Chatham Helps With Shoe box Project Editor: I am writing to thank Chatham residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Because of the generosity of donors in Chatham and across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, collected more than 8.8 million shoe boxes in 2018. Combined with those collected from partnering...

There is no doubt – we are in the midst of the dark, cold, quiet season of winter. Our weather has become unpredictable. Two years before I moved here the Cape’s snowfall made the national news – my first winter nary a flake fell. January 2017 was so mild that the snowdrops were blooming in my yard before being covered by six weeks of snow. Wind and ice last year damaged trees and fences and shut down our power t...

With this week’s spring-like temperatures, people are peeling off layers of clothing and venturing outdoors for some fresh air. And on the bike paths, in the yard and on conservation trails, they’re not alone. Unfazed by the deep freeze last week, ticks are once again active, looking for a mid-winter blood meal. “People think, with that cold freeze, it must be safe out there,” said county entomologist Larry Da...

ORLEANS – Talk to Stan and Bonnie Snow and topics range from ship and train models to historic Orleans houses to the history of Snow’s of Cape Cod. Stan, 86, who retired on Dec. 31 after 61 years of employment at his family business, Snow’s, is a passionate and skilled creator of model ships, trains, houses and buildings. (He made his first model ship when he was 11.) Bonnie is a well-known local historian who...

ORLEANS — The future of adults with autism was as bright as the sunny skies during the Feb. 4 groundbreaking ceremony for Cape Cod Village. A crowd gathered inside Mid-Cape Home Centers to celebrate the shovels-in-the-ground stage of a dream nurtured for almost eight years by parents of severely autistic children who were concerned about a lack of programs for them as adults. Now, just months away, is the so...

ORLEANS — A local man has agreed with the seller on a price for Sipson Island, and a purchase and sales agreement is expected to be signed this month. The price is confidential until then. The resident has been working with the Friends of Pleasant Bay and The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts regarding the purchase, serving as a buyer/backer to take the property off the market. The Friends intends to r...

CHATHAM – The Monomoy Theatre is under agreement to be sold, the firm listing the Main Street property confirmed Wednesday. The identity of the buyer remains a mystery, however. Slater Anderson of LandVest, a Boston real estate firm, said in an email that he could not disclose confidential terms of the agreement. The buyer is apparently not affiliated with the theater. Mary Ann Harwood, chairwoman of Monomo...

              Benjamin Toby Nickerson, 84, of Chatham, passed away peacefully surrounded by family Thursday, January 24, 2019. He will be met in Heaven by his wife Marilyn (Strutzel) Nickerson. He leaves his legacy to live in his sister, Nancy (Nickerson) Tansey and husband Fred, and his children Linda Nickerson, Pamela Nickerson, Kim (Nickerson) Young and husband Steve, Benjamin J. Nickerson and “favorite dau...

                CHATHAM- Victor DiCristina, 88, died January 21, 2019 in Sherborn.                 Born in New York City on Dec. 18, 1930, the son of Italian immigrants, Mr. DiCristina grew up in Brooklyn where he graduated from Lafayette HS in 1949 and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1953. He received a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from ...

Volunteer With 'Deep Knowledge' Of Chatham History Remembered CHATHAM – The two things you could always count on from Ben Nickerson were a smile and a kind word. “Ben always left you with a smile on your face,” said Jean Williams, who runs the FISH medical transportation service, for which Mr. Nickerson volunteered. “He was a people person, with all the best qualities, upbeat and had fun stories to tell and...

CHATHAM — The town is formulating an increase in the water rates, the first since 2005, as a means of paying for some long-awaited improvements to the water system. But the way the increase is structured has a second goal: to encourage better water conservation among the town’s biggest users. On Monday, selectmen heard a report from Doug Gardner of Pioneer Consulting Group, who presented a new rate structure...

$1.6 Million Project To Be Completed By Summer CHATHAM – Town officials were scheduled to meet earlier this week with engineers and the contractor hired to build a new observation deck at the fish pier, following final approval of the project by the zoning board of appeals last week. The board unanimously approved the $1.6 million project, which will result in a more larger, more stable deck that meets acce...

CHATHAM — It might be the end of the trail for the Chatham-Nauset Lions, but they’ve got plenty of reason for pride. Now facing dwindling membership, the chapter will hold its final meeting in June, almost 50 years after it was created. But during that time, Lower Cape Lions raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for scholarships and service projects, touching hundreds of local families. “We have been...

CHATHAM — Depending on one’s perspective, accessory dwelling units – or ADUs – are either a good first step toward addressing the housing shortage or a radical zoning change that won’t achieve the desired results. Either way, the draft bylaw amendment is now on its way to the planning board for a public hearing. An outgrowth of a 2015 survey showing that local seniors are worried about housing options to all...

WEST HARWICH – The owners of the former Captain George Winchell Baker house, the historic structure at the corner of Route 28 and Depot Street, have filed plans with the planning board to construct a 7,489-square-foot retail store on the property. Applicant Harwich DG Series LLC did not indicate what type of retail store it plans to develop on the site. The Baker house is presently protected by a one year d...