BREWSTER – Ten years in the making, Brewster's Dog Park opened ahead of Memorial Day thanks to generous grants from the Stanton Foundation and the Community Preservation Committee, along with the support of many local businesses and individual contributors. Located behind the Brewster Police Station on Rt. 124, the dog park is open seven days a week, from dawn to dusk. Carved out of the woods, the park include...

HARWICH — For almost every town building project, there are a few people eagerly waiting for the job to be completed. But in this case, hundreds of constituents are literally peering through the fence every day looking for signs that the work is finished. It’s the new playground behind Harwich Elementary School, and despite pandemic-related setbacks and other challenges, it’s nearly complete. “Our kids have...

BREWSTER – The Cape Cod Rail Trail spans 27 miles across six towns for biking, running and walking. Bernie Meggison, the 79-year-old summer bike ranger, has the task of patrolling the path each day. Meggisson, or ranger Bernie as he is referred to on the bike path, bikes 41 miles on average per day, ensuring that each of the Rail Trail’s customers have a safe and enjoyable biking experience. Since starting ...

CHATHAM — What do kiteboards, shorebirds and dredging have in common? Town officials plan to regulate the first, to protect the second, so that the third can continue. Simple, right? The town has federal permits that allow it to dredge the Stage Harbor entrance channel, using the recovered sand to nourish south-side beaches. But state regulators are now signaling that the town needs to have a beach manageme...

CHATHAM — Sue Winkfield, the town’s recreation coordinator, said she could use another 10 lifeguards to bring the town’s beach staff up to its usual numbers, but there are few to be had. “I’m just waiting for a bus of lifeguards to show up in Chatham,” she quipped to the park and recreation commission last week. As of last Monday, Winkfield said she had hired 19 lifeguards, well below the usual contingent o...

CHATHAM — The town has received complaints about duck hunters on Harding’s Beach and Forest Beach, with some worried about the safety of beachgoers and others complaining about the discarded plastic cartridges and wadding hunters sometimes leave on the shore. The parks and recreation commission recently asked whether it’s time for Chatham to consider hiring a hunting warden for education and monitoring of hunting...

ORLEANS – A proposal to double fees for adult recreation programming in town won't be going to town meeting next month as planned. Members of the recreation advisory committee last week said they were caught off guard by a recommendation in the warrant for the May 9 annual town meeting that the fees be raised from $15 to $30. Now the committee is calling for an investigation into its own department's finances....

HARWICH – A town meeting petitioned article seeking to ban hunting in the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area drew a lot of debate before the conservation commission last week. But the petition may face a setback in its goal, based on a legal opinion issued by Town Counsel John Giorgio. “To the extent that this article seeks to mandate that hunting not be allowed on the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area, it is not in pr...

HARWICH – Voters will be asked at the annual town meeting this spring to prohibit hunting in the Bell's Neck Conservation Area. Selectmen have received a petitioned article seeking to ban hunting in the 272-acre, town-owned marsh and woodlands. At present hunting is allowed in all town-owned conservation areas except for Thompson’s Field in order to protect walkers, dog owners and their pets, according to a co...

CHATHAM – Kimberly Robbins has nothing against hunters. Growing up in Chatham, it was accepted that hunting was a common pastime. “But it seems like it has increased significantly in the last few years,” Robbins, now a member of the town's park and recreation commission, said recently. And that increase has led to an escalation in conflicts between hunters, specifically waterfowl hunters, and those who walk th...

HARWICH – Selectmen have approved the expanded use of the cultural center gymnasium for pickleball this winter, but the board also wants a cost analysis for the uses in the building completed by March 1. Recreation Director Eric Beebe was before the board a couple of weeks ago seeking to expand the pickleball program from three to five days a week. The program was being run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday fr...

Former Z-Boy Wentlze Ruml Wants To Increase Opportunities On The Cape HARWICH – The Zephyr skateboarding team revolutionized skateboarding in the 1970s. Now team member Wentlze Ruml IV, owner of Cape Cod Skate Shop in West Harwich, is looking to rejuvenate the sport locally. The Z-Boys, as they were called back then, were a mix of surfers and skateboarders from the Venice and Ocean Park areas of Southern Ca...

ORLEANS -- For Jamie Demitri, the Finch Skate Park is more than just a place for kids to recreate. It’s an emblem of hard work. “Your community built that,” Demitri, who manages the Pump House Surf Shop in town on Route 6A, told the select board Sept. 1. “They came together and they volunteered their time, their money, their equipment, their workers.” Demitiri, along with other skate park advocates, express...

HARWICH — Harwich has long been a seafaring town, and the nautical theme in the newly opened Bud’s Mini Golf, next to Bud’s Go Karts near the intersection of Route 28 and Sisson Road, reflects that maritime history. The course has been open since July 1. Owners Steve Gopoyan and Swavi Osev are planning an official opening and ribbon-cutting for Thursday, July 22 (today) at 9:30 a.m. Gopoyan said last week that...

ORLEANS — The recreation advisory committee is exercised (as in worried or perplexed). “Our committee right now is frustrated and disappointed by what we’ve not been able to improve with the rec department, especially when it comes to programming,” committee chair Tracy Murphy told the select board June 16. “It must be welcoming, low-cost, accessible to all ages, interests, and abilities, responsive to communi...

Local children from Chatham, Harwich and Orleans will be able to experience somewhat-normal activities this summer when all three towns resume their summer recreation programs after canceling the 2020 lineups due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re so excited to move forward and give the kids some semblance of normalcy,” said Chatham Youth Service Coordinator Sharon Stark. Although COVID-19 remains a very real...