Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank is proud to announce the grand opening of their new in town branch (including an ATM machine) at 0 Main Street – stop by and see what all the buzz is about!!

Optimism was the word of the morning on day four of the 2012 Nantucket commercial scalloping season. My pal, Posie Constable, and I hitched a ride with Captain Neil Cocker and his shipmates, Dino and Mimi, as we made our way to and through an undisclosed location near Madaket Harbor- secrecy as to the location of scallops and mis-direction toward your competitors is a strong and enduring Nantucket tradition! It was a beautiful November morning of about 55 degrees with an east wind freshening from 7 to 15 knots over the two hours it took us to “catch” our limit.

After a dreadful year of just 6,900 bushels last season there is cause to be more hopeful about this year. Early indications demonstrate good quality and quantity but the latter fact pushes prices down with wholesale prices (the amount paid to scallopers) of just $11 – $12/pound on Nantucket. With Vineyard wholesale prices at $15/pound, it’s tempting for Nantucket scallopers to travel the hour or two by boat to sell over there.

Neil is a sailing friend and a 30 year veteran of scalloping in Nantucket’s waters. As I write, Neil is shucking his five bushels. Here’s a PLUM TV video of his technique!

Commercial Scalloping-Photo by Quint Waters

Nantucket commercial scallopers took to the harbor at dawn yesterday, marking the beginning of the 2011/2012 commercial scalloping season on Nantucket.  Many of the boats brought in their limit in just two tows!  This phenomenon may simply be due to the fact that gales force winds blew many of the scallops in towards Hulbert Avenue over the weekend…time will tell if the season continues to be a great one.

Sweet, delicious Nantucket Bay Scallops were in the fish markets yesterday and, to the delight of Nantucket diners, will now appear on restaurant menus across the island.  It is worth planning a visit to Nantucket just to taste our native scallops!

This event, directed by Kit Noble,  is not one to miss!  On October 8th, Nantucketers will be taking to the streets and beaches, forests and fields armed with smart phones, Flip Cameras, GoPros and any other handheld HD device to capture the many faces and spaces of the Grey Lady.

In the spirit of ‘Day in the Life’ picture books, and, more recently, Kevin Macdonald’s documentary, ‘Life in a Day’, ‘Nantucket 24′ will chronicle a single day on island as seen through the lenses of hundreds of Nantucketers. The raw footage will be submitted to Nantucket Films where it will be edited and scored to create a movie mosaic entitled ‘Nantucket 24: One Day on Island Time’.

‘Nantucket 24′ will premiere at the Dreamland in May of 2012, a perfect project to get the theater’s long-awaited reels spinning. Imagine your smart phone footage stretched across the big screen while the adoring Nantucket community looks on. The Dreamland will surely be an unparalleled beacon of community arts. What better way to celebrate its opening season than to be part of the story?

Check out facebook for more information or visit www.nantucketfilms.com.  We’re ready with our Flip – are you?

Come one, come all!  The 2011 Nantucket Island Fair is fun for all ages.

• Face painting
• Music, games, & food
• Animals galore
• See a falcon for Q&A
• Community tent with vendors
• Boy and Cub Scouts
• Scarecrow contest
• Giant pumkins
• Pet & dog show

The 34^th annual Nantucket Antiques Show will take place July 29-August 2 at the Nantucket High School, 10 Surfside Rd. The show will feature 25 exhibitors from the United States and Europe and the proceeds will benefit the Nantucket Fireman’s Association. Daily admission is $10. Call 757.220.0400 for more information.

The Nantucket Comedy Festival will return this summer for it’s fourth season, running from Thursday, July 28 through Saturday, July 30. This year the Festival will feature three great nights of comedy and a kids comedy show on Thursday afternoon. Daily Show favorite Lewis Black will perform his full show, and two Festival favorites will return: The Night of Funny Women and New York vs Boston Comedy Smackdown. The festival is a non-profit event which benefits ProjACK Comedy, a new comedy curriculum for high school students. In addition to the professional comics, this year’s Festival will feature the first ProjACK Comedy high school proteges from the Nantucket schools. Get more information and buy tickets–on sale now–at nantucketcomedyfestival.org. Get your tickets now…last year the shows sold out.

July 7^th is opening night for the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s performance of the musical, Peter Pan. Starring many of Nantucket’s local children, this classic story is sure to please. The show will take place at Benett Hall, 62 Centre Street from July 7^th until July 30^th. Performances will occur Wednesday through Saturday at 3:30 with one additional Sunday matinée performance on July 24^th at 3pm. Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased online at http://theatreworkshop.com/ or by calling the box office at 508.228.4305.

The “Keepers” and Bluefish are officially here!  Reports happily reveal that “keeper”  bass have been caught off the south and west shore beaches, while boat captains are telling the same story from the water.  The cold waters and bad weather have slowed the arrival of the larger fish, but the season is off and running.