In 1996 we began to visit Vashon Island to see if this was to be the community where we wanted to live. We attended a quirky but genuine parade and vendor event that seemed to display Vashon at its best — The Vashon Strawberry Festival.

We learned a lot about what the Vashon-Maury Island communities had to offer through that event and by talking with the friendly locals attending the event.

We moved to Vashon in 1997. Over the last 20 plus years, we’ve noticed that the parade, charitable and community organization booths and the small number of represented local businesses each well represent our island; however, the overall festival seems to have otherwise become a street lined with off-island merchandise and food vendors. We hear from many fellow islanders that they no longer attend the annual festival principally because it no longer seems to uniquely represent Vashon-Maury Island. To that end, many off-island event vendors candidly told me (assuming I was also from off-island) that if I didn’t buy a particular item from them while on Vashon, I could just catch them next week or so in Puyallup, Shelton, Milton, Tacoma, etc. How is that roving caravan of vendors unique to and representative of our communities?

Let’s let Vashon-based businesses line the street in future events. This letter is an appeal to those who run the event to consider re-booting the format for this annual event to primarily focus on the wonders that island artists, merchants and organizations operated within our communities can provide. Two important outcomes are likely: 1) fellow islanders will start to show up again, and 2) money spent by islanders and off-islanders will stay on the island and directly benefit our overall economy.

— David Rubincam