It sure has felt like August — it’s warm and crowded everywhere. Also, the activity at the Agricultural Hall is at a fever pitch preparing for the fair. Illumination night is on Wednesday, the Fair begins on Thursday and the Oak Bluffs fireworks are next Friday.

The 158th annual Agricultural Fair begins Thursday and runs until Sunday evening. They are now accepting entry forms and will until Monday at 5 p.m. You can drop your entry forms in the entry box on the front porch of the hall, mail or fax them in. A full program of events is available at the hall and published in the fair booklet.

There will be some livestock and antique farm equipment on display in their new barn. The woodsmen’s contest is now in its 43rd year.

The 19th annual Fiber Tent exhibition will have demonstrations daily. Mary Ruth reports that there will be sheep shearing demonstrations daily plus your old favorites: spinners, weavers and knitters. There will be various demonstrations of their talent throughout the fair and animals will be available for viewing each day.

The Cushing Carnival will again offer a special price for the rides if you purchase a wristband on Friday night.

Please do not bring your dog to the fair unless it is for the dog show.

The Vineyard Transit Authority for the 18th consecutive year will extend bus service to include the Fair on Routes 2, 4 and 6. The 8 bus will run express service from Edgartown to the Fair. As an added bonus for riding the bus this year, the Agricultural Society will offer a $1 discount on the purchase of an admission ticket. Be sure and have your hand stamped before exiting the bus to qualify for the discount. A complete bus schedule will be posted on the front porch of the Hall. The bus service will run hourly from 8:30am to 11pm. On Sunday the last bus is at 8 p.m.

If you choose to bring your car there will be two parking lots available: one operated by the society and the firemen, and the other by the Whiting family.

Last Saturday night Rick and Eileen Wuerthele held a retirement dinner for Anna at their home in Craft’s Field in Edgartown. All of her former office personnel and others attended a fantastic dinner of fresh codfish and steak. She was moved by the affair. A good time was had by all.

Phyllis Meras returned home on Wednesday after a business trip to Providence. She has had several house guests in the past three weeks. Judy Randall of Virginia was her most recent guest. Judy also visited her brother Jon and his wife. She went to the beach with Anna and had a good time.

The First Congregational Church’s ninth annual peach festival will be held tomorrow from noon to 4 p.m. They will be serving fresh peaches, smoothies, lemonade, peaches with ice cream and peach shortcake, and Mad Martha’s special peach ice cream. They will have baked goods, vintage jewelry tables and a lot more.

Over at the library, Olivia Larsen reports that on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., educator, playwright, translator, biographer and critic Carol Rocamora will give a presentation about women in theater in 2019. On Wednesday at 4:30 p.m., come to a talk honoring the newly released book, Serious Eater: A Food Lover’s Perilous Quest for Pizza and Redemption. Author Ed Levine will discuss his book in conversation with Jenny Allen.

Send West Tisbury news to alleys@vineyard.net.