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 ...

HARWICH — The affordable housing trust is switching its priority for development of affordable housing from land on Oak Street to a 1.11 acre parcel on Sisson Road where the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre currently leases the former schoolhouse. The decision was made last Thursday after a review of the Oak Street site by local officials and Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) staff. The tr...

HARWICH — Vandalism at parks and beaches is nothing new, but this year’s activity is worse than the occasional upturned bench or overturned trash can. “I’ve been here for 14 years, and I’ve never seen it as bad as this,” Harwich Recreation Director Eric Beebe said. Late at night on Aug. 12, vandals struck the bathhouse at Bank Street Beach, plugging sinks, ripping a urinal from the wall and apparently try...

HARWICH – Hundreds of members and supporters of the Harwich Conservation Trust turned out Monday night to delve into the 400-year history of the Pleasant Bay area as seen through records and artifacts uncovered at the 49-acre Kendrick farm. The effort is an ambitious five-year undertaking to merge archeological and historical research and uncover a generation-by-generation history not only of one family, but of t...

HARWICH — A blue-green algae bloom turned the waters of the West Reservoir in the Bell’s Neck Conservation Area bright green Monday. Town officials warned people not to swim or allow dogs to swim or drink water from the reservoir. “The whole West Reservoir is a murky blue-green,” Conservation Administrator Amy Usowski said after posting three warning notices along the shoreline where people might come in conta...

Peake: State May Provide Disaster Relief Money Municipal expenditures related to the July 23 tornado are not likely to reach the threshold required for federal reimbursement, local officials say. Qualifying expenditures in Harwich total $1,256,200, according to Town Administrator Christopher Clark, and slightly more than $438,000 in Chatham, according to Finance Director Alix Heilala. Yarmouth reported $4...

HARWICH — Sandy Robinson remembers well the day she was offered the job working in the administration/selectmen’s office in town hall 19 years ago. “Assistant town administrator Juell Buckwold called to offer me the job and I said my first grandchild is about to be born any minute,” Robinson responded. “Now she’s in her second year in college. It’s like a lifetime in the blink of an eye.” But, the executive...

HARWICH — Selectmen made it clear Monday night they support a referral of the Captains’ Row area of West Harwich to the Cape Cod Commission as a district of critical planning concern, but they held off requesting a pending a recommendation from the planning board. Residents of the area have come together in support of protecting the historic structures, many built by 19 th Century sea captains, along a stretc...

HARWICH — There is a new watercolor exhibit at the cultural center focusing on a dozen of the historic structures along Captains’ Row in West Harwich. There has been a major effort by residents of the West Harwich area to protect the historic character of the neighborhood, which was established by sea captains, ship builders and merchants. This summer the Harwich Historical Society has a Captains’ Row exhibit ...

NORTH HARWICH — Three decades ago, the Family Pantry of Cape Cod began as a storage closet filled with canned goods at Holy Trinity Church, with a handful of volunteers collecting food donations and making them available to people in need. It was a simple case of neighbors helping neighbors. Denny Duggan of Harwich, one of the five founding members of the Family Pantry, remembers holding meetings in the kitc...