A Day To Remember Editor: What a day July 2 was!  Long to be remembered, my 108th year!  I am happy everyone enjoyed it.  Thank you, everybody! A special thank you to all who set it up!  How can I ever forget it?  The police sirens!  The clanging of the fire engines!  The wonderful food! Juliet Bernstein Chatham   Pleasantly Surprised By W. Chatham Editor: Before returning to Chatham in Ma...

There’s no doubt that MassDOT suffered a self-inflicted black eye when it denied the public permission to attend Tuesday’s walk-through of the West Chatham Route 28 road reconstruction project. It was more than bad optics, more than the loss of a photo op of local and state officials working together. It was a violation of the public trust, and evidence of the strained relationship between the state agency and th...

Addressing Housing Crisis Is Paramount Editor: When Rome burns, we mustn't fiddle. Our housing crisis is worse now than before the pandemic. Town leaders in Orleans need to act now. I am concerned that Orleans officials are proposing a three-year process to determine what to build on the Governor Prence property, since this site has been through two extensive potential use studies including input from hundr...

Improvements to Kate Gould Park proposed by the Chatham Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association are long overdue. Given its key location in the middle of the downtown business district, the park should represent Chatham putting its best foot forward. But it doesn't. The Main Street entrance is, while not quite shabby, somewhat less than pleasing. The first thing that greets visitors is trash receptacles....

Wastewater Funding Decisions Editor: The Harwich wastewater sewer construction project could cost close to a billion dollars over the 40-year life of the project, when inflation and spiraling construction costs are taken into account.  After years of discussion, isn't now the time to decide on a governing document and whether to join with Dennis and Yarmouth, or go it alone to build Harwich’s own treatme...

Popularity can ruin a place, especially one that's environmentally sensitive. We've seen that happen at some national parks. Is Cape Cod in danger of it happening here? Some residents who live near conservation areas, trails and town landings in Orleans suspect that they are the “canaries in a coal mine” when it comes to overcrowding. One resident counted an astonishing 12,000 people crossing private property ...

It's A Balancing Act Editor: Summer is here and tourists have returned. Once again local residents are abuzz with complaints – not without reason – about the seasonal visitors. After all, they lengthen lines, increase traffic, and worse. Still, I would make a point in their favor: No tourist has ever called me "washashore." Joseph Auciello South Chatham   Neighbors Not So Neighborly Editor: Wh...

Several Cape towns now provide subsidies to families to cover the cost of preschool. For many parents, this is a major expense, running thousands of dollars a year. And it's a necessary one, since more often than not, both parents must work in order to meet the region's high cost of living. Last week, the Orleans School Committee heard details of Eastham's Family Support Program, which covers preschool costs f...

Back in September, after most of The Chronicle's staff had been working at home for several months and we had no idea when we'd be going back to the office, I decided, to help pass the time toiling away in my basement office, that I would listen to all of the songs in my digital music library. From start to finish. And so, beginning with “A Gospel” by the Style Council at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, I began listeni...

“Home, home on the range Where the deer and the antelope play Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day.”   “Home on the Range” is an old and popular cowboy song. The lyrics were written by Dr. Brewster Higley of Smith County, Kansas in about 1872, and have been altered somewhat over the years. A friend of Higley’s, Daniel Kelley, wrote the music and the song be...

Not Happy With Sticker Change  Editor: Is anyone else disappointed in the new Chatham beach/transfer sticker? Personally, I miss the traditional lighthouse logo!   Barbara Starkey Chatham Cape Cod People Are The Best! Editor: There is a young man walking around Harwich Port that I would love to put my arms around. He was in Cape Cod 5 on the afternoon of July 12, and he is my unknown hero. T...

We've all heard the stories about rude customers in restaurants and shops this summer. Some of the tales have reached far and wide, thanks to an article in the New York Times. The reaction to this treatment from what is certainly a small minority has shown the resilience and fortitude of local owners and workers. Because really, there is no excuse for swearing, yelling, threatening and berating employees to th...