What is a Vineyarder? What else comes to mind, aside from rows upon rows of grapevines ready to be made into wine across the landscape? What does the Vineyard represent, and what represents the Vineyard? That same question now faces two high school sophomores who are determined to give the Vineyard’s high school a unifying symbol through a new mascot.
It has often caused an uncomfortable quiet up in the bleacher seats that this great Island has no signature nickname for its high school sports team, and that it has no identifiable mascot. The team name now is Vineyarders, as we know, but have you ever been to a game and heard the chant, “Let’s go, Vineyarders”? It often sounds, well, flat. So we want to applaud the efforts of the students to restart a dialogue about that, and to push all to find the right way to express the pride we all share in our high school sports teams. And, so, we’ve decided to add in our two cents.
The best part about calling Martha’s Vineyard home is the community. Since the start of the new year, year-round residents have already come together to shoulder heartaches, snowstorms, and the quiet isolation of the winter season. Community is the lifeline that keeps them afloat. And perhaps more important and at the heart of that is the youth, who in the midst of a huge construction project for the regional high school want to take a bold step that we see is a means to strengthen those bonds, deepen community connection, and choose a figure that the high school and broader Island community can rally behind.
There’s an inexplicable feeling of pride in being a Vineyarder. Charlotte Cramer and Madison Curelli told the school committee earlier this month that they don’t intend to remove the “Vineyarder” branding or ethos from the school. Their hope is to increase school-wide spirit and attendance for games, pep rallies, fundraisers, and assemblies, and based on a school-wide survey that drew 268 responses, a large percentage (97 percent) want a mascot. (See B13 for full story.) It would be akin to how the Boston Red Sox’s mascot isn’t a pair of socks but Wally the Green Monster.
The survey ranked some potential suggestions for nonhuman mascots. Osprey topped the list, followed by seahawk, tide, buck, waves, hurricane, grapes, nor’easter, and thunder. Open responses highlighted ideas like marlin, vultures, and Vikings, though Cramer and Curelli noted that those figures either don’t have any strong ties to the Island or are already used by other high schools nearby.
This isn’t the first time the idea of a true mascot has surfaced. Former Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School football coach Donald Herman, who led MVRHS to a 71 percent win rate with a 220–91 record and five state championships over 28 seasons, and was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Coaches Hall of Fame, said he’s seen similar efforts come and go in the past. He said the “Vineyarders” name originated when the high school first opened in 1959, aiming to unify students from various Island schools under one banner.
Herman said past attempts always fizzled out. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, ideas like bulldogs, inspired by a team dog named Morris who appeared on a program cover, drew protests from residents. Vikings were also once a thought. In one memorable home game against Nantucket in 1991, Herman recalled when a resident, who was dressed as a Viking, rode onto the field on horseback, jumping hurdles, and threw a sword down to declare the field the home of the Vineyarders. Other stunts included a mid-’90s parachute entry and even a sideline character dressed as a Fruit of the Loom grape, he said.
Herman also recalled a formal contest to adopt a nickname that reached options like the ferries. It was eventually shot down by alumni who threatened to withhold support and insisted a name change would erase tradition.
“Nobody seems to be able to tell anyone what a Vineyarder actually looks like,” said Herman. He’d like to see a mascot that unifies and intimidates, and we can’t help but agree. He’s in favor of the osprey, a hearty Island hunter with nests visible on campus light poles. Though some don’t like that option because an osprey is a scavenger.
The truth is, there’s pros and cons to every mascot. Ospreys may be scavengers, but they also are beautiful, large birds that made a home on this Island scraping just to get by, something year-round residents may well relate to. Ospreys are also guardians and parents and the species coming back from near-extinction due to pesticide use in the 50s and 60s is a testament to their resilience.
At the end of the day, pride won’t come just from a mascot but from our actions — the spirit we bring to games, the support we show for one another, and the enduring values that the community finds in shared victories, hard-fought losses, and the everyday perseverance that defines life on Martha’s Vineyard. Whatever mascot is chosen, let’s applaud the students getting behind this effort, and let’s encourage them to find that badge, that word, that mascot that unites us rather than divides and acts as a symbol of what we aspire to be together.
