Five years ago, Cicilio Rosa Neto was given a calf from Mermaid Farm after helping with the insemination process for its mother. Though the calf was originally intended to become veal, the two formed a special bond and in the process have become something of local celebrities.

Mr. Rosa Neto and the calf, now a full grown ox called Chilmark, are regular sights around the Island, attending fairs, walking through downtown Vineyard Haven and even participating in funerals. Children flock to Chilmark, and Mr. Rosa Neto, a Brazilian immigrant, gives the Brazilian community a reminder of life back home.

Mr. Rosa Neto, an Island carpenter, never quite imagined he and the calf would make it to Island stardom.

“At the time, I thought I was going to feed him, get him to a certain size and then slaughter and eat him,” Mr. Rosa Neto said. “But I fell in love, never again thinking about slaughtering him after two or three months of treating him and giving him his bottle.”

Community has embraced the chance encounters.

Jeanna Shepard

Community has embraced the chance encounters.

Jeanna Shepard

Mr. Rosa also cares for Titanic, a four-year-old painted ox, that is less in the limelight, though is popular at the annual agricultural fair.

“Some people love marijuana, cocaine, I love ox,” he said. “Everyone spends their money in different ways.”

While Titanic prefers the trails of West Tisbury, Chilmark likes Owen Park, the soft sand at the nearby beach providing a better workout for him.

Mr. Rosa Neto said most people are excited to see him and his oxen walking together but that different nationalities have varied reactions. Americans tend to ask him why he has an ox with him, he said, while Brazilians on the Island, many of whom come from rural areas of their home country, say the sight is familiar.

“They take a photo and say you remind me of my grandfather in Brazil. It’s sentimental,” Mr. Rosa Neto said. “I see that the Brazilian community sees I’m representing them because 90 per cent come from farms.”

Shower time after a good beach walk.

Jeanna Shepard

Shower time after a good beach walk.

Jeanna Shepard

Mr. Rosa Neto grew up in rural Minas Gerais, Brazil, where many Brazilians on the Vineyard immigrated from. He was raised on a farm and worked with animals his entire life.

“From my house to the next house, you have drive like an hour. No electricity in the home, everything was natural,” he said. “My dad would go into the city and buy kerosene for light and matches to make a fire.”

Except for fire supplies and salt, Mr. Rosa Neto said his dad grew and made everything.

In the late 1980s, Mr. Rosa Neto moved to the United States. He headed first to New York City, but did not like living in such a large metropolitan area.

“It was too big a city for me. In Brazil, I never go to big cities like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. I’d never even been to those cities,” he said. “It was too busy for me, I felt crazy.”

Mr. Rosa Neto is originally from Minas Gerais, a rural area in Brazil.

Jeanna Shepard

Mr. Rosa Neto is originally from Minas Gerais, a rural area in Brazil.

Jeanna Shepard

In 1998, he visited friends living on Martha’s Vineyard after they told him life on the Island was similar to the farms in Minas Gerais. He lived on the Island for a year before returning to Brazil. In 2015, he moved back to the Vineyard with his wife and two children. Their 28-year-old son, Hiago, now works as a large animal veterinarian in Brazil; their 26-year-old daughter, Hianck, lives on the Island.

In addition to greeting visitors at the harbor and attending events with Chilmark, Mr. Rosa Neto runs Amazonas Carpentry, which offers roofing, landscaping and carpentry services. He also volunteers at farms across the Island.

Members of the Brazilian community refer to him as “prefeito,” a word which translates literally to mayor and means a well-known member of the community.

Mr. Rosa Neto and Chilmark have made appearances at birthday parties, public events and participated in the funeral of a fan of Chilmark. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Islanders also offered to help cover the costs of feeding Chilmark and Titanic, which can run as high as $1,800 a month.

Although he was able to care for the oxen, he was moved by the gesture.

“I’m very happy to see that this makes people happy,” he said.

Editor's note: The interview was done in English and Portuguese, with Gazette publisher Monica Brady-Myerov translating the Portuguese.