Author: Taryn McBryde

A boy pauses at the water's edge with his bodyboard, capturing the quiet brilliance of summer on Nantucket.
An Island Point of View

The Real Brilliance of Summer

There is no place quite like Nantucket in the summer.

Every June, the island seems to wake from a long sleep. Window boxes overflow, hydrangeas begin their slow explosion into blue, the harbor fills with sails, restaurants spill onto sidewalks, music drifts through open doors, and every sunset somehow convinces us that we’ve never seen one quite like it before. The island becomes brilliant. Not simply beautiful, but brilliant. It shines with an energy that’s difficult to explain to someone who has never been here. It is easy to understand why people spend all year dreaming about these few short months.

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Two young anglers proudly hold up a bluefish caught during the August Blues Nantucket Fishing Tournament.
Nantucket Voices

Dog Days of Summer

Ah yes, the dog days of summer. The fishing has been, well, tough. My friend and boat charter captain Corey Gammon says that the fishing has been “opportunistic.” We spoke recently, and Corey told me, “Yesterday we did nothing at Great Point, and today it just went off. Fish everywhere!” Yes, Corey is right. I’ve had good days and bad days and going half-mad days, to borrow a lyric from the late, great Jimmy Buffett. My best day of the past week was when I had to cancel my charter clients due to extreme wind and rain. I went out and fished into that wind on an empty beach and caught some big, fat bluefish. You can’t catch ‘em from the couch, right?

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LLNF intern Ava Boettiger holds a yellow warbler during bird banding research, part of her Nantucket conservation internship.
Island Science

Training the Next Generation

The primary goal of a conservation-based internship is to bridge academic knowledge with practical field experience to develop the next generation of environmental stewards, researchers, and land managers. These programs are designed to benefit both the host organization and the intern through a blend of field labor, professional growth, and public service. We are fortunate on Nantucket to have so many conservation and science-based organizations providing those opportunities and mentoring the next generation of professionals.

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The cast of Theatre Workshop of Nantucket's Escape to Margaritaville poses on the show's vibrant tropical set.
Nantucket Arts, Nantucket Events

There’s Still Time to Escape

There’s something wonderfully irresistible about Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s production of Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville. From the moment the lights come up, Bennett Hall is transformed into a carefree tropical getaway, filled with infectious music, laughter, romance, and the unmistakable good-time spirit of Jimmy Buffett. With more than two […]

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Nantucket jeweler Susan Lister Locke sits in her garden wearing gold bracelets and rings from her own collection.
Nantucket Arts

A Decade of Distinction

For the tenth year running, Cape Cod Life has named Susan Lister Locke the Best Jeweler on Nantucket, a milestone that, even after a decade, still catches her by surprise. “I was astounded,” she says of the moment she learned the news. “I kept thinking it cannot happen again, and then it did… I am astounded, delighted, and humbled. It’s a real honor considering all the other skilled jewelers on the island.”

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Nantucket artist G.S. Hill stands beside two of his oil paintings on display for the AAN Spotlight Series show.
Nantucket Arts

Spotlight Series Turns Lens on G.S. Hill

The Artists Association of Nantucket (AAN) continues its Spotlight Series at the Champion Gallery in the Visual Arts Center (VAC), 24 Amelia Drive, with an exhibition featuring island artist G.S. Hill alongside Rose Gonnella, and Jennifer Rosenthal. Hill’s portion of the show offers a look at an artist whose career on Nantucket spans more than four decades and four distinct mediums.

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Nantucket musician Gabe Zinzer and fiddler Emma Buckner hold up a bluefish caught during her visit to Great Point.
An Island Point of View

From Grand Ole Opry to Nantucket Blues

The circle in the middle of the stage of the Grand Ole Opry is considered sacred ground in the country music world. The greatest players of that genre have stood in the six-foot circle and performed for millions of adoring fans. The circle was cut from the stage of the hallowed Ryman Auditorium in 1974 and placed in the newly constructed Grand Ole Opry stage, located a few miles outside of downtown Nashville. The Ryman, the original home of the Opry, had fallen on hard times. It needed significant repairs. And the show needed to go on.

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IPSC volunteers pose with bagged garlic mustard after a Nantucket invasive plant removal event in 2016.
Island Science

Learning from Invasives

The Nantucket Invasive Plant Species Committee (IPSC) was created as a subcommittee of the Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative around 2004. The IPSC has a goal to identify, track, manage and educate the public about the island’s non-native invasive plants. IPSC organizes group pulling events for some problematic species and works to educate the public about identification and management. When IPSC was first created, there was a list of concerning species that we wanted to monitor on island. We called them the “invaders” and worked to bring awareness so people could report them. This list came primarily from the mainland and other parts of southern New England where problems were first noticed and studied. We wanted to learn from our nearest neighbors as a way to prevent what we saw from happening in other places. After more than 20 years, it’s interesting to note which plants have actually become the problems we expected, and which ones have been more manageable in the long run.

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