Chincoteague Calls...

Lovey and I are having a continuing discussion about the keyboard and desk space, so if the blog gets a little weird today we all know that it's Lovey's fault!  For the next week you'll probably get tired of me writing and reminiscing about earlier times on Chincoteague and Assateague.  I simply can't help it - every fiber of my being wants to be on either one of those islands at the end of July and the beginning of August.  I guess it's like the salmon returning up-river to spawn (and, yes, I will mention pon-farr, for my fellow Trekkers, too)...  I just have this overwhelming urge to be there.  -  It was 70 degrees at 6 this morning, with 30% humidity; the sky to the west was blue, and there were a few scattered clouds to the east. The kits are all sacked out, as they played most of this early morning.

This weekend is the 24th Annual Blueberry Festival on Chincoteague.  You can purchase fresh blueberries and just about any kind of food made with blueberries.  There is local music and entertainment, and more than 100 juried artists are participating in the arts and crafts show.  This used to be a fund-raising event for the Deborah Hospital, but I haven't seen anything linking the two this year.  Of course, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department's Carnival is also taking place - last night and tonight, and will start up again after the Pony Swim on Wednesday.  This is the 86th year that the CVFD has sponsored Pony Penning - the tradition goes back to 1925, when more than half the town of Chincoteague burned to the ground in a devastating fire.  The monies brought in by Pony Penning, the Firemen's Carnival, and the proceeds of Pony Penning Enterprises goes directly to our Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance Service.  The closest hospitals are about 60 miles in either direction from the island - Nassawadox in Virginia, or Salisbury, Maryland. Other than EMT positions, all the folks who work at the Fire Department (and the carnival, and taking care of the ponies on Assateague) are non-salaried volunteers.  The money raised from the selling of the ponies, the profits from the carnival, all of it goes to out-fitting, equipping and training the volunteer fire men.

The real Pony Penning began late in the 1700s, when the farmers and ranchers who ran stock on Assateague and Chincoteague Islands needed to herd together, identify the young stock, and brand them (for tax purposes).  The cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and horses were allowed to run free on Assateague.  There was a small settlement of houses on Assateague, and a few more on Chincoteague. Penning the stock became a day for all the islanders to band together, work together and eat together - almost like a summer Thanksgiving.  The time was chosen when there was no crop to be harvested for the market, and when most people could enjoy a day of "just doing something different" from their every day chores.  Originally, the critters belonged to specific individuals - and if you could catch and tame one of the wild horses, it was yours.  Now the ponies are owned by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department; they are allowed to run free and breed on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge via a  lease agreement with the U.S. Government.

Since I'm not there, I don't know if the sunrise ride down the beach occurred today, or if it will happen tomorrow.  The Saltwater Cowboys (CVFD horsemen) will have gathered the herds on the northern end of Assateague (there is a fence dividing Virginia and Maryland) and will move them down the beach, moving at the edge of the sand, to the Holding Pens near Tom's Cove. - I can smell the sea, the fly spray, the DEET, the odor of sweaty horses and warm leather....  I want to be there!  I want to see the ponies with my own eyes!  Chincoteague Forever!