With a sold-out venue and nearly 1,600 people set to descend on the Portuguese American Club in Oak Bluffs tomorrow, the Big Chili Contest 2010 is bigger than ever. And the event sponsored by Vineyard radio station WMVY is sure to produce more smiles than ever for all parties concerned, from the chili chompers to the chilly children who receive clothes that the Red Stocking Fund buys with the proceeds.
Portuguese American Club
2010
2009
July 30, 2009
The Ceilidh on Vineyard Avenue
In Scottish, it’s called a ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee), which literally translates as a visit or gathering where friends and family share songs, stories and dance.
July 20, 2009
The scene at the Portuguese-American Club Saturday night smelled of fresh fried dough, sweet bread, marinated shish-kebabs over the fire, Cacoila (Portuguese stew), and of course, of sopa, the soup that Islanders of all heritages associate so much with this annual celebration of the Feast of the Holy Ghost.
“It takes a lot of people to make it all work,” said longtime coordinator Tricia Bergeron. And a lot of people volunteer, year after year.
2008
January 24, 2008
There is nothing sleepy at the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs this winter, or any winter.
While many of the Island’s summer restaurants and clubs might slip into a state of hibernation, at the PA Club the music is loud, the television is playing and the heat is on. Someone has a story to tell.
The club, off Vineyard avenue, is the Island’s community living room, dining room and kitchen. For many of members, the place offers a second home, a second living space. The oven is seldom off.
2003
July 17, 2003
The Club That Does What Needs Doing
By CHRIS BURRELL
Not a drop of Portuguese blood flows in Barbara Humber's
veins. Her ancestry is Scottish and Irish, but hand her a pile of
linguica, garlic and potatoes, and she can cook up a genuine batch of
sopa.
Ms. Humber is just one of a growing number of Islanders who have not
only joined the Portuguese-American Club in Oak Bluffs but now play
pivotal roles in it despite a glaring deficit: They aren't
Portuguese-Americans.
The reasons aren't really that complicated.
2002
July 22, 2002
They came by the thousands. The word at the annual Feast of the Holy
Ghost was that on Martha's Vineyard, everyone can be Portuguese
for a weekend.
