If you walk the bike trail past Monomoy High School on a school day, you might see high school students out in the school's garden, hard at work and practicing the basics of grilling. With the pandemic forcing adjustment in many school activities, Caroline Freitas, the school's culinary arts and nutrition teacher, has come up with an ingenious way of advancing her hands-on curriculum in a safe outdoor environme...

On Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. Eventide Theatre Company's Virtual Playhouse will present the regional premiere of Lee Roscoe's timely satire about the rise of tyranny in the United States, “Impossible?” This free, livestreamed event will take place on Eventide's Facebook page, facebook.com/eventidetheatrecompany. “Impossible?” focuses on a group of friends in a small New England town and how their lives are affec...

HARWICH — Back in 1970, singer songwriter Joni Mitchell sang about not realizing “what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” when she warned about losing wild places to development. Fifty years later, the words couldn’t be truer. As our paradise-to-pavement consumption of forests, meadows, and other natural lands accelerates, many of us risk never even knowing what we’ve got, never mind waiting until it’s gone. In t...

If you’re a regular reader you know I cope with stress best when I can get outside and give myself some time and space to let things settle and think things through. Others may pour a cup of tea or coffee and read a chapter of inspirational prose or poetry while others put on their running shoes. We all want to get away from the source of our angst and have a chance to regroup. Lately, there have been many c...

e end of her memoir. Every now and then, Farber has a student “in whom I saw my younger self, either with their work ethic, their love for school, or their home situations. They are the reason that I wrote the book and why I wanted to share my story.” She wants to give all kids hope for their future. “More than anything, I just wanted to share my story so that kids know that they are not alone,” Farber says...

While we all wish we were not living in a state of semi-quarantine during the coronavirus pandemic, the time spent at home has been good to a certain group of people: Writers. “The pandemic also turned out to be kind of a plus,” says author Kat Szmit, whose first novel “The Sugar House” (Wicked Whale Publishing, 2020) has just been released. Working her day job from home, Szmit found she had more time on her h...

Author Andrew R. “Bob” Black did a bit of preliminary research on the steps of the Boston Public Library before embarking upon his new book “Buried Dreams: The Hoosac Tunnel and the Demise of the Railroad Age” (Louisiana State University Press, 2020). He had been researching another topic when “this Hoosac Tunnel kept popping up. It was a political football,” he recalled during a telephone interview last week....

One of my favorite places to walk is an old farm that was bought by a town as conservation land. They lease land to sheep and goat farmers and there are chickens sometimes as well. The pastureland is kept open, mowed naturally by its inhabitants. There are a few trees for shade though they have no low-lying branches, due to above mentioned inhabitants. It’s a very peaceful place, surrounded by woods and trails th...

Officials are predicting a huge increase in food insecurity on the Cape this fall as a result of the pandemic. And with local unemployment rates still extremely high, many more local residents may face financial difficulties in the coming months. We've assembled a list of local nonprofit organizations that are ready to help local residents in need. Click on the links below to get information about applying for...

CHATHAM – A lot of attention is being focused lately on the preservation of the Monomoy Theatre building and the adjacent Washington Taylor House. There are several other old buildings on the property, though most are not particularly historic. With one exception. At the rear of the property — actually on a separate lot facing Depot Road — is a tiny, 645-square-foot three-quarter Cape that occupies a very swee...

CHATHAM – Once in a while a local gets to experience a one-of-a-kind Cape Cod day after working all summer while the tourists enjoy this glorious place we all call home. We were invited to join friends Jerry Evans and Erin Hilley on Jerry’s Carolina Skiff to go on a shark spotting adventure. Our hosts had heard there were numerous shark sightings off Chatham’s shores so off we went on a sunny breeze towards “J...

CHATHAM — “It's hard being closed,” said Kevin McLain, executive director of The Chatham Orpheum Theater. But don't get the wrong idea. The Orpheum is committed to staying closed until it can safely reopen to provide the same kind of experience for which it is known and loved. The number one priority of this community theater is exactly that. Community. It's that commitment to community which has inspired the ...