On Santa’s last practice run ‘round the world He lost his poor Rudolph as excitement swirled.   So back through the stars old Santa flew With reindeer and sleigh and the whole elf crew.   He headed toward Mass-a-chu-setts, they called it, For it was the last place his sled had hauled it.   He hoped the glow from his little friend’s nose Would guide him to its color of ...

    CHARLES “BABE” BARRETT 91 “Home is the sailor, home from the sea, And the hunter home from the hill”           Charles A. “Babe” Barrett died December 8 th peacefully at home after a brief illness.           Babe was born in Harwich Port on February 7, 1926 to the late Bradford and Doris(Holmes) Barrett.  He was a member of the Harwich High School class of 1944, which he left early to join the...

Nancy B. Olson             Nancy B. Olson passed away on December, 9 th , 2017 at Cape Cod Hospital. She was 91 years young.             For 54 years, she was the beloved wife of George E. Olson, who passed away in 2001. They cherished every moment this life allowed them to be together. They graduated in the same class from Everett High School, Mass., where they were high school sweethearts.    ...

Dorothy "Theo" Vagenas Long             On December 6th, 2017, Theo Long passed away at Rosewood Manor in Harwich.             Harwich - Her daughter, Margaret Pappas, and Reverend Judith Davis were at her side. She was the beloved wife of the late LeRoy Long whom she was married to for 67 years. Theo leaves behind her son Jonathan Long, (Candace), of Charlottesville, Va., her daughter, Margaret Pappas,...

Let’s put it right out there: First Night Chatham needs additional volunteers this year and next. Needed immediately is a coordinator for the Kids Art Studio, which runs from 2 to 5 p.m. on the afternoon of Dec. 31, First Night. This is a message from First Night’s director of communications John Reed and his wife Alice, who works alongside him. During a recent interview in their South Chatham home the p...

ORLEANS — Selectmen are ready to work with the affordable housing committee on a request to town meeting to help address the community housing needs spotlighted in a recent report. “I don't want to see us take our foot off the gas for funding,” Selectman David Currier said at the Dec. 6 board meeting. George Meservey, director of planning and community development, and Tom Johnson, chair of the affordable...

ORLEANS — Local organizations are seeking a combined total of more than $1 million in Community Preservation funds for historic preservation, community housing and recreation initiatives. Over the next months, the community preservation committee will interview applicants and make recommendations. Town meeting will have the final say in May. Topping the wish list is a $500,000 request from the Academy of Per...

Bylaw Would Allow Market-rate Apartments In Homes CHATHAM – Like a number of other Cape towns, Chatham has a zoning bylaw that allows the creation of apartments within single-family homes, but only if they are affordable. The bylaw has generated zero units, most likely because of that restriction. Other towns have had the same result. “In every case where that's done, there are no new units created,” said...

CHATHAM – The iconic Countdown Cod will return to help ring in the new year. Chatham First Night had taken the flying fish off its schedule for the upcoming New Year's Eve celebration after its creator, Richard Clifford, moved out of town. In its place the committee schedule a sing-along leading up to the countdown to midnight and fireworks over Oyster Pond. Clifford has since moved back to town and agreed ...

CHATHAM – By removing one lot from a subdivision off Barn Hill Road, Eastward Companies will eliminate the need to request a waiver from the planning board and thus avoid the potential for additional restrictions on the project, including a buffer area vehemently opposed by the developer. But planning board members aren't so sure that's the case, and want town counsel to weigh in on the issue. The proposed ...

CHATHAM — A Crowell Road resident is clinging to life after being exposed to deadly carbon monoxide in her home Monday. Officials received a call Monday morning from two women at the senior center reporting that their friend, 91-year-old Nancy Olson, hadn’t shown up as expected. “She goes there regularly to play Scrabble, and she didn’t show up this morning,” Deputy Fire Chief David DePasquale said Mond...

CHATHAM – Some changes are in store for this weekend's 39 th annual Christmas By The Sea, but the essence of the event – a celebration of community in the holiday spirit – will remain the same. “All of the traditions of the past 38 years will be in place,” said Jenn Allard of the Chatham Merchants Association, which is sponsoring the three-day event. “We're just trying to make it a little more special.” A cha...

HARWICH — Without really diving into the central issue of whether Monomoy’s two elementary schools should be combined or reconfigured to accommodate shifting enrollment, selectmen and the school committee last week debated who should be able to make that decision. Facing the potential for overcrowded classrooms at Harwich Elementary School and a relative shortage of students at Chatham elementary, the region...

HARWICH — The harbormaster's staff has been busy relocating this week in preparation for demolition of the frail building that has served the department for more than 40 years at the head of Saquatucket Harbor. Harbormaster John Rendon said this week the plan is for the old building to be demolished, likely on Dec. 18, to make way for landside improvements there and on the former Downey property. A constructio...

ORLEANS — An Orleans District Court judge last week found Harwich Selectman Jannell Brown not guilty of a single count of domestic assault and battery following a July 18 incident. The misdemeanor assault charge stemmed from an argument in which her accuser called police to report that Brown was refusing to give him his car keys and had slapped him in the face. Brown described the man as her former domestic ...