CHATHAMPORT —"Tragedies drive marine safety reform, but they are written in blood."  Award-winning investigative journalist and author Bob Frump, along with Gene Kelly, one of three survivors of the February 1983 sinking of the SS Marine Electric in a vicious nor'easter, were on hand Thursday night for an emotional and riveting program describing in detail how that tragic event, in which 34 lives were lost, re...

In Sweden, fishermen, regulators, and environmental organizations work with government funding dedicated to developing fishing gear that is safe for seals. In the United States, that doesn’t happen. There is a section of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that provides fishermen with the opportunity to deter seals, but to avoid penalties they are supposed to abide by a list of recommendations produced by National M...

Many years ago, I became fascinated by the signs animals leave behind. This often happens to people that go out exploring in hopes of spotting animals in their natural habitat. If you are one of these, as I am, you know that most animals are very good at keeping themselves out of view, whether by camouflage or by silent flight, even through heavily wooded areas. Knowing their signs is the next best thing to actua...

Calling all artists! There's a new community art gallery in town. The Galley West Art Gallery, a new venue on the Orleans campus of the Church of the Holy Spirit, is seeking online submissions from Lower and Outer Cape artists through Monday, Sept. 20 for its second show, titled “Holiday – Winter – Wonder,” planned for Nov. 20 through Dec. 23. Any physical, two- or three-dimensional art in any medium will be c...

Billed as a “shaken and stirred” version of perhaps one of William Shakespeare’s finest plays, Cape Rep and ASA Theatre’s collaboration of “MUCH ADO/about nothing” is certainly one wild and crazy ride. In this adaptation by Andy Arden-Reese, one of ASA Theatre’s founders, it’s easy to see how Shakespeare’s plots were a precursor for so many shows in our time: a multitude of characters caught in a series of mis...

As we turn the calendar page to September, our thoughts begin to stray a bit from summer fun. I’m always a bit resistant to this, which you know if you read last week’s column. Summer hangs on for a few more weeks and I, for one, am not in a rush to push her out the door, even if Mr. Orion has already appeared in the night sky. Pumpkins, mums, and apples can just all hold their horses, as my grandmother would hav...

On the 20 th anniversary of 9/11, we asked local residents to send us their recollections and thoughts on that day. What follows are edited versions of the responses.   I was on a ship traveling up the entire eastern coastline originating from Florida and bound for Europe three days before 9/11.  When we arrived in New York City on Sept. 9, I vividly remember how bright and sunny NYC had been and not...

How do you make sense of the senseless through art? Artist Pamela Chatterton-Purdy of Harwich is known for her 47 “Icons of the Civil Rights Movement.” But her first eight icons were created to “wrest meaning” from the terrible events of Sept. 11, “the day that changed everything.” Chatterton-Purdy is one of several Cape Cod artists and musicians who will exhibit her work or perform during a commemoration o...

Musicals are slowly reopening on Broadway to masked audiences after the long COVID hiatus, and Cape Cod has not been left behind.  The last musical staged by the Academy Playhouse in Orleans was in August 2019, and two years later a talented cast of five has returned and are singing and dancing their hearts out in a delightfully rollicking and welcome production of "Nunsense!" "Nunsense!" is propelled by a fan...

The author of an epic poem commemorating the horrific events of 9/11 in New York City will read from his work Saturday at the Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre. “It’s been 20 years since Sept. 11, 2001,” writes Thomas F. Flynn of Harwich and New York, author of “Bikeman: Commemorative Edition” (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2021). “So much has changed and some things remain the same.” Sept. 11, 2...

After the debut of their first album, “Mugshot,” in 2018, local band Canon Hill didn’t want to rush another music release. However, that didn’t mean a pause in their creative process. “We always knew we would do another album,” said lead guitarist Logan Tichnor. “We didn’t know when, though. That was our biggest unknown.” It turns out that inspiration and motivation came during the COVID-19 pandemic quarant...

Early morning walks on the beach are my favorite summer activity. I rarely see another person, but I do see lots of other things, and every day is a little different from the day before. As August winds down, many people are already talking about fall. Stores have fall items displayed already and you can buy pumpkin flavored anything if you so desire. I do not so desire. Not that I have anything against pumpkin o...