Named 2021 Massachusetts Realtor Of The Year HARWICH PORT — Richard Waystack, the newly minted Massachusetts Realtor of the Year, leans forward in his chair when he talks about his profession. Thirty-five years after he started selling real estate, Waystack now enjoys teaching people who are new to the industry, and his eyes light up when he talks about the key to the business. It’s the same mantra he li...

ORLEANS – Cam and Tyler Hadfield spent every day this past summer at The Rail. The brothers, who co-own the East Orleans breakfast and lunch spot near the corner of Beach Road and Barley Neck Road, struggled with staffing, especially toward the end of summer as many seasonal workers went back to school. By late August, Cam said, the restaurant scaled back its hours of operation and closed on Thursdays. "We ...

Former Z-Boy Wentlze Ruml Wants To Increase Opportunities On The Cape HARWICH – The Zephyr skateboarding team revolutionized skateboarding in the 1970s. Now team member Wentlze Ruml IV, owner of Cape Cod Skate Shop in West Harwich, is looking to rejuvenate the sport locally. The Z-Boys, as they were called back then, were a mix of surfers and skateboarders from the Venice and Ocean Park areas of Southern Ca...

HARWICH PORT – More than a dozen shops and businesses in the village will be joining together on Saturday to sponsor the first Harwich Port Merchants Fall Festival, featuring music, contests, craft sessions, face painting, raffles, specials and sidewalk sales. With a hint of fall in the air, the festival will include a raft of seasonal activities from a pie baking contest at Reciprocity's Cross Street Studio t...

EAST HARWICH – Less than 100 feet from where state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy greeted Paul Fox, owner of Harwich Paint and Decoration, Dunkin’ Donuts sat dark and shuttered, the business closed because of a lack of staff. Kennealy has been taking tours across the state, visiting downtowns and villages, communicating with small business owners to better understa...

When traveling abroad, Ruth Odile Davis has spotted women wearing the art clothing that she has created in Odile Designs for the past 35 years. And it’s no wonder, since Odile Designs, with a shop in Harwich Center, has a following of over 8,000 fans and a loyal customer base. So when, on Aug. 12, Davis sent out an email titled “Big News from Odile,” the reception was bittersweet. The big news is that “a...

Mariah Fidalgo, Orleans native and co-owner of Wild Water Collective, is a wizard with a dye pot and a sewing machine. Based out of New York City, she was at the top of her game in costume design for theater, film, and television. Enter the global pandemic: her livelihood came to a screeching halt and the place she’d called home for seven years went into lockdown. Like many at that time, Fidalgo and her hus...

ORLEANS - Despite noise and parking complaints from some abutters, the select board will not amend the Barley Neck Inn’s existing license authorizing outdoor music this season. Failing to find a way to properly define what does and does not constitute “amplified” music, the select board on Aug. 11 instead opted to allow the inn to operate as permitted through Sept. 19. The inn’s license allows for outdoor m...

ORLEANS – Steven Schenfeld doesn't need to look at a clock to know when it's 5 p.m. Four days a week, the Beach Road resident says he can hear, and feel, the noise coming from outdoor music played at the nearby Barley Neck Inn. "This is an invasion of my use of my private property," said Schenfeld, who told the Orleans Select Board last week that he could feel the bass from the music through the walls of hi...

HARWICH — Thayer’s Flowers Inc. has been dressing up and refreshing homes and spirits for nearly 90 years, but the South Harwich landmark will be closing its doors next month. “Time has caught up with us,” Pat Thayer said of the reason behind the decision to close the shop on Saturday, Aug. 28. “Gordon will be 80 in February.” Gordon Thayer’s father, Sheldon Thayer Sr., started the business in 1932, and ove...

CHATHAM — “Oh, this is that store,” is a comment that Sharon Hayes overhears while gardening outside Yankee Ingenuity at 525 Main St. in Chatham. “They don’t know the name of it.” After 50 years, while some customers still don’t know the name of Yankee Ingenuity, they do know it’s where they want to go to buy that locally-made gift or craft item. This morning Hayes and her husband Jon Vaughan are outside th...

CHATHAM – The prospect of The Squire selling cold beer in its Main Street shop did not sit well with members of the select board. Concerned that customers might drink the Squire-branded beer in public, the board voted unanimously last week not to grant a beer and wine package store license to the shop, which is across the street from the popular tavern and restaurant. Squire owner Todd Hearle said he wanted...

A nonprofit agency and three local businesses won recognition and awards last week for their outstanding work and innovative business practices during the coronavirus pandemic year. The Lower Cape Outreach Council in Orleans was named the nonprofit of the year during the 28th annual SCORE Small Business Awards forum on June 10. (A Zoom meeting took the place of SCORE’s annual breakfast.) In addition, Consignin...

HARWICH — There are changes coming to the former Irish Pub property adjacent to the Herring River in West Harwich. The pub is gone, and selectmen have approved a seasonal liquor license for a new restaurant and inn, the Summer House Cafe. The owners of the new business are planning to establish an inn and full restaurant in the 220-year-old Captain Caleb Chase house, and say they are committed to working with ...

Suspension Invoked For COVID-19 Violations  HARWICH — After much sound and fury, selectmen granted a seasonal entertainment license to The Port Restaurant and Bar. But the board also issued a suspension of operations to the restaurant for three days in August for two violations of state-mandated COVID-19 guidelines. The hearing process has been long and arduous for the restaurant, with selectmen issuing the...

After two generations and a nearly 72-year run in business, the Schluter-Gould family has sold Chatham Motor Service to a former employee, Ryan Hansen. “The stars aligned and it was a perfect fit,” says Don Gould. The name of Hansen’s new business is Enhanced Automotive and Fabrication, Inc. Hansen’s first job while a senior at Cape Cod Regional Technical High School, from which he graduated in 2006, was...