ORLEANS — For a while Saturday night, Mother Nature just didn't want summer to end. A heavy blanket of moist air descended on Nauset Beach, where thousands had lined up to face a towering stack of pallets destined to become a glorious bonfire. As Orleans DJ Tom Tuttle spun (appropriately) the long version of “Light My Fire” (“The time to hesitate is through”), the throngs waited patiently for the pyrotechnic...

HARWICH — The Harwich Cranberry Arts and Music Festival will be in full swing this weekend, with a crafts fair, the CranJam concert, business expo and fireworks all centered around the community center on Oak Street. The move from Brooks Park to the community center, across Oak Street from Monomoy Regional High School, will provide additional space for festival activities and more parking in the vicinity of th...

HARWICH — The Harwich Hometown Parade will roll through Harwich Port on Sunday, filling Route 28 with floats, bands and performers to celebrate community spirit. This year's parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Freeman Street and run through the village, ending at Doane Road. Over the past couple of years the parade route was longer, running all the way to Harwich Center. It was shortened this year to keep peopl...

CHATHAM ─ If it looked like there was a party happening at the Marconi Maritime Center in Chatham on Monday, well, there was. But instead of celebrating all things maritime, this time the museum was looking to the skies as they hosted a festive gathering in honor of the historic partial eclipse. Attendees not only were given special opaque viewing glasses with which to view the moon as it passed in front of ...

ORLEANS — On a day when 40,000 marched to Boston Common to protest hate speech, Cape Codders held a unity rally to show their support. “Love stops the hate,” the Rev. Sally Norris of Federated Church of Orleans told more than 125 people gathered in an arc before her on the village green Aug. 19. “Goodness stops the evil.” Norris and the Revs. Ken Campbell and Wesley Williams, co-chairs of the MLK Action T...

HARWICH — The last time viewers watched fireworks associated with the Harwich Cranberry Festival was a soggy Friday night in September 2008 along Red River Beach. This year, the tradition is being revived through the efforts of the Harwich Chamber of Commerce. “The Harwich Chamber of Commerce is the organizing and coordinating group for this long tradition in partnership with the Harwich Cranberry Festival,...

ORLEANS — You won't be breaking the law if you walk down the middle of Main Street between routes 28 and 6A next Wednesday night. If you don't believe us, you can ask all the police officers doing the same thing. From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 16, that stretch will be closed for the annual Orleans Police Block Party, a downtown tradition since the town's bicentennial in 1997. “I think I have been to every...

CHATHAM – After a one-year absence, the popular Taste of Chatham returns Aug. 31. A benefit for Monomoy Community Services, the event took last year off to “freshen up a bit,” said Theresa Malone, executive director of the human services agency based on Depot Road. “We got some great feedback, so we changed it up a little bit,” she said. The event, which began 30 years ago, features Chatham restaurants a...

HARWICH ─ While the serious anglers in the annual Big 3 Fishing Tournament took to the waters off Harwich in the wee hours of July 14, another vessel left Allen Harbor a little later with a smaller crew that also had its sights set on some serious angling, all the while celebrating the special relationships formed through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Cape and Islands. The day involved two outings, one the...

ORLEANS — This town is well known for its stunning seascapes, but its loveliest landscapes, hidden behind hedges, mostly go unseen. For nearly three decades, the Orleans Improvement Association has revealed these concealed gems through its annual garden tour. On June 24, everyone is invited to walk “Along the Garden Path” to experience six private gardens. Details about the gardens and their locations are...

CHATHAM – The frenzy surrounding the Cape's great white sharks is perfectly captured by this Saturday's FINomenal Fest. For the third year, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary are sponsoring the free event, held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The focus is on shark research and education and finding ways to help preserve the ocean's ecology. “FINomenal Fest will f...

CHATHAM – Three giggling women skipping through Kate Gould Park at 1 a.m. Nothing so odd about that. Except that one of them was carrying a five-foot painted shark taken from the Sharks in the Park exhibit. Video of the escapade was captured by surveillance cameras scattered around the park and shown to a representative of the Chatham Police and a reporter Tuesday. While police are investigating, because the w...

CHATHAM – This is not the easiest town from which to spot whales. Provincetown is the place to see the frolicking just offshore, although at times huge mammals can be glimpse from the Lighthouse Overlook breaching not far off the beach. But for the next few months, Chatham will be a great place to spot whales. At least in local shops and businesses. “Where are the Whales?” is this year's summer scavenger hu...

ORLEANS ─ It is estimated that more than six million Jews – men, women, and children – had their lives cruelly and brutally ended in the Holocaust. Pierre Boenig was almost one of them, but instead became a hidden child, saved by being moved from family to family until liberation brought freedom in 1945. On April 27, Boenig will share his experiences and insight during the annual Holocaust Memorial Service, bei...

HYANNIS — As they do each year, the local chapter of the American Red Cross presented medals for heroism Friday, and a number of the honorees were from the Lower Cape. Last July, Nauset Marine employee Olivia Underwood was cleaning a boat when she saw a sudden flash in a nearby boat. She rushed to find that a fire had ignited the clothes of her coworker, Joe Pires; without hesitating, she doused him with wat...

HARWICH ─ Monomoy High has more than a dozen competitive sports throughout the school year, and though there are no fees for students who want to play, there are costs. To help defray those costs, the school's relatively new Monomoy Unified Booster Club is holding its first-ever mattress sale fundraiser in May. On May 7, those in the market for a new mattress, including area inns, are invited to visit the gy...