Boston is a center for higher education, sports, government, history, tourism and culture for much of New England. While offering concerts, plays, art exhibits, and other events year-round, during the holiday season Bean Town hosts special programs ranging from a month-long series of concerts by the Boston Pops to presentations like Langston Hughes’ “Black Nativity” and traditional performances of Tchaikovsky’s “...

If you want a real eye-opener, go to the town landfills the morning after Christmas. Dozens of trucks filled with truckloads of trash wait their turn at the gate from the moment the place opens all through the day until it closes. This repeats all week long and into the new year. Some refuse will go into recycling bins but the amount of paper trash that gets bagged in plastic and tossed in the dumpster bec...

The afternoon was fading, but a sliver of golden light reached across my backyard through a network of bare branches into the window next to where I was working. The dog and cats were sleeping, two on the couch and one on the dog bed on the floor (it wasn’t the dog). It was quiet, peaceful, a lovely end to a busy day. Suddenly, bang! Something had hit a window or the wall of the house from outside. The dog...

WEST BARNSTABLE — A student client walks into the Family Pantry of Cape Cod Community College (CCCC) shortly after it opens on Monday morning at 9:30. Inside, volunteers Sherry Greene-Starr and Anne Schulte are busy restocking the shelves with neat stacks of cans, cartons, jars and boxes. After checking in the student, Greene-Starr opens a paper grocery bag on a stool and leads the woman down the first aisle...

ORLEANS — Don’t miss the Academy of Performing Arts production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” In this screen-dominated world, the short musical is an antidote for iPhone ennui — or obsession. Directed by Peter Earle from Eric Schaeffer’s stage adaptation of the TV special inspired by Charles Schulz, the play could make even the the crankiest Scrooge nostalgic. Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack from “A Charlie Bro...

Queen is one of the most recognizable names in the music industry — they have brought to life such classic songs as “We Are the Champions,” “Killer Queen,” and, of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Every member of the band is still alive except for Freddie Mercury, who was the lead vocalist and one of the most flamboyant performers the world has ever seen. He died at the age of 45 from complications of AIDS, and his s...

It’s the classic book “Madeline’s Christmas” by Ludwig Bemelmans come to life! It’s Madeline and her classmates in their distinctive school uniforms of blue with yellow hat and the all-important red scarf singing and dancing with delight on the Harwich Junior Theatre stage. This production is the ideal holiday getaway, because the show will transport you to a different time and place, and fill you with holiday...

One very small cast is putting on one great big play at the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans this month: “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol.” See it, even if you’re not a fan of all things Christmas, because it’s simply a whopping good piece of theater. Directed by Peter Earle, who is the Academy’s executive and artistic director, four superb actors deliver on the literate, witty script by Tom Mula. Dressed ...

What happens when you add an element of mystery to shopping – when you never know what you might find? That’s the way it is at Second Glance Thrift Boutique in West Harwich. Every day the merchandise on the floor is a bit different and it’s always seasonal. And with prices so reasonable, you better not hesitate to purchase what you like. The store even accepts credit cards. “If you see it, we say buy it, be...

The most dangerous four-letter word in the digital world is “Send.” “Once you send it, you have no control over it,” Bill Burke of the Cape and Islands District Attorney's Office community outreach program said, during a recent “Parent University” on technology and social media at Monomoy Regional High School. “You can never get it back.” That not only goes for potentially illegal activities like sexting an...

They’ll make you laugh, tear up a little but most all make you feel good. Trish LaRose and Jared Hagan are at it again in a musical revue called “Sing Like There’s No Tomorrow” at the Cape Rep Theater in Brewster. Under Richard Jay Sullivan’s nifty direction, these two smoothly transition from song to song, often with a brief introduction but most of all with heart and soul. This Cape Rep collaboration is a winne...

CHATHAM –Fishing is a key element in the fabric of Cape Cod. Sports fishing is a vital part of its summer tourist industry, the mainstay of the Cape’s economy. Commercial fishing, whether by nets or rod and reel off boats, lobstering, aquaculture or shellfishing is not only a source of employment and financial resources for those involved, but it is also a part of the tradition, history, culture and society of th...