Winner in Wednesday's Fourth of July parade were as follows: Business 1st: Little Codders 2nd: The Farm 3rd: Orleans Yacht Club Sailing Camp   Non-Profit 1st: Orleans Firebirds 2nd: Eastham Brownies/Girlscouts 3rd: Sharing Kindness   Family  1st: Stewart Family 2nd: Coast-to-Coast 3rd: Birdsall Family Click here for a gallery of photos from Wednesday's July 4 parade ...

Thousands crowded downtown Chatham Wednesday for the town's annual July 4 parade. The Chatham Independence Day parade committee released the award winners on Thursday. In the overall awards, third place went to the Friends of Monomoy; second place to Bog Lane Farm; and the top award winner was Phillips Farm Family. Other award winners were: Best Youth: Monomoy Regional School District. Most Patriotic:...

CHATHAM – The board of selectmen has rejected pursuing private property for a new senior center. At an executive session Monday evening, the board declined two proposals from private property owners that were the result of a request for proposals the town put for privately owned parcels that might be suitable for a new council on aging facility, according to a statement released Tuesday. “Out of fiscal prud...

CHATHAM — Contractors are hoping that the most recent adjustments to the Mitchell River drawbridge will allow it to function properly, at least through this summer season. The two-year-old bridge has been prone to swelling during humid weather, causing the center span both to stick shut and to not close completely after being opened. Last week, crews from bridge contractor SPS New England, Inc., spent three ...

CHATHAM – Vandals caused $46,000 in damage to solar panels at the town's capped landfill in May, according to police. A blunt object was used to smash 45 of the photovoltaic panels, a meter and inverter components, said Lt. Michael Anderson. Security cameras in the area were not operational at the time, and there were no witnesses to the May 4 incident. Police don't believe the incident was a random act of ...

Though the Bob Murray Housing With Love Walk might have taken its last steps in 2017, those at both the Harwich Ecumenical Council For Housing and the Chatham Ecumenical Council for Preventing Homelessness know the need is still great, which is why they've combined forces for the first Mini Love Walk. Slated for July 12, folks from CECH and HECH will be walking the Chatham to Harwich leg of the Bob Murray walk...

CHATHAM – For Stuart Varney, the sometimes-controversial host of Fox Business Network’s Varney and Co. since 2012 and a part-time Chatham resident, Chatham’s Fourth of July parade is one of the highlights of the year. “I just like that feeling of the town of Chatham coming together for this event,” he said during a telephone interview last week. “It’s a long parade; the whole town is there.” Varney will spe...

With July 4 landing on a Wednesday, this week promises to be busy on both ends. If you've arrived for the summer or are just visiting, there's plenty to do over the next several days. Beginning, of course, with Independence Day parades in both Chatham and Orleans. Chatham's parade kicks off at 9:30 a.m. while Orleans starts at 10 a.m. (see below for Orleans event details). More than 100 entries are expected...

CHATHAM – “We're losing homes at a significant rate.” Historical Commission Chairman Frank Messina was speaking at a hearing for yet another demolition of a home on Stage Harbor Road, but was talking more generally about why the town adopted and the commission often enforces a delay on the razing of buildings determined to be historically significant. “We want to make owners stop and think about it,” he sai...

CHATHAM — A regional coalition of bike experts is peddling the possibility of a new bike path that would link Orleans with Chatham using a right-of-way under Eversource high-tension wires. Currently, pedestrians or cyclists traveling between the two towns either have to travel west all the way to the junction of the Cape Cod Rail Trail and Old Colony Rail Trail in Harwich Center – a detour of almost 18 miles...

EAST HARWICH — Not many kids become a pilot at 16 years of age, and even fewer of them built an airfield in their backyard. But Charles P.H. “Chief” Bascom attained both those accomplishments. Few people remember the East Harwich Airdrome which operated in a limited fashion for close to 50 years, with planes taking off from the dirt runway over Orleans Road (Route 39) or Church Street, depending upon wind dire...

HARWICH PORT– Faced with opposition from neighbors to a proposal to expand the Schoolhouse parking lot, town officials withdrew the request last week. Town officials were before the planning board seeking a waiver to a site plan issued in 2002 for the parking lot and construction of the chamber of commerce building. Based on the opposition and planning board members' determination that a waiver wasn't the prop...

NORTH HARWICH — Everyone looks forward to Independence Day, but perhaps none so much as clients of the Family Pantry. Still, for many, the day they don’t need help putting food on the table can be elusive. The majority of Family Pantry clients – 63 percent – are working one job or more, and many are employed during the busy summer season. But during the off season, the low wages and few hours available mean ...

HARWICH — The planning board last week unanimously approved the site plan review and use special permits for the new Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. The project is scheduled to get underway in December and is estimated to cost $128 million. The new school will be located on the east side of the 69.46 acre lot that presently holds the existing Cape Tech school in the Pleasant Lake section of town. The ...

A new light is about to shine on Harwich's cultural stage as a result of a collaboration between the Harwich Cranberry Arts and Music Festival, Inc., and the Harwich Cultural Center, located in the former Harwich Middle School on Sisson Road. Starting on Thursday, July 12 and continuing through Thursday, Aug. 23, Cranfest In The Courtyard will offer a series of acoustic concerts to be held, weather permitting,...

HARWICH — It has been a long time coming, but the former gas station property in Harwich Center could be heading for major renovations. The historic district and historical commission will conduct a certificate of appropriateness hearing in two weeks for a proposal for a new convenience store and two apartments on the site. The 27,441-square-foot lot, which has a small, dilapidated structure that housed the...