Their hands were stained red, their backs a little sore, but the smell of strawberries, as though you had stuck your head straight into a strawberry pie, washed over them.

An equestrian, dancer, singer, windsurfer and lacrosse player walk into a classroom. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but these are the kinds of talents and passions that have come to define the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School class of 2010.

Known for their individuality, creativity and athletic drive, this year’s graduating class of nearly 170 is a diverse group of students.

Barefooted and locked arm in arm, nine students from the Martha’s Vineyard Charter School graduated on Saturday under a tent of tie-dye drapes and floral-wreath crowns.

Krista Brown, Ava Castro, Joshua Crowther, Iris Grace, Rose Goff Maidoff, Chelsea Phaneuf, Oona Post, Marguerite Smith and Brianna Sosa graduated with praise from community members, teachers and parents, confident their choices in life would lead them to great accomplishments.

There’s something romantic about hay bales dotting the rolling fields of the Vineyard at this time of year, those magical, large pillows that decorate the landscape. And then there’s the smell. Crisp, soft, sweet, it fills the senses (unless of course you are allergic).

It’s haying season again on Island farms.