Browse: November 2007

The holiday spirit is in the air for Christmas Stroll on Nantucket.

From Santa caught on the Jetties (Coast Guard Station Brant Point was there to help) to hardhats hung on Christmas Trees, The Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce's annual Decorating Contest has everyone downtown getting into the Christmas spirit.

A wonderful site in downtown Nantucket during the holidays is the 70+ trees lit up at night for the beloved Annual Decorating Contest, sponsored by the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce.

A handful of judges gathered at The Chamber on Main Street to set out on Nov. 29. Their mission was to pick the most traditionally and most creatively decorated trees, windows, and doors throughout the historical downtown district on Nantucket.

Congratulations to all of the winners:

Window Decorating:

Most Creative: Young's Bike Shop
Most Traditional: Albert G. Brock Insurance

Doorway Decorating:

Most Creative: Nantucket Sports Locker
Most Traditional: Gallery at 4 India

Tree Decorating:

Most Creative (Adult): Flower on Chestnut (We love Michael Molinar!)
Most Traditional (Adult): Wolfhound
Most Creative (Youth): Girl Scout Junior's #995
Most Traditional (Youth): Magic Years

For more on Nantucket, don't forget to sign up for our brand-spankin' new Plum Newsletter. It's easy. just go to our homepage, and put your email into "Sign Up for Our Newsletter" and you'll recieve updates on local news, happenings, and more.

The holiday season on Nantucket is a time to give thanks for good health, family, friends, and so much more. The wonderful thing about living here are the many opportunities to give back to our community.

Here at Plum, we want to bring you some of the very special ways, both big and small, you can help those less fortunate during this holiday season.

Nantucket's swim teams are swimming laps to raise money for PlayPumps international and Nantucket's swimming programs. High School student River Bennett and Swim Coach Jim Pignato let us know how we can help.

Take a look at some of the fabulous elements of the wonderful Whaler Guest House, located in the heart of the historic downtown district of Nantucket Island.

If you haven’t gotten your fix of Christmas after the craziness of Black Friday, you’re sure to get it during this year’s Christmas Stroll on Nantucket. Every year Stroll is the first weekend in December and this year it's November 30 through December 2. Between the carolers, the brilliantly decorated trees, and, of course, the oh-so-fabulous sales, visitors and locals alike are bound to be humming “Jingle Bells” by the end of the weekend. Take a look at our Holiday Guides segments in our Guides section, featuring local businesses awesome products and ideas, perfect for the holiday season.

What is Christmas Stroll, you ask? Well, it's the busiest weekend of the off-season on Nantucket, where droves of people take the 27-mile trip out to the island to see the sites. From shoppers and day-trippers to locals coming out of their hibernation, it's a big holiday-love fest.

If you're here for the shopping, the family, or just because you love Nantucket during the holidays, it's never been a better time to check out the Island. We consider it something like a busy summer day, just 30 degrees colder.

There's plenty of photos in our links list below, and stay tuned for videos from Santa's visit, plus a special Man-on-the-Street Holiday Quiz from our own Roggg Woodruff.

And if you haven't already, be sure to sign up for our Plum Newsletter on our homepage to get a more in-depth insider's scoop for all things Nantucket.

Check out our Getting Here guide to see the best ways to travel to and around Nantucket. And for a complete listing of events, take a look at our Events Calendar.

Young and old braved the cold waters of Nantucket this Thanksgiving for the 6th annual Cold Turkey Plunge fundraiser benefitting the Weezie Library at the Nantucket Atheneum. Check out our coverage of this fun-filled holiday tradition in our full Turkey Plunge story here.

Think grass clippings, banana peels and dried leaves are just trash? Think again. This week Earth Bytes looks at composting, the science of using organic materials to enhance soil and grow plants. Here's a starter guide on why composting will benefit the environment and how to get started.

Why compost?

• Compost can suppress plant disease and pests.
• Compost replaces commercial (and often toxic) fertilizers.
• Compost is free.
• Compost keeps household waste out of landfills.

Get Started

• Find a dry, shady spot near a water source in your yard for the pile.
• Add carbon “brown” ingredients (twigs and dried leaves) and nitrogen “green” elements (coffee grounds and grass clippings) as you find them. Good compost should be balanced - check the EPA compost site for measuring ratios.
• Keep the pile damp (not too wet because it’ll smell) and stir it frequently. The extra O2 will help decomposition and prevent smell.
• Avoid using meats, pet droppings, diseased plants, fat, grease or too much nitrogen-rich material. You'll spread bacteria, attract animals and stink up the neighborhood.
• When material at bottom is dark and rich, you’re ready to compost.

For tips, uses and more general info on composting check out compostguide.com, composters.com and epa.gov/compost.

Thanksgiving Day on Nantucket is a time for appreciating family, friends, and a beautiful ocean surrounding us we can all jump into at any given time. Which, in this town, means jumping in the water on the morning of our beloved Turkey Day.

Children's Beach was swamped with hundreds of onlookers, and, more importantly, particiapant of the 6th annual Cold Turkey Plunge. Dozens of people around the island do this all for charity, helping to raise money for the Nantucket Atheneum by taking pledges to immerse themselves in the chilly November waters.

This year, the water was 43 degrees. That's pretty darn cold, if you ask us. But with the sun shining, and abnormally warm temperatures in the air, why not take a swim? We headed down to Children's Beach to see what all the gobble was about.

A big congrats to the winners (and all of the brave participants, too): 

• Largest Family Participation: The Allen Family
• Most Money Raised by a Child: Merrill McCluskey
• Most Money Raised by an Adult: Adrea Kovac
• Largest Group Participation: Small Friends
• Best Male Costume: Dvid Hulme
• Best Female Costume: Rebecca Bent 

Check out our video and slideshow below of this chill event.

A group of volunteers got together to custom make and personally deliver Thanksgiving dinners all across the island at the American Legion Hall. This is just one of the many ways people are giving back to the Nantucket community.

Nantucketers gathered at the Peter Foulger Museum to kick-off the Annual Festival of Wreaths celebration. 82 wreaths were on silent auction all week, and the raffle winner was Pam Coker. Proceeds will benefit the Nantucket Historical Assocation's educational programs.