Halloween Volunteers Needed!

We are looking for Halloween Volunteers on October 31st at 4 pm to help support the I&M's Annual Halloween Parade and help hand out candy and direct the parade. For more information, email Janet Schulte at jschulte@nantucket-ma.gov.

The Island Fair Committee Announces a Fall Fun Day!

This year, the Island Fair will take place on Saturday, October 2nd with multiple activities in different locations. Click here for more details.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Actions

ACCORDING TO AMY: Month of September

According to Amy acknowledges the island’s past using Amy Jenness’s book, On This Day in Nantucket History. The project highlights dates, events, and individuals and shares information on Nantucket’s diverse history in order to acknowledge lesser known accounts. Using Jenness’s book and accompanying research, According to Amy recognizes moments of the past that deserve recognition through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.

September 12th: Passing of Stephen Symonds Foster

Stephen Symonds Foster was a radical abolitionist and author. He was famous for his dramatic and aggressive style of public speaking and he spoke at the Nantucket Anti-Slavery Convention at the Nantucket Atheneum in August 1842. Convinced that American churches did not uphold genuine Christian principles, Foster became one of the most extreme and vitriolic of the abolitionists, and religious institutions were often his target. Stephen Symonds Foster died on September 12, 1881.

National Hispanic Heritage Month: (Latinx Heritage Month) -September 15th to October 15th

Did you know it’s National Hispanic Heritage Month?

September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month (also referred to as Latinx Heritage Month) to acknowledge the accomplishes, contributions, and challenges of Latinx Americans in the United States. From Dolores Huerta reshaping the American labor movement to Alberto Gonzales’s achievement as the first Latinx US Attorney General, there is a lot to learn on the past, present, and future of a demographic that is too often viewed and discussed monolithically.

Here is more information on this monthlong recognition:

• National Hispanic Heritage Month (website hosted by the Library of Congress)
• NPR article by Vanessa Romo: Yes, We’re Calling it Hispanic Heritage Month and We know it Makes Some of You Cringe

Town of Nantucket Celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day

by Kimal McCarthy, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Director & Janet Schulte, Ph.D., Department of Culture & Tourism Director

Communities across the United States, including Nantucket Island, are proactively working towards acknowledging past and present-day injustices enacted upon Black, Indigenous, and people-of-color (BIPOC) and are making amends to establish a more equitable and inclusive society.

On Nantucket, town government and community members are taking actions to spotlight the lesser known diverse heritage of the island. At the 2021 Annual Town Meeting, members of the community voted in favor of a citizen warrant article to “adopt Indigenous Peoples’ Day locally in place of Columbus Day holiday.” It is important to note that this article was “a non-binding directive.” Nantucket voters’ approval of this warrant article is not surprising as there are signs of the island’s Wampanoag heritage throughout the community today. For example, areas of the island still have their Wampanoag names.

The Other Islanders by Dr. Frances Karttunen, linguist and local island historian, states, “Their language, changed in pronunciation but still recognizable as theirs, is in our mouths a dozen times a day in familiar island names, many ending in t: ‘Sconset, Madaket, Quidnet, Wannacomet, Miacomet. More of them used to have the t: Coatue was once Coatuet and Capaum was Capamet. Eighty-six place names can be found in Nantucket deeds and wills, and a third of these remain in everyday use…” (p.17).

The historical tales and contributions of Nantucket’s Wampanoag people are affiliated with the many economic and social issues of their time. For example, it is hardly addressed that Nantucket’s famous Black Whaling Captain Absalom Boston was also half-Wampanoag, his mother, Thankful Micah, was one of many Wampanoags that married Africans/African Americans brought to Nantucket. “Thankful Micah married Seneca Boston, whose parents were both Africans. According to her brother-in-law, many of the other survivors [of the ‘Indian sickness’] also found spouses in the African community” (Karttunen, 2005, p.54). Nantucket Wampanoags contributed to the island’s maritime history, abolishment of slavery, equal education for children, and more. As illustrated, their most recognizable contributions are the names we use to identify sections of Nantucket Island. One can also see reminders of the Wampanoag’s presence in a burial ground marker near Miacomet Road and Surfside Road and the Nantucket Atheneum has a portrait of Abram Quary, considered to be Nantucket’s last Native American man.

Frankly, it is difficult to summarize Nantucket’s Wampanoag history and contributions to the island. Alongside Dr. Karttunen’s books, information on the island’s indigenous people are available in Away Off Shore and Abram’s Eyes by Nathaniel Philbrick and in A Line in the Sand by Barbara Ann White, to name a few. There are organizations on island that are committed to sharing the stories of Nantucket’s indigenous people such as the Nantucket Historical Association and the Museum of African American History. And, there are also vibrant and proactive Wampanoag communities presently on Martha’s Vineyard and throughout Cape Cod and the South Shore.

Nantucket Island has a complex history and it takes personal interest and effort to learn about the less known and diverse aspects of the island’s past. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an opportunity to recognize Nantucket’s Wampanoags and their contributions to the island’s way-of-life back then and presently. The adoption of the non-binding citizen warrant article by Nantucket’s voters is an example of islanders’ willingness to strive for an equitable and inclusive community.

Meet NEET: “The People Who Make This Island Run”

Fernella Phillips Dietary Aide & Receiving Clerk, Our Island Home | Town of Nantucket

If you have attended a Nantucket High School basketball or football game over the past two decades, it is very likely your ears are familiar with the boisterous and distinct cheering of Fernella Phillips. The mother of Whalers who have graduated from the local high school has been a fixture at many events that support Nantucket’s youths. “I love to support the kids,” she stated, as she talked about her favorite recreational pastimes on island. Laughing, Fernella joked, “I make a lot of noise and they [athletes and audience] love to hear my big mouth” at home games. There was a sense that she embraces the responsibilities of a sideline parental cheerleader.

Off the sidelines, Fernella Phillips is the Dietary Aide and Receiving Clerk at Our Island Home. Our Island Home is a town operated skilled nursing home facility and Fernella has worked there for over twenty years. Before being prompted to talk about her work, Fernella stated, “I love my job and take pride in my work,” which was quickly followed by, “If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be here for twenty-one years.”

As the Dietary Aide and Receiving Clerk some of Fernella’s responsibilities includes keeping the dining room and kitchen clean, receiving shipments of groceries, corroborating orders, organizing and accounting for kitchen tools and supplies, proper storage of perishable goods, and more. Asked to talk about her team within the Island Home, Fernella used terms such as “good communication” and “smooth” to describe how the kitchen team operates well and shared that their comradery occasionally produces “a lot of laughter.” As she puts it, “I think the kitchen is the best because we get along. I love working with the kitchen team. We have a lot of good communication with each other and my boss is a very sweet person, she knows how to communicate with us and she tries to make things better for us.”

Even though Fernella expressed that teamwork is the kitchen team and Island Home’s best workplace attribute, she still hinted that morale could be improved throughout this town department. Fernella also suggested that employees’ inputs could be more valued before, during, and after introducing new rules, programs, or tools in the workplace. For example, Fernella shared a story about how a new type of mop for cleaning was bought for the kitchen but explained that “it didn’t really work.” Here is how Fernella explained the new mop situation, which gives a sense of her appreciation for her job and illustrates that she knows how to do her work well. “For instance, once they brought in a thing like an electric mop, but it didn’t get the corners, it didn’t do nothing. We still had to get the [regular] mop to rub where the [new] mop missed.”

There is no doubt Fernella loves her work and she is clearly embedded in the Nantucket community. Like many immigrant stories, it was the opportunity for employment that brought Fernella to Nantucket in the first place, back in 1988 when she was encouraged to visit by her mother, who was then a chamber maid for an island inn. Fernella’s journey to Nantucket started in Trinidad & Tobago, her country of origin. She moved her family to Puerto Rico where she lived for a while and eventually moved to Philadelphia for work. After learning about Nantucket, Fernella primarily worked in hospitality on island, going “back and forth, back and forth” to see her family still in Puerto Rico.

After a couple seasonal employment stints, Fernella decided to move her family to Nantucket permanently. Prior to joining the Our Island Home staff, she worked at the Harbor House for fifteen years and at the Jared Coffin House for ten years, concurrently. Fernella shared many positive stories about her experiences on island, but not all recollections shared were of milk and honey. Memories of what she still considers injustice enacted upon her family by members of the community still upsets her and moved her to tears in the interview.

One of her many hopes for the DEI Office is that it finds ways to “have conversations to get impressions and opinions to make the island a better place for everyone,” she stated. Fernella wants the DEI Office to “try and make things different. You know, put things in perspective,” for town employees and the community to have shared understandings on the many social aspects that impacts quality of life on island, such as having conversations on race, the dignity of work, and how to increase attendance at high school sporting events.

Prior to concluding the interview Fernella was asked: What makes Nantucket special? Before the last syllable of the last word in the question was enunciated, Fernella responded with one word at lighting speed, “daffodil!” She elaborated on how she missed out on Daffodil Festivals when she first moved to the island because she was always working, but recently she has come to enjoy the socialness of the annual celebration. At the end of the interview, Fernella was also asked to provide three adjectives or phrases that best describe Nantucket, she replied, “beautiful,” “kid friendly,” and “pride,” the last of which referred to her passion for Nantucket’s Whalers. “Our teams face the challenge, win or lose, we have pride,” she explained.

When asked for any final comment, Fernella closed the interview by expressing gratitude for the opportunity to participate and talked about how togetherness is the secret sauce that makes Our Island Home run smoothly. “This is what the Island Home is all about, teamwork, show love, and working together,” so that residents will continue receiving topnotch care. So, the next time you’re attending a high school game or visiting loved ones at Our Island Home, be sure to listen for Fernella, she welcomes and relishes opportunities to catch up with members of her community.

Energy Office News

Nantucket Receives Green Communities Grant

The Town’s initial $139,340 grant award was split equally with Nantucket Public Schools and was used to support a new, high-efficiency boiler at the High School, air source heat pumps (“minisplits”) at the Visitor Services Building, and public electric vehicle charging stations at the Nantucket Memorial Airport, the Public Safety Facility, and the Washington Street Parking Lot.

In October, the Town’s Energy Office (in consultation with the DPW), will be applying for an additional $200,000 grant to support new HVAC and Lighting upgrade projects at various municipal properties.

National Grid electric rates rising, but lower prices for most Nantucket PowerChoice participants coming in November

The Town’s electricity aggregation program, Nantucket PowerChoice, will offer new prices beginning in November 2021. Most Nantucket PowerChoice participants will see a price reduction, and all participants will see prices lower than National Grid’s six-month residential winter basic service price. The change is the result of a new electricity supply contract with First Point Power, which will take effect as Nantucket’s current contract with Dynegy comes to an end. Current program participants will be seamlessly transitioned onto the new contract rates, which will remain stable for three years.

Participants have two options within Nantucket PowerChoice, and the prices will change for both:

• The default Nantucket PowerChoice price will decrease from 11.300 cents/kWh to 11.065 cents/kWh. Most program participants are enrolled in this default price and will see a price drop.
• The PowerChoice Green option, which provides 100% renewable electricity from the New England region to those who request it, will increase from 12.232 cents/ kWh to 14.001 cents/kWh. The price increase reflects an increase in the cost of renewable electricity.

Both the new PowerChoice and PowerChoice Green prices are below National Grid’s proposed six-month winter residential Basic Service price of 14.821 cents/kWh, which goes into effect on November 1st.

With this new electricity supply contract, Nantucket PowerChoice will remain a strategic tool for the Town’s efforts to move away from fossil fuels and toward more sustainable energy sources. All participants will continue to receive a portion of their electricity generated from the Nantucket High School wind turbine. In addition, all Nantucket PowerChoice participants are eligible to receive a rebate of up to $4,000 for solar projects installed at primary residential properties or properties that provide year-round tenant housing through the Local Solar Rebate Program. The Local Solar Rebate Program, which is directly funded by Nantucket PowerChoice, has helped to support more than 60 new solar installations, with a combined output of 523 kilowatts of power.

To date, Nantucket PowerChoice has provided more than $7.5 million in savings to participating Nantucket residents and businesses in addition to long-term, stable prices. With this new contract, the program will offer another three years of price stability and the potential for additional savings. It is important to note, however, that future savings cannot be guaranteed and that the program price may not always be lower than National Grid’s price. This is because National Grid’s prices change every 6 months for residential and commercial customers and every 3 months for industrial customers, and future prices are not known.

The new prices will take effect with November meter reads and will first appear on December electricity bills. The new prices are fixed for 36 months until November 2024. Participants in Nantucket PowerChoice do not need to take any action to receive the new prices. All participants retain the freedom to opt out of the program at any time with no penalty or charge. Those who wish to change their program option or who do not wish to be enrolled in the new contract with First Point Power must make their request by October 22.

Nantucket PowerChoice is a green electricity aggregation, a form of group electricity purchasing in which the Town of Nantucket selects an electricity supplier on behalf of residents and businesses, secures a long-term price for electricity supply, and works to increase the amount of renewable electricity in the community’s electricity supply.

More information is available by visiting the program website at NantucketPower.org or by contacting Lauren Sinatra, the Town’s Energy Coordinator at 508-325-5379 or lsinatra@nantucket-ma.gov.

Our Island Home

Now that Covid-19 positive rates have gone down, Wheelers started again last week. OIH is also looking to open to in person visitations with residents starting Monday, September 27. Just in time for the colder weather!

Saltmarsh Senior Center News

Mask are required at all times inside the facility. All morning fitness classes are being zoomed. All afternoon activities are in person at the Saltmarsh. Call 508-228-4490 with questions.

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