Annual Feast of Holy Ghost Celebrates Spirit of Giving, and Glories
of Sopa

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/queen_isabella_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="180" HEIGHT="230"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="right"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

By ALEXIS TONTI

At this weekend's Feast of the Holy Ghost, Sunday after the
auction was under way and the lobster and sweet bread were going for $40
each, while the auctioneer harassed the bidders and the bidders inched
upward in $5 increments - right after a woman offered to buy a
stranger a hamburger - the spirit of the festival became clear:
generosity itself, in sharp relief against the haze of the muggy
afternoon.

The Island's Portuguese-American Club holds the festival every
year to honor Queen Isabella of Aragon, who sold her crown jewels to
help the poor of Portugal. All money raised over the course of the
two-day celebration, held at the club in Oak Bluffs, supports the
organization's charitable work.

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_fried_dough_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="180" HEIGHT="240"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="left"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

The festival began Saturday night, and by 6 p.m. cars already lined
both sides of County Road and Vineyard avenue. Within half an hour the
grounds were crowded with families, a balance that shifted as the night
went on.

The first order of the evening for any arrival was to purchase
tickets, the festival's currency. Fried dough went for three, a
hamburger for four. Six tickets bought a pound of meat for shish kebabs
or the traditional Portuguese sopa, a stew of linguica, chorizo,
potatoes, kale and cabbage.

PA Club members Cee-Jay Jones, 87, and Mel Clanton, 70, manned the
ticket table for the first shift. People approached slowly, stopped to
consider the menu and the relative value of each item. Not that it
mattered, at least not this early in the evening. Later it would come
down to singles and spare change. Now was the time to lay out $20 or
$40.

"We are a benevolent organization. We do a lot for kids, a lot
of scholarships," said Mr. Jones. "They make a good
sopa." He tugged slightly on the brim of his cap and lowered his
voice, adding: "Although it depends on who makes it."

Two small boys came over from the game area, one armed with a
stuffed caterpillar, the other with a toy ice cream cone. The first
handed Mr. Jones a bill. "Can I have 20 tickets?"

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_joe_nunes_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="180" HEIGHT="242"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="right"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

"You're a big spender," said Mr. Clanton.

"This is only a ten," Mr. Jones told him. The boy handed
over a fistful of crumpled bills, which Mr. Jones began to count one at
a time. The second boy started chewing on the cone. "We have a lot
of money," he informed Mr. Jones.

"You've got $14."

"Then we'll take 14," said the first boy. They ran
back toward the games, where the big winners took home an inflatable
Spider-Man. For those who threw a ball with less accuracy, the prize was
a plastic dinosaur.

As Night Falls, Music

By 7:30 the edge had come off the day's heat and the sun hung
pink and low in the sky.

On stage the Ray Band had started its first set.

Facing the stage, under a large tent in the middle of the parking
lot, rows of picnic tables were filled with people eating and talking;
their collective conversation echoed hollowly beneath the canopy.

Others sat on steps, spare ledges, anywhere a plate could be
balanced.

For those still waiting for food, the longest line was for the fried
dough. The sweet-smelling booth was crowded with workers: four to shape
the flour-covered dough into discs, one to fry them, another to cover
them with sugar, and two more to serve.

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_dance_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="160"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="left"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

"I cleared my weekend to do this. We're having a lot of
fun for a good cause," said Tony Bettencourt, an Edgartown police
officer, who cracked jokes with the customers while waiting for the next
batch to finish. "Look at our line, we're the most popular
line here - it's because of our chefs."

Theresa Baptiste turned around from the vat of hot oil. She wiped
her hands on her green apron. "Are they waiting for us?" She
nodded at the line and raised her eyebrows. Before getting an answer,
she had turned to the prep table, grabbed two raw discs and dropped them
into the vat. "It's impossible to keep up with the
demand."

The night ran on, and still people ate. Plates of chicken and corn
on the cob. Shish kebab, carefully skewered and roasted over hot coals.
More sopa.

By 10 the rhythm of the festival had changed. The band was audible
several blocks away, down dirt roads and from back porches. At that
distance, the music beckoned. At the club itself, it overwhelmed. People
shouted rather than spoke, or danced rather than say anything at all.

On Sunday, the Parade

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_parade_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="160"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="right"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

Sunday morning the annual parade started at 11:30 from the Steamship
Authority terminal in Oak Bluffs.

The wind swept in off the water and the sun tried to burn through
the haze. Both the Bay State Band and the Grupo Folclorico Madeirense, a
troop of Portuguese dancers, had come from New Bedford to participate.
But as the parade turned up Circuit avenue all eyes were on the little
boys and girls who were celebrating their first communion.

In the middle was Katherine deBettencourt, 8, who carried the crown
of Isabella of Aragon. All in white, she was flanked by Megan
Bettencourt and Kenya Peters, who walked with a scepter and a smaller
crown, symbols of the day's tradition. The other seven children
followed close behind.

The parade stopped at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, where Father
John Ozug gently placed the crown on Miss deBettencourt's head.
Miss Bettencourt and Miss Peters each put up an arm to steady the heavy
crown while Father Ozug sprinkled holy water and gave his blessing.

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_cemetery_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="152"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="left"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

At the parade's conclusion back at the PA Club, Mr. Ozug gave
his second blessing: "In honor of Queen Isabella, let us
demonstrate the same zeal for helping the poor in our midst and in our
day." That spirit carried the day. The sopa was free. Lobsters and
Portuguese sweet bread went at auction for $40 or more, all for the
benefit of the Island community.

Auctioneer David Araujo told the crowd: "Last year we gave
more than $30,000 in scholarships. We help people, and we hope
you'll help us." Mr. Araujo himself set the example: He
jumped into a bidding war for a frosted cake, finally purchasing it for
$115, only to donate it back to the auction "in appreciation of
all of you." The bidding then began anew. The cake went for $70
and was immediately served to the little kids.

"We are a giving organization, that is it, that is what we are
all about," declared Kaye Manning, who watched the auction from
her seat behind the volunteers' table. "We see new young
couples come every year, and that is important. It's the next
generation, and they understand the cause and the importance of carrying
on the tradition. Mothers and daughters. Fathers and sons."

SRC="http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2004/07/20/content/holy_ghost_sopa_sm.jpg"
WIDTH="180" HEIGHT="235"
ALT="Photo" BORDER="2" ALIGN="right"
VSPACE="6" HSPACE="6">

The auction stopped for the folk dancers' performance, a
swirling circle of color and dance.

Watching, Oak Bluffs residents Linda and Frank Murray spoke about
the importance of the feast, which takes place directly across from the
street from their home. "Its flavor captures you. It makes you
want to be here every year, at this time, just to take part in
it," said Mrs. Murray.

Mr. Murray nodded and said, "This festival is about the
diversity, the laughter, the happiness and the high moments." He
encompassed the crowd with a sweep of his right arm. "There are
the elderly and the youth, everyone moving about, everyone as one big
family, as an extension of one another in a larger sense. You leave with
a sense of ‘Wow.'"