdown notices until they will welcome diners. What happened to the winter I...
Dish off the Block: Lobster pasta in cream sauce

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Mar 28

Category:

Columnists

Did you know that the best time to enjoy Block Island lobster is not in the summer? Admittedly, New England lobster is sweet and delicious any time of year, but lobsters in the waters surrounding our favorite glacial deposit generally begin the molting process, where they shed their shell...
Under Changed Conditions

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 28

Category:

Island Notes

We come to the end of March, Women's History Month. And so I go to the stack of paper that occupies the left-hand corner of my desk. It does not contain timely paperwork, rather bits and pieces of history, of things I might “need” someday. It is, to my credit, slowly diminishing, but there are some...
Wind and Words

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Mar 21

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

For several years I had a monthly ritual that involved reading a particular character’s stuff in Soundings magazine. It was written by the late Jack Sherwood, who had a column called “Bay Tripper.” I found interesting stories by a guy who loved sailing on the Chesapeake in a beautifully maintained...
Between the Seasons

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 21

Category:

News, Island Notes

We have crossed the many thresholds that mark the transition from winter to spring. We passed Washington's birthday; meteorological winter ended on March 1; our man-imposed measure of time shifted, a blip pushing the sunrise back before seven for a few days; and the closing hour of the grocery was...
Sprung Ahead

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 14

Category:

Island Notes

No t so long ago my brother commented from Michigan the wonder of technology we have seen in our lives, of our ability to take photographs, see the result and transmit them almost instantaneously. We grew up in a world of black — or gray — and white, of snapshots that were taken sparingly, the film...
Dish off the Block: A St Patty’s Day special

Pem Gelsomini

Thu, Mar 14

Category:

Columnists

St. Patty’s Day is this Sunday! Pour yourself some green beer, do an Irish jig in celebration. Sláinte! I bet you thought I would be serving up some corned beef and cabbage for this column, right? Nope! Did you know that corned beef and cabbage is not really an authentic Irish dish? It was...
Founding Mother

Martha Ball

Thu, Mar 7

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Even in 1877, long before women could vote or anyone thought of Women’s History Month, Sarah Sands was included in the Rev. Livermore's sketches on important players in the early European settlement of Block Island, and as more than the footnoted “wife of. . .” He wrote of Sarah: T...
Thoughts for Lent

Pastor Peter Preiser

Thu, Mar 7

Category:

Columnists

Lenten reflections: An early Easter Easter falls rather late on the calendar this year, but why not start celebrating early? Easter Sunday is my favorite day of the year, and the Season of Lent, the 40 day period leading up to Easter, is my favorite season of the church calendar. I have...
Bridging two glimmering cities

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Feb 28

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

“Judy, we’re kind of close to this guy,” said Pat Hackett from the backseat of a black boxy Mercedes Benz as it swerved ahead into the right lane after zipping past the Metro bus. “It’s okay, Pat, I see him. Joe, you’re a writer. Look! The Village Voice ,” said Judy, as she deftly wove the...
In Another Century

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 28

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

I t is a strange thing not to be exceedingly, record-breakingly old, but remember so clearly a world so different from the one we know. Technology has erased boundaries and miles even as it has built walls, taking away the communications that required some thought and effort, a pen and paper vs...
Dish off the Block: Confetti quinoa stuffed peppers

Pam Gelsomini

Thu, Feb 28

Category:

Columnists

“ Keeeeenwahhh ?” My kids stared blankly at the plate. “What is it?” “Quinoa,” I told them, “is a grain grown in South America. It is super-packed with nutrients, amino acids, and has more fiber and protein than most grains. Try it..” They rolled their eyes, but they knew the rule — the one...
You know you’re a geezer...

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Feb 21

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

You know you’re a geezer when you realize that the benchmarks and milestones that make it clear you’re going at a different speed happen more frequently. For example, I heard of a guy who had his kids at age 60. One day he was asking where the diapers were in the supermarket and the clerk directed...
The Effrontery To Frolic

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 21

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

“W he n we reach Washington’s Birthday the back of winter is broken” was one of the many adages I learned from the late Capt. Lewis when we would meet walking the low tide beach on a winter day. My dad, of the same generation, would talk of the true date of the birth of our first President at the...
Expectations of Cardinals

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 14

Category:

Island Notes

Y esterday afternoon it snowed, the same snow that was forecast, at least by Facebook page eweather.com that I have come to rely on above all else except NOAA. We live, I was again reminded, in a part of the world where the weather can vary wildly: from the south shore of Rhode Island to its...
Old school nods

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Feb 7

Category:

News, Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

One morning after parking his car at the ferry landing, Chris Walken stopped over at the shack to talk with Capt. Matty Rooney and me. After some standard greetings and salutations, Matty suggested we get a picture of us with Chris. Note well in the background of the shot there is something that...
Veils of fog

Martha Ball

Thu, Feb 7

Category:

Island Notes

Mu ch of last February was weirdly mild, springtime come early it felt, after a short winter of deep cold come and gone in early January. Winter never truly did return, but spring, even for Block Island, was exceedingly late and short last year, after a seemingly endless misery of chilling damp...
Ocean Views: Citizen Science: Seals, birds, and flowers, … Oh, my!

Kim Gaffett

Thu, Jan 31

Category:

Ocean Views

You might ask in wonderment, what do seals, and birds and flowers have in common? The answer is — for this article — citizen science. Citizen science is the process of many volunteers collecting observations and reporting them to one scientist/entity that is building a database of information. It’s...
A coastal dweller

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Jan 31

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

In 1957 our dad took us all to Galilee — The Point — in his two-tone green ’55 Plymouth sedan to walk along the bulkheads and docks. I clearly remember walking by a gallows frame where some giant tuna hung, where they were being weighed — before they were gutted and headed. The frame was right...
The storm will come again

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 31

Category:

Island Notes

Is the level of the sea rising? It seems to be, I am not a denier. The rim of the dredged Old Harbor basin once was regularly visible on a low tide; now it is a rarity. Still, it is hard to tell, here. The beach is a fluid place where a six-inch pyramid poking out of sand in early September is a...
Mystic carves a niche in island signs — and beyond

Michael Schroeder

Thu, Jan 24

Category:

Trips Abroad

The Mohegan Café. Water Street Inn. Harborside. New Shoreham House. Seacrest Inn. For anyone who’s been to Block Island, these signs are hard to miss. And one of the reasons is the unique signage created by Cameron Bortz and his team at Mystic Hand Carved Signs. Bortz has been creating signs for...
Ocean Views: Food waste is serious

Thu, Jan 24

Category:

Ocean Views

Calling all chefs… and composters, back yard recyclers, and transfer station managers, and anyone interested in knowing more about how food waste is being handled (or not handled) worldwide, to a viewing of an incredibly interesting film, “Wasted! The story of food waste,” on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at...
Spy hopping, banana posing and other seal questions

Kim Gaffett and Clair Stover

Thu, Jan 17

Category:

Ocean Views

With our yards and meadows mostly buttoned-up or battened-down, we are paying more attention to our island-wide back yard. Have you ever been walking on the beach, and realized that somebody was watching you? Or, lost in thought admiring the rivulets of sand — created how? by wind or wave? — and...
Gold and Blue

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 17

Category:

Island Notes

Th e afternoon is 26 minutes longer than it was in mid-December, when sunset came the earliest it does the whole year. I keep reminding myself it is only mid-January, there is much cold weather to come before we again hear peepers. Then I come home just before four, after a dull morning and an...
Bruce Springsteen’s Odyssean quest

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Thu, Jan 10

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Bruce Springsteen, like Odysseus, is a man of twists and turns trying to get home — both finally did get home; Odysseus got home to the island of Ithaca, and Bruce got home to Freehold, New Jersey, and to Penelope and Patti. In the bardic tradition of Homer, Springsteen is a hell of a story teller...
Water light

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 10

Category:

Island Notes

It is January, the traffic is sparse and the town highway crew is out with its long-armed mower, gnawing back the ever-encroaching brush that grows up over walls wanting the roads. That effort, coupled with the seasonal loss of leaves, opens the wider view we experience in winter. The sun is in a...
57 species collected, one by one

Ocean Views: 2018 Bird Census

KIm Gaffett

Fri, Jan 4

Category:

Ocean Views

On Wednesday, Dec. 26, a hearty band of bird watchers — Jon Peterson, Heather Hatfield, Anne Connelli, Judy Gray, Jules Craynock, Sarah Grey, Laura Rosenzwieg, Cathy Payne, her granddaughter Bailey Payne, and cousin Aidan — met at Sachem Pond to kick off a day of looking for birds to be tallied for...
The Sea Is So Great...

Martha Ball

Thu, Jan 3

Category:

Island Notes

Th e New Year came in on a dour note, wind-driven rain slamming the south-facing windows near the foot of my bed. I would not sleep, I knew, so I stayed up late, reading a book loaned to me several years ago. The bookmark was about four pages in, then I must have put it down before eventually...
Sometime in New York City

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Jan 3

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Last November I decided to go to New York City to learn about a place called Gramercy Park and meet some New Yorkers. Reading New York City history is one of my favorite past times; authors Russell Shorto, Pete Hamill, E.B. White and Luc Sante have told me The Big Apple story. Beginning with the...
Let us entertain you

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Thu, Dec 27

Category:

Columnists, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Online retailers have fairly recently jumped into the creative arena, producing original content that is disrupting the old distribution models for television shows and movies. My wife and I finally hopped aboard to see what all the fuss was about and I’m glad we did. The first show we dialed up on...
Another Year

Martha Ball

Thu, Dec 27

Category:

Columnists, Island Notes

Th ere was a dusting of snow on the ground one morning earlier this week. It appeared, at first, at least through lacy curtains, to be that super-frost that can glaze the world on a cold morning, and turn whole fields white. Later, though, there were actual clumps out in the field, real snow...
Thoughts for the advent season: Timeless

Pastor Peter Preiser

Fri, Dec 21

Category:

Columnists

The holidays are a natural time for reflecting upon our traditions. I recently rediscovered an article that speaks of a balanced approach to the time-honored, deeply-cherished traditions of our Judeo-Christian heritage. It was written by author Betsy Childs Howard: “My mother recently gave me a...

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Posted By

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TimberTech by AZEK

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Riverhead Building Supply

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Riverhead Building Supply offers TimberTech by AZEK Building Products. Click here for the latest collections and styles...

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12/5

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