Has anyone noticed that Nantucket Daffodils are multiplying along the Milestone Road ?

Daffy’s on the Milestone Road Planted through Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket Donations-Photo by Quint Waters

In 1974, Jean MacAusland enlisted the help of Dave Champoux to plant daffodils up and down the Milestone Road from Monomoy to Sconset.

But here is a little known fact…in 2007 the fund-raising committee for Hospice Care of Nantucket, now known as Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket found a way to continue the plantings and give back to the community in a unique way through a fundraising idea.

At their 2007 annual “Dreamcatcher” fundraiser,  donations of $250 were collected and in turn, several Nantucket landscaping companies agreed to donate daffodil bulbs and their labor to plant them-the donations went to Palliative and Supportive Care and the bulbs were donated… a fundraising win, win!!  The concept was to enhance the daffodils each year along the Milestone Road on the way to Sconset in honor of all the Palliative and Supportive Care volunteers and staff, the caregivers currently working round-the-clock to care for patients and all the patients who benefit every day of the year from the care that Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket makes available free of charge here on Nantucket.  The idea blossomed and for years the students from the Nantucket New School have also joined the annual fall planting as part of their community service commitment.

Now some thirty years after Jean MacAusland began her daffy plantings, Dave Champoux of Champoux Landscaping and Mike Misurelli of G&M Landscaping are at it again and have donated the bulbs(with periodic donations from the Nantucket Garden Club), and stewarded the Palliative Care planting of Daffodils which will takes place each fall. Since 2007, more than 50,000 bulbs have been added and the display in the spring is quite spectacular.

Next time you are driving by the “Serengetti” in Tom Nevers or the “V” between New Street and Main Street as you enter  ’Sconset, notice how beautiful these new daffodils are or better still, shout out to Dave and Mike and please consider a generous donation to Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket for the incredible support and services that they offer to our friends and neighbors here on Nantucket. This vital organization does not receive any public funds or financial support other than your donations which are critical to continuing these services to our Nantucket community.

For more information on how you can support this effort, please contact director, Charlene Thurston at Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket 508-825-8325 or come and join their “Nantucket Dreamcatcher” fundraising dinner in June at Galley Beach.

Find updated details for the Dreamcatcher dinner and auction here.