Over the past five months, our Board has been actively engaged in creating an updated strategic plan in preparation for our 40th anniversary this year. Over 400 of you have helped shape this thinking through your input in discussions and surveys, and we want to thank you for your assistance with this effort.
At our Annual Meeting in July, we will review a summary of this feedback and our updated plan in more detail. What I’d like to share with you now is that we heard broad support around a few core principles: land conservation remains important for preserving natural beauty and reducing density and traffic, the commercial center is critical to the character and quality of life of the village, and the community is looking for the Trust to move aggressively to acquire and preserve key properties in both categories while we still can.
With this background as context, I am excited to inform you that the Trust is kicking off its anniversary year by acquiring the ’Sconset Market!
As many of you know, Mark Donato has owned this property and been a fixture in the Market for forty years. He did a great job growing the business over this time, expanding the Market’s offerings and making it into the important community resource that it is today. Eventually Mark decided it was time to focus on other opportunities, and he leased the building to Rolf and Cindy Nelson, who have been running the business for the past six years. In an amazing example of everything that goes around comes around—Mark purchased the Market from Robert Shetterly in 1984, and Robert then used the proceeds to create the ’Sconset Trust along with his friends Mary Heller and George Buckingham. In a real sense, the Market has been linked to the Trust since its inception.
Mark shares our Board’s view that the Market is a critical village asset that is best protected and managed by the Trust. I want to thank Mark for his vision, for his commitment to the community, and for working with our team to come up with a transition plan. Similarly, Rolf and Cindy played an important role in bringing this all together, and continue to be thoughtful stewards of our village. I’d like to thank them, as well, for their assistance with this key acquisition.
At this point, you may be wondering about what will happen to the Market going forward, and I can assure you that it’s in good hands. The Trust will be a mission-driven landlord to ensure the Market remains a key resource for the village into the future, and the Nelsons are excited to continue running the business and doing the great job they do every day. ’Sconset really wouldn’t be the same without a tasty blueberry muffin from the Market, or that special something you realized at the last minute that you desperately needed to make dinner. Happily, the Market will also continue to play its important role as a social hub of our community.
I would be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone that the Trust relies on donations to enable its work to protect and preserve our village. As you might imagine, this is a major investment for the organization, and we will be launching a campaign in the coming months to raise funds to cover this acquisition. I am confident that we will pull together as a community to support this important effort, and as always, we will greatly appreciate your generous contributions—and understanding—when we come calling.
I hope you are as excited about this strategic move to safeguard the ’Sconset Market as we are, and look forward to sharing more Trust news as this 40th Anniversary year unfolds.
Bill Holding
on behalf of the ’Sconset Trust Board
