HARWICH — Christmas in Harwich will not be as festive this year as in the past, when traditional events such as the Christmas stroll brought the community together for a tree lighting, the arrival of Santa on a fire truck, horse drawn carriage rides through the streets and local shops with doors wide open with holiday spirit. The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed the festive side of the holiday season, but the c...

HARWICH — Local firefighters and police officers will join together for the sixth consecutive year to make the holiday season a little easier for those facing hard times. The public safety staff will be “Homeless for the Holidays” for three days beginning on Friday, Dec. 4. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the setting will be changed this year. The homeless encampment set up in Brooks Park by fire and poli...

WEST HARWICH – Things were not going well for Adelia Marquis. Once, she lived and worked on Nantucket, enjoying her job as a landscaper. But then the hard times hit, and with force. “I struggled with homelessness for quite a while,” Marquis said. Thrown out of her home due to her sexuality, Marquis then lost her job due to COVID-19 layoffs. Faced with the unfathomable decision of where to go, Marquis opted ...

HARWICH – The modifications are many, but not enough to stop winter sports from happening, which comes as great news to student-athletes across the state and at the local level who are looking forward to starting their seasons on Dec. 14. In a roughly two-hour meeting on Nov. 20, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) held discussions and votes on the guidelines set forth by the Executiv...

No one will argue that this has been quite a year. It’s been a topsy turvy mess of sickness, misinformation, uncertainty, and deliberate malfeasance by people that should know better. It has caused many of us to spend sleepless nights looking out dark windows onto an increasingly desolate landscape of ignorance and wrongful distortions falling like leaves from the silhouettes of menacing trees. We are mo...

“It's sad to lose Uhtred,” author Bernard Cornwell said of the hero of his Last Kingdom series of books, the 13th and final volume of which, “War Lord,” was released this week. The prolific Chatham novelist began writing about Uhtred of Beddanburg, the warlord of the book's title, 17 years ago in “The Last Kingdom,” the first book in the series, the arc of which follows the character from his youth to his old ...

CHATHAM – In the timeless classic “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the main character, Scout, tells her brother during a conversation, “I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.” Inspired by that motto, the Rev. Buster Keith Waters made his life's mission helping others. Now he's brought his passions to the Cape, specifically to Chatham Airport, where he's passing on his love of flying, and urging local youth to aim...

Given COVID-19, the economic crisis and a nation deeply divided on issues of race, politics and climate change, how would you rate the year 2020? Survey says? Dumpster fire. But today, we focus on reasons to be thankful – and there are many. Social isolation has forced us to think about what’s important in our lives: our friends and loved ones, our coworkers, and our health. By depriving us of much, the pan...

Found Shark Cove Cartoon Offensive Editor: Am I the only one who found your “cartoon” offensive (Shark Cove, Nov. 12)? You owe the Christian community of Chatham a sincere apology for such an offensive rendering. You should be ashamed. Keith Bradley Chatham A Quaint Airport No More? Editor: This is in response to Allan Brooks’ letter from last week, “What shows an ignorance is moving next to an...

ORLEANS – This Thanksgiving, one of the most difficult aspects of the coronavirus pandemic is that many extended families cannot sit at the same table to eat, laugh and reminisce. The isolation can hit seniors particularly hard. In senior living centers, visits are prohibited or kept short to protect elder loved ones from the virus. Seniors can’t hug family members and can’t cradle newborns in their laps. B...

ORLEANS — With two outdoor town meetings and one presidential balloting behind them, voters will be asked to make one more set of decisions in 2020 on Tuesday, Dec. 1. That’s when a special town election will determine whether the town moves ahead on a feasibility study for the renovation and/or expansion of the aged and inadequate fire station, the planned purchase of a new pumper truck, and continuing preparati...

The Cape Cod Chronicle won the Orleans Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 Small Business of the Year Award, given during the chamber’s 31st annual meeting held virtually on Nov. 17. “Thank you for all you do for the Orleans community,” the chamber’s incoming chair Judy Lindahl of Nauset Marine said in announcing the award. She added that the paper supports the chamber, businesses, non-profits, and civic and community ...

ORLEANS — Back in 2016, the town paid $500,000 for a property at 141 Portanimicut Rd. that included a beach, marshland, and a house. The purpose for the purchase was open space and recreation, but for a few years the house was used as a satellite natural resources office. More recently, the 141 Portanimicut Rd. Task Force, appointed by the conservation commission, has been working on a land management plan for...

“We are in a moment right now where it has never been more apparent that housing equals health care,” Andrea Aldana, director of Housing Advocacy for Community Development Partnership (CDP), said last week during an Orleans Citizens forum on affordable housing. “Our ability to control the pandemic is really closely tied to access to safe, decent and affordable housing that allows people to shelter in place and pr...

 After living his best life of 94 years, Malcolm L. Ward passed away peacefully on November 5, 2020 in Chatham. Malcolm was part of the “greatest generation” and he exemplified the patriotism, selflessness and personal responsibility of that era. He was born in Lynn on June 29, 1926, the only child of the late George and Gladys (Owen) Ward and raised in Saugus. As a proud Eagle Scout, the associated scout value...

Susan Mary “Sue” (Cole) O’Neil, age 81, a longtime resident of Concord and Chatham, passed away peacefully on November 12, 2020, following a short illness and complications due to Polycythemia.  She was loved by not only her family, but all who knew her. Sue was born in Cambridge on May 11, 1939 to her late parents, Stephen and Julia (Mooney) Cole.  She grew up in Cambridge, Belmont and Concord and graduated fro...