In the days before the ongoing pandemic reached Cape Cod's shores, if you swung by the Hot Chocolate Sparrow on a sunny afternoon when the weather was warm, you'd likely find Roger Boucher working in one of his sketchbooks. A closer look, however, reveals impressively detailed drawings that could easily find their way into a local gallery. Boucher, an Orleans native, has been drawing since he was a little boy,...

After the wind and rain of a winter storm, the beach was quiet and empty. Seaweed and seashells had been tossed about and gulls in dull winter plumage watched me warily from their spots on the upper beach as they waited for the tide to turn. There wasn’t a sound except the slush of the waves against the sand. The sky was full of fat clouds tinged with lavender and the raw, damp cold seeped in though every openi...

As of Monday, more than 330,000 Americans had died of COVID-19. That's more than one in 1,000 citizens and more than twice the number of deaths as India, a country with a population of 1.3 billion. That is beyond tragic; it is unimaginable and unforgivable. As we look back at those we lost during 2020, that number looms over everything. Locally we have escaped a high death toll from the novel coronavirus, but ...

Applaud Ban On Nip Bottles Editor: I think the last thing that folks want, who drink and drive, is to be caught driving impaired with an open container in their car. Nips provide a convenient way for so many drivers to avoid that. I applaud those communities on the Cape who recognize that and have instituted a ban on the sale of nips. Let's hope Harwich joins them. Karen Goggins  East Harwich   ...

Anyone who has lived in Chatham for more than 10 years will remember the heated controversy surrounding the merging of the Chatham and Harwich school districts, which narrowly passed in Chatham. This wasn’t the first time the concept of regionalization was proposed, but at the time Chatham was faced with serious declining enrollment, and Harwich was in need of a new high school facility estimated to cost $40 m...

ORLEANS — Who isn’t running for town offices next May is as interesting as who is. After many years on the elementary school committee, Josh Stewart won’t run again. He’ll remain on the regional committee. The three incumbents whose seats on the library board of trustees are up for election – Carolyn Dowd, Mary Beth Fincke, and Mary Reuland – will have served two consecutive three-year terms and will have to...

ORLEANS — “The story of 2019 is how different it was from 2018.” Darn. We should have saved last year’s lead for this year’s annual round-up. In 2020, a pandemic swept the world like a nor’easter that wouldn’t quit. Every day, it blew down another familiar part of the landscape: in-classroom learning, committee meetings at town hall, the day program at the senior center, the annual police block party, the...

CHATHAM – The historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse may not make it off the shore in Hull, where it has been sitting derelict for more than a year. David Doherty, who spearheaded the effort to bring the boathouse back to Chatham, said he was informed late Tuesday by the attorney for the structure's current owners that an agreement to purchase the building was off and that his deposit check would be retur...

Marion Lawson of Chatham passed away at the age of 95 on December 13, 2020 at Cape Cod Hospital, Hyannis. She had been a recent resident at Mill Hill Residence Memory Care in W. Yarmouth after a few years of declining health.             Marion was born at home in West Haven, Conn. on February 25, 1925 to the late Louise Broggi Lynch and Harvey Thomas Lynch. She was predeceased in 1999 by her devoted husband W...

Thomas Brewer Nickerson, of Orleans, died Saturday, December 12th in his winter home in Punta Gorda, Florida, at the age of 87. Nickerson was the beloved husband of Carol Nickerson and father of Bethany Nickerson and Thomas Brewer Nickerson, Jr. Originally from Eastham, he was the son of Otto Eli Nickerson and Albina Brewer Nickerson. He attended his father’s one room schoolhouse through grade 8 and graduated fro...

Florence “Flo” Bassett of Chatham passed away on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.               Born Florence Whitehead on July 26 th , 1927 in Westport MA, she is survived by her husband of 73 years Ivan Bassett, Chatham Deputy Fire Chief, Retired and her 3 sons and their families. Jeffrey Basset and wife Christine of Brunswick, Maine, James Bassett and wife Marie Sestile of Las Vegas, Nev., Jon Basset and his ...

CHATHAM – Something wasn’t right. The screaming pain Paul Borde could feel in his lower back was starting to affect his daily life. The discomfort was really unbearable for Borde, who struggled to sleep and walk throughout the summer of 2019. Perhaps worst of all, the pain hammering away at the bottom of his vertebrae was hindering Borde’s golf game, which really sounded alarms for the avid golfer. “I thoug...

CHATHAM – The owners of the former Monomoy Theatre will return to the historic business district commission next month with a concept plan for redevelopment of the Main Street property, in order to convince the commission to reverse its vote to prohibit demolition of four buildings formerly associated with the theater. Because Chatham Productions LLC lacked a plan for the redevelopment of the 2.7-acre theater ...

Enrollment Drop Shows Need For Sustainability Initiatives CHATHAM — Selectmen acknowledged Tuesday that something must be done to address plummeting enrollment at Chatham Elementary, but shied away from any plan that calls for the closure of the school. Any long-term fix must be considered in the context of efforts to attract and retain young families in town, they said. As he previously did before the sc...

CHATHAM – Last week's coastal storm may have spared the area the heavy snow that fell elsewhere in the state, but the churning ocean took a toll on North Beach Island. The storm knocked down several substantial dunes and washed over a narrow section of the barrier island approximately opposite Chatham Bars Inn. “We've been watching that narrow section, fully expecting exactly what happened,” said Coastal Re...