This issue is a big one for us. It not only features the Best of the Vineyard results, our largest undertaking of the year; it also marks Alley Moore’s last as art director, a position he has held since 2003. 

It would be impossible to overstate Alley’s influence on this publication. During his tenure, he has designed and helped shape more than 130 issues. He has defined and redefined the look of this beautiful magazine. 

And yet beyond being a true talent, he’s also a fantastic individual: kind, sincere, funny, and fun-loving. I could wax on and on in his honor and it wouldn’t suffice. So instead, for the first time ever, we’re turning this space over to him. Thanks for everything, Alley; it’s been a heck of a ride. You will be terribly missed.                      

    – Vanessa Czarnecki

Twenty-one years ago, I began a new job as art director of this magazine. I was excited to work inside the Vineyard Gazette building. We published five editions a year and photographers shot primarily in film. Each issue seemed like a miracle of logistics when sent off to press. At home, our daughters Emily and Nina were young: four years old and ten months old, respectively. My beautiful wife, Michele, kept us all upright. In the blink of an eye, I’m now sixty-three and passing the baton to the capable and talented Emma Young. I wish her lots of success. 

The first issue I ever designed included the Best of the Vineyard results. So does the last, which seems fitting. I’ve enjoyed celebrating the winners throughout the years. But true confession: one particular winner, Morning Glory Farm, always brings a smile to my face and terror to my guilty soul. (See the fridge note from our then-twelve-year-old daughter, Nina, below.) 

There have been plenty of other great memories along the way. This has been the job of a lifetime. I’ve been able to do the work that I love, with the people I love, on the Island I love. 

I will especially miss the dream team of editors at Martha’s Vineyard Magazine: Vanessa Czarnecki, Paul Schneider, and Nicole Fullin. You are the best.

Hearty thanks also go to:   

• A talented group of Island photographers and artists, including Randi Baird, Nina Bramhall, Kib Bramhall, Elizabeth Cecil, Betsy Corsiglia, Ray Ewing, Tim Johnson, Mark Alan Lovewell, Susie Middleton, Andrew Moore, Christine Sargologos, Alison Shaw, Jeanna Shepard, the late Peter Simon, Dan Waters, David Welch, and Lexi Van Valkenburgh.

• The photo archivists that keep our visual history alive: Hilary Wallcox at the Gazette, Bow Van Riper at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, and Chris Baer.

• The wonderful folks at the Gazette who keep the place humming, and Jane Seagrave, Jared Maciel, Bill Eville, Steve Durkee, Sarah Gifford, Kathy Agin, and Tom Dunlop in particular for their helping hands and good cheer.                              

  – Alley Moore