Everybody needs a pantry. Not today’s kitchen designer pantry-in-a-box cabinet, but the kind I played in as a child, like the ones our grandmothers had in their old houses. Those spaces were made for kids; dark secret spaces, close to the household action, but where tiny people could hide away, unnoticed, and play for hours, which, of course, is just what I did. Some pantries were little more than glorifi...

AOC Empowers Local Youth Editor: Each year, fifth grade students at Monomoy Regional Middle School immerse themselves in reading and writing poetry. The process includes creating original art which is an integral part of the poetry itself. Thanks to the hard work and generosity of The Art of Charity, this year students will also have a much-needed electronic tablet which will help them share their...

Hidden away on a cul-de-sac in Harwich Center (not Harwich Port as advertised) is the latest mega-mansion to be added to our town’s housing inventory. Described as “located near,” but actually about a mile from Saquatucket Harbor, this 5,600-square-foot luxury residence, sitting on a large tract of land, has six bedrooms, the same number of bathrooms, a “beautiful chef’s kitchen,” two (count them) master bedroom ...

We were surprised recently to see a rack of plastic grocery bags next to the checkout at the East Harwich Stop and Shop. As we fumbled to pack our reusable cloth bags, now standard equipment on any shopping trip, we wondered what had happened to the ban on plastic bags passed in Harwich more than a year ago. The answer, we discovered, was that nothing had changed; single-use plastic bags are still banned in Ha...

Responds To 'Whopper' Allegations Editor: I was at the very same meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Mr. Leavitt attended, and I'm "incredulous" over his derisive/erroneous characterization of it in the Feb. 9 Chronicle. The "whoppers" according to Mr Leavitt: 1. Fact: The West Chatham Roadway Project's original application had an estimated projected cost of $1...

Tim Roper first came to our attention back in 2003 as the man behind the Crap Cod Chronicle. The satirical newsletter parodied Chatham's people and events – and us. It was clever, funny and pulled no punches. We loved it. After observing and commenting on town politics from the sidelines, Mr. Roper decided to take a more direct approach in 2010 and ran for the board of selectmen. In a four-person race for two ...

“ Those were the days, my friend We thought they’d never end... Those were the days, oh yes those were the days” Mary Hopkin The Hammond family has been part of American history since Benjamin and Mary Hammond immigrated from England to Rochester, Ma. in September 1634. Benjamin and Mary became Cape Codders shortly thereafter, moving to Yarmouth and later to Sandwich. Calvin Hammond, a grea...

This week we take a break from budgets, wastewater and government controversies – well, not completely, but, shall we say instead “feature less prominently” – in favor of highlighting two local folks whose talent has taken them far and brought them great recognition. Earlier this month, Chatham's Dr. Michael Tompsett stood with three other notable engineers on a London stage to receive the £1 million Queen Eli...

Letter Misrepresented Positions Editor: Our question is why someone would misrepresent the truth about the Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) meeting, which we, the undersigned, attended. A letter that appeared in last week’s Chronicle came from R. Leavitt, who was totally frustrated at that meeting when he learned about a new petition signed by the West Chatham neighborhood center busin...

There’s a picture on the bookshelf that greets you as you walk in our house. On the top shelf, between the blue miniature wooden dory that once carried Barbies, stuffed animals, a beloved plastic horse and hand-drawn paper dolls, and the wicker basket full of Christmas cards, sits a red foam photo frame. Adorned with two pink hearts (that always seem to be falling off and are just as easily found and reaffixed...

Conflicted. That's how we feel about the prospect of the new administration in Washington being more amenable to rolling back the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's claim to somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 acres of the waters and submerged lands west of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. We've already stated our agreement with town and state officials that the federal agency overreached by including ownersh...

The holidays and Super Bowl have moved on with the last straggling snowbirds, leaving us in the dust of February. The month in which Candelmas (Groundhog Day) was celebrated is smack between winter and spring, and is short but deadly, causing humans to do anything to spice it up, not the least of which is giving a rodent its own special day. But Punxsutawney Phil and Massachusetts Ms. G aren’t the only va...