In 2005, the South Harwich Meetinghouse on Chatham Road barely stood, derelict and forlorn. Beset by ravages of time and vandals, both human and varmint, its future was as shaky as the structure. Along the way, after longtime use by Methodists, and later, Lutherans, it was put up for sale, with no takers. The town eventually bought it, and rudimentary efforts were made to maintain it, albeit in crude fashion – p...

With excavators slated to begin digging Monday, we've already heard some rumblings from Orleans about potential problems related to the downtown sewer project. Main Street merchants are concerned about shoppers being able to access their stores as work continues over the next few months. A few years back, Chatham officials dealt with the same issues during sewer work in commercial areas, and came up with a workab...

Takes Issue With Developer Opinion Editor: In my opinion, we are indeed fortunate to have “David Oppenheim and his kind” in our community! David “and his kind” have been developers...of programs and agencies that have enhanced the quality of life for all in our community. They are programs and agencies that support day care, youth development, the needs of those who might need food, empowerment of women...

The formation of the new Monomoy Regional School District has created great opportunities and offered new challenges for Harwich and Chatham. Most noticeably was the erection of a new high school on Oak Street in Harwich, while perhaps less apparent was the realignment of the two towns’ middle and elementary schools. Overall, the merging of administrative, faculty, and support staff, oversight by a new school com...

At last week’s informative workshop held by the Harwich Wastewater Support Committee, it would be an exaggeration – but not much of one – to say that there were more committee members present than there were citizens in the audience. It’s possible that dozens of people tuned in to watch the presentation on Channel 18, even if only eight or nine came to the meeting. A more likely scenario? So far, the public ju...

“Come gather ‘round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone For the times they are a-changin’”   Way back in 1964, Bob Dylan was a young self-styled folk singer from Minnesota. His voice was certainly not wonderful, nor was his personality on stage. But the words of his songs were incredible and those w...

Kudos For Coming Forward Editor: Kudos to Meg McCarthy and Alan Young for their terrific Jan. 18 letters and to Ms. McCarthy for her courage to come forward at her own expense! Though women are still relegated to second class membership in the Catholic Church, it took a woman to speak out so forcefully and publicly! This is my first letter written to The Cape Cod Chronicle and I've lived here for almost 15 y...

The Cape, and the Chatham-Harwich-Orleans region in particular, face an increasingly acute crisis. Middle class working people can't afford to live here. As Chatham Housing Authority Chairman Alan Mowry told the board of selectmen last week, the town, and the Cape, need to decide if it's going to be a destination, or a community. Right now it's heading more toward the former and is less and less the latter. Th...

There has been a surprising bit of turnover on our little road of late. Not the literal kind that happens at this time every year, when potholes from trucks appear and frost heaves erupt to crack the 10-foot width of pavement overnight. Rather, it is the sale of homes by longtime year-round neighbors. In a neighborhood of maybe a couple dozen homes, four homes sold or listed for sale feels like a lot. It does ...

Word that Harwich will receive a $1 million Massachusetts Seaport Economic Council grant for the landside portion of the Saquatucket Harbor upgrade opens up the potential for adding back into the project elements that were taken out when bids came in over the $3 million appropriation. Officials have begun to talk about the most significant of the deleted items, a town-constructed restaurant or snack shack. Las...

On To More Serious Subjects Editor: I am delighted to hear that skydiving is likely to resume over the well-litigated skies of Chatham this summer! Now the killjoys amongst us can turn their spurious wrath toward some other bugaboo, such as lawn mower noise. John Kraus Chatham   Here's To Winter Storms Editor: John Whelan's "Chatham on Foot" column continues to amaze with his photographic memory ...

The doldrums of February (most misspelled month of the year) are upon us. A cold, grey dampness permeates our mood. The uninspiring weather is punctuated only by the occasional bombogenesis which inevitably leaves us pondering 18 inches of a disturbing white powder that saps us of energy and breaks the strongest snow shovels available. Yes, we made it through the holidays intact, but now we’re broke. By now we’...