CHATHAM — Some of the services the town provides its older residents are there for all to see: senior luncheons, social events, classes and programs. But town officials have also been working behind the scenes to help the most vulnerable older adults, using a unique partnership that involves the COA, police, firefighters and public health workers. Speaking to the select board last week, Council on Aging Direct...

CHATHAM – Stage Harbor is usually a pretty quiet place during the winter. This winter, however, a major construction project has been underway that will change the appearance and functionality of a very busy corner of the harbor. The replacement of the Stage Harbor Yacht Club's wharf will complete the remaking of a small but important section of the harbor. A few years back the town did extensive renovations t...

CHATHAM – Erosion continues to eat away at the east and southeast facing bluff at Morris Island. Last week, the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge removed a boardwalk, stairs and observation deck previously used to access the beach from its headquarters. The walkway and stairs were only about a half dozen feet away from the edge of the bluff, creating a safety concern, officials said. Last November, the flight o...

CHATHAM — Some have argued that a pandemic is the wrong time for the town to take on a big-ticket capital project like building a new senior center. On Tuesday, the town's project team and the select board argued that, in fact, the timing couldn’t be better. The board voted unanimously to bring a request for $8,395,555 to build a new council on aging on a parcel of donated land at 1610 Main St., West C...

CHATHAM — Th e plan was for the county dredge to move the sand from the Stage Harbor entrance channel to a feeder beach west of Cockle Cove, where it would slowly drift east, nourishing beaches along the way. But thanks to a looming deadline related to piping plovers, that plan is being modified a bit. Updating the select board last week, Health and Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson said the d...

Bob Wirtshafter was leaving his yoga class at Power Yoga of Cape Cod in Harwich when he noticed his instructor, Stephanie Briody, was wearing a bathing suit as she left the studio and headed out into the December cold. “I saw that she had her bathing suit on after yoga and I said, ‘Where are you going?’” recalls Wirtshafter, a Chatham resident. “She said, ‘Oh, I’m going to do an ocean dip’ and I said, ‘Oh, I’l...

CHATHAM — In a couple of weeks, people will be queuing up to take a brisk swim in Nantucket Sound for a good cause. They’re Chatham’s April Fools, and they’re back this year with a pandemic-safe plunge to benefit a local woman facing medical challenges. Each year, the April Fools raise money for a different local individual or family in need, usually to ease the financial burden of an illness or injury. And,...

CHATHAM – Twelve years ago this week, the historic Stage Harbor Coast Guard boathouse was lifted off the pilings on which it had sat for more than 70 years, gently placed on a barge and floated to a Quincy shipyard. And there it remained for years, until 2019, when it was moved to Hull in an ill-fated attempt to use it as a Coast Guard museum. After a near-brush with demolition, it was once again moved to Quin...

CHATHAM – A lawsuit that attempted to prevent skydiving from returning to Chatham Municipal Airport was dismissed by the Massachusetts Appeals Court Monday. The decision by a three-judge panel affirms a 2019 ruling by a Barnstable Superior Court judge that federal law requires that the town allow skydiving at the George Ryder Road airport. It's not certain that skydiving will return to the airport, and if i...

CHATHAM – A plan to restore and renovate a 170-year-old Greek Revival house in the Old Village ran into opposition from the historical commission last week over the size of a proposed addition. Though they appreciated the effort to save the main house at 305 Main St., known as Breathwood, commission members said the addition to the rear would overwhelm the original structure. “To me it dwarfs the historic s...

CHATHAM – Although it was billed as a discussion on the future of elementary education, last Thursday's forum kept veering into the budget lane, much to the dismay of some parents. The benefits and drawbacks of small class size is the direction that the discussion should be heading, said several of those who attended the virtual session. “My hope is that we don't get so pulled into the budget inequity that ...

CHATHAM – When the call went out, local residents answered, contributing more than half a million dollars to help neighbors suffering financially due to the pandemic. After distributing most of that money, the Chatham Coronavirus Impact Fund (CCIF) is winding down and will phase out March 19. “We had a goal, we had a mission, we had a focus on trying to get assistance to those in need,” said Stephen Daniel,...