Editor:
In spite of rain and wind, lots of strong gusts, and prediction of a hefty northeaster, there were many wonderful stalwart Codders at the Provincetown town hall on Sunday, Oct 12 for the fundraiser walk and the 11th anniversary of the Alzheimer's Family Support Center. AFSC was the brainchild of Melanie Braverman and Molly Perdue. 
The facts and figures are available, but none of those facts convey the true and profound purpose and value of this organization. If not for the Alzheimer's Family Support Center, I'm not sure I'd be alive. I know I would be way more lonely; life would be way more difficult than it already is.
So I thoroughly enjoyed celebrating with them. I experienced the best example of love, of kindness, of caring; I think we all did. People sang together and ate together and yes, walked together - in spite of the rain and cold.  We were warmed by each other.
We were embraced by appreciation of togetherness.  As the  AFSC motto says, "Until there's a cure, there's community."
I also learned, yesterday, that our new administration cut out many thousand dollars of grant monies that enable this beautiful service. I wish I were rich and could supplement what they lost. They deserve it. They need the money. So if you can contribute to the Alzheimer's Family Support Center, please do. AFSC is there to help. I sincerely hope you can help them.

Sandy Chernick
Orleans

Editor:
 The writer of last week’s You Guest It column is my hero! I’m so glad that intelligence such as yours is brought forth in our local independent paper. Thank you, Chronicle. We need more of this.

Shirley Smith
Chatham

Editor:
 I am writing to tell you that I really appreciated the article about the Monomoy and Nauset Unified Basketball game. I loved that it was written by the sports writer and in the sports section, with full sports photos, rather than as a feel good story in a different section of the paper. I appreciated, too, that the writer went out of his way to name every player on both teams, an opportunity to see their names in the newspaper. Thank you for supporting these members of our community with respect.

Ann Carpenter
Harwich 

Editor: 
The Pals For Life golf tournament, the Costello Classic, was a huge success this year. We don’t have the final tally yet of the money raised, but we do know that our communities responded wholeheartedly to the needs of others in the hospitality industry. This year over 140 golfers, 30 or more volunteers and countless contributors gave time and donations to help others.  
PFL's mission to aid those in the hospitality industry is more than financial (though that sure helps!), it's also a comfort to so many that we are here for them both financially and emotionally. When a person can't work due to an illness or injury that is compounded by worry. We ease that worry.
The foundation was created in 1995 to aid a restaurant employee when he was incapacitated by a freak accident. Since then we have come to the aid of countless individuals in this industry who are unable to work due to unforeseen circumstances. We fill the gaps by paying their bills until they are back on their feet.
Last November, when a car crashed into Larry's PX, PFL and the town of Chatham was there immediately. PFL set up a GoFundMe campaign within hours in which we matched the donations made. Over $90,000 ($45,000 donated, and a $45,000 match) was given out to the 13 staff members of Larry's before the Christmas holiday season. 
But the needs continue. In the past few years, we have also helped a dining room hostess diagnosed with cancer, a bartender who needed shoulder surgery, a chef with a dementia diagnosis, a server with pregnancy complications, a kitchen employee who lost her husband suddenly, a young mother whose husband was severely injured and unable to work, a bartender who had brain surgery, a cook who suffered a broken ankle in a car accident and a kitchen staff member who needed radiation and chemo treatments. All in all we have paid bills and eased their minds for employees from some of your favorite restaurants: the 400 East, The Chatham Cut, The Chatham Squire, the Barley Neck Inn, the Hot Stove Saloon, the Chatham Filling Station, Del Mar, La Bella Vita, Pate's, Buffy's Ice Cream, the Quarterdeck, Rock Harbor Grill, Bluefins and Knot's Landing.
Next year will be our 30th annual golf event. Thank you one and all for supporting us in our mission! 

The Pals For Life Foundation
North Chatham

Editor:
I grew up in the 1950s. It is hard to comprehend how far our civility has fallen.
When listening to different presidents speaking to this country from the ‘50s to now, it is evident about the direction we are heading to. Today, there is only insults, lie after lie, and outright favoritism by the current president. It boggles the mind how half of this country doesn't see or care what is going on. It is as transparent as it can be.
Has the bar reached its low point, or are we headed to a precipitous fall? Wake up America!

Edward Fried  
West Chatham

Editor:
In June, a federal judge ruled for the first time that a Cape Cod wastewater treatment plant can be subject to the federal Clean Water Act. She has allowed the Conservation Law Foundation to sue the town of Barnstable for releasing from its wastewater plant nitrogen pollution which has traveled to bodies of water throughout the Lewis Bay watershed, producing  harmful algae blooms, depleting oxygen in the water and threatening marine life, recreational uses, and public health.
We trust that Barnstable officials mistakenly believed that their wastewater plant would never fail as it did. The harm has been devastating.
The developers of Pine Oak Village may also believe that their wastewater plant could never fail, never contaminate the fragile watershed to its southeast, which contains Sand Pond, the Sand Pond Woodlands, the Thacher Bog woodlands, the Main Street Cranberry Company Conservation Area and the Herring River itself.
That watershed depends upon clean groundwater to nourish the pond and lands now preserved by both the town and the Harwich Conservation Trust, some of it now being restored  to improve water quality to the Herring River, which is severely overloaded with nitrogen.
The developers confirm that groundwater flows under the proposed site of the wastewater plant to the southeast and into that watershed. And knowing that the plant would produce   17,155,000 gallons of wastewater a year, we strongly believe that the dense housing project and its waste products would destroy our fragile resource area.
We have no guarantee that Pine Oaks’ wastewater plant won’t malfunction, violate the Clean Water Act and devastate our priceless natural resources. 

Paula Myles 
North Harwich

Editor:
Many thanks to the Friends of Pleasant Bay and Pleasant Bay Community Boating. Paul Niles and his fellow Friends gave the Sandscript Writing Club and the creative writing class at Monomoy Regional High School a grant to visit Pleasant Bay and to later publish our work in a booklet to be shared with the Monomoy community. The PBCB gave us a wonderful campus in which to roam around and photograph and also a warm classroom in which to write on a cold, overcast day last week. Thanks also go to MRHS teacher and PBCB board member John Dickson and to Dorothy Bassett, executive director of PBCB.

Lisa Forte-Doyle
Creative Writing Teacher and Advisor of the Sandscript Club

Editor:
Thank you, Kim Roderiques, for another exceptional documentary on the fishing families and culture of Chatham and Cape Cod.
Kim, Jeff Bassett and their team have created a truly honest and emotional film that everyone should experience. “The Hand That Holds the Line” truly captures the history, past and present, of the fishing industry that has been a way of life here for generations.
Kim’s passion and dedication to raise awareness for many organizations in our community is incredible. Her unselfish and tireless efforts are to be commended. Many people have benefited from her fundraisers, and thanks to our community's support we have a new awareness of people in need. 

Rob and Jennifer Stello
Chatham

Editor:
Organist Nathan Laube’s concert at Orleans’ Church of the Transfiguration on Oct. 18 was the experience of a lifetime. Mr. Laube stirred the audience with his virtuosity, performing intricate works by Liszt, Dupre and Durufle. The church’s St. Cecilia Organ has nearly 12,000 pipes that rim the sanctuary, literally surrounding the audience in sound. And the sanctuary itself is architecturally and artistically stunning, providing a dramatic setting for this remarkable event.
This wonderful concert is another example of the superb musical performances available to us on Cape Cod. We are truly fortunate.

Paul Baudisch
Harwich Port