Meet Your Neighbor
Paul Bixby
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent

Date of birth June 24, 1947

Likes most about Nantucket Sunny summer days in 'Sconset with his family. In the winter, hunkering down in front of the fireplace with a Pats game on TV and a Manhattan in his hand.

Likes least about Nantucket The rapid growth and inevitable changes it causes.

Favorite TV show Anything on The History Channel. Paul Bixby is a bit of a jack-of-alltrades, listing many experiences in his life. The one constant is his love of Nantucket, and particularly of 'Sconset where he has lived nearly 40 years.

Bixby was born and raised in Revere, Mass., and after high school graduation, he enrolled at Northeast Louisiana State University under the military ROTC program. Two years into his education, he was called to active duty and trained at Fort Benning, Ga. prior to being sent to Vietnam. Following a year-long stint in Vietnam, he returned to the U.S. and went to Boston, where he met his future wife, Jackie, who was a flight attendant for Mohawk Airlines. She convinced Bixby to go back to college and earn his degree in restaurant management.

Soon after college graduation, Bixby was offered a position on Nantucket running The Relaxed Lobster on Steamboat Wharf, which many will better recall from its incarnation as The Skipper.

"I made a lot of friends in that era," Bixby recalled, sitting on "Isky's Bench" in the 'Sconset square. "It was a great era."

Bixby oversaw operations at The Relaxed Lobster for three years, then spent a few months bartending in Clearwater, Fla., before decideding he wanted to come back to Nantucket.

"I realized the nomadic life was not for me," he said.

Next up was bartending at The Chanticleer as well as at The Jared Coffin House and The Derby - "To make ends meet and try to stay here," he said.

In 1975, 'Sconsters Pete and Gretchen Lyons determined that the island was becoming too crowded for their liking and sold their house, complete with furniture and a parakeet named Pearl, to Paul and Jackie Bixby. It is a home they treasure, and a neighborhood they moved into near where the late Isky "The Mayor of 'Sconset" and his wife Joan Santos lived. The couples became fast and life-long friends, one of the reasons Bixby chose to be interviewed on his former pal's favorite bench in the east end center.

Two years after they bought their home, the Bixby's purchased the former Porch Restaurant in 'Sconset, where patrons could order two tacos and a draft beer for $2.95. Two years later, they sold that business and Bixby worked approximately three years as a ticket agent at Air New England. They became partners for a time at the airport's old Compass Rose Restaurant and also opened PB & J Realty at the airport. In 1983, the couple bought the 'Sconset package store, which they still own. They ran the store for 21 years.

"We had some great times there," said Bixby, remembering one of his his favorite experiences as when he and Isky Santos sat on coolers in the alley of Elbow Lane watching "the pass."

"We would deliver the liquor to a party and then go home and change our clothes and show up as guests. We don't miss 300 cases of beer showing up, but we do miss the community of customers we had. It was really nice."

Sandwiched in between jobs and business ventures, came children Amanda, Bevin and Colin. After the attack on the World Trade Towers, Bixby operated Globe Aviation Security at the airport for a year, before government security screening programs were implemented.

"It was a busy time for us, and this was a great place for the kids to grow up," he said.

Shortly before the Bixby's 2004 decision to lease their package store, Paul Bixby became employed by the island's postal service, a job he continues today. He initially worked in town, but for the majority of his tenure, he has been at the Old South Road annex, where he is in charge of all registered mail into and out of Nantucket. He enjoys the position.

"I go to work at 5:30 a.m. with the deer and the sunrise and then I'm usually done about 1:30 and have the rest of the day to myself," he said. "If I did retire, I'd probably do something else, too - it's my way of life."

In his free time Bixby said he loves being with his family and friends, traveling in actuality or via a good book, fishing, going out on his friends' boats and watching sports, whether at an island game or on TV. If possible, he would like to visit Bora Bora in the South Pacific, but he is perfectly happy right where he is.

"It's not too bad of a place to live," he said of

Nantucket. I