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Cranberry Club Isn’t Even For The
Locals
Gaile Colby |
The Cranberry Club, however inviting it sounds, simply isn’t
anything of the sort. Carefully guarded is more precise.
Unmarked and tucked into a corner of the island, the Club isn’t even
open to the locals. Having marked its 100th year in 1999, the
Cranberry Club has survived as the best-kept secret on Great
Cranberry.
Privacy is primary for its members, most of whom have homes in posh
Northeast
Harbor, and all of whom are female. Moreover, at this point,
most of the members, limited to 25, are quite elderly.
But still they come to their Cranberry Club, usually on Wednesday
afternoons in July, to keep up their traditions. For decades they
used to walk the distance from the dock, wearing white gloves. But
now they tend to get rides.
Ask about the Club, and those who may know something about it,
aren’t sure how much they really should say.
Press even more about seeing the clubhouse itself, the driver who
takes you there is a little nervous about having been the one to let
out its location.
It’s just that members—whose names have included the Rockefellers
and Astors—don’t like being talked about, much less their
exclusivity.
The cottage itself, three rooms in cabin-style, is unspectacular.
The ocean view is nice, but getting there involves going 100 yards
up a dirt road off the island’s only paved road.
Exactly what these ladies off the boat from
Northeast
Harbor do there isn’t clear. But they do enjoy their meals,
according to Gaile Colby.
Colby was the club’s caretaker until about five years ago. She has
spent her entire life on Great Cranberry, including 25 years when
the Club entrusted her to clean up for them and keep her mouth shut.
“Exercise, birds, wildflowers, and a little dip in the pool,” Colby
granted. “That’s why they used to come here at first. But after they
got caught in the rain during their picnics, they decided to have a
little clubhouse.”
That was 100 years ago. More recently, they have upgraded their
kitchen with hot water and an oven.
Caretaking duties have now fallen to someone else, but Colby still
knows 25 years of the Club’s secrets.
And true to Cranberry form, she’s not telling much. |
