From the Sept. 13, 1963 edition of the Vineyard Gazette:

Reports from Benjamin F. Morton of the Island fishing derby committee indicate a promising start for the month-long contest this coming weekend. Enrollment is twenty-five per cent ahead of that of a year ago at this time and enthusiasm is reported to be widespread.

Derby headquarters will be in the Tivoli building on the Oak Bluffs waterfront where better parking will be available near the weigh-in station than since the derby started nineteen years ago. The system of handling the fish will be as usual.

The reports from the rips and beaches are not by any means what have been hoped for up to date, but there are some fish, both bass and blues. How many there are or what the luck may be is a question.

There are Island anglers who have landed scores of bass during the summer by fishing in holes from the beaches. Thirty-odd and forty-odd pound fish have been landed a number of times, though the fishing as a whole has not been lively.

The oldest inhabitants have expressed the belief that the water has been too warm for either large masses of bait or for the fish themselves, which, they have averred, will not feed in excessive heat. This is supported by the report of last week that bluefish taken wide out have nothing in their stomachs and were thin. However, these same sages have declared that a breeze of wind and a drop in temperature should remedy this situation.

As for prizes, the same amount of cash has been put into derby prizes as usual, and there are many items in the list to gladden the hearts of the lucky.

The question “What do you do in the winter?” has already begun to be answered on Martha’s Vineyard. The other day Margaret Lilienthal, small daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David E. Lilienthal Jr. of Edgartown, was being snugged away for a nap in her upstairs bedroom. She was making herself heard, too, but whatever the sounds meant, they were interrupted when the door of the room blew shut.

It blew shut with a portentous click, for it was equipped with a snap lock, and the snap lock was operable.

Considering her age, which is two years, it was unreasonable to expect Margaret to get up and open the door from the inside. Anyway, it wasn’t so much that she was shut in as it was that her daddy was shut out. Her sudden complete silence, though, gave rise to a natural parental concern.

All available keys were tried in an effort to open the door, but none would work. So Margaret’s father, who is himself not too well qualified for the subtleties of second-story work, obtained the loan of a ladder from Lloyd Mayhew, who was on the premises adjusting the telephone installations, and enlisted the services of Alfred Francis, who was at work helping to install a furnace. Alfred has just the physique for climbing ladders and getting through windows from the outside.

His entrance into her room in this unconventional way did not disturb Margaret at all. With perfect aplomb she witnessed the opening of the locked door, accomplished one might say through a sort of community enterprise.

It’s a little early in the season for this sort of thing, but between now and spring there will be a lot of such goings on, classifiable under the heading of Domestic Complications, Parental Division.

G. Elmer Lord, a summer resident of the Camp Ground at Oak Bluffs, picked up a copy of the Swanton Courier in Swanton, Vt., and there was a story of the Moon-Cusser Coffee House which had a strong infusion of Vermont in its beginning.

Here is part of the story, a clipping of which Mr. Lord was thoughtful enough to send to the Gazette:

Though it is less than three months old; the Moon-Cusser Coffee House here has become known on the Island and in the Cape Cod area as a center of folk music. Young folks and old folks flock to the place to hear professional renditions of one of America’s greatest musical heritages.

The Moon-Cusser is the result of ideas that were crystallized last spring on the ski slopes of Vermont and in the coffee houses of Boston. For the transformation from ideas to actuality, the Moon-Cusser depended upon a hard-working trio living in the Greater Boston area. The owners are Dick Randlett and Fritz Dworshak, electronic engineers, and the manager, Dave Lyman.

The interior of the place has been given an authentic early-American motif, with the use of barnboard, burlap, antique chairs and replicas of early paintings. There is theatrical lighting with full dimmer control and a high fidelity sound system.

Practically all the performers have made long-play recordings, and several have sung at the Newport R. I. Folk Festival. Among them are Ian and Sylvia, Jean Redpath, Tom Rush, The Country Gentlemen, the Simon Sisters, Dave Gude, Bonnie Dobson and Don Paulin.

The wearing of casual attire by the younger guests contributes considerably to the atmosphere. The high-grade entertainment has won the blessing of the town fathers and the parents of the young people.

Compiled by Hilary Wallcox

library@mvgazette.com