About Nantucket County, MA

Nantucket Island, the insiders look.

It is so sad to hear the announcement of the closing of the Nantucket Island only animal Care facility. The MSPCA has decided to close the doors of the Animal hospital. I for one don't know what the financial arrangement was with the the MSPCA but, we need some type of help here. Most of the us here on the island are animal lovers and most of us have an animal or two. We will be left with so few choice and no emergency care of those times of need.

An open letter to the Nantucket community
From Carter Luke, President, MSPCA-Angell

After operating on Nantucket for over 60 years, the MSPCA-Angell has made the difficult decision to close our Nantucket facility effective December 31, 2011.

The MSPCA-Angell’s Nantucket operation has faced serious challenges in recent years. The seasonality of the island population makes it a complex practice to staff and manage. We’ve worked hard to streamline operations, and we’ve tried a number of different staffing models in order to provide quality veterinary services with an operation that could be supported by the community, either through veterinary fees or donations.

For the past several years, our Nantucket branch has operated at a sizeable loss – well over $200,000 per year, not including any administrative costs that are provided by the MSPCA-Angell’s headquarters. Given these financial challenges, and the fact there are now four additional veterinary practices on the island, we can no longer continue to operate on Nantucket. We believe the local veterinarians have the experience and capability to serve the needs of island animals and their owners.

The Adoption Center on Nantucket takes in very few animals. A large portion of the shelter’s activities involve feral cat spay and neuter services, and we will continue to support those efforts with funds we have received for these purposes. Any animals that remain in the Adoption Center when we close will be transferred to other MSPCA-Angell facilities.

We are extremely grateful to those islanders who have supported and helped in our effort to serve. To our volunteers, we offer our sincere appreciation for all the time and effort you’ve given to island animals and us.

And we are especially grateful to our dedicated and devoted employees, who have been at the core of all of our efforts to help. We will assist them during the transition period with financial support and with outplacement assistance.

Sincerely,

Carter Luke
President

Nantucket Island, the insiders look.

It is so sad to hear the announcement from the offices Angell Memorial hospital of the closing of the Nantucket Island only animal care facility. The MSPCA has decided to close the doors after years of rumors that there were financial problems.I for one don't know what the financial arrangement was with the MSPCA, but the classic over building might have been one of the problems from the start.

Most of the us here on the island are animal lovers and most of us have an animal or two. We will be left with so few choice and no emergency care of those we love.

But has there have always been some type of rumors that there were financial problems. Back in 2005 they stop sending large animal vets which left all the horse owners zero options short of finding thie own vets and bringing them over in times of need.

An open letter to the Nantucket community
From Carter Luke, President, MSPCA-Angell

After operating on Nantucket for over 60 years, the MSPCA-Angell has made the difficult decision to close our Nantucket facility effective December 31, 2011.

The MSPCA-Angell’s Nantucket operation has faced serious challenges in recent years. The seasonality of the island population makes it a complex practice to staff and manage. We’ve worked hard to streamline operations, and we’ve tried a number of different staffing models in order to provide quality veterinary services with an operation that could be supported by the community, either through veterinary fees or donations.

For the past several years, our Nantucket branch has operated at a sizeable loss – well over $200,000 per year, not including any administrative costs that are provided by the MSPCA-Angell’s headquarters. Given these financial challenges, and the fact there are now four additional veterinary practices on the island, we can no longer continue to operate on Nantucket. We believe the local veterinarians have the experience and capability to serve the needs of island animals and their owners.

The Adoption Center on Nantucket takes in very few animals. A large portion of the shelter’s activities involve feral cat spay and neuter services, and we will continue to support those efforts with funds we have received for these purposes. Any animals that remain in the Adoption Center when we close will be transferred to other MSPCA-Angell facilities.

We are extremely grateful to those islanders who have supported and helped in our effort to serve. To our volunteers, we offer our sincere appreciation for all the time and effort you’ve given to island animals and us.

And we are especially grateful to our dedicated and devoted employees, who have been at the core of all of our efforts to help. We will assist them during the transition period with financial support and with outplacement assistance.

Sincerely,

Carter Luke
President

Nantucket Island is at its best, now that the fall season has arrived! And how wonderful! Nantucket Island’s summer population jumps to 50,000 from our off season numbers of about 10,000. Now the crowds have gone; the air and water are still warm. The golf courses are wide open to enjoy, and the beaches are empty. Here on Nantucket Island we look forward to the fall months maybe even more than the incredible summer months. We have all the best and without the crowds. We have many great events that take place here on the island this time of year.

All of the restaurants are still all open and very eager to serve their tasty and creative dishes, and all without the wait or the need for reservations. During this past week we had restaurant week which is a big hit with everyone. The island restaurants reduce their prices to entice new patrons to come in and try their special pre fixed menus. From what we have heard it was great success, its a great offering for all that are here to enjoy.

We have some new and old events which took place over this past weekend. This past Saturday night we had the Scallopers Ball, which has been part of the off season fund raising efforts for many years now. This was started to help support the shell fishing industry on the island. As you may or maynot know, one of the treasures of Nantucket Island is our bay scallops. The family season starts on Oct 1, where as the commercial fisherman season starts Nov 1. All of the money raised from this event go to protecting and help with the study of scallops and all shell fish of Nantucket waters.

Another great happening this past weekend was a first, TheNantucket Project. This was an event that was the brain child of Nantucket Island’s own, Kate Brosnan and Tom Scott. They fashioned this weekend seminars after the Aspen Institute, which is a think tank looking to advance an open minded dialogue to search for answers to the problems we are facing in these troubled times. All the events were hosted at the White Elephant hotel, it was well attended by many luminaries, such as, Google’s Eric Schmidt, along with a host of others, all with different backgrounds.

And then on a very local level we had the fourth annual Nantucket High School’s cook off. On Sunday afternoon at Cisco Breweries there was a great deal of fun and excitment, while the kids did their best to outdo one another with their cooking skills. The guest host was none other than, Jenny Johnson from TV Diner fame. There was a great panel of judges, including another one of Nantucket’s best, author Nat Philbrick. We have a great department at the High school which has been teaching culinary skills to the students for a number of years now.

So just to let you know of all the fun we have here during the off season. You should come for a visit and enjoy the most special time of year.

Lately, whenever I head out of town without the kids, I end up in a graveyard. It's never planned. Just happens. Recently I took a trip to Nantucket. My friend Rosie grew up across the street from a graveyard. She said it was great for hide-n-go-seek. Benjamin Franklin's mother is buried here. The first photo is part of an ornate gate where only portions remain. I think the second photo is perfectly set with the spirit at the top of the gravestone contrasted with the gloomy background.

Recent Nantucket Real Estate Transactions

Nantucket's real estate market changes quickly. With an average of more than 450 properties changing hands each year over the past 5 years and a short selling season it's important to track recent Nantucket real estate transactions to stay abreast of changes in the market.

Through July 31, 2011 the number of Nantucket real estate transactions (the total of all residential, commercial and land sales) is up 11.39% over the same period in 2010. The 176 Nantucket real estate transactions represent 48.35% of the 364 property sales that took place in 2010.

The numebr of Nantucket real estate transactions in July 2011 was slightly higher than in July 2010. There were 19 sales this year compared with 18 last season. The value of the Nantucket real estate transactions this past month is also up from the previous year. Median sales price in July 2011 is up 54.39% to $1 million. That number represents a dip from the $1,105,000 median transaction price in July 2010.

Nantucket real estate transactions have trended toward residential sales and away from land and commerical real estate this year. Nearly 86% of all Nantucket real estate transaction since January 1, 2011 has been single family residential properties. With 151 residential property transactions through the end of July the number of single family sales is up 8.6% over the same period in 2010.

Beacon Real Estate offers weekly reports on the Nantucket real estate transactions, price adjustments and new listings. For more information about recent sales, market trends and the most up to date information on Nantucket real estate available please visit the Beacon Real Estate blog by clicking the image above. Find out why Beacon is Nantucket's best real estate agency.

Pictured above: 4 Dovekie Court. 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house sold for $600,000 on July 29, 2011