CHATHAM – A guardian angel with a sense of humor was looking out for Kim Roderiques last Thursday evening when it came time for her sell-out fundraising event “Pirouettes, Pliés and Pets” to begin at the Chatham Orpheum Theater. The successful event took in $40,000, but at the last minute it nearly didn’t happen. Roderiques, a photographer, had devoted one year to planning the evening to raise money for three ...

There’s a beach not far from me that is a tiny beach, but it separates a bay and harbor from Nantucket Sound. One side is quiet, almost pastoral, if a beach could be pastoral. The other side can be quite wild, even on the same day the other is calm and peaceful. It is pretty much the literal and physical definition of a barrier beach and as such, it is under constant stress. I grew up on this beach. I took swi...

EAST HARWICH – Students at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School played host to country singer Jessie Chris last week as part of a school-wide celebration focused on raising awareness about bullying. “Hi. I’m from Massachusetts and grew up coming to Cape Cod for vacations,” Chris said to the cheering sixth, seventh and eighth graders, many of whom wore hand-knit blue hats in celebration of “Hats not Hate” day...

Need a holiday pick-me-up? A jolt of holiday fun? The Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre’s “Elf, the Musical” to the rescue! What a joyful show! I challenge you to see this show and not leave with a smile. A huge cast of children and adults literally fill the stage with pure joy. The dynamic duo of Robert Wilder, director and musical director, and Suzette Hutchinson, choreographer, have done it...

Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra will hold a holiday season benefit concert, “A Mostly English Holiday,” on Sunday, Dec. 15, 3 p.m, at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Harwich Port.  Proceeds from the performance benefit in part the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod.  A pre-concert talk by conductor and founding artistic director Matthew Scinto will be held at 2:15 p.m. The concert features English music...

The cold has crept in, frosting the ground with its icy fingers as it moves along the morning trails left by the mist. Trees, stripped of their leaves, now stand with their branches bare, stabbing into the sky in all directions. Darkness has won over light. We spend much of our time now in the crepuscular hours, filled with gray, dusky light. We scuttle about, avoiding the damp as much as we can, shaking the wet ...

In his new book “Cape Cod Nights: Historic Bars, Clubs and Drinks” (History Press, 2019), Christopher Setterlund picks up where his 2017 book “Historic Restaurants of Cape Cod” left off. Both books lead the reader on a nostalgic trip of dining, clubbing and drinking across Cape Cod of yesteryear. “I began by asking my family, parents, grandparents, etc. where they had enjoyed going and amassed a huge list o...

HARWICH – There is a wealth of holiday bazaars and craft fairs on Cape Cod during the holidays, but the newest one at Monomoy Regional High School aims to raise money for a great cause. On Dec. 6 the Sandscript Club will host its first Holiday Market and Coffee House/Open Mic event to raise funds toward future writing adventures. For those unaware, Sandscript, a creative writing club, is one of the oldest club...

Does the commercialism surrounding the Christmas holidays make you feel more like "Bah, Humbug!" than "Joy to the World?" If so, you may have company. Maybe what we all need is just what Cape Cod Theatre Company is offering, the Cape Cod premiere of "Elf, the Musical." Based on the classic 2003 movie that starred Will Ferrell as Buddy, "Elf" is the tale of a young orphan who accidentally crawls into Santa's...

PHILADELPHIA – Think you know the truth about Thanksgiving? Think again. As people across the nation prepare to sit down to another turkey dinner, David Silverman has an important message for them: it's all a lie. If you want the truth, read his new book “This Land Is Their Land,” which aims to eradicate what Silverman calls the Thanksgiving myth. Silverman, a historian, college professor and author of four pr...

These days of craziness in the world are leaving me sad, worried and just plain upset. Everyone’s talking but no one’s listening. We might as well be a big old flock of bickering grackles swaggering about in the backyard looking for the best treats and tidbits while pooping wherever we want, when we want, with no regard to anyone or anything else. We’re making a racket and making a mess and we don’t care. Som...

Chatham Elementary School Attendance Improvements In 2018, Chatham Elementary School received zero out of four points from the state accountability system for attendance. In 2019, due to efforts both at home and at school, the data showed positive trends and CES earned three out of four points. However, with CES' lowest performing scores, the data still reflects the need to continue the focus on how abs...