This religious encampment has become an Institution, there is nothing like it in this country, and it is greatly increasing from year to year.
On a summer day in Oak Bluffs, Circuit avenue can sometimes feel like a circus. If you’re looking for some relief from the hot pavement and bustling crowds, follow the road down to the end of the main shopping area and turn right. You’ll stumble into Wesleyan Grove, a shady oasis filled with colorful cottages pulled straight from the pages of a storybook. This is the Camp Ground of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association.
Over the years I have wondered what form the end will take for our Camp Ground cottage. Since I began seeing the cottage through adult eyes, I’ve eyed it with the trepidation of watching a truck turn off Main street in Vineyard Haven. It’s not going to make it.
If you have ever wanted to step inside one of the colorful gingerbread cottages that are a signature of Oak Bluffs and its historic Camp Ground, then tomorrow is the ideal time. The Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association will host the 17th Camp Ground Cottage Tour from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, a self-guided experience that includes a walk through seven wonderful Camp Ground cottages and the Cottage Museum. The $25 admission fee benefits the Tabernacle Restoration Fund.
The opportunity to see the interiors of the privately owned cottages on the grounds of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Association occurs only once a year. On Wednesday, August 10, five of the larger cottages which face the Tabernacle on the north end of Trinity Park, as well as a sixth one nearby, will be open to the public as part of the 2011 Camp Ground Cottage Tour.
Most Vineyard visitors believe they have seen the Gingerbread cottages after they have walked through Trinity Park and around the Tabernacle. However, the Camp Ground consists of 315 cottages spread across 34 acres.
Circle of Faith,> The Story of the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting, By Sally Dagnall, Vineyard Stories, Edgartown, Ma. 2010 $24.95.
T here is no other place quite like Oak Bluffs — the color and charm, the hustle and bustle, the beaches and parks and fireworks and festivals, open and free and inviting. And to think it all started as a religious retreat.
