Avery Burns had big plans for this summer. The former star point guard for Nauset Regional High School’s girls basketball team joined one of the state’s top AAU programs — the Bay State Jaguars — in hopes she would have an opportunity to increase her recruiting profile as one of the top local prospects in the eyes of college coaches. That plan quickly fizzled. Just days after graduating from Nauset in June, Bu...

Although he is best known for playing the Hammond B-3 organ alongside guitarist Trey Anastasio in the Phish frontman’s solo project, Trey Anastasio Band, Ray Paczkowski has always prided himself on being a pianist. “I was always a pianist and I still consider it my first instrument,” said Paczkowski. “Like in [recording] sessions, people will say, ‘OK, why don’t you put the Hammond on this track, or this and t...

Can a doll comprehend what we say to it? Can it understand how much it's loved? And if it can, does it care? Well if one believes that a doll has thoughts behind that painted-on face, how would we react if we found out it wasn’t very likable? In the Cape Rep’s production of “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,” based on the book by Kate DiCamillo and adapted by Dwayne Hartford, we witness the love a child ha...

We all need a “secret garden” to escape to or to tend to, especially after the year or two we’ve had! Frances Hodgson Burnett’s beloved book “The Secret Garden” is a tale of change and how we deal with change when tragedy is its impetus. Some seek out a secret garden while others choose to ignore its existence. The Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre’s Susan Kosoff (book and lyrics) and Jane Staab ...

State Owes Chatham An Apology Editor: Whoa! Mass. Dept of Transportation officials didn't want Chatham citizens to attend an on-site inspection of our new West Chatham roadway? These MassDOT officials have apparently forgotten that we Chatham citizens, through our state tax dollars, pay their salaries.  We are their employers, and we have every right to examine their work. I sincerely hope that State...

Maybe it’s because we’re all a little dulled to disaster preparedness because of the pandemic. Or maybe it’s just been long enough since our last significant hurricane that most people don’t remember the havoc such storms can wreak. In the lead-up to Henri, when the hurricane was expected to make a direct hit on Cape Cod, we saw few crowded supermarkets. With one or two exceptions, cars weren’t lined up at gas...

ORLEANS - In an effort to expedite a plan for the future use of the Governor Prence Inn, a new planning committee will help steer the town through potential options for the property on Route 6A. An outline of the committee’s work, as well as a timetable for identifying a recommended use for the inn, was presented during a joint hearing of the select board and the affordable housing trust board Aug. 18. The ...

ORLEANS - The town’s board of health stopped short of issuing a masking order last week, opting instead to get behind an advisory modeled after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  The board voted 5-0 in favor of the advisory, which urges people to wear masks "whenever indoors on the premises of a business, club, or place of assembly, including but not limited to retail establishments...

ORLEANS - The town is ready to partner with Housing Assistance Corporation to bring affordable housing to the site of the former Masonic Lodge on Main Street. But how it comes up with its share of the money to do so has yet to be decided.  The affordable housing trust fund board voted 8-0 Aug. 17 to accept Town Administrator John Kelly’s recommendation that the town partner with the Hyannis-based nonprofit to ...

Downgraded to a tropical storm, Henri made landfall near Westerly, R.I., Sunday morning, having brought only gusty winds and the briefest of rain showers to the Lower Cape. The Sunday afternoon high tide was higher than normal, but not high enough to cause flooding.  On the Lower Cape, the sun was out much of the day Sunday and downtown shopping areas were busy.  Many people went to the shore to see the waves,...

Robert Jack Garver (never once known as Robert), internationally-renowned watercolorist, West Chatham resident, and all-around great guy, died on August 2, 2021, four days after his 96th birthday. Jack was born on July 29, 1925 in Cumberland, Maryland, the only child of Mary Pearl Bock and Earle Snively Garver (that’s right, Pearl and Earle). He grew up in Hagerstown, Maryland, where at the age of 2, he met the l...

Anne Marie Schimmel (Deshler) ‘Annie’   1/29/1940-8/3/2021 Anne Marie Schimmel (Deshler),  “Annie,”  (81)  passed away peacefully August 3, 2021. She is survived by her husband and soul mate of 64 years, Peter A. Schimmel, her two children, son Peter Schimmel Jr., and daughter Pamela McMahon and husband John McMahon, and granddaughter Jennifer Mersky. Anne was born in Cambridge where she attended St.Mary’s Ca...

Frances Antenucci Johnston September 26, 1942-August 3, 2021   Following an 18-month vigorous battle with uterine cancer, complicated by Guillain-Barre syndrome, Frances passed away peacefully and comfortably, August 3 at her home in Chatham, surrounded by family and close Friends.    Born and growing up in New York City, Fran was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Arthur J. Antenucci.  Dr. Antenucci, a prominent...

Daniel Guy Marini April 14, 1929 – August 5, 2021   Daniel Guy Marini, 92, of North Chatham, died August 5, 2021 after a brief final illness. He was born in Quincy, MA, to Serafini and Dorothy (Anderson) Marini and grew up there with his two older sisters. He attended South Quincy High School and made lifelong friends on the football field, where he earned the nickname Scrappy Dan. Decades later, he was ind...

William Mathews Feighan passed away peacefully July 9, 2021 at his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. after a long struggle with Parkinson’s.  Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 14, 1934 to Florence (nee Mathews) and retired U.S. Congressman Michael A. Feighan.  Bill was named after western scout, Old Bill Williams, an itinerant scout who guided treks out west in the 18th century from his home in Virginia and Ke...