Editorial: Strawberry fields forever

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Cheers to another successful Strawberry Festival!

Thanks are well-deserved to all of the volunteers who made this titanic event possible, along with the many sponsors and supporting organizations who put on events from the Bill Burby race to the classic car parade.

It takes an island — and, specifically, the dedication of the Vashon Chamber of Commerce — to host an event that draws many thousands of islanders and visitors to the town core. Roads must be closed, parades must be routed, electricity and utilities must be connected and the hundreds of performers and booths must be wrangled so as to avoid disaster. This year’s event went off with aplomb, and the Chamber’s work should be applauded.

Congratulations to the island’s new unofficial mayor, TK Rose, representing something so quintessentially Vashon — access to the arts for all. And congrats to all the other candidates, each representing something crucial about Vashon: Access to food, community safety and childbirth care and love for mothers and babies.

We’re heartened to see that cherished traditions, like the two parades and the bombastic sounds of the Portage Fill Band, continue to draw crowds. And we’re proud of the island for wearing its progressive, egalitarian bonafides on its sleeve in messages and expressions across the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who made this year’s Festival sweet.