Who's that funny looking guy ringing the bell?
By Marli Guzzetta
Every year, the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce stamps a commemorative pin for the year's Stroll, and this year, the pin-up

Town Crier Curtis Barnes is the subject of this year's commemorative Stroll pin. "The funny looking guy" were Barnes's own words, not ours.

is Town Crier Curtis Barnes, who is in his 25th year as the official emcee of Nantucket's Stroll.

"I've never had an unhappy stroll," said Barnes, who moved on island in 1980 after a long career in college administration.

"Our stroll has become a model for similar types of celebrations all over New England, but we're the best because the people are wonderful, and when you have to fly or take a boat to get here, it's special," he said.

Barnes's job begins when he starts Stroll at noon on Saturday, walking from the bank at the top of Main Street to the Nantucket Harbor ringing his bell, paving the way for Santa, who is just in on a Coast Guard boat. Then, Barnes stops in at shops and restaurants to welcome people and thank them for their patronage - this is one of his most important duties, Barnes said.

"That's the function of the Town Crier during stroll, to be the meeter and the greeter," Barnes said. "They tell people what they need to know."

In 25 years, he's seen just about all there is to see at Stroll - including the mass immigration of Strollers, as they disembark from the steamship by the thousands, and then the shelters that have been opened at the high school on occasion when the weather turned and the day visitors couldn't get home.

He's seen the goose that lays the golden egg - held by a couple who brings the stuffed hand-puppet every year to produce golden eggs right there on the sidewalk for young passersby.

He's seen old friends and new friends and, every so often, an engagement. He's even presided over popping the question with an official proclamation - "Therefore be it resolved ... okay, down on your knees." (Barnes himself has been married to his wife, Joan, for over 50 years.)

But of all the things Barnes has seen, he's never seen his own face ringing back at him from hundreds of pins, which will be the case this year when the Chamber begins selling the pins, with all proceeds going back to the Chamber. This just goes to show that every Stroll holds the possibility of something new and great in store, even for the most veteran of participants.

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