BREWSTER — Show of hands: How many audience members collect Social Security? The majority of hands went up. How many have kids or grandkids that don’t believe it’ll be there for them? About as many hands up. That’s how Robert Blancato introduced himself to his new community last week, calling for a grassroots push to press federal lawmakers to sustain Social Security. A public policy authority who’...

NORTH CHATHAM – Assisted living programs are a great option for seniors who need regular assistance from a caregiver, but they’re not inexpensive. A new partnership with Broad Reach Assisted Living at the Victorian is helping connect certain wartime veterans with a little-known Veterans Administration benefit that can help defray those costs. “It’s helping those veterans who have, of course, done so much for t...

EAST HARWICH – An exclamation of “cookies!!” (someone points out the container of chocolate chip cookies) and a burst of laughter answers the query “what brings you here to knit together?” More responses tumble around the table: “ It’s the company. Definitely the company.” “ And the help, you can get questions answered when you’re reading a pattern. Or, figure out how to fix something you’ve done wrong.”...

BREWSTER — Historic reenactor and docent Mike Reveruzzi of Brewster has clothing for some very particular occasions. Let’s say he wants to dress as the town’s Civil War-era blacksmith. He’s ready with his green vest and blue britches. A British marine fighting in the War of 1812? No problem — he has the red jacket and black top hat. He says he can, in fact, dress as any “ordinary average Joe” of 1774 to 178...

The dangers of Lyme disease are well understood, as are most of its health effects. But a relative newcomer, the fleet-footed lone star tick , can also bring life-changing illness. “Deer Ticks are not the only tick in town,” said Barnstable County entomologist Larry Dapsis, the deer tick project coordinator for the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension.They get the most attention because Lyme disease is so prevalent...

CHATHAM – After 46 years of making battered vehicles look good again, Scott Hagan will be lowering the bay doors at Al’s Auto Body on Enterprise Drive for the last time next month. Al Loring opened Al’s Auto Body near the end of the road’s cul-de-sac in 1975, and Hagan began working there on Aug. 1, 1977 right after high school. The business had a mechanic and Hagan was hired “to do the outside” of vehicle...

Do you ever wonder how easy, safe or pleasurable it might be to live in the mid-Cape area as you get older? Do you have a friend or relative who is over 60? Wise Living Retirement Reinvented is hosting its first-ever Aging Well Expo on Wednesday, April 26 in South Yarmouth, and you might find some answers there for yourself or for a loved one. The expo offers “a little something for everybody,” organ...

What if you could make good friends while at the same time doing philanthropy work that would benefit the entire Cape Cod community? Actually, you can. By joining one of two local Cape Cod Hospital Auxiliaries you can have fun while raising money for the hospital’s new cancer services. When Robin Berlanti moved to Orleans from her longtime home in upstate New York, one of her neighbors recommended that she ...

The self-care book “Tiny Seeds: Sowing the Seeds for the Growth of Health, Wealth, and Happiness” (Fulton Books, 2022) offers a new twist on typical self-care advice — namely, you need to make sure your finances are in order. First-time author Sherri Mahoney, who has worked since 1987 in her own accounting practice called Taxing Matters, has heard a lot of stories from clients in 36 years. She is no stranger t...

     “ Everybody” will be centerstage at Cape Rep Theatre on Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 12 at 2 p.m. as Cape Rep’s Bold Company, BoldCo for short, takes on “Everybody.”      This modern riff on the 15th century morality play “Everyman” offers a playful and colloquial examination of the human condition in the face of mortality as we follow Everybody’s journey down a road towa...

     Artist Willem de Kooning once said that watercolor is the first and last thing an artist does.      For 87-year-old artist Larry Folding, watercolor is the first, the last and everything in between, as it is the medium to which he has dedicated his artistic life for nearly six decades. Folding’s painting “Bridges” was recently awarded the Gold Award at the New England Watercolor Society Signature Members’ ...

Gail Tilton has an affectionate nickname for the students in her Artful Living class. She calls them her Wellness Warriors. If the nickname sounds heroic, there’s good reason. Let’s face it. Finding ways to stay healthy, active and engaged throughout the winter season can be challenging, and the pandemic didn’t make things any easier. Exploring new methods of keeping fit and learning new things among friends is...