Credit Where Credit Is Due For Saltmarsh Center Improvements

To the editor: The spectacular new improvements to the Saltmarsh Senior Center have gotten a fair amount of recent news coverage but what has been woefully missing is an accurate portrayal of how they are almost 100% the result of a single individual’s vision and tireless effort. That individual would be John Copenhaver.

For the past several years, John has been president of the Nantucket Center for Elder Affairs (NCEA), the organization that oversees Saltmarsh. Over that time, he has energized what was traditionally a pretty sleepy organization; many activities were added, and participation skyrocketed. The circa 1985 building was suddenly bursting at the seams, severely limiting a number of the most popular activities.

Over the years, the town has invested lots of time and energy in various attempts to solve the Senior Center “problem." Most recently, in 2018, a workgroup was formed that evaluated a number of options, each of which would have involved the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars. Most of the opportunities proved illusory, no consensus was reached, and the initiative ran out of gas.

Enter John with a remarkably practical, and feasible, solution: Simply enlarge the existing building, resulting in an increase in usable space of over 60%. The cost: a pretty reasonable (by Nantucket standards) $600,000. In remarkably short order, John had plans drawn, engaged the services of a contractor and successfully raised all of the necessary funds without the use of any taxpayer money. Then he personally oversaw the construction. The project was completed in July, only six months after it was originally imagined.

It is truly gratifying to see that anything is still possible when a dedicated individual is willing to roll up their sleeves and take on a problem that everyone else has given up on. John Copenhaver deserves our thanks and our recognition for what he has accomplished.

Bruce D. Miller