HARWICH — The town bylaw approved in 2009 establishing a buffer zone around drinking water wells where discharging fireworks is prohibited could spell trouble for the Harwich Cranberry Festival fireworks. For the past two years, the festival fireworks were ignited from Whitehouse Field, which is within the 1,500-foot buffer zone. “It’s news to me,” Fire Chief Norman Clarke said of the prohibition. “You’ve t...

Somehow, being “poor” Doesn’t matter here, Because the heart of this place Is in every volunteer! A few months ago, a client of the Family Pantry was inspired to write a poem, excerpted above, expressing her feelings about the organization and its workers. Asking for help is never easy, but the Family Pantry helps clients in a way that is both comprehensive, compassionate and respectful. “I enjoy co...

HARWICH — A citizen initiative is underway to accomplish what the town has not yet to be able to do: get the state to construct a sidewalk along Route 28 from Saquatucket Harbor to Harwich Port. And it's being led by a 10-year-old boy. “Dear Mr. Baker: I am a child who lives in Harwich Port on Cape Cod. I live so close to the center of town and my grandparents and cousins, but I cannot walk there! The reaso...

HARWICH — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito was impressed with the major improvements to Saquatucket Harbor as she strolled along the new dock system during a project completion ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. “It exceeded my expectations, though I knew it would be great,” Polito told The Chronicle at the conclusion of a tour of the new facilities. Polito is the chair of the state Seaport Economic Council, which contrib...

HARWICH — Selectmen on Monday night issued a contract to Community Development Corporation to provide housing coordinator services to the affordable housing trust for a second year. But there was debate over who should issue the contract, the town's affordable housing trust or selectmen. Selectman Donald Howell, who also serves on the trust, declared it should be the selectmen’s decision, not the trust’s, to i...

HARWICH — Town officials opened the second round of bids for the East Harwich sewer project last Thursday and after bids in the first round came in high, they were a little relieved with what they received in the second round. Selectmen also voted not to call a special town meeting this fall to reaffirm a regional wastewater partnership with Dennis and Yarmouth, even if legislation establishing the partnership...

Fresh off the holiday weekend, Monomoy students and teachers will be back in the classroom on Tuesday, Sept. 3, with kindergartners starting Thursday and preschoolers the following Monday. There have been some infrastructure changes in the district, starting with the change to the Cape Cod Collaborative for bus service. The new buses have improved fuel efficiency, enhanced safety features, and the ability for ...

Support ‘Helping Neighbors’ NORTH HARWICH — If the goal of a food pantry was just to fill bellies, the shelves would be stocked with starchy foods like instant mashed potatoes and stuffing. But the Family Pantry of Cape Cod focuses on providing nutritious foods as a means of helping clients get healthier and live better. Key to that philosophy has been a concerted effort to increase the amount of fresh ...

HARWICH PORT — It took first responders many hours to control the public safety threat after a tanker truck flipped over and spilled gasoline on Sisson Road last month. But it will take cleanup crews much longer to try and reverse the environmental damage caused by the accident. A New Hampshire environmental engineering firm has completed an immediate response action plan following the July 18 spill, outlini...

HARWICH — In 1904 Caleb Chase, a West Harwich businessman, provided the town with a $10,000 grant in his will to assist residents in need. More than 100 years later that gift has grown to nearly $500,000, and the trustees who oversee the fund say it is underutilized and its guidelines should be changed so its use can be expanded. Grants to local residents are administered by the board of selectmen after screen...

HARWICH PORT— There was a surprise meet and greet on Saturday as people walking the sidewalk ran into former Vice President Joe Biden. Biden, a front runner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, was in town for a fundraiser. It was meant to be a relatively quiet event, but Biden exited his vehicle about a block and a half away from the gathering point of his supporters, Perks Coffee S...

HARWICH – The old East Harwich fire station will be taken down by late September. There were plans to leave the old station in place after the new one is finished in mid to late September so that it could be used by the contractor on the East Harwich wastewater project, but those plans have changed. “That was the plan until about an hour ago,” Fire Chief Norman Clarke, Jr said on Thursday. Clarke stated ...