It was spider crabs that drew them together.
A circle of children, parents lingering at the back, gathered recently at a new screened-in space at Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, the Vineyard’s MassAudubon center on Sengekontacket Pond, ready for the day’s Creature Feature.
Creature Feature is a program for kids aged three to seven, and today it was Gretchen Tisch’s job to tell them everything they ever wanted to know about spider crabs, a creature whose two names separately can strike fear in the imagination.
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.
They mingled on car-free Main street. They munched on fried dough and cotton candy. They rummaged through clothing racks looking for bargains. They did all the lively things the sardine-like crowd traditionally does at the annual Tisbury Street Fair, even if they did it a day late. A forecast of rain led selectmen to postpone the event to one day after the town’s birthday, July 8.
Who is Mr. G?
His name is Greg Wilson and apart from widespread recognition for his locally crafted Mr. G’s Hot Sauce, he can be easily identified by his charismatic nature, sincere smile and animated personality, which coincide with unwavering passion and a determination to produce and brand the best hot sauce available on the market — locally, and worldwide.
That’s pretty spicy stuff.
Racks of hats and T-shirts for the optimists, sweatshirts and raincoats for the cautious, coffee cups for grown-ups, balloons for kids, hair products for the stylish and umbrellas to keep their hair dry — all of them lined outdoor tables for the length of Circuit avenue on Saturday at 5 p.m., ready to celebrate the fourth annual Oak Bluffs Summer Solstice.
The extraordinary beauty, rich geological history and challenges for preservation of the Vineyard landscape were all topics for discussion last Wednesday evening in paleoecologist David Foster’s guest lecture at the Polly Hill Arboretum in West Tisbury.
