President stays out of tree-lighting spotlight after day in town

President Joe Biden and his extended family had lunch at The Tap Room in the historic Jared Coffin House today before doing some shopping and attending Nantucket's annual tree-lighting and community caroling on Main Street.

Security lines were long and the tree-lighting was delayed by half an hour to accommodate the more than 1,000 people who flooded onto Main Street for the event. Biden and his family watched from a secure area on Centre Street.

The president remained in the background. He attended for the final 15 minutes, standing off to the side, never taking the stage at the top of Main Street or speaking to the crowd that had gathered, some of whom waited hours hoping to see the president. There were still a handful of people waiting to be screened by the Secret Service as the tree-lighting ended.

The first family and several Secret Service agents waited in the foyer of the Nantucket Methodist Church until just before the start of the tree-lighting. The church has now been visited by two first ladies: Hillary Clinton in 1998 and Jill Biden.

"I was delighted his whole family was here. It was cool," said Methodist minister Tom Richard, who was approached by the Secret Service Wednesday while raking leaves in front of the church about using the foyer as a place to sequester the president before the tree-lighting.

"President Biden shook my hand and said, 'I'm Joe. The only thing I could think to say to him at the time was, 'Yes, I hear." Everybody laughed," Richard said.

"We were glad to do it. It was an honor. I'm so glad we got to be of service. It was perfect."

Prior to the tree-lighting, the president and his family had lunch in The Tap Room. Inquirer and Mirror production director Peter Halik and his father-in-law had stopped in for a drink while there wives were shopping.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, Halik said, until he realized the subterranean room was full of Secret Service agents, and no one else was being let in or out.

The president stopped briefly to greet several patrons, including Halik, and shake hands before sitting down with his family.

The Bidens have a long-standing tradition of dining out on the island the day after Thanksgiving. The family has been visiting Nantucket since the mid-1970s, when the president was a senator from Delaware.

Joining the president and first lady Jill Biden for lunch were family members Hunter, Melissa, Ashley, Naomi, Finnegan, Maisy, Natalie, Hunter, and baby Beau Biden; and, Peter Neal, Naomi’s fiancé, according to the White House.

Biden left the restaurant on foot, stopping into several stores, including Nantucket Bookworks and The Sunken Ship., before making his way to Centre Street for the tree-lighting. He paused on multiple ocassions to greet well-wishers and take pictures.

At the tree-lighting's conclusion, he shook hands with town crier Eric Goddard and posed for a photo with the Nantucket High School chorus, the Accidentals and Naturals.

The tree-lighting ceremony, presented by the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, went off without a hitch before the largest crowd ever, officials said. Goddard led the countdown and the large Christmas tree at the top of Main Street lit up on cue. Before and after the lighting, the Accidentals and Naturals sang Christmas carols.

The presidential motorcade returned to the Abrams Point compound of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, where the Biden family is staying, just before 5:45 p.m.