The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair, the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby and the Olympics share some commonalities: battling the elements, grueling competition, long days and nights.
A lamb’s first shearing, saucy ribs, dogs and cakes named best in show: two Gazette reporters spend the weekend at the 157th Agricultural Fair, speaking to Islanders and visitors and recording the moments that make up the fair experience.
The 157th annual Agricultural Fair was one for the record books with more than 45,000 people walking through the gates between Thursday morning and Sunday evening.
On Sunday the line at the Agricultural Fair was filled with dogs of all breeds in preparation for the traditional dog show, a mainstay of the fair for over four decades.
The sound of sizzling fryers, squealing piglets and a brass band greeted the first visitors to the 157th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair Thursday morning.
Opening after a three-year lapse because of the war, the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society’s annual fair called the Island population on Friday to convene and to celebrate in time honored fashion.
The day was hot, and horsedrawn rigs stood lined against the cedar bars, and over all there hung the smell of peanuts, soda and cigars, except down where the cattle stood, hot, thirsty, in the blazing sun and Old Man Andrews rigged his stand, the targets, and oiled up each gun. He couldn’t shoot while cattle stood so night the butts of turf and wood.
Wednesday of last week was a great day for the Vineyard. At that time, the first agricultural gathering and display ever attempted on the Island, was successfully held at the Dukes County Academy, in West Tisbury. The exhibition greatly surpassed the warmest hopes of its friends. There was a grand display of the cattle, fruit, vegetables, flowers, pictures, and fancy articles.
Twenty-five years ago, artist Thomas Hart Benton put on paper the spirit of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair.
Now the spirit of the fair as depicted by Mr. Benton is available on cotton as well.
The Benton egg tempera from 1967, entitled The Fair, is the design on this year’s fair T-shirts and posters. The T-shirts finally became available yesterday.
