Author: Taryn McBryde

Nantucket Essays, Nantucket Voices

Where Legends Are Born

I bet you all remember where you were the evening of Sunday, February 5, 2017. Our beloved New England Patriots were once again playing in the Super Bowl, this time facing a juggernaut Atlanta Falcons team. And the Patriots were getting worked—down 28 to 3 in the fourth quarter. Everyone on the Atlanta team box was ready to pop the champagne corks. Everyone except for one guy, that is: Scott Pioli (now a Nantucket resident) was the Assistant General Manager of the Falcons at that time. He had been a significant cog in the development of the New England Patriots dynasty, serving in the player personnel department from 2000-2008. Thus, he knew all about a guy named Tom Brady. Pioli was quoted by Mike Kadlick of WEEI – Boston as he remembered that game: “All the folks I’m working with, they’re high-fiving. It’s, you know, out of control. But I was a mess. I felt this nervousness.”

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Nantucket Events

Holiday Magic

More than 50 years ago, the originators of the first Nantucket Christmas Stroll were trying to encourage island residents to do their holiday shopping locally instead of traveling across Nantucket Sound to shop at malls on Cape Cod. That first year—1973—island merchants kept their shops open late the first Friday […]

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Cold Turkey Plunge
Nantucket Events

A Cold Tradition for Turkey Day

More than two decades ago, the Nantucket Atheneum was chosen as beneficiary of a fundraising effort that has become such beloved island tradition. Even during the pandemic, participants continued to do it from homes around the world. This November 28, more than 1,000 people will again gather on Children’s Beach, […]

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Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Street
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

A Play to Warm Your Heart

On Tuesday, November 26, the curtain goes up on the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s encore presentation of the stage adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter Street series. Back by popular demand, this heartwarming production by TWN’s Justin Cerne is faithful to Hilderbrand’s vision and writing. “Justin has done a brilliant job […]

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Island Science

Worrisome Invaders

Ornamental grasses are a popular part of many Nantucket landscape designs. They add movement and provide drama, all while giving a naturalized look to the landscape. However, many of these ornamental grasses are now being seen as weedy, if not invasive on the island—we need to do all we can to prevent spread into our natural areas and value our native grasslands.

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An Island Point of View, Nantucket Essays

The Ornaments

In winter, the island returns to Main Street. During the warmer months, we avoid Main Street: too much traffic, too much chaos, and too few reasons to be downtown. The Hub no longer saves the Sunday papers in their cubby holes, there’s no wing night at the long gone AC, and Hardy’s has disappeared and taken Bingo the parrot with it. Almost everything we could want, from glazed donuts to step ladders to Mom’s prescriptions could be found near empty parking places, away from the confusion, chaos, and cobblestones.

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Celebrate the Holidays with Art
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

Celebrate the Holidays with Art

Art takes center stage at three Artists Association of Nantucket (AAN) locations this holiday season. Happening now through December 13 is the AAN Holiday Expo in the Champion Gallery at the Visual Arts Center at 24 Amelia Drive. “This special faculty and student holiday exhibition features works by a wide […]

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First Place winner Jodi Fondell
Featured Articles

The Winners Are…

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 […]

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Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

Wet Paint Weekend & the Art of Healing

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 […]

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