A sold-out crowd of 50 guests got a taste of Jamaica on Monday evening at the third annual fundraiser dinner for WYOB 105.5 FM, a homegrown Vineyard radio station devoted to reggae music.
Held on Atria’s wraparound porch, the event raised $5,000 to pay for recording equipment and licensing for the student-run station at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.
The event originated with WYOB founder Skip Finley, who helped get the station on the air in 2015. Mr. Finley has a long history in radio as a former Vice-Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters, and said he wanted to find a way to help the next generation of broadcasters.
“I’ve been pretty lucky,” he said. “I wanted to give something back.”
Bill Narkiewicz, the class instructor for WYOB, said nearly 40 students are involved with the 24-hour station and do all of the work themselves, from recording voice overs to writing copy.
“We’re here to support the cause of educational radio,” he said. “The fact that high school students here can participate in radio at all is rare. We’re training them for jobs in the industry.”
Before the dinner began, the linen-clad guests sipped on rum-based “painkiller” cocktails and chatted while a musician played Bob Marley covers in the background. The performer, Mike Martin, hailed from Vieques, Puerto Rico and said he’s played with Bob Marley’s band, The Wailers, along with Jamaican ska and reggae legend Jimmy Cliff.
“Reggae is a positive vibration,” he said. “It’s music with a message. The message is revolution for equal rights or one love.”
The five-course Caribbean-inspired meal was prepared by five Jamaican-born Island chefs with the assistance of Atria’s Chef Christian Thornton and Chef Deon Thomas of the VFW. The menu included spicy jerk chicken, gooey rum cake and soup made with Island conches.
One of the chefs, Ralston Francis from Edgartown Diner, said that the timing of Monday’s celebration was no coincidence.
“Today is Jamaican Independence Day,” he said. “To know people are here to support even though we’re not there, it’s nice.”
Throughout the dinner, Mr. Thornton introduced each dish and the chef who created it, emphasizing the importance of Jamaican culture to restaurants around the Island.
“The kitchen crew is from Jamaica. They’re the backbone of my kitchen,” he told the crowd.
After dessert, Mr. Thomas made the rounds to sign copies of his new cookbook that inspired the dinner’s conch soup. The book, Chef Deon’s Island Conch Cookery, provides recipes for using Island conch as ingredients for dishes common in the Caribbean Islands. He said reggae music was an inspiration.
“You always listen to reggae as you cook. It’s a soothing thing,” he said.
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