Thrilling rides, impressive artwork, and delicious food — including onion rings, fruit smoothies, barbecued ribs and fresh lemonade — entice Vineyarders of all ages at the Agricultural Fair.
But behind the sights and sounds of the fair, there are many hardworking individuals dedicated to making the Vineyard a better place. The Island Children’s School, the Touchdown Club, and the West Tisbury Firefighter’s Civic Association are three organizations that operate food booths to benefit their organizations.
Touchdown Tempura, the Island Children’s School ice cream stand, and the West Tisbury Firefighter’s Civic Association burger booth all support important Island causes.
Touchdown Tempura, selling eggrolls, tempura and drinks, benefits the Touchdown Club, an organization supporting Vineyard football and cheerleading at high school and junior high school levels. For the past 10 summers, Touchdown Tempura has raised about $20,000 to help pay for uniforms and travel for these Vineyard teams. Jack Law, president of the club, explained that the teams need more funding than what is provided by Martha’s Vineyard schools. Since the Island school sports teams must travel to play other schools, extra money is needed to defray the cost of the ferry to mainland locations. Mr. Law said many members of the Touchdown Club have had children in Martha’s Vineyard football or cheerleading programs. An Edgartown summer resident waiting in line for a plate of tasty tempura at the fair over the weekend said: “I don’t have a personal connection to Vineyard football, but I think it’s very important to have good athletic programs for kids.”
For over 25 years, the Island Children’s School stand has been serving ice cream and sundaes to eager customers. One of the oldest preschools on the Island, the school is known for its child-centered philosophy and high quality, family-centered early childhood education curriculum. Jenni Powers, a music teacher at the Island Children’s School, said, “It is important to have fund-raising efforts in order to keep tuition down to make education available to all Island children.” Customers in line said they felt good about supporting local schools while buying their ice cream on a hot August day.
And then there is the West Tisbury Firefighter’s Civic Association burger booth. From nearly every corner of the fair, you can pick up the mouthwatering scent of burgers on the grill from this perennially-popular booth. Together with the $5 paid by each fair-goer to the firemen’s parking area, the West Tisbury firefighters raise money for a college scholarship fund as well as for the welfare and other functions of their department. For over 30 years, the firefighters have been serving their famous hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hot dogs; the enterprise brings in about $14,000 each summer. The parking lot adds about $15,000 after half the revenue goes to the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society.
Scholarships from the firefighters’ fund are awarded to West Tisbury students, with priority given to the children of firefighters. Many scholarships are given each year, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Beth and Dwight Kaeka, members of the West Tisbury fire department, both agreed that it is important to do something to help Island families, and said students may receive scholarships for consecutive years. “[The scholarship fund] is like a continuing education program,” said Beth Kaeka, “We try to give the same amount to students for all four years.” Ben Retmier, who has been on the West Tisbury Fire Department for three years, agreed that the scholarship fund is a very important cause to him and to the rest of the fire department.
The burger booth has many loyal customers, including Deb Colitti, a Chilmark summer resident. “I come every year,” she said. “We need our firefighters and we should appreciate them. They are so funny and deserve our love.”
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