CHATHAM – The Creative Arts Center (CAC) will ring in 2023 with its annual Faculty Exhibition from Jan. 8 through 27. A reception will be held on Sunday, Jan. 8 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the CAC gallery at 154 Crowell Rd.      The Faculty Exhibition will showcase the talent of CAC instructors in watercolor, oil, acrylic, ceramic, pastel, and sterling silver jewelry. The instructors whose work will be included...

December is full of reasons to celebrate the season. I’m not going to list them all but most of us celebrate at least one holiday this month. One that we can all enjoy is the Winter Solstice, which signals the first day of winter but also the shortest day of the year. Why celebrate this? Because it also means that every day after will have longer daylight hours, with sunrise earlier and sunset later each day. ...

     Winter doldrums got you down? Are you looking for a way to add some creative spark to the chilly months? Look no further than Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre’s slate of winter classes for kids and adults.      CCTC/HJT offers classes in three different categories: theater, technical theater and dance. With classes for pre-K through age 97, including a free workshop for those in grades 9 to ...

“O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining” in “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” What a joy to behold as director D. J. Kostka has brought 30 talented actors to the stage, many adorable children who thrive on storytelling, acting, singing while keeping true to Barbara Robinson’s 1971 Christmas classic. This is a cast where the children outnumber the adults. There are no small parts, just small actors. And in ...

CHATHAM – The popularity of nutcrackers, those whimsical wooden figures in colorful military garb, is never higher than at Christmastime. How nutcrackers came to be connected with Christmas, and how they have evolved over centuries, was the focus of art historian Mary Woodward's delightful hour-long presentation "Nutcrackers, Smokers and Pyramids: A Colorful History" sponsored by the Friends of the Eldredge Publi...

There are very few of us left who haven’t seen the movie “A Christmas Story,” Jean Shepherd’s charming tale of the imaginative Ralphie Parker who desires a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. “You’ll shoot your eye out!” and “I triple dog dare you!” became catch phrases you couldn’t help but hear during the holidays. A few years ago Joseph Robinette wrote “A Christmas Story, the Musical” with music and lyrics by Benj...

     Christmas is in the air at the Academy Playhouse in Orleans as “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” takes the Academy Playhouse stage through Dec. 18.      This year’s Christmas pageant was going to be different. Grace had never directed the Christmas pageant before, and the Herdmans — probably the worst kids in history — had never even heard of a Christmas pageant. What could possibly go wrong? Bas...

If “jumbo shrimp” is an oxymoron, what is “very small shrimp”? Whatever you call it, shrimp with the Latin name pandalus borealis, or Arctic shrimp, are big with flavor and eye appeal. This crustacean does not come from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico or the coasts of our southeastern states. Neither is it ever “farm raised” like its cousins tiger and brown shrimp. Arctic shrimp are exactly what they sou...

Here it is December and some of the superstars of the bird world have returned to their favorite winter roosting and hunting spots. This means snowy owls may now be seen at some area beaches and dune areas. Because of the undisciplined and often downright disturbing responses to this annual event, most reputable birding sites online no longer publish information about where and when to find these beautiful bir...

     The holidays are off to a festive start at Cape Cod Theatre Company/HJT, with the debut of a new monthly music event at the CCTC/HJT Arts Center, “Songs, Stories and Sounds,” on Friday, Dec. 9 and “A Christmas Story, The Musical” onstage Dec. 2 through 30.      Join Michael Paul Brennan, Sarah Swain, Allie Jason and Gabriella Simpkins for a night of “Songs, Stories and Sounds” at the CCTC/HJT Arts Center...

Here comes the time of excess. Even though we’ve been seeing holiday displays in shops and ads online and on TV since mid-October, now that Thanksgiving has passed, there will be no sense of restraint. Everything will be about the holidays and all the ways we can spend lots of money on gifts for others, or even ourselves if we are so inclined, gifts most of us don’t need. As a child way back when I remember ou...

When Sasha Tomasek-Little came to the Cape more than five years ago from farm country in Connecticut, she was struck by the ocean and fishermen who build their lives on it.  “It was mind-blowing how hard they work and the brotherhood,” Tomasek-Little said.  The Orleans resident was surprised the industry wasn’t celebrated more. Coming from a marketing and public relations background, it seemed to her there ...