Some meetings are in person, some online, and some are both. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch to see if a remote option is available.
Thursday, Dec. 9
- Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Monday, Dec. 13
- Cultural Council, 5:30 p.m.
- Select Board, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Tuesday, Dec. 14
- Other Post-Employment Benefits Trustees, 10 a.m., Town Hall
- Finance Committee, 11 a.m.
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m., Town Hall
Wednesday, Dec. 15
- Historic District Commission, 4 p.m., Town Hall
- School Committee, 4:30 p.m., Provincetown Schools Library
Thursday, Dec. 16
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m., Town Hall
Conversation Starters
The Lobster Pot Tree Cometh
If you are wondering why Lopes Square looks a lot less colorful this holiday season, it is because there is no Lobster Pot Tree.
But that may change after this weekend.
The tree’s much-anticipated annual appearance on Thanksgiving was delayed by a breakthrough case of Covid-19, said Crystal Popko, one of the family members to take over the lobster pot tree tradition started by her father, Julian Popko.
Popko and her husband, John McCarthy of Ludlow, delayed their plans at the last minute when Popko tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov. 24.
“The car was packed and ready to go” when she took a home test on Thanksgiving eve, she said. Eventually McCarthy and their two elementary-school-age children got the virus, too. Everyone was fully vaccinated, she added.
Popko told the Independent on Tuesday that the family is better now, out of quarantine, and ready to stack 60 lobster traps along with buoys, bows, and lights to create the town’s classic working-waterfront holiday decoration.
This year, the tree will be smaller, she said. They usually do 120 traps. But it is so late in the season. They need to just get something up, she said, even if it is less ambitious.
The Lobster Pot Tree was invented by artist Julian Popko in 2004. His five daughters and their families, a slew of volunteers, the harbormaster’s office staff, and the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce have taken over the tradition since his death in 2017.
To limit crowds, there will be no lighting ceremony this year, Popko said.
Pending weather delays, she hopes to get to Provincetown and build the tree over the weekend beginning Dec. 11. —K.C. Myers
