Harwich officials learned this week that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation project review committee gave the green light to a sidewalk along Route 28 between Saquatucket Harbor and Bank Street. It's about time. Walking along the heavily traveled roadway is dangerous, as is biking. There's little space on either side of the pavement to scoot off the road. A pedestrian path between the harbor and Ha...

A year has passed since COVID-19 reared its spiky corona head, and we have become well versed in altering our traditions in response. Like it or not, Valentine’s Day is on the way. Many of us have unlimited time to devote to anything and everything, so even if you are a Never-Valentiner, consider embracing it this time around. Oh, Valentine’s Day, why do we love thee, minus the hearts and love appeal? It bo...

Committee Supports Boathouse Return Edi tor: The South Coastal Harbor Plan committee had a full discussion of the issues of the history and conditions of the USCG Chatham boathouse at our meeting on Monday, Jan. 25. Committee members reviewed the December 2020 “Due Diligence Report” by GEI consultants, among other documents. We regret decisions wrongly made by former boards of selectmen not to accept prior...

It’s not lost on us that, exactly a year after Massachusetts recorded its first case of COVID-19, we’re already making a vaccine available to members of the public. That’s a truly remarkable achievement, and in that light, it’s reasonable for public health officials to ask us to be patient as vaccine production and distribution are ramped up. Still, our patience is running thin. It’s well known that, demogr...

He was one of the last of the old Chathamites, witness to and participant in the town's 20 th century growth from a sleepy fishing village into a vibrant summer resort community. Last week we said goodbye to Benjamin K. Goodspeed, whose mild manner and good cheer permeated almost every aspect of Chatham life. There aren't many left who remember Chatham in the Great Depression and World War II, or who actually...

A 'Right Size' Nauset High Needed Editor: The Nauset Regional School Committee (NRSC) continues to mislead voters on the factors that are driving up the cost of the proposed high school reconstruction. The NRSC told the Brewster Finance Committee that the 290 School Choice pupils at Nauset in FY 2020 did not cost Nauset taxpayers anything. This is false and insults our intelligence. Nauset received less ...

The figures are, frankly, astounding. The number of single-family homes in Chatham sold during 2020 increased 53.5 percent over 2019, with the median sales price rising to more than $860,000. Orleans saw an 86.8 percent increase, with a median sale price of $827,000. Sales were lower in Harwich, increasing 10 percent, which in most years would be a respectable level. COVID-19 helped drive record-setting real e...

The elderly man on crutches moved slowly across the Friends’ Marketplace parking lot, pushing a shopping cart of groceries. You would think that, after loading up his car, he would have left the cart for an employee to retrieve. Not this bent-over but purpose-filled citizen, who retraced every difficult step back to the cart corral alongside the store, then back again to his car. At a time when some may be won...

West Chatham Runway Is Unsafe Editor: What a mess we have been left with in West Chatham. It is unconscionable for town officials and MassDOT to leave the roadway between Barn Hill Road and George Ryder Road in such an unsafe condition. Instead of cleaning it up and making it safe in December, there was a push to rush the job, and then MassDOT retreated, leaving behind an unsafe area that is causing a great...

Too often in the past, Chatham has passed up opportunities to preserve its past. The most notable instance is the passing up of the offer to acquire the CG36500, the motor lifeboat piloted by Bernie Webber and his crew to rescue 32 men from the sinking tanker Pendleton on Feb. 18, 1952. Fortunately, the Orleans Historical Society (now the Centers for Culture and History in Orleans) stepped in and saved the vessel...

A Win-Win Compromise Editor: In West Chatham, runway protection zones (RPZs)/safety-zones at both ends of the runway contain multiple homes, stores, offices and roads, which are declared by the FAA as “unacceptable, incompatible land uses” and unsafe. Where this occurs, the FAA AC150/5300-13A §322 recommends moving the RPZs away from the unacceptable land uses. This then requires planes to land further alon...

We’ll admit it. We were, at first, a little hesitant at the prospect of erasing the word “selectmen” from our lexicon when it comes to Chatham town government. That’s because we’re proud of the heritage behind our local government, largely unchanged since colonial times. Decade after decade, selectmen have made the decisions that have helped shape Chatham, setting local policies and responding to local emergencie...