Skip to main content area

Visitor Info
Dining
Transportation
Getting Married?
News
B.I. Wind Farm
Opinion
Columnists
Features
Community
Announcements

BIT SubMain Menu

Home
Classifieds
e-Edition
Subscribe
Login

You are here

Columnists

Tails from Beacon Hollow Farm: Radar and Dee

John Willis

Sun, Jun 25

Category:

Columnists

We have two donkeys on a small farm on the island. They came to us out of necessity and as a primitive security system, so to speak. Having chickens, ducks and goats roaming free range (there are no real predators on this island other than dogs), therefore loose dogs are a real problem. Word came...
On the corner of... The Statue of Rebecca

Martha Ball and Mary Anderson

Sat, Jun 24

Category:

Columnists

The day after the Patriots win a Super Bowl, Rebecca wears a football jersey. A great fan of local sports, she also proudly wears the red and white of the Block Island Hurricanes after a significant game. “Who is Rebecca?” or “Is there some significance to the statue?” is an oft-asked question in...
On the mainland... Pasquale’s

Fraser Lang

Fri, Jun 23

Category:

News, Trips Abroad

When I say “authentic,” I really mean it. Pasquale’s, A Pizza Napulitana, is the real deal. Pasquale’s is located in South County Commons in Wakefield, but its roots are in Italy. Owner Pasquale Illiano was born and raised in Naples. That’s where he leaned to cook and perfected his techniques. A...
The Dutch Inn: A retrospective

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jun 23

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

When the Dutch Inn was built in Galilee many years ago, it looked more ornate than it does today. It had a faux windmill and windows on its tower. It was designed as a full-blown resort hotel. The Inn had an indoor pool (with real parrots in the trees), outdoor tennis courts, a sauna and gym,...
Happenstance

Martha Ball

Fri, Jun 23

Category:

Island Notes

In a small town things have a way of intersecting. I read a restaurant review of Breakfast at Ernie's and thought how happy my father would be to know another generation was carrying on the tradition in which he had such faith so many years ago. It happened to be the weekend of Father's Day and in...
June

Martha Ball

Fri, Jun 16

Category:

Island Notes

The heat came back and with it the June bugs, the air-borne, armored, harmless but annoying creatures that fly through open windows, buzzing about aimlessly until I feel a touch, the slightest weight of one landed on my head, in my hair. Then, all bets are off and the little tank of a beast is...
An old butter churn

Martha Ball and Mary Anderson

Sat, Jun 10

Category:

Columnists

Ed. note: The Block Island Historical Society was founded in 1942. To help celebrate its 75th year, the Society’s Diamond Anniversary, The Block Island Times will be publishing sketches and photographs of items in its collection. For those interested in joining or donating to The...
Sunshine Afternoon

Martha Ball

Fri, Jun 9

Category:

Island Notes

It is June and, when I am home, I leave the front doors, living room, hall, and entry all wide open. My springtime expectation of birds flying into the house, confused by plentiful natural light within, has not been much realized this year, although the season is new. A nest was begun in a corner...
Waiting for Summer

Martha Ball

Fri, Jun 2

Category:

Island Notes

This past weekend I somewhere read that among the reasons May 30 was chosen for Memorial Day, before the Uniform Holiday Act relegated it to a Monday, was the fact that flowers were in fullest bloom. It is a harsh reality of the start of every June, that grasses, where allowed, have grown tall and...
Garden Report: Japanese Barberry and ticks

Renée Meyer

Sun, May 28

Category:

Gardening Report

What’s not to love about a drought- and deer-tolerant ornamental shrub with colorful foliage, plentiful red berries and cute, although inconspicuous little flowers? Quite a bit, it seems. Japanese barberry ( Berberis thunbergii ) was brought to the United States in the late 1800s. Fast...
The fish are here

Capt. Chris Willi and Capt. Hank Hewitt

Sat, May 27

Category:

Fishing Report

At last, after a seemingly interminable winter, the fish are here and the season is underway. To lead off with a shore-based report, the striped bass are here in numbers, yet no keeper sizes as of yet. They are feeding around sunset and sunrise in the Coast Guard Channel, and throughout the Great...
On the corner of... A Piccilo-Zither music box

Martha Ball and Mary Anderson

Fri, May 26

Category:

Columnists

The Block Island Historical Society was formed in immediate reaction to an item in Lucretia Mott Ball’s will, whereby personal items of especial interest and value were to be given “to museums or historical collections” preferably in New England. She died in 1941; the local organization was...
Morning Sounds

Martha Ball

Fri, May 26

Category:

Columnists

This morning I went outside, my feet still in the old sneakers I wear as slippers, in deference to a dog who, at any given time, may leave a chewed bit of a stick in my path. It was not especially early but the air was dense, on the verge of a light sprinkle, and the grass that is always wet at...
On the Mainland: A&B Family Appliances

Fraser Lang

Thu, May 25

Category:

Loose ends

Jim Buchanan is a hands-on owner. Jim and his wife Anne own A & B Family Appliances in Wakefield. He’s always told me that he “does what it takes” to keep his business going. I wasn’t surprised, therefore, to call one morning and learn that he was out delivering a refrigerator. I called later...
At the Harbor

Martha Ball

Fri, May 19

Category:

Island Notes

The rain has stopped, and with hanging sheets on the line I think of my mother saying this was the time to spread white linens on new grass to brighten them. Then I realize I feel the strength of the spring sun on my face from an hour spent beside the water yesterday afternoon. The work on the Old...
On the corner of...

Martha Ball and Mary Anderson

Fri, May 12

Category:

Columnists

Ed. note: The Block Island Historical Society was founded in 1942. To help celebrate its 75th year, the Society’s Diamond Anniversary, The Block Island Times will be publishing sketches and photographs of items in its collection. For those interested in joining or donating to The...
It’s An Island

Martha Ball

Fri, May 12

Category:

Island Notes

The last few years the prevalent theme of my columns written in early May has been centered on green and gray, underscored with a protest that it should not be this way. My easily recalled memories of the start of this month are all golden sunshine, long afternoons and verdant hills. While I do not...
Sirens in the Sea

Martha Ball

Fri, May 5

Category:

Island Notes

Monday was reminiscent of one of those Easters when we have to take on faith that there is a sun rising from the ocean out behind the clouds, easy enough when our imagining is buoyed by ambient light growing as we let slip our hope for a ray of gold to gild the sky and show us that morning truly...
On the Mainland: Inside Style

Fraser Lang

Sun, Apr 30

Category:

Trips Abroad

Lee Chartier, owner of Inside Style in Wakefield, wins your confidence right from the start. She is warm, knowledgeable and open. Her trademark approach is to work collaboratively with clients, getting to know what they are comfortable with to transform a space that reflects their tastes with her...
Jeremiah Littlefield’s fishing tackle

On the corner of...

Mary Anderson and Martha Ball

Sat, Apr 29

Category:

Columnists

Ed. note: The Block Island Historical Society was founded in 1942. To help celebrate its 75th year, the Society’s Diamond Anniversary, The Block Island Times will be publishing sketches and photographs of items in its collection. For those interested in joining or donating to The...
Heavy at Times

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 28

Category:

Island Notes

We live in a small town, some of us have always lived in this small town, I think when crossing paths with someone, a younger brother of a classmate who will always be that, no matter that he is long grown, with a son of his own now in college. “Heavy at times” he remarks, a nod at the gentle rain...
50 Years of bird banding

Kim Gaffett

Sat, Apr 22

Category:

Ocean Views

Elise Lapham started the Block Island Bird Banding Station 50 years ago on April 27, 1967. However, beyond the fact of when it started, there are scores of stories and details to be told about the who, what, where, why and how of the banding station’s history. How and Who? While David and Elise...
From the Bayside

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 21

Category:

Island Notes

The poet who gave us “what is so rare as a day in June... ” called that month the “high-tide of the year” — which seems apt early in that month, when the days are still lengthening and tall grasses are just beginning to go to seed, when the beach roses blanket the dunes, and a lingering pale sky...
On the corner of...

Martha Ball and Mary Anderson

Sat, Apr 15

Category:

Columnists

The tools of dawn-to-dusk sustenance farming sit quietly. One is a wooden box with a crank on its side, its red paint faded. It is on a stand, heavy and awkward, and spills kernels of dry corn when jogged. Edith Littlefield Blane remembers being put to work manning one of these contraptions, a corn...
Look-at-me-yellow

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 14

Category:

Island Notes

My forsythia needs more attention than I have been willing to give it. The roots are old, the flowering shrub sprung from them has soared back toward the sun after several severe cuttings over the years. It always grew at an absurdly rapid pace, tall and lush, scraping the old wooden gutters that...
The unseen benefit of the wind turbines

Capt. Hank Hewitt

Sat, Apr 8

Category:

Fishing Report

As we witness the growth of offshore wind farms, there seems to be a benefit to them not readily apparent to most, yet known to anglers. The benefit of these installations is a term anglers refer to as structure. Structure comes in many different forms, yet has the same effect: it attracts marine...
The times they are a-changin’

J.V. Houlihan Jr.

Fri, Apr 7

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

During my wife’s recent travels to China and Iceland this year — and being a keen observer of fashion — she noticed how a certain hairstyle is reemerging. In Beijing, at the Great Wall, Reykjavik, and in the Blue Lagoon, she noticed people of all ages sporting the popular hairstyle of the 80s — the...
Rite of Passage

Martha Ball

Fri, Apr 7

Category:

Island Notes

And so we come into April with great winds and high seas. The rains are heavy, with nothing of sweet spring showers about them. There are no boats today; tomorrow, April 2, in 1980 the spare notation in my mother's hand does not include a name but it was likely the Manitou, intrepid little vessel...
Moving Into April

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 31

Category:

Island Notes

Last night, after the final downstairs lights had been extinguished, I thought to look south, and for it saw a faint edge of a haze beyond an empty space I still call “The Mansion” after the grand structure that burned 51 years ago this spring. A story higher, even an old-house-story-higher,...
On the Mainland: Rawlings Floors in Wakefield

Fraser Lang

Sat, Mar 25

Category:

Trips Abroad

You get a warm welcome when you enter the door at Rawlings Floors at 241 Main Street in Wakefield. Mark and Richard Zambarano, who own the business, set a high standard for customer service. It obviously works; it’s why they have so many repeat customers. The brothers have seen lots of changes in...
Outside my own memory

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 24

Category:

Island Notes

A search for a particular postcard rarely ends with my putting my hand on the image I had in mind to start. It began with a thought of the Public Market, the brick-faced store on Dodge Street that was, when I was a child, truly a food market, one of two year-round groceries on the island. For a...
White Board Down

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 17

Category:

Island Notes

A single white board lies on the grass, lifted out of the slots of the two uprights that support it, forming a new sort of an old fashioned bar-way, a single piece of wood barring entry through a gap in a stone wall. It is just there and I have to presume it is a leftover of yesterday's great wind...
The pillow from hell

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Mar 10

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

Karma is a Buddhist concept which basically says that our destiny or fate is based on a series of causes and effects; if we’re doing good things then there is a possibility that good things will happen to us. A demonstration of this can be witnessed every day when we see people holding the door for...
On the corner of... A 19th century policeman’s badge

Mary Anderson and Martha Ball

Sun, Mar 5

Category:

Columnists

Ed. note: The Block Island Historical Society was founded in 1942. To help celebrate its 75th year. the Society’s Diamond Anniversary, The Block Island Times will be publishing sketches and photographs of items in its collection. For those interested in joining or donating to The...
On Big Dog Paws

Martha Ball

Fri, Mar 3

Category:

Island Notes

The first day of March comes in like a lamb, the morning filled with birdsong and fog. I look out to the south, to my measure of visibility, and see, as I can in all but the heaviest snows and thickest mist, the shape of the farm buildings on the far side of the one-time pasture. They stand, from...
Where the wild things are: Galilee

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Feb 24

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

I saw her as I stood by the port loading door — while working aboard the M/V Quonset — and scanned the rock jetty. There in the hot and blinding July sun was the blonde woman in the skimpy two-piece bathing suit slathering sun tan oil on her lithe and toned body — her hair was perfect. She...
Washington's Birthday

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 24

Category:

Island Notes

Snow chased my dreams. It is rare I remember these stories my mind tells while I sleep, rarer, still, that they are more than scraps, jumbled snapshots, overlapping, utterly confusing seasons and places and decades. This one, or a segment thereof, fell into current time and place, a snow come...
Join ‘Expedition Block Island’

Kim Gaffett

Fri, Feb 24

Category:

Ocean Views

Have you ever wondered what was in that cove, around that point, or over that dune? After the Groundhog Day count, many islanders go in search of mountain slopes, coral reefs, hunting lodges, colossal amusement rides, grandma’s attic, or any oasis for introspection — in general, we head to parts...
Spot of Hope

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 17

Category:

Island Notes

The sun is moving out of its winter home in the south. First light falls differently in different seasons and now it comes through the more southern of the east windows in the ell of my house, in the room where I sleep. It rises, visibly, from the ocean, at the edge of one of the places where the...
Happiness

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Sun, Feb 12

Category:

Island Notes, The Ferry Dock Scribbler

An old Chinese proverb: If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a month, get married. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody else. Yeah, I know,...
Before the storm

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 10

Category:

Island Notes

I t is unseasonably warm, 50 degrees and sunny, a day I have twice caught myself leaving my coat on the car seat as I walk away wearing a sweater that is more a weight for spring and fall than winter. The ground is slightly soft from yesterday's rain but there has been no deep frost and no mud...
On the corner... of the past and present

Mary Anderson and Martha Ball

Sat, Feb 4

Category:

Columnists

Ed. note: The Block Island Historical Society was founded in 1942. To help celebrate its 75th year, the Society’s Diamond Anniversary, The Block Island Times will be publishing sketches and photographs of some items it has in its collection throughout 2017. Among the founders of...
In the Hallway: School on the Block

Jake Douglas

Sat, Feb 4

Category:

Columnists

Almost everyone I talk with in the summer asks me about how school is on the island. I reply: “it’s a decent school.” I don’t have the experience of attending an off-island high school but, from what some of my friends have told me it is very different from the island. At first I was not sure how...
The bright jacket

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Feb 3

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

A month ago I was strolling around a West Marine store looking at stuff for our sailboat. There was nothing the boat needed, yet — she’s tied to her winter dock in Newport; however, burning up the clock while looking at boat stuff is more fun than looking at stuff at a place like the...
Reaching for the sun

Martha Ball

Fri, Feb 3

Category:

Island Notes

It is the last day of January and it is snowing softly in mid-afternoon, wreaking far more havoc on the mainland — where multiple crashes are being reported on the highway — than on Block Island — where the distant horizon moves between sharp and fuzzy and back again. It does not promise to be much...
Charts to steer by

J. V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jan 27

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

When Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, was young he aspired to work on a Mississippi River steamboat. Clemens, like many of his pals, wanted to be a steamboat pilot. As it turned out he got his wish, and a steamboat pilot named Horace E. Bixby trained the young Clemens as a “cub,” and...
Inflexible spirit

Martha Ball

Fri, Jan 27

Category:

Island Notes

The week began with rain shifting from drizzle to downpour and back but with a hard, steady, wind, the blast of winter that roils the sea and keeps the boat in port for two days in a row and even kept the planes on the ground for a part of the time. The wind slammed in from the east and northeast,...
Visiting the Emerald Isle

Sun, Jan 22

Category:

Columnists

The following were written by Block Island School students and submitted to The Block Island Times: “One of the most beautiful places.” Recently, I went on an extraordinary trip to Ireland with my family and three friends. My father grew up in London, but his family is originally from...
Facts, opinions

J.V. Houlihan, Jr.

Fri, Jan 20

Category:

The Ferry Dock Scribbler

While watching Saturday Night Live many years ago — in the infancy of the show — I saw a skit with Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin. It was a parody of a life insurance commercial. As I watched the skit, it looked like a real advertisement. The narrator of the piece spoke in a smooth reassuring voice...
January Road

Martha Ball

Fri, Jan 20

Category:

Island Notes

There was an after the storm lull this morning, a moment of near calm, in which the sound of the ocean, a muted surf, rolled up from the beach. When I opened the west-facing front door to let Autumn out I was met with the distant beep-beep of a truck backing up, an early visitor to the dump/...

Pages

« first
‹ previous
…
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
…
next ›
last »

Island Buzz

Antique Maps and Vintage Photographs

Posted By

Block Island Historical Society

1/25

The Block Island Historical Society has a great selection of antique maps; vintage photographs; unique posters & prints...
This weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule

Posted By

The Block Island Times

1/25

Check out this weeks Nature Conservancy Schedule at https:// www.natureblockisland.org
Still Looking for a Summer Rental?

Posted By

Sullivan Sotheby's International Realty

1/25

Sullivan Sotheby’s International Realty has some great options, if your still searching for that perfect Summer Rental. We...
New Year, New Hope, New You! Offers Await at Solstice at Groton

Posted By

Solstice Senior Living

1/25

New year. New hope. New you! Embrace your life to the fullest this year at Solstice Senior Living at Groton. Visit our...
History Happening Here

Posted By

Block Island Historical Society

1/24

*** Annual Meeting September 20th 11am Program 11:30 am Please join us on zoom ** Thank you for your interest in the Block...
In the Heart of Block Island https://liladelman.com/listing/1501-beacon-hill-rd-block-island/

Posted By

Lila Delman Real Estate

1/23

In the heart of Block Island, this captivating estate is nestled on almost 12 acres of rolling hills, pastures, stone walls...

Receive our weekly email-letters!

Email Address

Email Type

Weekly Features-letter
Weekly News-letter
Breaking News

Tweets by BITimes

Real Estate

1,385,000
Two-Family Waterfront
Ballard Hall Real Estate

Stunning views from this 2 story home off Beach Avenue. Located on peaceful Harbor Pond,...
715,000
168 Old Town Toad
Ballard Hall Real Estate

Enjoy this vacation cottage-style home on a year-round basis due to the insulated & heated...
2,250,000
1781 Mansion Road
Ballard Hall Real Estate

Dreaming of Mansion Beach? Consider this rare opportunity to purchase property on Mansion Road and...
6,900,000
1033 Corn Neck Road, Block Island, RI 02807
Lila Delman Real Estate

Own your own piece of Block Island. This 8.7 acre property located on elite Corn Neck Road enjoys...
1,775,000
356 High Street, Block Island, RI 02807
Lila Delman Real Estate

A traditional New England style Inn, built in 1882 by native Block Island residents Lorenzo Mott...
3,475,000
1085 Lakeside Drive, Block Island, RI 02807
Lila Delman Real Estate

Sunset Coastal. Newly updated, custom Block Island Beach Home, renovated with a smart eye and an...
5,100,000
1738 Corn Neck Rd. Block Island, RI
Lila Delman Real Estate

Welcome to one of the most sought-after neighborhoods on Block Island. ‘Courageous’ and ‘Defiant’,...
1,545,000
1137 Off Southeast Street, Block Island, RI 02807
Lila Delman Real Estate

Walk to Mohegan Bluffs and the Southeast Lighthouse from this private family compound with ocean...

More Listings>>

Island Religion

PART 4 HAVE TO? WANT TO?

Posted By

Block Island Christian Fellowship

1/21

PART 4 HAVE TO? WANT TO? What should be the basis for financial giving? CHAPTER 5 THE CHURCH AGE Now we come to the current...
Sunday Worship - in house and Virtually

Posted By

Harbor Church

1/16

Worship Experience Sunday mornings at 10 am In House or via live-stream. Live On our Facebook page: Harbor Church - Block...
PART 3 HAVE TO? WANT TO?

Posted By

Block Island Christian Fellowship

1/14

PART 3 HAVE TO? WANT TO? What was the protocol for giving financially during the time Christ lived on the earth? CHAPTER 4...

About Us
Advertise
Contact Us
Site Policy

© 2021 BlockIslandTimes.com