Strong Winds, High Seas Batter Lower Cape      CHATHAM — Though barely a flake of snow fell, Tuesday's strong storm downed scores of limbs and trees and tore up east-facing portions of the shoreline with high surf.  The afternoon high tide inundated low-lying coastal areas, flooded portions of Old Wharf Road in North Chatham and splashed over Route 28 in East Harwich and South Orleans. Winds...

During World War II, Leo Vernon Eldredge sent periodic letters to local men serving overseas. One of the men he corresponded with was his friend Edwin W. Taylor, father of Selectman Seth Taylor. Edwin Taylor saved the letters sent to him by “LV” and brought them home with him after serving in the South Pacific. Seth Taylor recently shared one of those letters, printed here, which he said “discusses or adds some ...

CHATHAM – The iconic windmill on Briggs Way overlooking Chatham Harbor took a little trip the other day. Crews from Sylvester Building Movers wrested the 77-year-old windmill from its stone foundation and ever-so-carefully and slowly transported it a short distance away to a corner of the property. The windmill – never a working mill but built as a summer home by Herbert Briggs in about 1930 – is under a de...

CHATHAM – Town officials are hoping to convince the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources to approve legislation to clarify the western boundary of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. In a March 6 letter, Town Manager Jill Goldsmith asked Republican Congressman Rob W. Bishop of Utah to support House Bill 1157, filed by Ninth Massachusetts District Representative William Keating at the request ...

Acknowledging that their draft wastewater agreement with Harwich is a complex, weighty document, some Chatham selectmen are floating the possibility of deferring action until a special town meeting in the summer or fall, rather than seeking approval at the May annual town meeting. The board will likely make a decision at its March 14 meeting, but several people at their Feb. 28 session raised the possibly of d...

CHATHAM — A downtown landmark for more than a century, the large livery barn at the former Eldredge Garage will likely go under the wrecking ball this week, deemed unsafe to use and impractical to restore. But before being reduced to rubble, the historic building had a secret treasure for preservationists. Deep in the basement of the old building, perhaps untouched for the better part of a century, was a horse...

CHATHAM – Given the uncertainty about the future of the main navigation channel into Chatham Harbor, selectmen are raising questions about sinking millions into renovations of the municipal fish pier and are looking for more flexibility in directing resources to Stage Harbor as an alternative for the town's commercial fishing fleet. Rather than move ahead with just some of the elements of a five-year waterfron...

CHATHAM – Selectmen may not be ready for the town to move forward with a $350,000 remake of the town offices parking lot and the surrounding streetscape. The proposal, submitted as a separate capital expenditure article for the May annual town meeting, calls for resurfacing and relining of the parking lot – located in the heart of the Main Street shopping district – which could yield additional parking spaces....

Sixty-seven years after the sad event, Archie S. Nickerson recently reminisced about the afternoon of Oct. 30, 1950, when his father and his father’s fishing partner drowned crossing Chatham Bar. Archie, now 82, is the sole remaining member of the family in which he grew up. This afternoon he is sitting at the kitchen table in his ranch house not too far from Ridgevale Beach. He opens a thin manila envelope la...

CHATHAM – The chamber of commerce is seeking an increase its annual appropriation from the town in order to step up its efforts to promote and brand Chatham as a destination for both short-term and long-term visitors. Executive Director Lisa Franz said the chamber has largely been responsible for marketing and branding Chatham, and hoped that by providing additional funds, the town could become a partner in th...

CHATHAM – Community preservation projects totaling more than $500,000 will appear on the May annual town meeting warrant, all of them with the support of the board of selectmen. Recreation-related projects dominate the CPC articles, although one critical request which almost didn't make the approved list was handled in a creative way. The historical commission had requested $30,000 under the historic preser...

CHATHAM – “Things have changed quite dramatically recently.” That was how Dr. Robert Duncanson, the town's natural resources department director, described the recent impact of storms on South Beach to the board of selectmen last week. The beach is “very narrow” and there were multiple overwashes of its southern section, he said. An area just south of Lighthouse Beach is very narrow and could break through....