HARWICH — Approximately 75 people attended Saturday's candidates forum sponsored by the Democratic and Republic town committees at the newly restored South Harwich Meetinghouse. The three candidates vying for the two seats on the board of selectmen are incumbent Michael MacAskill; Thomas Sherry, who lost by a narrow margin to Selectman Ed McManus last year; and Stephen Ford, a retired banker and congressional ...

HARWICH — The ribbon-cutting for the new Seaside Marketplace at Saquatucket Harbor drew a crowd last Friday morning, with a number of speakers indicating that the six new artisan shacks show that Harwich is emerging as one of the more exciting arts and cultural communities in the commonwealth. The dedication at the newly renovated marina was one of many local events celebrating ArtWeek, a statewide effort to f...

HARWICH — It seems almost everybody on the Lower Cape has a story to share about a friend or family member with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, and there's a growing need for support, counseling and programs. This weekend, a special fundraiser will take place to support the grassroots Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod , which offers a range of services, all free of charge, covering the full range ...

HARWICH — Voters sent a strong message on the first night of town meeting that they want less spending and a better control of their tax dollars. In Monday's session voters rejected the $4.5 million reconstruction of Lower Country Road and came within 34 votes of defeating the $39.6 million operating budget. Voters also made an early statement on the use of town funds for continued construction of the controve...

HARWICH – Most athletes appreciate the sports they play, but talk to Monomoy's Aoife Daly about field hockey and you'll quickly learn that she has more than just a fondness for the game. When Daly talks about the sport she's played since childhood, there's a gleam in her eye and an enthusiasm that can't be beat, which will no doubt serve her well when she joins the team at Colby-Sawyer College in the fall. Dal...

HARWICH – Typically in high school tennis, a team's singles players are often the key to success, but in Monomoy's case, the doubles teams have been the ones to watch. That was certainly the case when the boys varsity tennis team hosted Cape Cod Academy on May 2, playing to a 3-2 victory in Cape and Islands League action. Though a passing shower left the courts a little slick at the start of match play, the ho...

Bestselling author Anne D. LeClaire’s new novel “The Orchid Sister” (Lake Union Publishing, 2019) explores, in part, how things go wrong when people defy nature and seek the fountain of youth. “What kind of a culture have we become that we pursue anti-aging in such a fear-filled way?” LeClaire asked during a recent interview in her South Chatham home. Yet “the desire for eternal youth is eternal.” The germ ...

Some musicals endure the test of time better than others, and Eventide Theatre Company’s “She Loves Me” is one of them. This delightfully charming romantic comedy is sure to warm the heart and leave you singing all the way home. Although lesser known than some classic musicals, “She Loves Me” is a 1963 adaptation of the 1937 play “Parfumerie,” which also inspired the popular 1998 film “You’ve Got Mail.” Bot...

Nearly 100 people participated in the Mystery Painting Puzzle painting party sponsored by the Guild of Harwich Artists at the cultural center on Saturday as part of ArtWeek 2019. People were provided one of 96 small panels which contained an image for them to paint. Put together, the panels would create a Harwich image. The four-foot by six-foot puzzle turned out to a painting of the Red River Marsh in Sout...

ADUs Will Change Chatham  Editor: A Chatham Town Meeting warrant article that requires a serious look is the planning board’s proposal to allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on all residential and business properties. The purpose appears to fit into the 365 committee’s laudable concerns about our demographics, with too few young people able to find jobs or housing. Sadly, this amendment to our zoning byla...

Which holiday generates 11 percent more telephone traffic, is responsible for one quarter of all plant and flower sales and results in the sale of 152 million card sales? Hint: It’s right around the corner. The second Sunday in May is always Mother’s Day, so decreed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. Variations of holidays celebrating moms have been going on for, well, forever. Early Egypt feted the goddess ...

Next Monday's town meeting in Chatham promises to be one of the lengthier sessions in recent years, with a 71-article annual warrant and a single-article special town meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 14. Quite a few of the measures promise to spark discussion, ranging from funding for a new senior center to land acquisition, proposals to ban plastic bottles and Styrofoam containers, and withdrawal of the town f...

Perhaps you remember what computers looked like 50 years ago, or perhaps you have seen an old black and white movie showing a giant mainframe computer that takes up an entire air-conditioned room and spits out punch cards. That’s what computers looked like when Helen Gigley of Harwich first got into the field. At that time computer science as a study didn’t even exist. So it was apt that last month Gigley, a p...

ORLEANS — Beaming like Shakespeare's Prospero, Alan McClennen descended a long flight of stairs to welcome visitors to Sipson Island last week. No tempest drove the electric-powered vessel Friends of Pleasant Bay ashore; in fact, the floating classroom disembarked its passengers in knee-high water. After striding through the surf like General MacArthur making good on his “I shall return” vow, the group of en...

ORLEANS — With the agreement of the board of selectmen, the town's new affordable housing trust will fund the purchase of a half-acre lot on which Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod will build a two-bedroom ranch home. Voting separately May 1, the board and trust took an initial step toward creating 85 new rental units and 15 home ownership opportunities within the decade, a goal proposed in the recent town ho...

ORLEANS – Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) systems encourage users to separate out recyclables; disposal of their remaining trash requires purchase of specially marked bags.  In a presentation to the selectmen and the board of health last week, DPW/Natural Resources Director Tom Daley said that, on balance, it's mostly free to recycle compared to municipal solid waste disposal costs of $95 a ton. Economically and envir...