Lobster Man is in hot water....
PROVINCETOWN - The colossal crustacean towers over a group of silver-haired tourists at the foot of MacMillan Wharf.
The older women, part of a bus tour group from Tennessee, admire the creature's claws, tail and antenna before asking if they can take a photograph.
But this lobster isn't a lobster at all. This 6-foot-4, 200-pound denizen of the deep can talk, and his name is Mark T. Ceria, known around town as the Lobster Man.
"Of course you can," Ceria says.
One of the women slips a dollar bill into his red, ostrich-feathered purse, and the giggling group is on its merry way.
Even in a town where costumed folk easily outnumber the Brooks Brothers set, Lobster Man stands out in a crowd. Virtually everyone in Provincetown knows him. And virtually everyone - merchants, the town licensing agent and local police - have an opinion about him.
In the case of police, Ceria recently got into some hot water over a marijuana possession charge, which he plans to fight in Orleans District Court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday - dressed in the lobster get-up.
Marijuana is a substance near and dear to Ceria's heart. A staunch advocate of "out and out legalization of pot," as he put it yesterday, Ceria said he will not only dress like a lobster in court, but he will ask the judge to return the ounce of marijuana police confiscated when they arrested him last month on a warrant.
"That was lobster pot. That was medicine, and I want it back," said Ceria, a self-described sculptor, actor and street performer.
Provincetown police, acting on a warrant issued in Gardner District Court in Worcester County, arrested the 50-year-old Holyoke native Sept. 18. Ceria was wanted for allegedly failing to return an Enterprise Rent-A-Car vehicle he picked up in Gardner. After he failed to show up in court on that warrant, Provincetown police arrested him again Sept. 23 on a second warrant.
That's when police say they discovered a small quantity of marijuana in Ceria's red purse.
Ceria's planned courtroom attire could be a first for the Orleans court, and possibly put Lobster Man in another pinch.
"We've had a number of cases in this court dealing with lobsters, but his would be our largest," said Stephen Ross, clerk-magistrate for Orleans District Court.
"There's nothing that precludes him from coming in dressed as a lobster," Ross said, noting, however, that the judge might decide to postpone the case or ask Ceria to come back another day dressed in more traditional garb.
"The thrust of it is that, there's a certain level of decorum and respect for the court, and the business that it does," Ross explained.
Ceria, who's staying at a $20-a-day hostel in Provincetown until he finds permanent digs, said the marijuana charge is no big deal.
Besides his legal troubles, Ceria's lobster antics have annoyed and angered other town officials.
Though Ceria claims he only accepts cash donations for pictures if they're offered, Candace Collins-Boden, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, begs to differ.
Collins-Boden recently called police after Ceria, she claimed, told a tourist just outside the chamber's Lopes Square office that it would cost a buck to take his picture.
"We saw him do it and we asked him to leave our property," she said.
Ceria also hands out free pamphlets distributed by the chamber, she said, even though he was not asked - or authorized - to do so.
"This man has absolutely no connection with the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce," Collins-Boden said.
Addressing the cash-for-photos allegation, Ceria vehemently denies claims of shaking down tourists for money. If money is offered, though, he'll gladly accept it, he admitted.
Provincetown street performers must be licensed, said town licensing agent Elizabeth Hartsgrove, and Ceria has yet to apply for one. The licenses are free, she said, and are issued basically to keep tabs on performers.
Police Chief Ted Meyer said Ceria has run afoul of many merchants. He's asking them to contact police if Ceria is disruptive or bothersome.
"He's a nuisance. We've received numerous calls on him," Meyer said. "He's a street guy, that's all; he doesn't work for anyone." Ceria's "panhandling" is against the law, Meyer said.
But Ceria, who lived in Wendell, north of Quabbin Reservoir, prior to washing ashore on the Cape, said he's a misunderstood artist.
"I help people with directions, the time, the weather. I'm the town crier," he said while working Lopes Square yesterday, dressed in full lobster regalia and wearing rose-tinted sunglasses.
As he answered questions, a tourist approached and asked how much for a photo. "I don't charge a dollar, but I ask for a dollar donation because I can't afford to live in this town," he replied.
The pair posed briefly, arms draped over each other's shoulders. The woman gave Ceria a dollar bill and walked away beaming.
:weed: :weed: :weed:
PROVINCETOWN - The colossal crustacean towers over a group of silver-haired tourists at the foot of MacMillan Wharf.
The older women, part of a bus tour group from Tennessee, admire the creature's claws, tail and antenna before asking if they can take a photograph.
But this lobster isn't a lobster at all. This 6-foot-4, 200-pound denizen of the deep can talk, and his name is Mark T. Ceria, known around town as the Lobster Man.
"Of course you can," Ceria says.
One of the women slips a dollar bill into his red, ostrich-feathered purse, and the giggling group is on its merry way.
Even in a town where costumed folk easily outnumber the Brooks Brothers set, Lobster Man stands out in a crowd. Virtually everyone in Provincetown knows him. And virtually everyone - merchants, the town licensing agent and local police - have an opinion about him.
In the case of police, Ceria recently got into some hot water over a marijuana possession charge, which he plans to fight in Orleans District Court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday - dressed in the lobster get-up.
Marijuana is a substance near and dear to Ceria's heart. A staunch advocate of "out and out legalization of pot," as he put it yesterday, Ceria said he will not only dress like a lobster in court, but he will ask the judge to return the ounce of marijuana police confiscated when they arrested him last month on a warrant.
"That was lobster pot. That was medicine, and I want it back," said Ceria, a self-described sculptor, actor and street performer.
Provincetown police, acting on a warrant issued in Gardner District Court in Worcester County, arrested the 50-year-old Holyoke native Sept. 18. Ceria was wanted for allegedly failing to return an Enterprise Rent-A-Car vehicle he picked up in Gardner. After he failed to show up in court on that warrant, Provincetown police arrested him again Sept. 23 on a second warrant.
That's when police say they discovered a small quantity of marijuana in Ceria's red purse.
Ceria's planned courtroom attire could be a first for the Orleans court, and possibly put Lobster Man in another pinch.
"We've had a number of cases in this court dealing with lobsters, but his would be our largest," said Stephen Ross, clerk-magistrate for Orleans District Court.
"There's nothing that precludes him from coming in dressed as a lobster," Ross said, noting, however, that the judge might decide to postpone the case or ask Ceria to come back another day dressed in more traditional garb.
"The thrust of it is that, there's a certain level of decorum and respect for the court, and the business that it does," Ross explained.
Ceria, who's staying at a $20-a-day hostel in Provincetown until he finds permanent digs, said the marijuana charge is no big deal.
Besides his legal troubles, Ceria's lobster antics have annoyed and angered other town officials.
Though Ceria claims he only accepts cash donations for pictures if they're offered, Candace Collins-Boden, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, begs to differ.
Collins-Boden recently called police after Ceria, she claimed, told a tourist just outside the chamber's Lopes Square office that it would cost a buck to take his picture.
"We saw him do it and we asked him to leave our property," she said.
Ceria also hands out free pamphlets distributed by the chamber, she said, even though he was not asked - or authorized - to do so.
"This man has absolutely no connection with the Provincetown Chamber of Commerce," Collins-Boden said.
Addressing the cash-for-photos allegation, Ceria vehemently denies claims of shaking down tourists for money. If money is offered, though, he'll gladly accept it, he admitted.
Provincetown street performers must be licensed, said town licensing agent Elizabeth Hartsgrove, and Ceria has yet to apply for one. The licenses are free, she said, and are issued basically to keep tabs on performers.
Police Chief Ted Meyer said Ceria has run afoul of many merchants. He's asking them to contact police if Ceria is disruptive or bothersome.
"He's a nuisance. We've received numerous calls on him," Meyer said. "He's a street guy, that's all; he doesn't work for anyone." Ceria's "panhandling" is against the law, Meyer said.
But Ceria, who lived in Wendell, north of Quabbin Reservoir, prior to washing ashore on the Cape, said he's a misunderstood artist.
"I help people with directions, the time, the weather. I'm the town crier," he said while working Lopes Square yesterday, dressed in full lobster regalia and wearing rose-tinted sunglasses.
As he answered questions, a tourist approached and asked how much for a photo. "I don't charge a dollar, but I ask for a dollar donation because I can't afford to live in this town," he replied.
The pair posed briefly, arms draped over each other's shoulders. The woman gave Ceria a dollar bill and walked away beaming.
:weed: :weed: :weed:
