by Steve “Tuna” Tornovish
The summer of 1976—what a time to be a kid on Nantucket! The entire island was gearing up to throw a 200th birthday party for the greatest nation in the history of mankind. This was a big deal, I tell ya! Main Street, Federal Street, and much of the downtown area was completely blocked off for the festivities. Planners were planning, costumes were being sewn, and floats were being constructed. Oh yeah, the Bicentennial celebration had Nantucket a-buzzing!
I was a goofy 14-year-old kid that summer. My dark green metallic Schwinn bike, a five-speed complete with a rat-trap holder on the back, got me everywhere. It was an unimaginable level of freedom. I had a job at Nantucket Pharmacy on Main Street, working for pharmacist and all-around great guy Walter (Wally) Knott. If I wasn’t stocking shelves or mopping floors, my job was to hop on my trusty bike and deliver controlled substances in small brown paper bags to places all over town. No one gave that a second thought back then. It was 50 years ago or, perhaps, a million years ago.
What was island life back then? Well, from the perspective of a kid who would soon be entering his freshman year of high school, that Nantucket summer was amazing! Working on Main Street in the heart of town allowed me access, however limited, to all things happening. The luncheonette located in the front of the pharmacy was operated by Jean and Earl Muir. That generated an endless flow of humanity in and out of the storefront. An occasional mid-morning rainstorm would cause the pharmacy to be packed tighter than a life boat on a sinking ship. Local kids mixed with summer kids…to a point. Summer kids vectored off to the Yacht Club for lunch. Or tennis. Local kids went to work or home to do whatever chores they had been assigned. There was always a line drawn that seemed to become more defined every year after.
The summer nights were about movies. We would line up at the Dreamland Theater for either the 7:30 or 9:30 show and pay our $2.00 for a ticket. The big hits of that summer were Midway, featuring an all-star cast, followed by The Omen, starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and some creepy little kid with a 666 tattoo in his hairline. There was a scene in the Omen movie where two large Rottweilers came charging out of a graveyard – quite literally hounds from hell. We all jumped a mile! I recall my buddy Norman and I were riding home that night when a little rat terrier barked at us. We peddled faster than any e-bike that is currently terrorizing the island!
Music in 1976 came mostly from AM radio. The two stations that we could pick up came from Providence RI (WPRO) or from Boston (68 RKO). The summer sounds were “Silly Love Songs” by Wings, “Disco Lady” by Johnnie Taylor and “Let Your Love Flow” by the Bellamay Brothers. In the unlikely event we stayed home at night, we were crowded around the television set watching “Happy Days” reruns.
But the summer of 1976 was all about the national birthday party. I can’t recall any over-the-top political debates. You could still be mad at Nixon, think of Gerald Ford as a stumbling goof or consider Jimmy Carter to be a simple peanut farmer not ready for the big stage. It didn’t matter. Everyone was united in the goal of celebrating our country’s 200th birthday.
I’ve spoken to a lot of my contemporaries about our collective memories of the 1976 festivities. Everyone recognized a different part of the elephant. Val Oliver, Ellen Mayo, and Melissa Patterson recalled that the overall theme was to dress like the Nantucket folks who were around in 1876. Petticoats were all the rage for the ladies. The guys looked like they were extras in an off-Broadway production of Moby Dick.
My vague memory is that my dad, Bill Tornovish Sr., had loaned out a new Ford F-150 to be used as the base for a parade float. I can’t tell you what the float was about or who was on it, but the truck was a beautiful two-toned metallic brown and crème color. I wish that truck was sitting in my driveway right now! My sister Lori told me that she was pretty sure that she won a 50-yard dash race on Federal Street. Rick Troy and Missy Dee said the same thing for their respective divisions. All were proven correct when I poked through some archived articles from the Inquirer and Mirror for that week.
Lynn Burchell Heyer and her sister Lee Ann Papale- Kalman had great memories and the receipts to back them up. Lynn said, “I think Joann Mulligan and I were in the parade with the Red Men (The Improved Order of the Red Men was a fraternal organization dating back to 1834). We were riding our horses and the natives were behind us. My Aunt Nancy and family made a float with a whale and a whale boat filled with kids as the crew. My dad was a harpooner along with several others as harpooners. The harpooners walked the route.”
Lee Ann, Lynn’s sister, had a similar recollection. “My dad (Gibby Burchell) and my ex-husband John Papale escorted a longboat dressed as Nantucket whalemen. I was inside a giant sperm whale that was built over Nancy Chase’s Land Rover. We were towing the boat, Nantucket sleighride style. Nancy drove and I sat beside her. We had a fire extinguisher that was piped up through the whale’s head. We went spouting our way up Main Street! Nancy created the whole thing. It was the best 4th ever!!”
Lynn had found a picture of her and Joann Mulligan on their ponies. One was dressed as a cowboy and the other was an Indian. Lee Ann had a picture of the whaling crew escorting the dory that was being towed by the Land Rover/whale.
The Nantucket Bicentennial was a patriotic and wholesome celebration of our local and national history. No controversies. No protests. Just one nation, throwing a big ol’ party. I sure hope that our 250th will be similar. Happy birthday, America!
Steve “Tuna” Tornovish is a Nantucket native who has spent his life fishing from the beaches of his beloved island. He loves to introduce clients to the joy of fishing with his Nantucket Island Fishing Adventures: stevetuna.com