NBUZZ

Most state universities in Massachusetts are requiring stu- NO MANDATORY town administration had not discussed the topic in any dents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus, while political leadVAX ON ACK meaningful way. At White Elephant Resorts, one of the largest private employers on ers are debating whether to the island, employees are enimpose a vaccine mandate for state employees couraged to get vaccinated, but there is no that interact with the public. No such plans requirement at the moment, said Khaled are in the works on Nantucket, where the is- Hashem, managing director for hospitality. land’s largest public and private employers say For Nantucket Cottage Hospital staff, COa vaccine mandate is not on the table. Town VID-19 vaccination is also voluntary, not Manager Libby Gibson and Health Depart- mandatory, as is the policy throughout the ment Director Roberto Santamaria said the Mass General Brigham system.

The Dreamland’s drive-in movie theater off

Nobadeer Farm Road will be back for an encore.

The drive-in was one of the highlights of the pandemic summer of 2020. It was so popular, in fact, that the Dreamland’s GoFundMe campaign to kickstart the project raised more than $185,249, and the nonprofit then sold out every single ticket for the drive-in from the day it opened in early

July 2020 through Labor Day. Even with some of the pandemic-related restrictions on indoor movie theaters being lifted, last year’s success spurred the

Dreamland to bring the drive-in back in 2021, and the Nantucket Film Festival has already announced part of its programming will take place in June at the drive-in.

The DRIVE-IN RETURNS

ISLAND BUILDING BOOM

Anyone with a working pair of eyes knows implicitly that the building trades have been going gangbusters on Nantucket over the past ten months. Since the initial pandemic lockdown in March and April 2020 that paused most projects and new construction starts, building activity around the island has skyrocketed, fueled by a record $1.85 billion in real estate transactions last year. Data from the Nantucket Planning & Land Use Services Department, which tracks building permits by fiscal year (July 1 to June 30), shows the island building boom that is underway. Through just two-thirds of the 2021 fiscal year, the estimated dollar value of new permitted building projects is $242.1 million, already matching the previous fiscal year, and on pace to be the biggest year for island construction in at least five years. As one member of the department told the Nantucket Current: “It’s crazy.”

FILM FEST LINEUP

Questlove’s Summer of Soul documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival will open the 26th annual Nantucket Film Festival on June 17th. Festival organizers recently unveiled the programming lineup, which will feature a hybrid format of online and open-air screenings, including this year’s Centerpiece film Playing with Sharks about marine maverick Valerie Taylor from National Geographic Films’ Sally Aitken. The closing night film selection is Coda by Siân Heder, about a hearing child of deaf parents who finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams. Actor Ethan Hawke will be featured in an online conversation about his work in film and novels, as well as New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman on her Practical Magic series of novels. This year’s festival is expanding from six to twelve days for the first time.

NPD PLANS FOR BODY CAMS

Nantucket Police Chief Bill Pittman plans to seek funding to equip his officers with body cameras, the technology that has become a focal point in police reform initiatives across the country. In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minnesota and numerous other cases in which video recordings of police interactions, or the lack thereof, have been pivotal, departments nationwide have been adopting the use of body cameras as a tool to both hold officers accountable and

protect them from false complaints. Pittman said he plans to bring the body camera issue forward during the town’s next budget cycle but is also awaiting critical guidance at the state level. The Massachusetts police reform bill signed into law in December calls for the creation of a task force to study body camera regulations. There’s the possibility, he said, that the state could mandate all departments to have body cameras and provide funding for them. “I think that they [body cameras] are soon to be on every police officer after the commission issues its report and recommendation,” Pittman said.

THE BOX IS BACK

After an extended and unfortunate hiatus prompted by the pandemic, the mid-island institution that is The Chicken Box has returned. When co-owners Packy Norton, Rocky Fox and John Jordin announced via The Box’s Instagram page that their “internationally infamous” dive bar on Dave Street would reopen on May 18th, they stated: “Never wake a sleeping chicken…” The team also shared that the outdoor beer garden they created last summer in The Box’s parking lot would be back again and serviced by a food truck run by the downtown restaurant B-ACK Yard BBQ, owned by Fred Bisaillon and Denise Corson. The Box, which is typically open year-round save for a few weeks over the winter, made the difficult decision last November to shut down for six months as the cold weather moved in and they were still unable to operate indoors due to the state’s COVID-19-related restrictions.

OUTDOOR THEATER

AT BARTLETT’S FARM

Come for the tomatoes, stay for the live theatrical performances. Bartlett’s Farm will be the site of a massive outdoor stage this summer that will host Theatre Workshop of Nantucket’s 65th season of performances. The Select Board unanimously approved TWN’s application for an entertainment license last month. With the uncertainty surrounding indoor performances and the restrictions that may be in place again this summer due to COVID-19, TWN has been searching for an outdoor venue on the island to host performances while also allowing for greater precautions for its attendees. It found a willing partner in Bartlett’s Farm, where it hopes to “build a massive stage” with roughly the same capacity as its normal headquarters in Bennett Hall, said Justin Cerne, TWN’s producing artistic director. “Bartlett’s showed up like a real champion of the arts,” Cerne said. “They’ve been so willing to work with us, and as an organization and as a family, they understand how important theater is and how much it suffered during this trying moment.” TWN’s 2021 season will include performances of Mamma Mia!, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s A Grand Night for Singing, Neil Simon’s London Suite and the holiday-themed Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings.