“It’s just a number,” Ella Lombard of Harwich says about one’s age. “It’s what you do with it.” Ella celebrated her 100th birthday on May 21. This remarkable woman lives at home with her pet pug and still drives herself to the grocery store and bank. She took up painting in her 70s when her niece tutored her; today, a quilt that she is sewing is spread over the dining room table. To date, she has completed 46 ...

WEST CHATHAM — A new cardiology practice opened this week in the heart of West Chatham. Cape Cod Healthcare announced recently that Dr. Elissa Thompson will be heading a new practice called the Cape Cod Healthcare Cardiovascular Center at the Oppenheim Medical Building at 1629 Main St. The opening took place last week, and the facility is expected to serve patients from around the Lower Cape. Thom...

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...

CHATHAM – It doesn't take a close inspection to see the failings of the current senior center on Stony Hill Road. Originally built as a residence, its rooms and offices are small and lack privacy, a steep staircase leads to more constricted spaces on the second floor, it lacks an adequate ventilation system, and the building had to be shored up a few years ago because of structural problems. A decade ago, talk...

What would it be like to start your first business, a home health care business, during a pandemic? Karen L. Warren of Harwich and Jean C. Copeland of Chatham found out when they opened Quality Homecare Cape Cod, LLC one year ago, on June 1. “Mostly it made us nervous,” Copeland says. “We had to have a COVID policy.” They have continuously educated themselves on the CDC’s ever-changing guidelines. And they ...

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...

CHATHAM – A call to 911 may be at the worst moment of your life. Whatever prompted the call – a heart attack, a stroke, a fire – "seconds make a huge, huge difference," according to Chatham Fire Lieutenant Ryan Clark, the new public education coordinator for the Chatham Fire-Rescue Department. "It's that serious." If your house number is not easily visible from the street, in daylight or at night, a new progra...

Several years ago, Mark Pasquini of South Dennis approached Cape Abilities, a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for individuals with disabilities on Cape Cod, and asked if he could become a friend or mentor to one of its participants “in a one-on-one role.” Pasquini “wanted to do something bigger than myself, and through my friendship add some richness and varied experiences to the life of an i...

ORLEANS – In 2010, J’aime and Christian Sparrow decided to “move back home” from San Francisco. Their goal: to “simplify” and start a food truck.  “City life is amazingly stimulating. It can kick your butt,” Christian said with a broad grin. “Right? Well this was harder. We had no idea.” J’aime laughed and nodded. With a microloan from the Community Development Partnership, the Sparrows purchased their truc...

The husband and wife co-owners of Ducks in the Window on Main Street, Chatham now own a second business, on Main Street, Harwich — the iconic Dr. Gravity’s Kite Shop. Rob Foster and his wife Colette Cummings bought Dr. Gravity’s Kite Shop at 560 Main St. (Route 28) from owner Peter Hurst in December. “There’s a synergy between the shops,” Cummings said during a telephone interview last week. Both businesses...

When Karen McPherson’s husband qualified for the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations because he is six years her senior, McPherson thought back to the days of faking ID cards when she was not yet of age. McPherson, who lives in Chatham, didn’t qualify for the first round of vaccine appointments that opened up in February because she was just three weeks shy of 75. As she joked to a friend, “I hadn’t faked an ...

Over the past year, feeling anxious and depressed has almost become part of the daily routine. But for more and more people, those feelings are getting in the way of day-to-day living. State Senator Julian Cyr, D–Truro, has been fully immersed in the region’s response to the pandemic since the beginning, attending countless meetings and helping to organize the Cape Cod COVID Response Task Force. When the first...