News and Events for Nantucket Island
For more than 30 years, we’ve been holding our annual Nantucket Photo Contest and giving cash prizes to the first and second place winners. In reviewing the hundreds of entries to this year’s contest, we were reminded of the many sun-drenched days and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets of 2024. People […]
Through the weekend leading up to Indigenous Peoples Day, artists will be sketching and painting around the island—affording the public opportunities to watch them work—as part of AAN’s annual art-filled Wet Paint Weekend. Fun begins on Friday, October 11 at 5 pm, when the Artists Association will host an opening […]
In his 1960 book Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck chronicled his attempt to connect with the many parts of these great United States that he didn’t know much about. In order to accomplish this monumental task, the renowned author retrofitted a truck with a camper to suit his needs. He named his truck Rocinante, after Don Quixote’s horse, and drove it about 10,000 miles in the course of his adventures. Charley, a standard poodle, played the role of Sancho Panza for the great Steinbeck on his quixotic journey. Steinbeck describes his doggie/squire as being a mind-reader, an apt evaluator of the humans they met on their travels. Steinbeck utilized the friendly canine to break down the barriers between himself and the strangers he encountered, with great success. Dogs certainly have this ability.
Living on an island surrounded by the sea, there is no escaping the effects of climate change. Others living inland may be able to bury their heads in the sand, but on Nantucket sea level rise, erosion, storm surge, and flooding are all very real impacts that we experience regularly.
The first thing you need to know is that the Legos are staying. They are in plastic buckets and bins, assembled, half assembled, or dissipated into an accretion cloud of colorful plastic bricks and smiling mini-figure heads. But they are going to stay.
The rest could go.
The Nantucket Land Bank is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Not a non-profit conservation group and not quite a Town department, the Land Bank is a singular entity. The first of its kind in the United States, the Nantucket Islands Land Bank was conceived by Nantucket’s Planning Commission, adopted by the voters of Nantucket, and established by a special act of the Massachusetts Legislature in 1983. The Land Bank’s revenue is derived from a two percent fee levied on most real estate transfers on the island. This funding is used to acquire and manage land for open space, agriculture, and recreational uses. The Land Bank is governed by a five-member elected commission who oversee the actions of the organization. With these impressive resources, we, as a community, all benefit from the work of the Land Bank.
On Saturday, September 7, Children’s Beach will transform into a haven for young book lovers and aspiring readers. This first ever Children’s Book Day promises to be filled with joy, creativity, and discovery for children aged 2 to 9. Positioned strategically between National Read a Book Day and International Literacy Day, the event aims to ignite a lifelong love of reading and learning in our island’s youngest residents.
