Hatred Comes To Harwich Editor: It’s taken me a week to write this letter because I wanted to be very clear about the facts.  My husband and I live year-round in Harwich and delight in having our children and grandchildren come to visit, as so many of us do.  I want to tell you about an ugly incident that happened to us at the lakeside beach on Cahoon Road off Route 137 on June 26.  To set the scene let me ...

In a recent letter to the Chatham Board of Selectmen, a resident raised the prospect of tinkering with tradition. It's well past time, George Olmsted wrote, to put to rest the title of “selectman,” and instead refer to the town's executives as the select board. “Two women and three men [on the current board] encourages the change,” he reasoned. This is not a new argument. Ever since Josephine Ives became th...

I saw, I bought, I planted. Then I watered and waited, and waited and watered for days, then, in horror, watched the original healthy looking deep green leaves of the nursery tomato plant I’d purchased devolve to a pale yellow, then crumbling brown, illustrating only too well the biblical scripture “from dust ye came and to dust ye shall return.” I watch skeptically as my nasturtium leaves proliferate, ab...

Newspaper Connects Students, Environment Editor: This year, fifth grade students at Monomoy Regional Middle School immersed themselves in the newly created grade five Earth and Human Activity Project. Throughout the school year, students studied the impact of humans on the Earth and identified related problems and possible solutions to them. Students engaged in educational field experiences, hands-on, in-sc...

In recent months, Chatham has seen a number of developments which seem to maximize building on relatively small parcels of land. The most visible is the subdivision at 78 Crowell Rd., a 1.35 acre lot previously the home of the Chatham Medical Associates offices, which squeezes three large homes on parcels of less than 20,000 square feet, well below the usual minimum lot size. Nonetheless, this was allowable under...

The Cape Cod Baseball League, founded in 1885, is the best-known summer sports organization on the Cape, drawing college-age men from across the nation for what can be a steppingstone to the minor and major leagues. CCBL teams are based in Brewster, Bourne, Yarmouth-Dennis, Falmouth, Hyannis, Chatham, Orleans, Cotuit, and Wareham, with the Harwich Mariners playing its games at Whitehouse Field near Monomoy Region...

It has been said that fear is a powerful motivator. I agree, which is why I titled this blog “Mostly Fearless.” But while that's the simple version of my title inspiration, there is definitely more to it. See, fear has long played a role in my life, often times too big a role. This blog is part of my continued attempts to address that. Remembering a time in my life when fear wasn't a factor is difficult. Back ...

Whether you're a Chatham resident, a summer visitor, or a resident of any other Cape Cod town, we've got one last errand for you to do before the big holiday weekend begins. Before the end of the day Friday, we'd like you to consider adding your signature to the town's petition that seeks to reverse the land claim by the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Specifically, the petition asks Gov. Charlie Baker ...

Time To Reassess W. Chatham Project Editor: I recently read an article that stated that the Massachusetts State budget will be $400 to $500 million short of what is required when the fiscal year ends on June 30. This opens up the question of how priorities are reviewed to fund the most urgent needs in the state since not all needs can be met. This immediately brings into focus the $4 million-plus West Chat...

I had a visit last week from my favorite centenarian. Juliet Bernstein, who turns 104 next month, dropped by The Chronicle office to give me a copy of a new book, “We The Resilient: Wisdom for America from Women Born Before Suffrage.” The book features profiles of women who are all 97 years of age or older; women, in other words, born before the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to ...

Where the river is windin’, big nuggets they’re findin’ North to Alaska go north the rush is on [mush] North to Alaska go north the rush is on. [mush]. In 1960, Mike Phillips wrote it and Johnny Horton sang it, and “North to Alaska” became an all-time great country hit. The song topped the country and western charts from Jan. 9 to Feb. 13, 1961. The lyric tells of Sam McCord and his partners and h...

They're here. Like clockwork, they arrived the same time as last year. While there are just a few of them now, in a short time they'll proliferate in our waters and force large numbers of year-rounders to seek higher ground. We refer, of course, to great white sharks. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy confirmed that a receiver in Shark Cove, off Monomoy Island, detected a signal from Scratchy, who tag...