HARWICH — Several days after the Monomoy Regional School Committee voted to close the Castle in the Clouds because of safety concerns, the board of selectmen this week voted to have the playground torn down. The decision came after an onsite inspection of the aging facilities by town and school officials, teachers and members of the Parent Teachers Organization.  The demolition began Wednesday. Among the many ...

HARWICH – After a tough start to their 2019 season, all the Monomoy boys varsity soccer team wanted was to make the playoffs. A stellar Senior Night performance against St. John Paul II offered a boost, but it was a scoreless tie against the D-Y Dolphins the following day that clinched the post-season berth. Senior Night offered the team's future graduates a chance to shine, and shine they did, with the Sharks...

HARWICH – Falling to Sturgis East with a final score of 2-0 after winning the Mayflower League wasn't necessarily how Cape Tech head coach Ivan Popov wanted things to go, but the loss didn't diminish his pride in his team's efforts, or their determination as the Crusaders went on to defeat Upper Cape Tech 4-0 the next day, officially becoming league champs in their first season with Mayflower Small. The Crusad...

Let's take a moment to talk about Cape Tech girls soccer. It takes a minimum of seven players for regulation game play. How many players has the Cape Tech girls team had on its roster for the majority of its 2019 season? Seven. Since I can see y'all doing the math, let me break it down for you by reviewing one of the team's last games of the season, played Oct. 25 against Upper Cape Tech. First, huge praise to...

The easiest way to describe the home-grown musical “Wrinkles” is a comical marriage of “A Chorus Line” and “The Golden Girls.” The musical, which gives a voice to aging women, first premiered at Cape Cod Theatre Company two years ago to sold-out audiences. Open to input and changes, Cape Cod playwrights and lyricists Wilderness Sarchild and Naomi Turner returned to Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater to workshop t...

Lobsterman Rob Martin was out with a crewman years ago when the fellow tried to gaff a seagull that landed on the boat. Martin told him to cut it out. Not only was it illegal, it was bad luck. Moments later, the stern man was gone. “He went flying out the back of the boat,” said Martin, adding that he told him “I told you so” after fishing him out of the water. Martin is not superstitious, for instance h...

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...

Chatham Elementary School   Winter Clothing Exchange The school's annual winter clothing exchange will take place Nov. 14 to 21 on the stage in the gymnasium. Items for the exchange are being collected now. Gently used, clean children's sweatshirts, coats, snow pants, outerwear, boots, sneakers, skates, gloves, mittens and hats for children of all ages are welcome. Items should be washed prior to donatio...

ORLEANS — “Our family builds charming, neighborly rental homes that fit into their surrounding communities,” reads the letter to neighbors of 21 Great Oak Rd. in East Orleans. The request for a building permit, which was granted in late August, called for “construction of a new residential home.” That permit will be challenged Nov. 6 at the zoning board of appeals by an abutter who says the building, still u...

ORLEANS — For decades, the Peck family has been stewards of the hillside that runs down to Arey’s Pond and the Namequoit River, said to be the site of the town’s last Indian meetinghouse. In 2006, they sold the town 8.2 acres that became the Marion Hadley and Samuel Watson Peck Conservation Area. Last week, three members of the town’s open space committee tramped through the lightly-wooded north two acres of...

Margaret Ellen Borthwick Chase June 18, 1942 – August 13, 2019   Join us in a celebration of Margaret’s life on Saturday, October 26, 2019, 11am to 1pm at Nickerson Funeral Home, 87 Crowell Road, Chatham.  Interment to follow at 1:30 pm at Union Cemetery.   In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to her beloved American Heart Association. For online condolences, please visit www.nickersonfun...

EAST HARWICH– Stephen G. Howes, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on October 6, 2019 at his home in East Harwich after a short battle with Liver Cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma).  He was the beloved father of Andrew David Howes of South Chatham, and Amanda Jane Howes of East Harwich.  He was the oldest child of the late Edward Grafton and Mary Dahl Howes of South Chatham.  Stephen grew up in South ...

Isabelle Hickingbotham Monteleone     A Life Well-Lived: Isabelle Hickingbotham Monteleone died peacefully in her sleep October 11 at her home in East Harwich, almost exactly a year after family and friends held a 100th birthday celebration for her. She was born in Peru, Massachusetts, December 15, 1918, to Harry and Gladys Sherman Hickingbotham. She started life where water came from a hand pump in the house an...

HARWICH — Residents spoke in numbers more so than volume on Tuesday evening as the Cape Cod Commission staff held a public hearing at town hall to gather information on the designation of a West Harwich District of Critical Planning Concern. About 40 residents were in attendance but only a few spoke in the hearing that lasted approximately a half hour. The majority of that time was spent with commission staff ...

William K. Craig, Sr. , of Harwich Port, died at home on October 17, 2019.  He was 81 years old.  Bill was born June 12, 1938 to Edgar A. Craig and Olive K. Craig of North Easton and attended school in North Easton and Dean College in Franklin.  Other than the year he served in the U.S. Army, Bill spent every summer of his life in Harwich Port.  An outstanding athlete,...