Harwich - William Anthony “Bill” Kretschmer Jr., “N2KNL,” 63 of Harwich passed away on November 6, 2020 in Milton after suffering from a stroke. Bill was born in Syracuse, N.Y. to William and Ursula Kretschmer.  He graduated from Liverpool High School in 1975.  Before retiring, he was a Water Technician for the Town of Yarmouth.  He was an expert ham radio operator, historian of radio stations from the 1950s to ...

TANSEY, Norman F (Fred), 88, of Chatham, passed peacefully on 11-9-2020 after a long illness, at home with family at his side. Born 1-4-1932 in Brooklyn, N.Y, son of the late Margarethe Amelie Paetzel, the late Eugene Tansey and stepson of the late Leslie Paetzel. After graduating from high school in N.J., Fred served four years in the USN, serving during the Korean War. He was very proud to be a veteran.After ...

Olive F. Hart-Bogue passed away peacefully on November 17th, in her home of 60 years, surrounded by loved ones. She is the daughter of Rachel (Horton) and William Forrest. Born in North Truro on August 20th 1930, she and her family moved to Chatham in 1942. She graduated from Chatham High School in 1948 and moved on to Framingham State College, where she graduated with a B.S. degree in Home Economics in 1953. ...

September 15, 1944 - November 16, 2020 Michael “Mickey” Joseph Reynolds, 76, of Sweet Home, passed away Monday. He was born in Attleboro to Joseph E. and Rita C. (McCracken) Reynolds.    Michael grew up in Massachusetts and attended Boston School for the Deaf in Randolph and American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn. He worked in Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, California and has lived in Sweet Home, Ore...

CHATHAM – Dr. Josephine Piekarz Ives, 99, of Chatham, passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 16, 2020.  She was born in Colchester, Conn.; the daughter of the late Joseph and Anna (Przybos) Piekarz.  She was predeceased by her husband, Sumner Albert Ives, who died April 24, 1984. Josephine graduated from the Teachers College of Connecticut in 1943 and taught first grade in West Hartford, Conn. for three years.  ...

First Woman Elected To Board Of Selectman Dies At 99 CHATHAM – For more than 275 years, half of the town's residents lacked representation on the board of selectmen. That changed in 1988, when Josephine Ives became the first woman elected to the board. “It was huge to have a woman represented on the board,” said Shareen Davis, the board's current chair. “She certainly did pave the way for others to step int...

The Monomoy Regional School Committee violated the state's Open Meeting Law in March when it discussed a topic that was not included on a posted meeting notice, the Attorney General's Office ruled this week. In a Nov. 23 letter, Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Carnes Flynn of the office's Division of Open Government wrote that an investigation found that the committee did not intentionally violate the law...

When the pandemic hit last spring and the hunkering down began, Peter and Bonnie Brenner decided to make lemons out of lemonade. Peter had retired from a 40-year career in the ministry, including two decades as a Navy chaplain, and Bonnie knew that there were boxes of his professional material stored in their basement. Bonnie also knew that Peter, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2013, would ...

And Puts Unfair Burden On Harwich Taxpayers A precipitous drop in enrollment, driven by the loss of young families from town, is threatening the future of Chatham Elementary School. That also has big implications for Harwich taxpayers and the pact between the two towns that form the Monomoy school district. In the short term, Chatham taxpayers will likely be asked to pay a larger share of the budget for the...

CHATHAM – Lacking a plan for redevelopment of the former Monomoy Theatre property, the historic business district commission last week denied requests to demolish five of the seven buildings at 766 Main St. and 70 Depot Rd. “I feel very uncomfortable approving a demolition of anything down there without a comprehensive plan,” said Chairman Dan Sylver. There were previous plans for redevelopment of the prope...

HARWICH — Close to 50 people tuned in remotely to the selectmen’s meeting Monday night to support the construction of a sidewalk from Harwich Port to Saquatucket Harbor. Public safety and economic benefits were cited as benefits, and there were also pleas to extend the sidewalks further east to Julien Road. Selectmen conducted the session to determine support for a sidewalk along the six-tenths of a mile stret...

HARWICH — Selectmen have instructed Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers to prepare the necessary paperwork to lease or sell the West Harwich schoolhouse and the former fire station and surrounding property on Bank Street. There have been numerous discussions and votes relative to the properties in recent years, some of which restrict what actions the board can take. Powers informed selectmen last week ...

HARWICH — Christmas in Harwich will not be as festive this year as in the past, when traditional events such as the Christmas stroll brought the community together for a tree lighting, the arrival of Santa on a fire truck, horse drawn carriage rides through the streets and local shops with doors wide open with holiday spirit. The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed the festive side of the holiday season, but the c...

HARWICH — Local firefighters and police officers will join together for the sixth consecutive year to make the holiday season a little easier for those facing hard times. The public safety staff will be “Homeless for the Holidays” for three days beginning on Friday, Dec. 4. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the setting will be changed this year. The homeless encampment set up in Brooks Park by fire and poli...

WEST HARWICH – Things were not going well for Adelia Marquis. Once, she lived and worked on Nantucket, enjoying her job as a landscaper. But then the hard times hit, and with force. “I struggled with homelessness for quite a while,” Marquis said. Thrown out of her home due to her sexuality, Marquis then lost her job due to COVID-19 layoffs. Faced with the unfathomable decision of where to go, Marquis opted ...