Multigenerational clans of Chilmarkers flocked to the field behind the Community Center Wednesday for the volunteer firefighter association’s annual Backyard Bash.
Babies crawled on picnic blankets. Children played catch and kicked around soccer balls while parents stood line for barbecued fare. The five-member Dock Dance Band played twangy tunes, and a few people danced.
Harriet Kantrowitz was camped out with her extended family — husband Warren, their niece and nephew and grand-nieces — in lawn chairs and on a picnic blanket.
“It’s been fun,” she said. “We’ve seen several people that we know that we haven’t seen in quite awhile . . . the music is great, the kids are wonderful. I don’t know, this is sort of what it’s about.”
The bash is a Chilmark institution. “We’ve always come, as far as I know,” Jimmy Morgan, who has lived in Chilmark for his entire 93 years.
Fire dog Piper, a six-month-old Dalmatian, was decked out in an orange Chilmark fire department shirt. Firefighter Christina Colarusso shared fond memories of attending the bash for many summers before joining the department last year. Other firefighters mingled and oversaw the evening’s silent auction and raffles for items ranging from a pig roast to Chilmark Chocolates to gift cards redeemable at various town standbys.
The association will disperse the $3,000 raised by the event to support a variety of causes: college scholarships for graduating high school students, the annual town children’s Halloween and Christmas parties, and the association’s relief fund.
Fire chief David Norton noted that this year the fund has aided him, as he is on medical leave for a heart condition.
Mr. Norton been part of the fire department since 1970, volunteering as soon as he was able. “I joined when I was sixteen and a half right after I got my license. Back then there was quite a cast of characters,” he recalled.
Today the department has 22 firefighters. “It’s a well put together community and we work hard for each other and help each other out as much as we can, anytime, anywhere, any place,” Chief Norton said.
He too has seen quite a few of the Wednesday evening fetes, which began exclusively as an auction.
The event has run fairly consistently since at least 1955.
“I remember one year we had a friend who had just bought a house here, and she bought a whole bunch of things, including a kitchen sink for her house,” Mrs. Kantrowitz recalled. “There were always treasures. I still have a chair I got that year.”
Over time, the auction took on a slightly absurdist bent. Shenanigans were commonplace, and comedians Lenny Clarke, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd all took turns as auctioneers in earlier days.
The free-for-all auction got a little too freewheeling, so in 2002 the event morphed into the Backyard Bash that Chilmark residents know and love today.
But the event still has its share of antics. A little before 7 p.m., Jim Belushi joined the Dock Dance Band to play harmonica and sing the blues. “I am so glad to be home,” Mr. Belushi said. “I just like all the swag and the burgers and the people. Everybody’s chill here, man. You know, these are our residents, this is us, this our town, this is our fire department, and you know I’m here to support all of this…. And have a little fun playing harmonica.”
Golden light flooded the grassy field. Mr. Belushi continued: “It triggers an emotion that I had as a young boy and we would go to the church picnic once a year. And I used to look forward to it every year . . . that’s what it feels like here. Just very nice people, having a nice time together, celebrating the summer.”
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