It’s Fair week! Are you excited? Have you been burnishing eggplants, arranging flowers, primping roosters, greasing tractors or swinging skillets in preparation? This is surely the crescendo of our West Tisbury summer, and it always seems that directly afterward, the air turns, at least at night, and fall is suddenly upon us.
I ran into Meg Abramowitz today at Lambert’s Cove, and naturally we got to talking about the Fair. Meg recalled that when we were growing up, we thought this was the only Fair in the world and that the whole operation--the games, the rides, everything--existed just for this short window in August on the Vineyard. I remember hearing that somebody had seen the ferris wheel coming off the ferry boat on a truck, but where else could all of this glory possibly be contained, if not here? It was like trying to comprehend life on another planet.
There simply was not as much going on here back then, and we all got used to spending six, eight, or ten hours a day at the Fair. There were some classmates who camped there with their families so they would be close to their animals. That seemed like the height of glamour. It was right out of Charlotte’s Web, my favorite book at the time. Well, my favorite book of all time, really.
It was a lot easier to keep track of your people when the Fair was held at the Grange Hall, because you could just walk around the circle and catch up with everyone eventually. On the larger grounds, it’s all too easy for small, determined people to slip away into the games, drawn there by the siren songs of the carnival barkers. Before they are caught, these small people are capable of spending thousands of dollars on rigged games in quest of chemical-scented stuffed animals that the small people, in their youthful innocence, think will be allowed in the house.
We have been driving by the fairgrounds daily to check the progress, and when I ducked into the hall the other day to drop off some paperwork, it was like visiting Santa’s workshop on the Monday before Christmas. At the sight of all the people working on that sunny weekday morning to ready the display shelves and tables for thousands of entries, I thought of Emma Hall, a devoted young volunteer who died last winter, and for whom this year’s Fair is dedicated. What a loss.
We were startled to discover that Seth’s Pond has been deemed acceptable for swimming. What a blessing! My mother used to bring us there to cool off after long Fair sessions, so maybe I will follow in her footsteps this year.
A very happy 11th birthday to Christopher Smith, who received a trampoline. Anyone who knows Christopher will understand why I smiled when I saw that the trampoline has an enclosure. I guess his parents have to try.
My brother John, his lovely Sarah, and their Campbell and Andrew are in town. This is a much-anticipated visit in Hitchings territory, and in celebration, my parents have even restored running water at the house. (Thanks to the heroes who made that happen. It was a close one!)
It’s Fair week! What are you going to eat first?
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