Theater Drop-off Spot Needed Editor: It was not until I became “mobility challenged” that I began to realize the importance of “handicap access.” Chatham does a pretty good job of providing access to most things in town with a few exceptions.  One of the biggest exceptions is the lack of a handicap drop-off spot in front of the Orpheum Theater. It wasn’t until I was forced to negotiate the bumpy, downhil...

I had rowed out the night before, in the moonlight, into a nearly empty Oyster Pond. November light is so very different, as the last of the leaves have fallen and the shores are almost luminously brown dusted with gold and rust. Not that I could have seen that in the dark. But I did see a fair amount. The lights of the few remaining occupied houses ringing the pond, the streetlights down at the beach on Stage Ha...

In his recent book “The Geography of Risk: Epic Storms, Rising Seas, and the Cost of America's Coasts,” Pulitzer Prize winning author Gilbert M. Gaul suggests that the 20th century pattern of coastal development has doomed vast swaths of prime real estate to potential destruction. Thousands of miles of heavily developed shoreline lies in the path of increasingly powerful storms and rising sea levels. Building eff...

Pause Airport Master Plan Process Editor: I want to add my voice to the increasing number of citizens who oppose the master plan for "upgrading" the Chatham Municipal Airport. Alternatives 2 and 3 are unacceptable. I and others want more town selectmen, fire safety personnel, and the code enforcement office involved in hearing the concerns we citizens are raising, such as: * Increased (not decreased) saf...

Harwich will suffer a major loss when Town Administrator Christopher Clark walks out the door on Friday. Clark has been a responsible administrator of the community for nearly six years. He came to the community at a time when the town was struggling financially, at a time when there was negative free cash, and he has turned those conditions around and built sound reserves. This past year that success was recogni...

Recently I spent time with a friend whose colorful language peppered the conversation. I commented, somewhat sarcastically, about her potty mouth. Another friend then piped up about her own recent language indiscretion. After a very bad, no good, frustrating day, she ended up at a big box store where she couldn’t get anyone to help her. She fired off a “Where are the %$#*x*@ gift cards!” to one of the employees, ...

Committee Seeks Grant Proposals Editor: The Chatham Community Preservation Committee is now soliciting applications for Community Preservation Act (CPA) grants for the next financial year. The committee may approve applications in four general areas: open space, historic resources, recreation land and facilities, and community/affordable housing. However applications can include, with some restrictions, a b...

We have to admit that we're not crazy about the Chatham Board of Selectmen's choice of land at 1610 Main St. as the site for a new senior center. But we also admit that it was the best option on a table strewn with poor choices. It's been almost five years since the Gerontology Institute at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Police and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston conducted a ...

Changes Modernize Chatham Airport  Editor: Recent letters expressing concern about new “instrument approaches” pretend to be authoritative but actually demonstrate a lack of understanding of the topic. This is not surprising, as the subject is complex even for aviators. Here are just a few examples: Concern: Lack of a control tower makes these approaches unsafe. Fact: the proposed approaches are by...

A Delicious Way To Help Editor: We want to take a moment for a special thank you to all who purchased ice cream at Short 'n' Sweet on our last day, Oct. 14. Not only did you get some great ice cream but you helped support Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod with a donation of $1,350. Again, many thanks to all for a wonderful season. We look forward to seeing you in 2020. Jan and John Newton South Chatham...

If you’re a parent or grandparent in Harwich, there’s a reasonably good chance that you’ve got fond memories of time spent at the Castle in the Clouds. It was—we speak in the past tense because it may have been demolished by the time you read this—one of the most creatively designed playgrounds on the Lower Cape. It inspired children for 25 years, which means that some of the kids who played there now have kids o...

It's People Who Save Old Houses Editor: Our family has read with interest the stories this fall regarding efforts to save our former summer home on Champlain Road. We are pleased that Bob Mahoney, the current owner, has pledged to save it, either at its present location or elsewhere in Chatham. He would not have had that choice (or us, for that matter) were it not for the loving labors of the late Steve H...