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FairAugust 26, 2008 Whenever I read an article about how wonderful and timeless the Ag Fair is, I want to bah-humbug in a big way. The Ag Fair is a four-day theme park within the four-month theme park that is Martha's Vineyard, the locals putting on a show for the summer people, trying to convince the summer people (the ones who worry about such things) that yes, some of the past has survived -- and they can play too. Of course it's ridiculous, but still the fair manages to stop most bah-humbuggery dead in its tracks. Even mine. The 147th annual Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Society Fair began on Thursday and ended Sunday night at 7 p.m. Last Wednesday I baked. Thursday morning I delivered three breads to the receiving ladies outside the Ag Hall. Most years I return to the fair by mid Thursday afternoon to see how I fared, but this year I was looking after one barn at noon and another in late afternoon, plus I was editorially swamped and cash-strapped besides, so I didn't get down there till Sunday morning. My whole wheat Craisin bread won the dark yeast bread category, the cheese bread came in second in the white yeast bread category, and the lemon poppyseed didn't place among the quick breads, though I think it's pretty good. I ran into a friend whose beautiful pie hadn't won anything either. Some people envy the baked-goods judges but not me -- what shape could your taste buds possibly be in after you've sampled a dozen different brownies, as many chocolate chip cookies, and almost as many pies? After I'd checked out the hall, where all the exhibits are -- baking, preserving, produce, flowers, painting, photography, quilts, knitting, woodworking, you name it, and there are both adult and junior categories for almost everything -- I retrieved Travvy from the truck and brought him along. The dog show was on. Minimum age is 10 months, and Trav doesn't hit 6 months till tomorrow, but I figured we could check out next year's competition. The dog show has classes for any breed that shows up, and the mixed-breed class is always the biggest and most hotly contested. (Rhodry got honorable mention the only year we entered.) The "pulling ring" -- where the draft horse pulling contests are held -- was divided into four dog rings, and things moved along smartly. The real action was outside the ring, of course: big dogs, little dogs, young dogs, old dogs, lots and lots of dogs. Trav was quite excited, and very curious, but friendly and pretty manageable at the same time. Plenty of people fussed over him. There were no Alaskan malamutes entered. Wait till next year. We were only there for an hour or so, then it was off to look after Beeber the pony and his three dog friends. I thought I might go back at the end of the day for some fair food, but the weather was too perfect for riding and the fair closes at 7 p.m. on its last day so I didn't make it. I was down there before 9 the next morning to collect my breads and my check for $9 ($5 for a first, $4 for a second). Plenty of other people were doing likewise, so there was much kibitzing. I took a closer look at the needlework and the knitting, the woodcraft and the stained glass, all of which had been jammed with admirers the day before. Hell with the humbuggery -- the fair is pretty cool. So it's a theme park, and so an awful lot of people are patting themselves on the back: See? We haven't totally paved paradise -- see those fruits, vegetables, and flowers growing through the asphalt? And wouldn't your great-grandmother be pleased with those sweaters and samplers? It's cool that people are still canning and growing and baking and crafting in the old traditions, and that other people are coming to admire their creations, and that we're all admiring each other's work at the fair. When I moved year-round to the Vineyard, entering bread in the fair was my way of saying, I want to belong here, and when I won two blues, the answer seemed to be Stick around.
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