Mahon About Town Nantucket Blog

The retrospective exhibit of works by Nantucket women artists from 1910 to 1960, First Ladies of Nantucket, will close on Sunday, March 25th. There will be a closing reception for the show on Friday (23rd) from 5 to 7, at the Artists Association of Nantucket Gallery, 19 Washington Street. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a closing party for an art exhibition on Nantucket before this one. It may start a new thing - twice as many parties. I’ll need an assistant.

We won’t have the Flying Cloud to kick around anymore. Get a look at a fast ferry that was built to work. The commisioning ceremony for the MV Iyanough begins at 11 am on Saturday (24th) down there at the SSA dock, followed by an open house until 2. Scheduled service begins on March 28.

Godspell opens this Friday night at the High School, the 70’s rock musical about the life of Christ. A collaboration of the Nantucket High School Music Department and the Theatre Workshop, the performance is directed by Gordon McGregor, with musical direction by Robert Behrman. Showtimes at the High School auditorium are Friday and Saturday night at 7:30, and Sunday afternoon at 2.

Over the past few years, a new rite of spring has established itself here on Nantucket, one in which grown men don women’s heels, dresses and plumage to strut through a hooting and hollering, though more appropriately dressed, crowd of imbibers at the A.C. What for? To fund a 2 week humanitarian trip to Guatamala for Nantucket students. Here’s the lineup: Paul Bixby, Chris Carnivale, Richard Diamond, Don Pronk, Patrick Moran, James Lydon, Michael DeHeart, Greg Bourbeau, Micket Beamish, Chris Morris, and Bruce Yancy. Oh yeah, and Dan Sabuda. It’s hardly a contest with Dan in it -he’s been rehearsing for this part for a decade or more. Ms. Mantucket rocks the house (Atlantic Cafe) on Monday the 26th, 6 to 10. $75 gets you in and gets someone to Central America.

Senate Ways and Means Chairman Therese Murray, the state’s first female legislator, has assumed the position of President of the Massachusetts State Senate, after the resignation of Senator Robert Travaglini. The Senator is a frequent visitor to Nantucket. She is now the first woman ever to head a Massachusetts legislative body, and the third most powerful politician in the state.

The Boston Globe reports that the Senator said “she would be inspired by those who struggle to get by in a sometimes hostile world, with a focus on affordable housing, healthcare, and education.” She pledged also to help fisherman and farmers.

The Senator is pictured below, with Lynn Walsh and Senator Rob O’Leary at last year’s Dana Farber fundraiser at the home of George Cloutier.