The annual Groundhog Day census on Block Island is a tradition that goes back for decades. Started by the late Lew Gaffett years ago, this annual count of those on the island in the dead of winter is both considered a fairly accurate account of the winter population and an excuse for a party.
You’re either here or not. Teams of census takers assemble at Old Island Pub and meticulously go over who is present, and who is off-island – checking the Interstate parking lot for cars left overnight, calling hotels, and comparing notes on who is home, however remote their abode for the night may be. It’s sometimes as simple a question as: “Are the lights on?”
Each year the occasion is commemorated with a newly-designed T-shirt. They are a cartoon of sorts that often reflects on the year that was. The past few years the shirt has been designed by Paige Gaffett, grand-daughter of Lew, and of course it depicts another year of Covid. For the occasion on Wednesday evening, the walls of the pub were hung with shirts from years past – going all the way back to 1992, although the census itself is believed
