In a spectacle described as incredible, amazing and historic, hundreds of Islanders turned out to hammer boards, paint window sills and raise the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society's new barn in a three-day event that was a festival of community spirit.

The West Tisbury selectmen on Wednesday agreed to review zoning rules for the Agricultural Hall after concern that the number of events held each year on the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society grounds off Panhandle Road may be over the limit.

It’s a surf and turf kind of weekend on the Vineyard with not one but three celebrations of field and sea.

As starter plants begin to sprout in greenhouses across the Island, the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society ushered in the spring season on Saturday evening at its annual potluck.

The Agricultural Society is celebrating the art of meat, both in the kitchen and on the dance floor.

On Saturday, Feb. 23, Jefferson Munroe of the Good Farm will host a sausage making workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Excerpted from Bountiful: A History of the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society and the Livestock Show and Fair, by Susan Klein, with photographs by Alan Brigish (Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society, 2012).

This excerpt is taken from chapter 9 which tells the story of the midway and how it came to play an integral part of the annual Island tradition.

“My favorite was the Scrambler! It was really fun!”

— Dylan Biggs, 7 years of age

The first Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair was held on October 26, 1858: it was announced on September 15 of that year. And thus began a pilgrimage that would be unfamiliar in nature though familiar in spirit to modern-day fairgoers: 1,800 people made their way to the Grange Hall in West Tisbury by horseback, in wagons or on foot.

There is something comforting in the connection between old-fashioned, farm-grown accomplishments, community pride and simple pleasures. It connects us to the land and to each other. The Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society's fourth annual Harvest Festival conjures vintage images of farm life and country fairs and invites Islanders to celebrate the Vineyard's rich agricultural tradition at the fairgrounds in West Tisbury Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the Columbus Day holiday.

It may be only a few minutes shy of 10:30 in the morning, but as
Rocky Magnuson reminds the stream of people walking by, it's never
too early to enjoy a little kettle corn.

The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society has a new barn. It took only two days for dozen Amish craftsmen, working alone, to raise it. The traditionally built barn makes a perfect sister to the agricultural society’s other barns, though in this case all the wood is new.