“Playfulness is one of my top values,” laughs 73-year old Sharon Cobb of Orleans. With one look at her rainbow-hued tie-dye shirt and sparkling sequined head wear, this does not come as a surprise. It's hard to imagine anyone meeting Cobb walking away without the gift of her contagious smile. The fun continues as we enter her Orleans home, the front room of which is completely devoted to Christmas collectibles,...

In “Silent Spring,” her 1962 book that started the environmental movement, Rachel Carson presented the revolutionary idea that tiny levels of common household chemicals could cause disease. More than a half-century later, and long after Carson died of breast cancer, the idea has more scientific traction than ever. The Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition (MBCC) and its research partner, the Newton-based Silen...

Harwich Elementary School MRHS Student Leaders Complete Community Service At HES A “shout out” to Monomoy High School student leaders who donated their time and effort to their elementary school community by providing a much appreciated 'childcare' opportunity for parents/guardians. Their community service hours, once again, made our Curriculum Nights a success!   Chatham Elementary School ...

Harwich Elementary School   New Staff Chris Roberts will be music teacher this year. He is a native of Coedpoeth, North Wales. He has been involved in vocal and instrumental music since the age of seven, singing in Church as well as in local “eisteddfodau” (music competitions). He began teaching music in 1978 in Wrexham, North Wales. He has been a music teacher on Cape Cod since 1993. He previously t...

When it came time to redecorate the main office of Pine Acres Realty at 938 Main St., the Chatham real estate firm initially thought it wanted a “very contemporary” look, says Lori Fanning Smith, the company’s president and principal broker. The company hired Melinda Loftus Headrick, the president and principal designer of Chatham Interiors, Inc. After photographing and measuring the space, Headrick held a sty...

The new backpacks are packed, pencils are sharpened, and most kids will soon be back at school. But there are steps parents can take now to help make the school year injury- and illness-free for their kids. Kathy Riley, the Harwich Elementary School Nurse and the nurse leader for the district, said the start of school is always a busy time in her office. “A lot of kids have trouble with transitions,” she sa...

SOUTH CHATHAM — Crossing the threshold of Baker’s Hardware on Main Street in South Chatham is akin to stepping into a bygone era. A little bell above the front door and a warm nod from the store’s owner, Bob Baker, greet you.  “We have a little bit of everything,” chuckles Baker, who enjoys stocking the store with childhood classics like Balsa wood glider planes. Batteries and light bulbs, paint brushes and te...

“We are either related to or we know probably 90 percent of the people here,” laughs Chatham native Winnie Lear.  Winnie and husband Bob, full time residents of Chatham's Old Village, are about as deeply involved in the community as two people can be. From the Chatham Conservation Foundation to the Chatham Historical Commission, the Eldredge Library board of trustees to the board of the Orpheum Theatre, from t...

There are plenty of good reasons to safeguard against tick bites, which can transmit babesiosis, anaplasmosis, tularemia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and, most commonly, Lyme disease. Researchers have now added another rare but potentially deadly disease to the list of tick-borne illnesses possible on Cape Cod. Deer ticks infected with the Powassan virus were recently found at various sites around Cape Cod...

A few years ago a couple came to Evelyn Doane, a sales associate in William Raveis Real Estate’s Chatham office, looking to buy their first house. “They fortunately had a good credit rating, same jobs for a number of years,” Doane recalled. The jobs were “not terribly well-paying, but a steady income.” While the couple qualified for a loan, they did not have money for a down payment for their dream house in...

As thousands celebrated the glorious Fourth at Chatham's recent Independence Day Parade, Helen and Irwin Sitkin of Chatham were celebrating their glorious Eleventh. The self-proclaimed snowbirds rose the morning of the parade and donned their red, white and blue Uncle Sam and Mrs. Uncle Sam costumes for the 11th consecutive year and helped spread patriotic cheer before, during and after the parade by posing for...

First, the bad news. Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is being diagnosed at a rate faster than any other cancer, and one person dies from the disease every 50 minutes. Of all the counties in Massachusetts, Barnstable County has the second highest number of melanoma diagnoses. The good news is that, with daily sunscreen protection, melanoma is largely preventable. And thanks to a grant through the ...