According to local reports, roadblocks surrounding the Obama vacation mansion in Martha’s Vineyard are frustrating locals, who can’t get to their businesses. “August is our make it or break it month,” Vineyard Artisans Festivals manager Andrea Rogers said to the Vineyard Gazette, “So this is the worst possible time of the year to block access. It impacts a lot of people.” Obama’s vacation week coincides with the heaviest time of the year in Martha’s Vineyard, known as Fair week.
Patrick Jenkinson, who co-owns a gas station, says he “really rel[ies] on this third week in August, especially Fair week…We do as much business in that one week as we do in three weeks in February. But we’re way down from what we usually get in sales, more than 15 to 20 percent.” Jenkinson called the visit “extremely intrusive.” Owners of the Alley’s General Store say that Obama’s visit means “thousands of dollars lost…at least a 25 percent reduction in Alley’s gross sales this week. And August, for almost all Island businesses, represents a very significant percentage, maybe 33 percent, of all gross sales annually.”
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