Allison Roberts

Chilmark

Features Writer at The Martha's Vineyard Times

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Articles

Midnight Taco hosting community poetry nights

3 weeks ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

You know that saying about assuming things (“It makes an a__ out of you and me”)? Theoretically I agree. But I’d be willing to bet that for most people, poetry isn’t the first thing that comes to mind while eating tacos. Yet I recently learned that poetry readings are soon to be added to the menu at Midnight Taco in Oak Bluffs.
In the Kitchen with Marta Azzollini

3 weeks ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Marta Azzollini, owner of Marta’s Kitchen M.V,, has been in the food business since 2015. One might say the love for food runs in her blood. “Before my time, my grandfather owned Blue Point in Hoboken, and my parents met and worked at the River Café in New York, and then opened their own place called the American Diner in Princeton, N.J.,” she noted.
A Mother’s Day memory: Angel tea

1 month ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Kindergarten. And I couldn’t wait for the end of each day. If my friend and waking companion, Allyson, dawdled, I’d leave her in the dust. Darting out of Johanna Perrin School in Fairport, N.Y., where I grew up, I’d run up James Street, past Potter, Dewey, and Miles, until I reached Briggs Avenue and raced down the hill to my house. I knew that once I was inside my mother would let me go directly to the china cabinet and pick out whatever teacup I wanted from her collection.
In the Kitchen with Nina Mae Levin

1 month ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

For this month’s “In the Kitchen with,” I met with Nina Mae Levin, owner of Stoney Hill Pizza and Ophelia’s Pastry Trailer. Stoney Hill Pizza is in its sixth season. “I opened it after working in the industry for 10 years,” said Levin. “We opened during COVID, which was a little intense. But it was also perfect, because everyone was having small outdoor gatherings. We started doing mini pop-ups in our yard, and friends would come and get pizza. Then we did the farmers market.
Sometimes we need a little humor: The Hope Diamond

2 months ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Yesterday I was attempting to open a new bag of espresso beans. It was a massacre. This wasn’t my first rodeo, though. I’ve been battling bullheaded packages for years. Last summer I saw an image of delectable-looking veggie kabobs on social media, and got the lofty idea that I’d like to grill, so I bought metal kabob skewers. Though I love a well-executed exaggeration, I am not blowing smoke when I say that I nearly cut my finger off trying to free them from their plastic prison.
Memories from Bring a Kid to Work Day

2 months ago | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

I’m not sure if there was an official “Bring a Kid to Work Day” in 1973, but when I was 8 years old, my dad, Richard Roberts, brought me to the art department of the Democrat & Chronicle (D&C) newspaper in Rochester, N.Y. Dad worked as an artist, and eventually as the art director. I felt immensely proud seeing his art published in the paper.
'Muse' art show at Featherstone

Mar 19, 2025 | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

“Muse,” the new show at Featherstone Center for the Arts, is a feast for the eyes — a veritable buffet of creativity. The theme revolves around what inspires artists to create, and since 98 artists are featured, it clearly resonated with many Island artists. “This is our first show of the spring season,” chief executive officer Ann Smith says.
High school students build a tiny house

Mar 11, 2025 | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Tiny houses may seem like a relatively modern-day concept, but according to Parametric Architecture, tents, igloos, yurts, and huts were once considered average-size dwellings. As a matter of fact, in 1845, American naturalist and essayist Henry David Thoreau was ahead of the curve, building a 14-meter-square (roughly 50-square-foot) cabin at Walden Pond.
Bats, biodiversity, and us

Mar 5, 2025 | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Liz Olson, assistant director, wildlife biologist, and board member of BiodiversityWorks, has not only found her passion, but is immersed in it daily. Hanging out in her cozy office, we chatted about her work at BiodiversityWorks, and her passion for wildlife became evident very quickly as we jumped right into a discussion about bats. “The Northern long-eared bat is nearly wiped out. Ninety-nine percent of the population has declined from white-nose syndrome,” Olson said.
Marc Fournier: Jack of all trees

Feb 19, 2025 | mvtimes.com | Allison Roberts

Have you ever met a person who is so passionate about their work that they nearly bounce when they talk about it –– sort of like Tigger, in “Winnie the Pooh”? During a walking tour at Polly Hill Arboretum recently, I met a man named Marc Fournier (dubbed “Tigger”), who has enthusiastically made conservation, environmentalism, climate change, and horticulture his life’s work. “I do a lot of tree and energy-efficient work,” Fournier said.