HARWICH PORT — The Wychmere Harbor Shellfish Lab is home to hundreds of thousands of growing soft shell clams, oysters, quahogs and mussels. Every summer since 1994, Assistant Harbormaster and National Resources Director Heinz Proft has hired three high school student interns to help run the lab for six weeks. This year’s interns are Kestrel Powers, Samantha Mahoney and Aidan Kotoski. From 8:30 in the morning u...

HARWICH — The planning board has approved modifications to the use and site plan special permits for Camelot, LLC's proposal to build a 12,400-square-foot mixed-use structure in the center of Harwich Port. The project, which now calls for four rental units on the first floor, and four three-bedroom residential units on the second floor, has been in the planning process for more than a year. But it ran into a r...

HARWICH — The town's pet burial grounds to be located on Queen Anne Road are beginning to take shape and could be open in the month of October, providing a tranquil sanctuary for deceased animal companions. The cemetery commission sought and was granted the use of the 2.5-acre parcel of town-owned land to establish the pet burial grounds in town meeting a little more than a year ago. In recent months the lot w...

HARWICH — With cease and desist orders issued by the building department a couple of months ago for mining and other commercial uses taking place on land in the Six Pond Special District, the appeals board had their hands full last week sifting through the details. Clifford DaLuze told the board he and his family own the property in question. He said his father has owned that land since the 1940s and after his...

HARWICH ─ If you've ever wondered what happens to all the baseballs launched over the fences at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, wonder no more. It's likely Walker has them. If not, he'll surely find them soon enough, along with lost tennis, lacrosse, and other balls at local fields. Walker is a 10-year-old black lab owned by Bruce Young, an EMT with the Harwich Fire Department. “My wife wanted a dog,” said Y...

HARWICH — “It's with a little joy, a little sadness and a little apprehension,” Health Department Director Paula Champagne said on Monday of her decision to retire after 30 years of service to the town, which included developing that department. Among her accomplishments, Champagne said was “building a department that is seen as a professional model across the county.” Champagne worked for the Barnstable Co...

HARWICH ─ There is an African proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child. When it comes to the Monomoy High golf programs, it takes a community of dedicated duffers to ensure its ongoing success. From the WHGANY tournament to newly donated junior memberships there is resounding support for high school student athletes interested in hitting the links. When longtime golf enthusiast, Monomoy fan, and...

HARWICH ─ When you've got nothing to lose as the end of the Cape League season nears, it's good to have a little fun, which is just what the Harwich Mariners did this past weekend, though the team member having the most fun was probably Nick Dalesandro who started Sunday's game on the mound, and won it at the plate. Dalesandro, who spent the majority of his summer behind the catcher's mask for the Mariners, ...

HARWICH ─ Brandon Perry has a message to his Monomoy players, football fans, and families: he's not going anywhere except onto the sidelines of the field with his team. “I'd love to be here for the next 10 or 20 years,” Perry said. “One of my main goals was to become a head coach. Now that I've gotten that I'm really looking to stick it out, to build on it, and to build the program, and to build the relation...

There's something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a person, as the variously attributed saying goes. A visit to Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center in Brewster goes a long way to proving exactly that. The mission of Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center is to enrich the lives of children and adults on Cape Cod with special needs through individualized equine assisted activities ...

Monomoy Theater Company under Francesca James' engaging direction sizzles in delightful, harmonious musicality retelling Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones' fetching tale, "110 in the Shade". Gonna be another hot day in a grassy, Western prairie town, home to the Curry family.  The drought has set in on the plains while impacting more than a few hearts.  H.C. Curry is deeply worried for his unmarried daughter Lizzie...

This year, the annual Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) will take place on Aug. 5 and 6, and local riders are getting in shape for the event. Cyclists from across the country will be participating in the bike-a-thon, which ranges from 25 to 192 miles, depending on the route. Among those riding this year are Chatham residents Paul Potash and Al Etre and Harwich residents Jennifer Hastings, Melissa Morse and Steven Conne...

A visit to Monomoy Island reveals a stunning landscape rich with wild birds, swaying beach grass, and miles of soft sand. But to call it “pristine” would be an exaggeration. To know why, all one has to do is look among the grasses and seashells anywhere on the beach. You'll find a wealth of trash. Some people might say, 'So what?' and chalk it up to modern life. But on the island, and off, trash has become a h...

CHATHAM — When she's not spending time with her family in Chatham or volunteering for the town's Independence Day parade committee, Nicole Gullotti is helping fight a disease that afflicts more than 5 million Americans. She's part of a Boston University team that's conducting a host of studies and clinical trials to better understand Alzheimer's disease. Gullotti's job is to recruit participants for the vari...

ORLEANS — A baseball story is more than a play-by-play and a box score. It's a summertime ritual that enfolds more stories than you can imagine. Take last week's Cape Cod Baseball League game at Eldredge Park between the circuit's top two teams, the Orleans Firebirds and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. With just a week to go until the last regular-season contest on Aug. 3 (the Firebirds are in Chatham tonight t...

ORLEANS — Creating housing options that match the town's changing demographics is not impossible, a consultant told the planning board and affordable housing committee last week. Karen Sunnarborg, who's been working on a detailed housing study for Orleans, presented a clutch of short- and longer-term strategies at a public hearing July 25. “So much of this came out of the lively discussions and terrific conver...