HARWICH PORT — With any luck, kids and their parents could be spending some fun, quality time together at a new Cape Cod Toy Library as early as this summer. But it’ll take more than Play-doh to make the toy library a reality. Deb Wilsea of Chatham, who is organizing the effort, is spreading the word about the need for children and their families to spend time engaged in creative play. Doing so strengthens f...

HARWICH — While town meeting will have the final say on a couple of the requirements, town officials are ticking off the boxes that will allow Harwich to receive grants and incentives under the state Green Communities initiative. Town Planner Charleen Greenhalgh said that, when she worked for the town of Truro, the town met the five criteria to qualify as a Green Community and qualified for a grant of $125,0...

HARWICH — When it comes to supporting local theater, providing studio space for artists, and giving local musicians public performance venues, Harwich deserves to take a bow. But by all accounts, the show’s just getting started. On Monday, the town and the Harwich Cultural Council signed a formal agreement with the Harwich Chamber of Commerce and the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). In so doing, it beco...

They were mad for it. One commentator called it “ice boat fever.” In the late 19 th century, when temperatures dropped below freezing in December, residents had reason to rejoice: Harwich’s Long Pond and Chatham’s Oyster Pond froze solid with a foot of ice that could linger through March. During the 1870s, ’80s and ’90s, frozen ponds lured residents onto the ice in droves in both daylight and moonlight wit...

ORLEANS – It was a tough senior night for the Cape Cod Furies, who skated well in spite of a 3-1 loss to BMW/ORR in what was also the team's last game of the season. It was a game that looked in the beginning as if it would belong to the host team Furies, who kept the puck largely in their possession, weathering a power play in the first period to keep the game scoreless. The Canalwomen struck first in the ...

HARWICH – Live owls of all sizes are returning to the community enter for three programs (at 10 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m.) on Saturday, March 3 hosted by the Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT).  The live owl program Eyes on Owls is led by naturalist educators Marcia and Mark Wilson who tour the Northeast, offering audiences up-close looks at these secretive raptors. The Wilsons will bring owls that are found locall...

HARWICH – What do a handful of robots, a 3D printer, and the Harwich Cultural Center have in common? They're all integral to the Cape Cod Makers organization, since members can now utilize a 3D printer to build robots and other cool creations in their new Cultural Center space. What are the Cape Cod Makers? In layman's terms, it's a group of people who get together to, well, make stuff. Of course, it's way mor...

With excavators slated to begin digging Monday, we've already heard some rumblings from Orleans about potential problems related to the downtown sewer project. Main Street merchants are concerned about shoppers being able to access their stores as work continues over the next few months. A few years back, Chatham officials dealt with the same issues during sewer work in commercial areas, and came up with a workab...

Takes Issue With Developer Opinion Editor: In my opinion, we are indeed fortunate to have “David Oppenheim and his kind” in our community! David “and his kind” have been developers...of programs and agencies that have enhanced the quality of life for all in our community. They are programs and agencies that support day care, youth development, the needs of those who might need food, empowerment of women...

The formation of the new Monomoy Regional School District has created great opportunities and offered new challenges for Harwich and Chatham. Most noticeably was the erection of a new high school on Oak Street in Harwich, while perhaps less apparent was the realignment of the two towns’ middle and elementary schools. Overall, the merging of administrative, faculty, and support staff, oversight by a new school com...

CHATHAM — At about 7:20 a.m. on a gray Thursday morning it’s 42 degrees and sprinkling when members of the Chatham Walkers convene in the breezy parking lot overlooking Oyster Pond. Bill Horrocks, a walker since 1994, is the first to arrive for the thrice-weekly three-mile walk. Over the next five minutes others drift in, including June Herold, one of this month’s walk leaders. “It’s fairly mild,” she say...

ORLEANS — Talk may be cheap and housing unaffordable, but the Orleans Citizens Forum held a discussion Feb. 22 aimed at disproving those judgments. At “New Directions in Community Housing,” five panelists talked about what they've done and plan to do to increase housing options, including where to find the money to finance their activities. Facing an audience of about 90 at the senior center were Katie Wi...

ORLEANS — It wouldn't be much of a stretch for the town to adopt the state's Stretch Code, selectmen were told last week. That step is one of five required to achieve Green Community status as an energy-efficient community, which in turn could unlock hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants. “Basically, we're already enforcing this code,” Building Commissioner Thomas Evers told the board at a publ...

Marie Judith McCluskey                 On February 21, 2018 an angel gained her wings.  Fly high “Little Peanut!”                 Marie Judith McCluskey’s parents Sarah Swenson and Steven McCluskey were by her side when she passed as they have been every day of Marie’s courageous life. Marie was a special child with special needs, and special parents.  She was a sassy, spunky fighter who was loved by many; ...

Giles Leonard Chapin               Giles Leonard Chapin, 96, passed away peacefully at his home on February 16, 2018.  He was the husband of the late Jirina Halaskova Chapin, and son of Ernest Wilder Chapin and Helen Almy Chapin.               Giles and his twin sister Jane were born in Somerville and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington D.C. i...