A Walk in the Park

We’ve missed it since it was closed last year, and all its many sights and sounds. Young soccer players in brightly colored uniforms trudging down the path to the field to play matches on Saturday mornings. The crack of the bat hitting a softball for a standup home run on a soft summer evening. The thump of adult cleats on hard turf in a running game of pickup soccer. The faint smell of sweat mingled with the sweet smell of freshly-mown grass. The sound of crickets in the swamp as the sun goes down on another day in the life of the Island.

It all comes back tomorrow when Veterans Memorial Park in Vineyard Haven, the most heavily trafficked public space for outdoor recreation on the Vineyard, reopens. First built by hand by a group of Island veterans in the early Nineteen-fifties, the old park has had a face lift, which was badly needed.

The opening ceremony begins at nine o’clock Saturday morning.

And after that it’s time to play ball again.