Deal struck to keep 95-year-old artist in Provincetown dune shack

Salvatore Del Deo, a 95-year-old artist and restaurateur, struck a deal with the federal government to keep him in one of the historic dune shacks in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

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JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. SO A DEAL HAS BEEN STRUCK THAT WILL ALLOW THAHAT FAMILY TO KEEP LIVING IN A DUNE SHACK ON THE CAPE. AND THAT INCLUDES A 95 YEAR OLD ARTIST WHO SPOKE TODAY WITH OUR MARY SALADNA ABOUT WHAT THIS DEAL MEANS TO HIM. WELL, I SAID TO MYSELF, TO MY

WIFE, I SPOKE TO HER. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR INTERVENING. YOU MUST HAVE SOME PULL UP THERE. SALVATORE DEL DIO SANG A PRAYER OF THANKS TO HIS BELOVED LATE WIFE JOSEPHINE TONIGHT AND TO THE US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, WHICH HAS GIVEN THE 95 YEAR OLD ARTIST A FIVE YEAR

LEASE TO KEEP HIM IN ONE OF THE HISTORIC DUNE SHACKS IN PROVINCECETOWN. AND THEY GOT THE DEAL DONE JUST IN TIME FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF JOSEPHINE’S BIRTHDAY. THEY WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS, REALLY. THEY DIDN’T NEED TO DO THAT. IT WAS YOU KNOW, A VERY HUMANE THING. THEY DID. DEL DOW, A CELEBRATED PAINTER

AND FOUNDER OF TWO ICONIC PROVINCETOWN RESTAURANTS, HAS SPENT THE BETTER PART OF 77 SUMMERS PAINTING AT THIS SHACK. BUT THIS COTTAGE WAS JOSEPHINE’S AS WELL. WHEN WE’RE OUT THERE, WE FEEL MY MOTHER’S SPIRIT. SHE WAS DEEP INVESTED IN THIS PLACE. THIS WAS HER SANCTUARY. SHE, JOSEPHINE, A WRITER AND ACTIVIST, SPEARHEADED THE LOCAL

EFFORT TO ESTABLISH THE CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE. THE DEL DIOS INVITED TO BE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS IN 2016 WHEN THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE TURNED 100. SO IMAGINE THE FAMILY’S SHOCK LAST SPRING WHEN THE FEDS TOLD THEM THEY WERE BEING EVICTED. SO THE GOVERNMENT COULD OFFER LEASES FOR THEIR HISTORIC

COTTAGE AND NINE OTHERS TO THE HIGHEST BIDDERS. WHEN THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE CAME TO BOARD UP THE PROPERTY IN JUNE, THE DEL DEO HAS MADE THE DIFFICULT DECISION TO LEAVE THIS PORTRAIT OF JOSEPHINE INSIDE THE COTTAGE. AND I JUST FELT LIKE SHE THIS WAS HER PLACE AND SHE BELONGED THERE.

AND THEN OVER THE WEEKEND, WHEN WE REOPENED THE SHACK AND LIT THE LIGHTS, THERE SHE WAS. SHE WAS STILL THERE WAITING FOR US. THE FAMILY WILL CELEBRATE THEIR HOMECOMING THIS WEDNESDAY ON JOSEPHINE’S BIRTHDAY. WE CAN GO OUT THERE AND DRINK TO HER MEMORY IN A PLACE THAT SHE

LOVED AS MUCH AS I DID. I’M MARY SALADNA WCVB NEWTON FIVE. WHAT A PERFECT WAY TO CELEBRATE HER BIRTHDAY