Labor Day Weekend Sends Island Toward Final Phase of Summer

By JOSHUA SABATINI

Celebrated each year on the first Monday in September, Labor Day is
dedicated to the achievements of American workers. In truth, the holiday
is probably better known as the impetus for one final long weekend
before the kids head off to school, and marks the occasion after which
workers start to bear down until summer rolls around again.

On Martha's Vineyard, of course, Labor Day is traditionally
the last time that visitors flock to the Island en masse - to the
beaches, shops and restaurants. For local business owners, it's
the end of the peak tourist season and greater profits that accompany
it.

This year's weekend weather - a cloudy Saturday and
Sunday followed by a rainy Monday - wasn't exactly summery.
But despite less than ideal conditions, there was little lull in Island
activity, as people sought to make the most of their visits with the
season unofficially drawing to a close:

*

Monday morning at 10 at the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal, only a
few cars were lined up in the rain for the 11 a.m. boat. It was still a
bit early, and the Steamship Authority had instituted a "no
standby" policy for the weekend. Ten prospective passengers,
luggage piled around them, stood under the awning between the two boat
ramps to keep dry.

Brandon VanOver, 27, and his fiancé, Deana Henn, 30, both of
Brooklyn, N.Y., had braved the downpour as they raced to the terminal on
their bicycles. The couple arrived on the Island Friday after driving
from New York and parking in one of the Woods Hole satellite lots; they
brought their bikes over and made the Martha's Vineyard Camp
Ground home for the weekend.

They had never been to the Island before, he said, but are moving to
Australia in January, and wanted to visit the Vineyard and other
"key spots" before journeying abroad.

Mr. VanOver said he didn't mind the weather conditions. Over
the weekend, he said, they most enjoyed biking from Vineyard Haven to
Gay Head and taking in the marvelous rolling hills along the way.

Yesterday's weather didn't dampen the couple's
spirits. "I'm enjoying the atmosphere the rain
brings," he said. "It's great with all the old boats
in the harbor."

*

Twenty-four hours earlier, on Sunday morning, the oldest working
carousel in America had just opened its doors. Only a half-hour later, a
long line formed as parents and children waited to take one last ride on
Oak Bluffs's famous Flying Horses before heading home.

Andrew Schultz, 33, and his daughter Sarah, two, of Sharon, stayed
for the holiday weekend at their family's house in West Tisbury.

He picked his daughter up and set her on a brown horse, patting the
side as if it were real. Then the carousel music started, the horses
went around and around, and riders snatched rings looking for that
single brass ring; a free ride is the reward.

Another father watched his wife ride around with their son. He
snapped a number of photos.

"I enjoy the carousel because of the heritage," said Mr.
Schultz. He said his daughter likes the brown horse especially, and
could ride on it all day long.

*

John Baxter, 48, of Centerville, sailed into Oak Bluffs harbor
Saturday with his wife, Lisa, 39, and three children, Carolyn, eight,
Davis, six, and Bornwen, four.

Coming in with the strong winds on his home-built, 32-foot cutler
boat was "a blast," Mr. Baxter said.

On Sunday afternoon, the family returned to Oak Bluffs after renting
three bicycles, one with a bicycle trailer. The highlight of the weekend
to that point, Mr. Baxter said, was the family bike ride along Beach
Road into Edgartown and back again, even though "our butts are
sore now." The two youngest children apparently loved the bike
trailer.

After returning the bicycles, the family walked into a store to do
some Sunday shopping.

*

Chris Parks, 25, is a web-page developer from New York city who
visited the Island for his first time this weekend. He stood alone on an
Oak Bluffs street reading about the Island attractions. His first
reaction to seeing the Island: "It is beautiful."

Although Mr. Parks was hoping to hit the beach, he was not
disappointed by the clouds - he would find other things to keep
him busy.

*

Many visitors spent this weekend making last-minute purchases.

In a crowded Edgartown, a member of a family walking along North
Water street Sunday evening, called out, "Let's buy some
Murdick's fudge and peanut brittle."

There was a steady exchange of money across the counter at the Black
Dog General Store in Vineyard Haven Sunday afternoon. A steady stream of
shoppers walked out the store with the distinct brown paper bags
displaying a black dog on the side.

"We saw the Black Dog T-shirts when we were visiting
Europe," said one customer. "They're all over."

"I got the biggest shirt they have, an
extra-extra-large," said one man to his wife. "You can darn
well make a tent out of it."

Shelia Flaherty, of Moscow, Pa., sailed into Vineyard Haven harbor
for the weekend on a 37-foot sail boat named J'Erin, a combination
of her two children's names.

An annual visitor to the Island, she came away with this
year's version of the Black Dog shirt. Her family, she said, took
a few extra days off from work to tack on to the holiday weekend so they
could spend more time together on the Island.

*

A hostess at Nancy's in Oak Bluffs, Ashleigh Barreto, 23, of
Los Altos, Calif., has dealt with big crowds every night for much of the
summer. The restaurant overlooking the harbor is a prime spot to lure
visitors who come off both ferries and cruise ships.

Sunday night before Labor Day was the last busy day of the summer,
she said. Miss Barreto said management told her to expect a dramatic
drop-off in clientele this week - that the busy summer days are
behind them until next season.

*

Underneath cloudy skies on Sunday, up-Island was a hub of activity.
Visitors in Menemsha sat outside Larsen's Fish Market eating their
last Island lobsters as their children tried to catch their last crabs
of the season waterside. Along the jetty, visitors cast rods into the
channel, some for the final time this year.

The porch outside the Chilmark General Store was crowded as usual.
Pizza slices were savored even more since they would be the last until
next season.

Families gathered on Moshup Beach in Aquinnah taking the final
family vacation photographs before the Monday rains.

*

Eric Walston, 12, of Lisbon, Conn., was also at the Vineyard Haven
ferry terminal on Monday morning, along with his parents, Mark and
Valerie.

He had actually started school last week but was nonetheless glad to
spend one more long weekend on the Vineyard at his family's summer
home in Oak Bluffs. He'll lug his books to school again today.

Mr. Walston said he was returning home on the boat Monday to get
home in time for the Tuesday workday. The weekend's highlight, he
said, was hiking for the day on land bank property in Chappaquiddick.

Eric's dad said his son enjoys going to South Beach and
swimming in the big waves. "We brought our swimsuits," he
said, "but we knew the weather was going to be crummy."

Still, the family made it to the beach for a short visit, albeit
without their swim gear.

While the weekend was for some the last chance to be on the Island
until next year, the Walston family will make return weekend visits well
into the fall season. Having summered on the Island for 13 years, they
know what to expect.

"Next weekend it will probably be 90 degrees and this place
will be vacant," Mr. Walston said.