When First Fridays in Vineyard Haven return for a fifth year, they’ll feature more artists, bands on a floating barge off Owen Park, closed streets, and food trucks.
At a Tisbury select board meeting Tuesday night, Vineyard Haven Business Association representative Sarah York presented the enhanced First Fridays, and won unanimous approval for four of them starting July 2. York said Phil Wallis and Andy Herr are helping to organize the events, which will support local musicians and artists.
Under the plan, a portion of Main Street from Crowell Lane to Union Street will be closed, and all of Union Street will be closed between 3 and 8 pm — the first hour being for setup of artist tents on Main and Union streets, York said.
“We’re really, really excited about this because we think it’s the thing that’s missing from First Fridays,” York said. “It’s great when it was a sidewalk sale, but we really feel like we need something a little bit better, bigger, and more fun.”
York said the fire department has agreed to hold a bonfire, as well.
She said the event could help the firefighters association with some of the revenue it’s lost as a result of the town’s annual street fair being canceled.
Members of the select board were enthusiastic. “I really appreciate this group stepping up to the plate and offering these four nights,” select board member Jeff Kristal said. “It goes a long way.”
Select board member Larry Gomez said it’s something that’s needed: “We need a kick in the rear to get the town moving again — get people back into town and back into our restaurants … This is something we really need.”
Later in the evening, the board unanimously approved one-day liquor licenses for each of the three days of Beach Road Weekend “350” in July. Alcohol will be allowed from 3 to 9:30 pm.
Unlike Beach Road Weekend, there will be no limits on the number of drinks. Adam Epstein, promoter of the event, said no one approached the limit, and the wristbands, which had to be punched for each drink purchased, were cumbersome.
“We don’t expect to serve a lot of mixed drinks,” he said. Companies that sell drinks like Mike’s Lemonade are looking for a sponsorship opportunity, Epstein said.
J.B. Blau’s restaurant staff will be serving the alcohol, and are TIPS-certified, he said.
Epstein said any proceeds from the alcohol sales will go to the nonprofit Friends of the Martha’s Vineyard Concert Series. “They are the ones who are producing the event, and will be the beneficiaries of the sales,” Epstein said.
In other business, the board held a joint meeting with the planning board. The premise of the session was to open the lines of communication between the two boards, especially as they approach doing a master plan. The boards will each send town administrator Jay Grande their top priorities, and then compare notes next month. The idea is to meet quarterly, if not more often, to make sure they’re on the same page on issues like Owen Park, town parking lots, and the former fire station lot, to name a few things that were tossed out.
“From our point, it’s about working more collaboratively. Not that we don’t, but we need to work more efficiently. The town’s facing so many issues, we need to talk to each other so we’re not duplicating efforts,” Elaine Miller, planning board chair, said. “I don’t want to say wasting time, but not being as efficient.”
The select board also approved of hiring John Ryder of Vineyard Haven as a seasonal assistant harbormaster, and approved the transfer of $2,400 from the Shellfish Trust for the purchase of paint and steamer seed requested by shellfish constable Danielle Ewart.
The select board plans to hold its next meeting on June 15 in person at the Emergency Services Facility.
