With the coming of fall on Nantucket, the pace of life slows down as we collectively hit the clutch on the speeding car that is the summer. The fall is a time to coast a little, to recharge batteries, and reconnect with old friends. And it’s also a great time for a weekly lunch break.
On Thursday, October 6, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., the Nantucket Historical Association once again launches its popular brown-bag lunch series, Food For Thought. Attendees are invited to bring their lunch to the Whaling Museum every Thursday, to sit and eat while listening to a lecture presented by one of this season’s notable presenters.
“Food for Thought provides a fantastic opportunity for Nantucket residents to learn more about the island – its legacy, dynamic cultural heritage, and its global reach,” said Melissa Kershaw, the NHA’s Outreach and Public Programs Coordinator. “One aspect I find especially successful is the peer-to-peer learning that happens. Each week we hear about the experiences and expertise of a very knowledgeable speaker. We learn from that individual, gaining insights and understanding of the island that we may not have shared or appreciated before. In that way, Food for Thought becomes an informal classroom in which we all learn about the island we share, fostering a sense of community. The NHA is honored to be able to share these learning experiences with the residents of Nantucket.”
The theme for the 2011 – 2012 season is “Nantucket Visions: Past, Present, and Future,” and the inaugural speaker in this year’s series is local historian Bob Mooney, author of The Civil War: The Nantucket Experience. Bob will offer his own wealth of knowledge and insight into that turbulent period of American history when approximately 300 brave Nantucket men left their homes to fight for the Union forces. 78 of those young men never came back, their names immortalized on the granite monument at the top of Main Street. Bob’s lecture coincides with the NHA’s month-long commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War.
Thanks to a generous grant from the M.S. Worthington Foundation, the lectures are free and open to the public. There is no need for advance registration; attendees are invited to bring their lunch and enjoy the camaraderie of other Nantucket residents. The Food For Thought lecture series began in 2002, and was originally called “The Gam Sandwich Series.” At that time, NHA Executive Director Bill Tramposch said, “The mission of the NHA is to infuse a greater appreciation and respect for the important historic role that Nantucket has played in national and world heritage. We also aspire to reach and serve diverse audiences as a year-round organization.” That mission is as central to the NHA today as it was five years ago, and the Food For Thought series is an integral part of the fall and winter programming schedule.
The NHA’s Food For Thought series will continue throughout the winter, every Thursday from 12 – 1 PM, beginning on Thursday, October 6, with a different speaker and a different topic every week. For more information on the schedule, check the NHA website’s calendar at www.nha.org, or call 508-228-1894, ext. 0.
