The building at 140 Front Street went up as a church in 1794 and became a general store in 1841. Jack Cheney ran the store for 52 years. It closed in April and stayed dark for four months. On Saturday, August 1, it reopened under new owners Will Felder and Amy Baxter of Carver.
November and December will be the first holiday season for the new owners. Their store sits among the institutions that put on most of Marion's late-year calendar. The Sippican Historical Society's museum is across the street at 141 Front Street. The Sippican Woman's Club's Handy's Tavern is a few doors down at 152 Front Street. Around the corner, the Marion Art Center at 80 Pleasant Street runs the busiest program in the village from now through mid-December. Almost every date between now and the December 12 house tour comes from one of these addresses or from two nearby neighbors, the Marion Natural History Museum and Tabor Academy.
The store in the middle of it
The Sippican Week report on the reopening quoted Felder: "It's just more of a blessing and an honor to be part of something so historic." He also said he wants the store run the way the community wants it while keeping Cheney's legacy intact. Felder remembers coming to the store as a kid to buy candy.
Shoppers interviewed by the same paper on opening weekend talked about the store more as a meeting place than as a shop. One of them was Susan Nilson, who was there to pick up bouquets from Small Axe Farm.
"I think it's important that we support local businesses and that we have this as a gathering place for our community and we want them to be able to thrive in this location. I can't imagine this being anything else but a general store."
The reopened store carries dry goods, produce and new merchandise. It is now open on Sundays, which one longtime shopper told Sippican Week makes it an easy stop for coffee after church. The hours posted at the reopening were Wednesday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the store closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Those hours could change once the season gets going, so check before a Monday or Tuesday visit.
Across the street, a museum with two afternoons a week
The Sippican Historical Society's museum at 141 Front Street keeps autumn visiting hours on Thursdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its main November event is an evening program. On Friday, November 13, from 7 to 9 p.m., the society is showing Jim Merkel's documentary "Saving Walden's World" for free. The film looks at how three cultures approach sustainable community.
That Saturday window is the easiest way to pair the two buildings. The store opens at 7:30 a.m. and the museum opens at 11, so both are open on the same Saturday.
December 12 begins at 152 Front Street
Handy's Tavern was established in 1812 as a tavern and stagecoach stop. The Sippican Woman's Club bought it in 1923 and still maintains it and uses it as its home. On Saturday, December 12, the tavern is the starting point for the club's Holiday by the Sea House Tour. Visitors start there, walk through decorated village homes, and finish at two other Marion institutions.
The club's schedule for the day:
| Stop | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|
| House Tour | Begins at Handy's Tavern, 152 Front St. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Sugar Plum Tea | Tabor Academy | 2 to 4 p.m. |
| After-hours gathering | Beverly Yacht Club | 3:30 to 6 p.m. |
The club's page lists tickets at $40 in advance and $45 at the door, with advance tickets sold online. Sippican Week reported that this year's tour includes five homes and that proceeds go to local students and organizations. Last year's proceeds went to groups including the Friends of Marion Council on Aging, Damien's Place Food Pantry and ORR Athletics.
So one of the village's biggest December days pays for scholarships, a senior-center support group, a food pantry and high school athletics. The tavern on Front Street is where it starts.
Pleasant Street carries most of November
The Marion Art Center at 80 Pleasant Street has the fullest calendar in the village between now and Christmas. It mixes ticketed evenings with free afternoons, and most of it falls in November.
Saturday, November 7, 7 to 9:30 p.m.: Foehl & Murdock. Sippican Week names the performers as Putnam Murdock, Colin Bradley, Grammy nominee Reed Foehl and Jeff Berlin. Tickets are $28 for members and $35 for nonmembers.
Saturday, November 14, 3 to 5 p.m.: Small Works + Holiday Shop opening reception. The reception is free and open to the public. The show runs through Friday, December 18. It features artwork under 14 inches along with handmade goods, so the exhibition also works as a holiday shop for a little over a month.
Sunday, November 15, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.: art-making with natural materials, hosted with the Sippican Lands Trust.
Friday, November 20, at 7 and 8:30 p.m.: Legge/Gries Unplugged. Sippican Week reports that Donn Legge and Dave Gries are playing the last nights of the series. Tickets are $15 for members and $20 for nonmembers.
Saturday, December 5: Puppet Sing-Along at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and the Sip & Shell Workshop from 1 to 3 p.m. In the workshop, according to Sippican Week, each participant decoupages two oyster-shell ornaments while J. Sull Wine pours a tasting. The cost is $55 for members and $65 for nonmembers.
The Small Works show stays open until December 18, after the house tour. That makes the Art Center the one place in the village with something on the walls and for sale from mid-November until a week before Christmas.
The weeknights belong to the museum and Tabor
Two other institutions fill in the evenings, and both are close to the village.
Tabor Academy's fall drama is Milo Cramer's "Business Ideas," playing November 5 through 7 at 7:30 p.m. The first night is Thursday. Reservations are free through the Tabor Academy box office, and Sippican Week reports that Jesse Hawley is directing. Tabor appears on the calendar again on December 12, when it hosts the house tour's Sugar Plum Tea.
After this week, the Marion Natural History Museum has three more programs on its calendar:
- Friday, November 6, 6 to 7 p.m.: Robert Thorson talks about stone walls as wildlife habitat. Sippican Week notes that the talk is offered both at the museum and online, with a suggested $10 donation.
- Friday, November 13, 6 to 7 p.m.: Heather Olson, laboratory and collections manager at The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc., talks about the museum's Native American archaeological collections, according to Sippican Week.
- Wednesday, December 9, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: the museum's annual Holiday and Nature Craft Party.
On Friday, November 13, the museum talk begins at 6 p.m. and the Historical Society screening begins at 7, so you can go to both in one evening.
Six weeks, in order
Here is the season by date, with the address where each event happens or starts:
- Thu.–Sat., Nov. 5–7, 7:30 p.m.: "Business Ideas," Tabor Academy, free reservations
- Fri., Nov. 6, 6 p.m.: Robert Thorson on stone walls, Marion Natural History Museum
- Sat., Nov. 7, 7 p.m.: Foehl & Murdock, Marion Art Center, 80 Pleasant St.
- Fri., Nov. 13, 6 p.m.: Heather Olson on the archaeological collections, Marion Natural History Museum
- Fri., Nov. 13, 7 p.m.: "Saving Walden's World," Sippican Historical Society, free
- Sat., Nov. 14, 3 p.m.: Small Works + Holiday Shop reception, Marion Art Center, free
- Sun., Nov. 15, 11 a.m.: natural-materials art day with the Sippican Lands Trust, Marion Art Center
- Fri., Nov. 20, 7 and 8:30 p.m.: Legge/Gries Unplugged, Marion Art Center
- Sat., Dec. 5: Puppet Sing-Along and Sip & Shell Workshop, Marion Art Center
- Wed., Dec. 9, 3:30 p.m.: Holiday and Nature Craft Party, Marion Natural History Museum
- Sat., Dec. 12, 10 a.m.: Holiday by the Sea House Tour, beginning at Handy's Tavern, 152 Front St.
- Fri., Dec. 18: last day of Small Works + Holiday Shop, Marion Art Center
The hours the General Store at 140 Front Street posted when it reopened cover most of these days. The store sits between the Historical Society across the street and Handy's Tavern a few doors down.
At Martin Real Estate, we follow Front Street's calendar because Marion is home. If you're thinking about what your own village house might be worth, perhaps before or after the December 12 tour, we'd be glad to prepare a free home valuation for you, with no pressure attached.
