Mary Poppins might be the world’s most popular nanny, but she is anything but a lovey-dovey governess. In fact, it’s her firm approach and dry sense of humor that makes her charges feel safe, knowing she has their best interests at heart, even if she doesn’t cater to their every desire. With its strong cast, the all-volunteer Chatham Drama Guild hosts an energetic regional premiere of “Mary Poppins.” And, on open...

When it was suggested she write a book based on her children’s play “The Epic Adventures of Lulu’s Lemonade Stand,” local playwright and director Holly Erin McCarthy didn’t hesitate to say yes. The children's play, starring Rachel Tondreault as Lulu, is playing at the Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster every Tuesday and Wednesday at 10 a.m. through Aug. 31 in the outdoor theater. Surrounded by tall leafy trees, the ...

  The first time we took Tilikum down there, testing out the Mako’s range and speed, we ended up just inside the lee of the island. The ocean was just around the corner. Open and wild and powerful and indifferent. A cool, salt breeze played at different angle, first our face, then our knees and jumping at times to the hair on our arms. It was there and gone again, at unpredictable intervals. Standing at the...

Does Harwich Need A Pet Cemetery​? Editor: I have recently had occasion to drive down the industrial area on Queen Anne Road in Harwich. I just learned that the large swath of land being cleared was for a town-funded pet cemetery. Harwich has very few industrial areas left to build on. These three or four lots could have created 15 bays for the working class to start or expand a business. Those businesse...

How important is the cohesiveness of Chatham's downtown business district? Historically, the town's main business district – what folks refer to as “downtown” – has tended to shift. At one point, many businesses congregated around the neighborhood we know today as the Old Village. Businesses were interspersed with residences, and more often than not they were one and the same, with shop owners living on the sa...

              Donahue, Elizabeth (Betty), A , passed away to be one of God’s angels on 7/11/17.               Born 6/6/28 in Jamaica Plains, Betty is predeceased by her younger brother Teddy, and parents Theodore & Catherine Forte Friberg. She is survived by her 8 children: son, Charles (& wife Jeannie) of Anchorage, AK; daughter, Susan of Lancaster, Pa.; daughter Teresa (& husband David) of ...

Sarah Tod Smith March 30, 1926 to June 6, 2017                 Sarah Tod Smith, known to her friends as Sally, died at home in New York City on June 6, 2017.  She was 91.               Sally was born Sarah Tod Lohmann in New Haven, Conn., where she attended the Foote School. She graduated from St. Timothy’s School in 1943 and received a BA from Vassar College in 1946.               A...

You probably haven’t reached whatever stage you’re at in life without hiring a lawyer—or at least having a legal question. And we all know that legal fees can rapidly work up to astronomical sums. As an alternative, since July 18 attorney Jeff Bellas of Orleans has offered his legal services at the rate of $125 an hour or $62.50 for a half hour during new walk-in hours at his office. This rate represents a red...

Three broods of unfledged piping plover chicks will keep Chatham's section of North Beach closed to oversand vehicles for the immediate future. Orleans opened its section of the barrier beach to permit-holding vehicles on July 15 under the statewide Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for Nauset Beach South. Under the plan, vehicles will only be allowed onto and off of the beach during specific times, and must pro...

ORLEANS — Necessity was the mother not of invention but decision at last week's selectmen's meeting. Faced with competing interests – a state remake of Main Street's intersections with Routes 6A and 28 and the need eventually to install sewers and connections in the same locations – the board endorsed a gravity flow system for the sites. Members were facing an end-of-July deadline to get those specs to the M...

ORLEANS — After sampling the unanimous opposition of the architectural review committee to a proposed new CVS building, the owners of Skaket Corners Shopping Plaza withdrew their application last week. The board granted the request without prejudice, allowing the proponents the option of coming back with another plan. During a three-hours-plus meeting July 13, members said the 9,997-square-foot building w...

Three broods of unfledged piping plover chicks will keep the town's section of North (Nauset) Beach closed to oversand vehicles for the immediate future. Orleans was scheduled to open its section of the barrier beach to permit-holding vehicles on July 15 under the statewide Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for Nauset Beach South. Under the plan, vehicles will only be allowed onto and off of the beach during spe...

CHATHAM – Hoping to send a message to would-be thieves and pranksters, officials this week filed charges against a 21-year-old man who allegedly stole one of the sharks from the Sharks in the Park art exhibit. On Monday, police charged Kevin J. Martin of Bellingham with wanton destruction of property, a misdemeanor, after an incident in the early morning hours of July 4 that saw the allegedly stolen shark reco...

CHATHAM — Officials say a minke whale that spent last Thursday in Stage Harbor before dying in the Oyster River apparently had an underlying health condition that caused it to become stranded. The 18-foot long whale was first spotted in the area of the Eldredge trap dock before 6 a.m. Thursday, and onlookers watched in amazement as it swam under the floats at Old Mill Boat Yard. When it emerged from under th...

More than a postcard backdrop, the Cape's working waterfront is an economic engine. And it deserves continued financial support from the state, said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who is also the chairman of the state's Seaport Economic Council, which is making sizable investments in the shorefront infrastructure in Chatham and Harwich. Polito visited Old Mill Boat Yard in Chatham and Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich Por...