Tradition Lights the Way at Grand Illumination Night

As the sun started to set and the sky darkened on Wednesday, residents of the Oak Bluffs Camp Ground sat on the porches of their brightly colored Victorian gingerbread houses. Facing the Tabernacle, they waited for their cue.

At 8:50 p.m., Bob Cleasby carried a round paper lantern down the Tabernacles center aisle and hung it out front. As soon as Mr. Cleasby hung the lantern, it was time for the Camp Ground to light up. Brightly colored paper lanterns bordering the Tabernacle were turned on and in unison, people waiting eagerly on their porches illuminated the paper lanterns hanging from their cottages. By 8:51 p.m., the neighborhood was aglow. It was the 146th Grand Illumination.

Bob Cleasby led the crowd in song. Mark Lovewell

The Grand Illumination, which takes place on the third Wednesday of every August, is an evening steeped in tradition from beginning to end. The night began with a performance by the Vineyard Haven Band, which was formed in the same year that the Grand Illumination first took place. Mr. Cleasby then led a community sing-along, during which he directed the audience as they sang songs such as Ive Been Working on the Railroad, The Swiss Navy (a crowd favorite), and other upbeat and patriotic tunes. Close to 10,000 people take part in the ceremony and stroll around the brightly decorated neighborhood afterwards, while the band continues to play.

Per Illumination tradition, the oldest member of the Camp Ground lights the first paper lantern that Mr. Cleasby then hangs up. This persons identity is kept secret until the night of the event. This year, the honor went to Bill Nicholson, who is 91 years old. Right before lighting the lantern, he came onstage with his wife Barbara, who has been coming to the Camp Ground since 1930. Mr. Nicholson first came to the Island in the 1940s, when he was a radar specialist at a naval air base here. He met Mrs. Nicholson at Inkwell Beach while she was vacationing with her grandfather. A few years later, the couple married and bought a cottage in the Camp Ground, where they live to this day. Mr. Nicholson recalled living in the cottage years ago when it had no hot water and the couple heated the bedrooms by cutting a hole in the ceiling on the first floor.

Other traditions are more personal. Mr. Cleasbys wife, Marietta, spends the morning and afternoon of each Illumination night doing a themed painting of the Camp Ground. This is a tradition she has kept for close to 50 years.

Each lantern has a story. Mark Lovewell

I paint all day long and I finally raise my head and I look up and I go Gosh, its 6o clock! and then I have to hurry to get over here, she said.

This year, Mrs. Cleasby chose to paint the front of the Tabernacle. Mrs. Cleasby also had the honor of painting the lantern that Mr. Nicholson lit, going the lantern with an image of the Tabernacle as well.

As people strolled around the beautifully lit neighborhood, they enjoyed a mix of lanterns both modern and old-fashioned. Some lanterns, like the ones that decorated Steve and Dawn McKennas house, date back to the mid 1800s. Though Mr. McKenna is not certain of the lanterns exact ages, hes been able to make a pretty good estimate by looking at how the American flag is painted on the lanterns.

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Tradition Lights the Way at Grand Illumination Night