HARWICH — When it comes to volunteer management, the Family Pantry has a simple strategy for each of the more than 500 people who lend their time and talent. “They need to feel better when they leave than when they came here,” Executive Director Christine Menard said. Thanks to thoughtful organization, clear direction and good management, volunteers keep coming back. “That's why we're as good as we are,” sh...

For lovers of dance, the holiday season is incomplete without a performance of “The Nutcracker” to set the sugarplums dancing in one's head and the Christmas spirit soaring. This season, a special treat at Tilden Arts Center, located at Cape Cod Community College in Barnstable, will feature a pair of local sisters giving a Cape Cod seaside twist to a holiday classic written by one of Chatham's own bestselling aut...

James P. Byrne’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s "Richard III" at Cape Cod Theatre Company’s intimate Arts Center stage is a version for puppets. But these are not wooden puppets; rather they are half human and half puppet talking heads. Human faces of Richard and his henchmen loom above foreshortened and nicely costumed arms and bodies manipulated by the actors. There are also life-sized actors who are not puppets. ...

The holiday season starts in earnest this week, and with it comes the hunt for the perfect toys for the youngsters in your life. For too many, however, the hunt is limited or nonexistent. Fortunately, there are a number of local nonprofit organizations who aim to make sure that every child in the area has a happy holiday. In Chatham, Harwich and Orleans, locations are available where residents who wish to give...

Consider Shakespeare's " Richard III ," a brutal political satire written in 1591. What comes to mind? Ruthless ambition, jealousy and hunger for power? How about puppets? Presented by Cape Cod Theatre Company, Home of Harwich Junior Theatre (at The Arts Center on Sisson Road in Harwich Center) as a Punch and Judy-style puppet show with actors, the comic tragedy unfolds in a hila...

With a salute to Veteran’s Day, “All My Sons” explores the many sacrifices made during World War II. With Arthur Miller’s enduring writing and portrayal of universal struggles, this drama’s powerful message still resonates today. Miller believed theater could “change the world.” His break-out play, “All My Sons” wrestles with the changing social fabric of post-World War II and man’s responsibility to o...

Everyone has dreams. Even an orphan boy with no name as he’s thrown into the dark, stinky hold of a ship bound for an island ruled by a tyrannical king doomed to be a slave for the rest of his days, has a dream. He dreams of flying and the dream gives him hope and a drive to keep carrying on. This boy’s small measure of optimism collides with the remarkable Molly, an apprentice Starcatcher who has confidence and ...

Thirty-five years have passed since 1981, the year we all first heard of a terrible new disease: AIDS. Today, books and memoirs are being written about the early dark days of the epidemic before advances in drugs changed a diagnosis from a sure death sentence to a controllable condition. “When people write about gay history they write about Stonewall or gay marriage,” says Michael H. Ward of Chatham, author...

Chatham Elementary School Mrs. Cleary's class was the first fourth grade class to receive Chomper for filling up their SHARK tank, demonstrating great shark-like behavior by following directions, staying on task, being kind to others and working well with peers in small groups. This week Chomper has participated in multiplication sweets, estimation, reading groups with tall tales and understanding characters...

In the year 1790, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. is a small town filled with happy families who have learned to live with a few ghostly legends. It’s a town bewitched by tales of the Native American spirits who once inhabited the area, and the more modern ghost of a Hessian solider who lost his head to a stray cannonball in a Revolutionary War battle. In Washington Irving’s short story, the Headless Horseman “rides forth to...

Homelessness has always been a big problem in Africa. A small organization called Jitegemee (jit-teg-umay), currently based in Kenya, has decided to do something about it. Their website states, “[We] exist to provide street children with access to formal and vocational education. We believe every child with the desire to learn and the will to succeed should be encouraged to do so. We are dedicated to removing ...

The Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) will present the film “One Big Home” at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27 at the Chatham Orpheum Theater. Following the screening, filmmaker Thomas Bena will join the audience via Skype from Martha's Vineyard for a short question and answer period. Here on the Cape we are familiar with the strange logic of people falling in love with our beautiful seaside home with its mo...