There is a lot to be unhappy about, and frankly scared about, in this day and age. Our phones show us graphic images of war and famine; national politics have gotten almost too intense to bear, let alone read about in the slim free time we have; there’s inflation and a housing market that are seemingly insurmountable for young families.
But for a weekend in August — last weekend, to be precise — the woes of a world teetering on the edge seemed a distant thought for the Island community.
Entering through the main entrance of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair, which has looked largely the same for decades, were wafts of locally cooked food, fried delights, and livestock; the sound of screaming kids on the Twister or Cliff Hanger met the ears, and there were teams of local faces greeting guests — many who hadn’t seen one another since the year prior, or at least before the summer.
Next was Grand Illumination Night, with pastel-hued and brightly colored cottages decked out in their Sunday best.
Then on Saturday evening, the annual Oak Bluffs fireworks shot off into the night sky, an ageless tradition of gathering with the Island community and visitors who come from across the country. All lay out on blankets and beach chairs in Ocean Park to take in the bursting lights and deep, resonating explosions. It all marked the end of another summer on the Island — a friendly reminder of why so many of us work so hard every day to make Martha’s Vineyard our home.
The fair, in all of its soulful and joyful glory, perhaps personifies this notion the best. The concept of a county fair is hardly unique to the Island, but it is our own.
The fair pays a special tribute to the agricultural roots of the Island, which some of us can forget. The tractor (what could be more backcountry?) and oxen pulls remind us well. As an extra-special treat this year, the fair began with the birth of a dozen piglets. And perhaps the most whimsical, and most Vineyard of all, is the skillet toss, where the Island’s mightiest heave the same thing they cook their bacon on — a row of Naomi Parkers (“We Can Do It”) with their sleeves rolled up, ready to take on anything.
The fair was also a moment to celebrate and get to know the next generation. The daughter of Caribbean Chef Deon Thomas, 22-year-old Ellie Thomas, was on the fairgrounds and taking after her father, selling corn heaped with delectables at the fair. Close by, Chef Deon was cooking up his best. As Ellie Thomas told our reporter Saturday, she will always be a part of the fair, with memories growing up with her father’s booth and now her new one.
But of course, the fair is best because it is a moment when, after blinking in May, we suddenly wake up and realize that summer is almost over, and there is a moment to enjoy, to savor, what we have all built. As in the days of old, the farmers tilled their fields and tended to livestock with no days off. During summers on the Island, many workers feel the same way, whether a bartender, barista, Realtor, farmhand, or shell fisherman. At the fair on Saturday, Kaila Allen-Posin, Allen Farm co-owner and operator, said it best: “There’s chaos, but there’s also this beautiful connection.”
There were moments when things could have unraveled. For the fair, there was some drama with a new vendor taking over, after decades under the same group — along with new dates for next year, and no Ferris wheel this year, as well as a major hurricane headed in our direction. At the fireworks on Friday, a barge seemingly caught fire right around the grand finale. But these were more of a sideshow or distraction from the greater joy of the weekend.
For the sake of the barge fire, crews aboard contained the damage to a trailer, and no one was injured. The Oak Bluffs Fire Department doused any lingering doubts, and — while some may have missed it — the grand finale continued. And it was hard to find anyone complaining about no Ferris wheel on the fairgrounds this weekend.
With so much grief in the world, we need the fair, Illumination, and the fireworks. We can’t thank the volunteers and teams that pull them together enough.