Despite Late Pandemic Opening, It's A Busy Summer At The Atwood Museum CHATHAM — At long last, the Atwood Museum, Home of the Chatham Historical Society (CHS), has opened its doors to visitors on a reservation basis with exhibitions on topics as varied as the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags, women’s suffrage and the end of World War II. “We’ve got quite a lot of new stuff coming out this year,” says CHS Executi...

My daily walks have taken me to places that are full of blooms this week. There are multitudes of tame and lovely roses and hydrangeas, lilies and geraniums alongside homes and businesses. Some gardens are so full and lush I have to stop and see how many flowers I can name, just to have an excuse to linger a bit longer. My own gardens are full of blossoms and my vegetable garden is bursting with things getting re...

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” Like the Wizard of Oz, the Trump administration is blustering, threatening and bullying states to fully open schools in the fall. Like the small, frightened man behind the curtain, they're trying to further their own interests through the art of distraction, threatening to take away federal funding if schools don't reopen. It's certainly true that until scho...

Honoring The Right Heroine Editor: I was pleased to learn that Ginny Locke is being honored as a 2020 Commonwealth Heroine by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. About 20 years ago, I attended a Crosby Mansion open house and subsequently signed on as a volunteer with The Friends of Crosby Mansion.  What a great group of people they are and I attribute their successful accomplishments in res...

HARWICH — Does a dairy intolerance stop you when you have a craving for ice cream? Well, Sweet Izzy has a vegan alternative that will soothe that weighty dilemma. The new business that began scooping homemade ice cream last weekend is dairy-free. “What we offer is gluten-conscious, soy-free and dairy-free,” owner Michael Doucette said of the new business located along Route 28 at the Trampoline Center, whic...

ORLEANS – As Maria DeOliveira stared into the hold behind the bow of the US Coast Guard vessel 36500 from its berth at Rock Harbor, she couldn’t hold back her quiet tears. It was aboard this very boat that her father, Aguinol B. DeOliveira, was rescued along with 31 fellow survivors of the famous Pendleton wreck in 1952. Until 2016, DeOliveira, who lives in Dorchester, had no idea the boat was still in existen...

ORLEANS — The Nauset school system has talked the talk, and many members even walked the walk at the well-attended June 5 march in support of Black Lives Matter. Last week, the regional school committee took another step by endorsing an anti-racism resolution being circulated by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees that seeks to ensure “that racist practices are eradicated, and diversity, equity a...

ORLEANS — “Fantastic” was how select board member Andrea Reed described the community’s first outdoor town meeting, which drew 439 voters to the running track at Nauset Regional Middle School on June 20. Member Cecil Newcomb congratulated Moderator David Lyttle for “running a very efficient, streamlined meeting” during the board’s post-mortem on July 1. “It went very well, given the logistics. Thank God t...

CHATHAM — At Schoolhouse Pond bathing beach, crowded conditions are nothing new. The small stretch of sand, which gets smaller when the water table is high, is Chatham’s only residents-only beach. But during the pandemic, those close quarters are a public health concern. State regulations designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 require beachgoers to maintain six feet of social distance, and groupings of...

CHATHAM – In 2010, marine biologist Dr. Greg Skomal tagged an 18-foot white shark off the coast of the Cape. She was given the name Curly and is, to date, the largest great white shark ever tagged along these shores. While the real Curly is likely still swimming somewhere in the Atlantic, shark enthusiasts can get a sense of her impressive size by visiting the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Shark Center in Ch...

Hessler Claims Retaliation Over Criticism, Senior Center Support CHATHAM – The former chairman of the zoning board of appeals is accusing the board of selectmen of not reappointing him in retaliation for his leadership of the effort to build a new senior center on Stepping Stones Road and his criticism of the selectmen's leadership. Robert Hessler, who served on the zoning board for a decade, was not reappo...

CHATHAM – The pandemic has taken an enormous toll on small businesses everywhere, and the St. Christopher's Gift and Consignment Shop on Main Street in Chatham is no exception. After more than 40 years in business the shop will close its doors for good at the end of July. The decision to close was the result of a number of factors, according to Pam Hufnagel, a member of the church vestry committee which made t...

A Lesson In Boating Safety CHATHAM — Four young men are lucky to be alive after their boat capsized in the North Cut Friday afternoon. Officials say the case is proof of the town’s rescue capabilities – and the need for common-sense boating safety. The four men were fishing in a 15-foot Boston Whaler when their boat was overturned by a wave. All four went in the water, Fire Chief David DePasquale said. ...

CHATHAM — Judging from the crowded parking lots, busy shops and restaurants, and the steady traffic on roadways and waterways, the Independence Day weekend was a busy one – despite COVID-19. As of early this week, there had been 150 deaths from the novel coronavirus in Barnstable County, with a case count of over 1,500 people since the start of the pandemic. “The public health data continues to show us po...

CHATHAM – When Abigail Dudley moved from Massachusetts to Oregon six years ago, she knew it was going to be temporary. When it came time to move back, she wanted to look for a job in a small school system, and after doing some research, the only district she applied to was Monomoy. “It just all seemed so exciting, just so much more innovative and kind of like cutting edge from what I would think a teeny little...