Evelyn Froh, visitor and kid
Interviewed outside of Bobby B’s Seafood and Pizza, Vineyard Haven. (This interview has been translated from adorable 3-year-old speech to boring old English.)
How old are you, Evelyn?
Three. (Holds up three fingers proudly.)
What’s your favorite thing about Martha’s Vineyard?
Pizza.
What do you like to do?
Running … ice cream.
Father: We came to visit her aunt Liza, who works down at Cumberland’s.
Mother: This was her first boat ride!
Evelyn: Yeah! I saw boats!
Evelyn insisted that she see the photos of herself before picking up my notebook and pen and drawing me an abstract smiley face. Then she said, “Bye-bye,” and began to run back and forth across the seating area in front of Bobby B’s Seafood and Pizza, giggling.
Joe Ryan, Springfield, summer cab driver
Outside his cab at the Oak Bluffs Ferry Terminal, waiting for clients
How long are you here for?
I’m here for the summer, but I’m always here for the summer.
Could you elaborate?
I did this as a student at UMass, and now I’m a teacher and I still come back.
What do you teach?
I teach sixth through eighth graders English special education, in Springfield.
What brings you here?
It’s a nice change of pace. I’m only here during the summer, so it seems very alive, and it’s something to think about when I’m not here.
Do you have a favorite Island beach?
Great Rock.
How did you find it?
I actually dropped off some customers there. I’ve been to a lot of beaches here, and it’s just the most serene.
Ann Khoan, Vineyard Haven, caterer
Behind the Tabernacle, packing up her Moveable Feast meat smoker after the Sunset Concert Series.
What brings you here today?
We’re here [SMOAK Catering Co.] to provide food at the Sunset Concert Series, every Friday at 6.
How long have you been on-Island?
This is my first full year. I’m Tim Laursen’s partner.
Favorite beach?
I can’t name a beach because then everyone will go … I just love State Beach! That was my beach last year.
Jane Neumann, Menemsha and North Carolina, antiques proprietor
At the West Tisbury Grange Hall Antiques “Grange Exchange.”
What brought you here?
Well, we live in North Carolina in the winters, where my husband taught at the University of North Carolina for many years, and we spend about four months here every summer. I do the flea market and the antique show at the Grange Hall. It’s a fun thing to do.
What are you excited about this summer?
My son and his family will be coming down from Portland, Ore., for three weeks, and that’s always fun.
What do you do in your free time?
Most of my time is spent getting things ready for this flea market [Grange Exchange], and then getting things to the flea market, and then selling things. I love meeting new people, that’s what it’s about.
Where do you find all of these items?
Most of it comes from North Carolina. I shop all winter and then sell all summer. It’s fun and I enjoy it. It’s also a social thing. I have regular customers that come back every year, and we compare notes.
What is your favorite Vineyard beach?
Oh, Lucy Vincent. Lucy Vincent was my husband’s mother’s cousin.
Would you mind sharing that story with me?
She was a Mosher, Lucinda Pool Mosher. She was born and brought up here, and her father grew up in Chilmark as well. She married a Vincent, who was a trout fisherman. [The beach] is her land, and she gave it to the town through a 99-year lease when she died in the ’70s. She was a great lady. She was very interested in nature and birds. She had trout that would come to her in the brook every night when she rang a bell.
Opal Wortmann, West Tisbury, student and cashier
At Alley’s Farm Stand, in West Tisbury
Where are you from?
Here.
Did you go to the high school?
I’m a junior in high school now.
What are you doing this summer?
Working. I work here [at Alley’s General Store]; I actually just started. I also just got a commission. I’m an artist.
What type of art do you make?
Fine art and paintings. My commission is for a big painting of a guinea hen. I recently did a painting of my chicken that died, and someone saw it at the high school Evening of the Arts and asked for a guinea hen. It was really inspiring to have my work valued.
So was this chicken your favorite chicken?
Ironically, it was the chicken that my flock beat up the most, so I felt that it deserved homage in memoriam.
What is your favorite Island beach?
Lambert’s Cove.
Why?
The sand is nice and the water is never too cold. There aren’t usually a lot of people there; it’s just my favorite.
Brayden Sayles and Kelsey Jenkins, Chilmark and Vineyard Haven, students
In Owen Park, Vineyard Haven.
So you both just graduated eighth grade; where are you going to high school?
Kelsey: Here and then away.
How does that work?
Kelsey: I’m doing my first year at the Regional and then moving to Falmouth and finishing there, at Falmouth Academy.
Are you both originally from here?
Kelsey: No. I’m from Alabama.
Brayden: I’m from Connecticut.
Do you guys have a favorite beach on the Vineyard?
Kelsey: State.
Brayden: Lambert’s Cove.
What are you guys doing this summer?
Brayden: Just kind of hanging out.
Kelsey: Nothing.
In a good way?
Kelsey: Yeah.
What does independence mean to you?
Kelsey: Being completely self-sufficient.
Jonathan Dean and Jackson Cole, visiting from New York
At Bernie’s Homemade Ice Cream, on Main Street, Vineyard Haven
“The point is not to be witty, but to be naturally witty,” Jackson tells Jonathan as the interview begins.
“I’m naturally witty,” Jonathan assures his friend.
Where are you guys from?
Jonathan: I’m from Annapolis, Md.
Jackson: I’m from D.C., but we both live in New York.
How did you guys find your way down to the Vineyard?
Jackson: I’ve been coming here forever. My parents have had a place here for probably 20 years. We’re at my house.
Jonathan: I’ve been here a couple of times, with friends. I just mooch off of my friends, I guess.
So are you guys just visiting for the holiday weekend?
Jackson: Yep, until Wednesday.
Do you have any big plans while you’re here?
Jackson: We’ll probably do the fireworks on Tuesday in Edgartown.
Jonathan: I definitely need to get an apple fritter from Back Door.
Jackson: We also need to get lobster rolls from Grace Church.
Jonathan: Menemsha. A Menemsha sunset.
Do you have a favorite beach here?
Jackson: Yes. I don’t know the name, though. It’s in between Long Point and another beach. Or South Beach. That’s the more popular one.
What are you guys doing this summer besides hanging out on the Vineyard?
Jonathan: I am working at a boutique record label in New York.
Jackson: I’m a finance intern. We’re both in law school — in between our first and second years. I’m working at a securities arbitration clinic representing low-income people who’ve been screwed out of their investments.
Do you have a solid celebration plan for the Fourth?
Jonathan: Jackson?!?
Jackson: Nothing solid yet.
Jonathan: Weak.
Jackson: We’ll figure something out. There are a bunch of people here that we know right now.
Jonathan: Hanging out with friends, loving life, enjoying each other’s company, drinking some beers. Cornhole for sure.
