Do a little research on the lifespans of typical family-run businesses, and you will find that they last, on the average, for 24 years, and only in 30 percent of the businesses will the second generation succeed the founding generation. This makes it all the more remarkable that the Robert B. Our Co., Inc., (RBO) at 25 Great Western Rd. in Harwich is celebrating its 60 th year in business this year and boasts...

In 1920, when American women were given the right to vote, Florence Seldin’s mother was a 15-year-old for whom this historic victory was of vast significance. “She voted religiously and taught her kids to vote religiously,” Seldin recalled during a telephone interview last Saturday. “Maybe my roots in activism start there.” Seldin, now 86, served from 2009 to 2015 on the Chatham Board of Selectmen and is cu...

Jena Clough, owner of DreamFyre Pole Fitness, believes that studying pole dance does as much for the mind and attitude as it does for the body. “I’m here to empower women,” she says. “Moms come to me—they can’t stand to look in the mirror.” Through pole dance they have “gotten physical strength and confidence back. The pole means confidence.” Clough, 30, offers classes at Bodystrong Fitness in Orleans and p...

Harwich Elementary School The newly formed 18-member HES School Council had its first meeting recently. The next meeting will be on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 3 p.m, in our activity room. Members include administrators Sam Hein, co-chair, and Mary Oldach; parents Gregory/Marcie Gogol, Jean Copeland, Martha Anne/John Larivee, Adam Capen, Teresa Sprague, Justin/Holly, Tavano, Mariah/Greg Tillman; community represent...

For three hours every Wednesday afternoon for the past four years, Avis Drucker of Chatham has answered the telephone and greeted clients at We Can in Harwich Port. “I take incoming calls from women trying to cope with many challenges,” Drucker says. “They’re overwhelmed and emotional. It takes a lot of courage to make that first call.” When the women come into the office they’re “nervous and quiet,” and Dr...

HARWICH – As people grow older, connecting with others is essential. Judi Wilson, the new director of the Harwich Council on Aging, and her executive administrative assistant, Marie Carlson, have always worked in fields that involved connecting with others. They have been motivated by the desire to help other people. Said Wilson, most recently director of the council on aging in Orleans, “I love the work. T...

Greg Horne of Chatham has written a brave and honest memoir about his struggles with mental illness, specifically obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). “I wanted to educate people about OCD,” Horne said during a telephone interview last week. His book, “I Chose Life: A Struggle with OCD, Anxiety, and Depression,” was published in time for International OCD Awareness Week, Oct. 8 to 14. Horne, now 31, grew up...

David Willard has accomplished what few do in these job-hopping times: he is retiring after 50 years with Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank. “I never wanted to work anywhere else since I started,” Willard said last week during a breakfast interview in the Optimist Café in Yarmouth Port, not far from his office in West Yarmouth. “It was my home.” Willard joined the bank back in June 1967, at the beginning of ...

With his wide ranging legal and business experience, David Speciale, the new chairman of the Chatham Council on Aging, has brought an important new perspective to the organization, according to Executive Director Mandi Speakman. Speciale, who has been in his new volunteer assignment for little more than a month, is uniquely positioned to help the council focus on its objectives, including pursuing additional spac...

ORLEANS — Documentary videographer Marnie Crawford Samuelson , a part-time Cape resident since 1985, knew that “Tick Days” was a story that needed to be told. “Way too many Cape neighbors and friends are becoming terribly sick from tick bites, getting not just Lyme disease, but babesiosis and other serious pathogens,” she said. She partnered with filmmaker Shane Hofeldt to produce the 18-minute documentary,...

ORLEANS — Impulse buying took over Main Street Friday and Saturday during the famed Sidewalk Sale. From Snow's to Friend's, prices were trimmed, reduced, and even slashed on everything from pocket flasks ($14.99 down to $10.99 at Snow's) to canna lilies ($14.99 to $9.99 at Snow's). Both sides of Main Street were packed with bargains and bargain-hunters. Nadine Broude of Brewster brought friends from Canada ...

Robert Cutts and Barbara Burgo, both Harwich-born and of Cape Verdean descent, have only known each other for a few short months, but the two have joined forces in a labor of love. Their shared passion is the creation of the Harwich Cape Verdean Museum in order to preserve and share the unique culture, food, language and history of the nation of islands off the coast of West Africa which gained independence from ...