Change is in the Air
Blood Moon Eclipse Tonight, Adieu Faregrounds, Re-openings & Closings
The sun rose at 6:53 this morning and will set at 6:46 this evening.
Tonight is the full “Worm Moon,” which will also be featured in tonight’s total lunar eclipse. At 2:55 a.m. the Earth will pass between the sun and the moon. This will cast a reddish shadow on the moon known as an “umbra,” thus explaining why this phenomenon is called a “Blood Moon.”
If the skies are clear, “The Old Farmers Almanac,” says you can begin seeing the eclipse at 1:09 a.m. EDT with full illumination at 2:55 a.m. The eclipse is visible across all of North America.
On the ground, snowdrops are in bloom outside Bookworks, and crocuses are beginning to appear in yards across the island. Daffodils are weeks away from showing their colors. The morning skies are also filling with the chorus of song birds as more and more avian visitors are arriving from the south.
The news this week that Nantucket is losing another year-round restaurant was met with disappointment and sadness, and the understanding that this is yet another nail in the coffin of Nantucket as we once knew it.
Bill & Kim Puder - The Definition of Community Heroes
For three years Kim and Bill Puder have been looking for a buyer for Faregrounds, the restaurant, bar and grill they’ve owned and operated on Fairgrounds Road for the past 25 years. They hoped to find someone who would keep the restaurant open and affordable year-round. However, finding no such buyers and looking to retire, they’ve sold the property to an off-island developer who has filed a plan with the planning board to create eight market-rate lots for housing.
It’s hard to underestimate the impact of the end of the Faregrounds and what it means to the year-round community. Over the years the place has been so many things to so many people. It’s been our gathering spot on an island where true comfortable and affordable gathering places are becoming a memory of the past.
It’s where guys stop in after work to get a drink, relax and catch up with friends.
It’s a true sports bar, with memorabilia on the walls, multiple TVs tuned to sports and a congenial vibe that encourages sports fans to stop by.
It's become the place for people to go for Thanksgiving or Easter dinner if they don’t feel like cooking. Faregrounds has cooked Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings for Joe Biden from the days when he was a little-known U.S. Senator to his days as President of the United States.
The Faregrounds has been the site of so many community gatherings from receptions after funerals to celebrations of life, baby showers and wedding anniversaries. It's where the Rotary Club meets on Wednesday, a move they made about 20 years ago after the closing of the upstairs dining room at the Jared Coffin House. It is where the DAR meets for lunch monthly. There’s been no other space on the island that’s available year–round for the DAR or Rotary Club meetings.
And, of course, Faregrounds is one of the island’s few affordable restaurants serving food and drink all day from lunch until closing. Kim and Bill Puder had the personalities for the job – friendly, stopping by your table for a quick chat and maybe a laugh to share.
They created a welcoming vibe and kept the prices down so that everybody could enjoy that hospitality. It was a real community, family-friendly bar and grill. That does not happen by accident.
They have been stalwart supporters of every non-profit cause that’s come their way. Over the years Bill and Kim have given generously every time they’ve been asked.
For 15 years, ever since my church started a café during Christmas stroll, they’ve provided the chili to us at no cost. They have been an active, supportive part of this island community ever since they opened. They certainly deserve to enjoy this next chapter in their lives.
Sadly, Nantucket is becoming less and less a welcoming home for people who live here, with limited services that support us and serve the needs of residents, whether it’s a place to sit down with friends over coffee or a decent cheap lunch. There are still a couple of places left, and we ought to support them before we turn around and they are also gone.
I spoke with an old friend earlier this week, a native Nantucketer who’s lived here most of his life. He noted pending changes to his neighborhood, the end of the Faregrounds, and the acceleration of this sandbar as a place that increasingly only serves the monied. All were signs, he felt, that it might be time to pull up stakes soon and move on.
I was sad to see Avis close her Vis-à-vis clothing store on Main Street, another year-round staple for islanders and summer folk alike. It’ll probably end up being some high-priced boutique with an owner who can afford the rent, but that I’ll never visit.
What would be great in that space is something like the old Charcoal Galley, which was there in the 1960’s, an affordable year-round eatery with counter service and booths. It served three meals a day in season and breakfast and lunch year-round. I also remember getting takeout pizza from The Galley.
Searching for Deliciousness
Where can you get a sit-down breakfast downtown today? The answer is nowhere. Not right now. And not for five months of the year. Black-Eyed Susans, Lemon Press and Or, the Whale are all still closed. Over the years we’ve lost Fog Island, Centre Street Bistro and the soda fountain at Congdon’s – all places where you could sit and get real breakfast, not just coffee and pastry. They are all gone.
And now for some good news. The SeaGrille is reopening tonight after its winter break. My prediction is that the bar and restaurant will be packed with faithful followers. I will be stopping by soon for some lobster bisque and baked stuffed shrimp.
Pi Pizzeria opens its doors on March 14, “Pi Day.” I always forget that midweek you can get lunch there. Meatball subs, Italian subs and sausage subs are all excellent at Pi. And then, of course, there’s the pizza.
The Corner Table is slated to reopen March 15 after a three-month closing for renovations. Born and Bread will follow sometime thereafter. Expect to see some differences in that space too. Remain, the landlord of both buildings, hasn’t yet released an opening date for Born and Bread. Let’s thank our lucky stars for Wendy Schmidt and Remain or we likely wouldn’t even have those places open.
Marianne,
I think you have validated what many locals know to be true, the loss of the year round (local) working business owners, and working class that make Nantucket so special, is eroding the Nantucket-Way. The community safety net that equally supports islanders quality of life, in their time of need, regardless of financial or social standing is giveaway to a monied social caste-system. Where appearance of perfection by following the credo of ‘maximize and monetize’ is creating a new culture populated by Uber rich residents on Nantucket. Folks are divided by consumers over providers. As Hollis Webb, a man of great character and wisdom, posted once, “ Nantucket is in the end stages of terminal gentrification…”