She’s 13 now. 13 and a half (and change). But who’s counting? Sofie stands now five foot four inches. That means the child I brought back to Chatham when she was 13 months and grew up amongst us, learning to swim, skate and sail, and earning her black belt, is now less than a foot shorter than me. That seems like a milestone of sorts. The summer population of Chatham was the margin of victory in the state of ...

Only Hire Registered Contractors Editor: Consumers spend millions each year on home improvements. As manager of the state’s Home Improvement Contractor Program, the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs sees hundreds of projects go wrong each year, costing homeowners thousands of dollars and leaving them with shoddy or unfinished work. There are four important elements your readers need to know about the...

The Disney film “The Finest Hours” helped raise the profile of the U.S. Coast Guard, and Station Chatham in particular. What the rescue of the crew of the Pendleton showed modern audiences was the Coast Guard's tradition of selfless service and perseverance, a tradition that continues today. Over the years, that tradition has been, at times, a challenge to live up to, often because of conditions out of anyone'...

Help Save Monarch Butterflies Editor: I am writing to bring attention to the plight of the monarch butterfly, and if you enjoy them, how you can help. Monarch butterfly caterpillars can only eat milkweed and with the the loss of so many wild fields, the use of genetically engineered crop seed that has "Round-Up" in it, the common use of herbicides by farmers and homeowners, the beautiful monarch need our...

The weather’s soon going south, along with a great number of our thinner skinned neighbors. Jack Frost is paving the way for January’s Ice Queen and her minions, treating us to an unwelcome diet of snow and ice, turning our roads into pot-holed skating rinks and our cars into sad victims of the ensuing crashes. What if you never had to worry about getting into an accident again? Some of us may have that chance...

Time To Help The Eldredges Editor: The Eldredge Garage has been a Chatham landmark forever.  It has served the town as a livery stable, a gas and service station, for 38 years it was Chatham’s fire house, it’s been used as a staging area for construction equipment and movie sets, it has allowed truck turnarounds, wedding parking, motor vehicle storage, taxi service, beach shuttle service and public parking...

Next Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day, and as it is a presidential election a higher percentage of voters will participate than were it a local one choosing members of the board of selectmen. More voters make it to the polls to elect a President or Governor, and given the nature of this overly long and sometimes troubling electoral cycle, the turnout maybe greater than usual. Still it seems appropriate to ask, “W...

A Scary Election Season Editor: Seemingly this country has now become its own worst enemy, and as this tire dump fire of a presidential election continues to rage, which is like having a front row seat to "The Jerry Springer Show," I'm thinking the current condition of this country and where we appear to be headed is akin to "The Fall of the Roman Empire." That's scary. Happy Halloween. Mike Rice South ...

Welcome to Chatham, summer home of the great white! The sign greets visitors to the annual Sharks in the Park exhibit and can found on buildings, homes and in shops all over town. It's meant to be a bit tongue-in-cheek – or more, appropriately, teeth-in-sign, as the large bite marks in the placard indicate. Not everyone is amused by the association of Chatham with great white sharks, however. Chatham's high...

“ Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh, Here I am at Camp Grenada   Camp is very entertaining And they say we’ll have fun if it stops raining I went hiking with Joe Spivy He developed poison ivy….   You remember Jeffrey Hardy They’re about to organize a searching party Take me home, oh mudduh fadduh Take me home, I hate Grenada.”   Allan Sherman, who wrote and per...

Surprised By Trump Support Editor: I was not surprised when no one stood outside the community center with signs in support of Trump during the primary elections in March. I thought that was a good sign. But I was surprised when the votes were counted and 528 citizens of Chatham had voted for Trump. I hope now with just a few weeks left before the November election of the next president of the United States...

As this is being written, it's sunny and about 70 degrees outside of The Chronicle's office. It's a perfect fall day, the very epitome of why many of us who live here believe that autumn is the Cape's best season. It seems like we aren't alone. Almost every weekend since Labor Day, and many weekdays, downtown Chatham has been packed with people. Granted, it's a different crowd than those who are here in the su...