ORLEANS — Barring any tricks from Mother Nature, off-road vehicles will have access to North (Nauset) Beach this summer under a joint management agreement between Chatham and Orleans. After months of stalemate, and with less than three weeks remaining until the current agreement expires, Chatham and Orleans selectmen approved a one-year beach management agreement last Wednesday. With Chatham selectmen in ...

CHATHAM – The German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940 seemed civilized, initially. The Dutch continued, at least superficially, to run the country, and life on many levels continued as before. “At first we hardly knew they were there,” Jerry Karter said. Other than hunger – there was never enough to eat – for a child, it was “an exciting time,” added Arend Vos. But as the war wore on, life became more and...

HARWICH – After more than six months sailing the high seas, the Swain family is safely back in their home on the shores of Long Pond, returning to the routines of work, school and the daily life of landlubbers. While the family – dad Steve, mom Sarah, and kids Lucy, Jessie and Stanley – are happy to see their relatives, friends and two rescue dogs Mayday and Turtle, there's a bit of a wistful longing for the o...

WEST HARWICH — A lot of activity will be taking place around the town's herring run, but the cold spring weather has slowed the migration of the anadromous fish moving into headwater ponds to spawn. “It's been slow and the last week has been very cold, but we're starting to see them in small numbers,” Brad C. Chase, a diadromous fish biologist with the state Division of Marine Fisheries, said on Friday. “The C...

WEST HARWICH — The fish house that sits in the Herring River will be getting a facelift. No appeal was filed of a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection decision upholding DEP and the conservation commission orders of conditions that allow the reconstruction of the structure. The project has been mired in appeals for nearly two-and-a-half years. Abutters Gwynne and David Daks initially seeking a ...

HARWICH — With old-timers getting older, and with the town’s demographics changing, there’s a real danger that parts of Harwich’s history could fade from memory. The new Cape Verdean Heritage Oral History Project, a video documentary series produced by Angelina Raneo Chilaka, aims to keep that from happening. “I’ve got a list of people we want to interview,” Chilaka said. Their stories will help form a perma...

HARWICH — Ticket sales for the Toast of Harwich are going well and people are very happy the event is returning to the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club this year, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams said this week. “Ticket sales are on pace or ahead of where we were last time we held the Toast here in 2015,” Williams said. That year 295 tickets were sold. This year there is a 350-ticket lim...

$6 Million Project To Go Before Town Meeting HARWICH — The proposed new East Harwich fire station building met with unanimous site plan and special permit approval by the planning board last week. Voters will be asked in the annual town meeting in May to approve funding for the project. The plan calls for a 9,500 square-foot facility on the same site as the existing 42-year-old fire substation, with the new...

HARWICH – The rivalry between the Monomoy Sharks and the St. John Paul Lions was evident on April 12 when the Sharks hosted the Lions in baseball action. Though the home team fell 2-1 at Whitehouse Field, they did all they could to keep the visitor's score low. “Yesterday was a real pitcher's duel,” said Monomoy head coach Steve Wilson, adding that this season his team is working with just two regular starting...

BOSTON – The 122 nd Boston Marathon included a familiar face among the runners, but this time around Larry Cole didn't take part in the race itself. Instead, the longtime Harwich runner rode along the route in a spiffy SUV as an Honorary Relay Team Captain. “This is the 100 th anniversary of the World War I-era Boston Marathon in 1918, which was all military,” the 84-year-old Cole said. “Last winter an annou...

Mean girls are not anything new. And with every bully comes the question that Wolf Hollow’s Annabelle asks of new girl Betty, “What makes you so mean?” Betty came to stay with her grandparents. From her first day, she has a chip on her shoulder and targets Annabelle with her bullying. She’s verbally and physically abusive. A real bad seed. Local author Lauren Wolk wrote “Wolf Hollow,” the young adult novel ...

Rev. Russ Allen, a Chronicle columnist and retired minister, delivered the following words at the Peace Candle Ceremony Sunday morning at the Federated Church in Orleans. The announcement was simple yet shocking. Yarmouth Police K-9 Officer Sean Gannon. EOW: 4/12/18. (EOW means “End of Watch.”) I light the Peace Candle this morning in honor of this 32-year-old married law enforcement officer killed in the...

Election, Town Meeting Deadlines Letters relating to the annual town meeting and election in Harwich will be accepted for publication through the issue of April 26. Letters relating to Chatham's annual town meeting and election will be accepted for publication through the issue of May 3.   Get The Facts Straight Editor: I don’t write many letters to newspapers but Kathy Jones’ tea party letter (...

Disappearing into the crowd of boarding passengers at the Gare De L’Est, her blonde hair tinged with pink ends against the white windbreaker picked up in London earlier in the week, Sofie boarded the train to Germany yesterday morning. My child is 15 now, and these partings are becoming more poignant since they will become less frequent. High school years race by, I am told. I texted to reassure her I would re...

                                                    Jay Hornberger     Jay Hornberger, age 48, passed away peacefully on April 15, 2018 in Boston, after a long illness.     Graduate of Bexley High School (1988) and Columbus State Community College (1992).     Worked as a real estate appraiser for Cape Cod & Islands Appraisal Group and Valligent Appraisal Group.     He is survived by his sons Wesley and Na...

William “Bill” Sperry Beinecke               William “Bill” Sperry Beinecke died at home in New York City on April 8, 2018, at age 103. Born on May 22, 1914 in New York City, Bill was the son of Frederick W. Beinecke and Carrie (Sperry) Beinecke. His paternal grandfather, Bernhard Beinecke, was a German immigrant who, among his entrepreneurial ventures, created New York City’s Plaza Hotel and Boston’s Cople...