It is Wednesday morning in West Tisbury and the sun streams out of a cloudless September sky, spilling through the front door of Alley’s General Store and flooding the old, worn floorboards with a warm, golden light. Out on the front porch a group of oldtimers stand amid stacks of pumpkins, drinking their morning coffee and holding court. Owen Ware, age two and a half, stands nearby, a half-eaten bag of M&Ms clutched in his left fist. A familiar up-Island resident pulls up in his car and Owen lifts a small hand in greeting. “Hi Ted!” he calls out. Ted returns the salutation.
A dispute over events held at the Vineyard Preservation Trust’s Grange Hall ended Thursday when the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals granted a special permit to the nonprofit.
West Tisbury officials previously raised concerns over the frequency of events held at the hall, resulting in a lawsuit between the town and the Vineyard Preservation Trust.
Vineyard Preservation Trust opened the doors of the historic Grange Hall to the public Wednesday evening for what it called a “listening session” to solicit thoughts about future programming.
