News and Events for Nantucket Island
Every other year, Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative Assessment Week offers naturalists, researchers, and the public the chance to help document the many exciting and amazing species on Nantucket Island. From Wednesday, May 16 until Monday, May 22, a variety of walks and talks will be offered both during the day and […]
“Leave me alone, I’m just carrying on an old family tradition…” these sardonic lyrics from the Hank Williams Jr. classic 1979 song Family Tradition still punch hard after all these years. Hank Jr. didn’t have an easy road. He had to climb past the enormous shadow of his dad, a man who had died when Jr. was only three years old. But climb he did. Hank Jr. developed his own style and sound. He lived his own life. And yes, he’s always been proud of his father and what the original Hank Williams had left for him. Both men have become true American country music icons.
Certain birthdays are bigger milestones than others. When a kid hits double digits, for example. That tenth birthday party should have just a little more juice on the fastball, right? Same for the 65th birthday (I’ll tell you all about that one in a few months if, as they say, the creek don’t rise and the good Lord’s willin’).
It’s once again BioBlitz time on Nantucket! Mid-summer is the perfect time for a BioBlitz. It’s peak growing season, height of insects, the tail end of nesting season for many birds, decent weather for beachcombing, and there are lots of people on island to help us count them all!
Steve “Tuna” Tornovish It’s hard to be successful from a standing start (no, this is not a poke at our beloved Bill Belichick after his North Carolina Tar Heels took a horrendous loss to TCU on national television) but the August Blues fishing tournament certainly has done it. In only […]
The signs are everywhere. Shorter days, football teams getting ready, the August Blues fishing tournament in full swing—yup, this summer is slipping away like a Don Henley song. So when I found myself with an open afternoon last week I decided to get out to the beach and see if maybe I could actually participate in the tournament by catching a bluefish. Seems reasonable, right?
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.”
