Wednesday of last week was a great day for the Vineyard.
Hottest Fair in History Wins Cheers from Public
Sweltering Weather Drops Attendance to 25,000 Visitors
By ALEXIS TONTI
Two days after the close of the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural
Society Livestock Show and Fair, the blue reentry stamp still
won't quite wash off. The ink's durability through sweat and
swim and shower is pretty amazing - and a bit frustrating -
but ultimately a good thing. Most everyone left and returned, and that
stamp was their ticket back in.
The activity filling the roadways in West Tisbury yesterday morning could only mean one thing: The 141st annual Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair had opened its gates at 10 a.m. for the first of four eventful days.
Groups of kids stood at nearby bus stops, people walked along the road toward the event, cars full of parents and children began to back up for the field parking - and the fair had only just begun.
A father and son, after parking, sprinted to the ticket booth with smiles on their faces, laughing all the way there.
The ferris wheel's been planted, the entry forms returned, the dogs bathed, allowances saved, curfews set.
In the final days before the 141st annual Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair begins, volunteers are plugging through the fair's "to do" list. It's a list that Eleanor Neubert - fair manager for 19 years - knows well.
Even the sun decided to make an appearance yesterday morning for the opening of the 140th Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society Livestock Show and Fair.
Fifteen minutes before the fair officially opened, carloads of big and little kids lined Panhandle Road, anxious to be the first riders on the 18 carnival rides.
An excited, yet not quite frantic, bustle around West Tisbury's Agricultural Hall suggests that it's that time again. Just in case the hectic scene isn't enough of a sign, a yellow, blue, green and pink merry-go-round sits empty in the grass semicircle in front of the Agricultural Hall, waiting to take kids for a spin.
The 140th Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society's Livestock and Fair will kick off Thursday morning at 10 a.m.
