It Really Does Take A Town Editor: The Chatham Children’s Fund, in collaboration with Monomoy Community Services and The Chatham Angel Fund, has once again completed our successful Holiday Project. Chatham’s elves outdid themselves this year! Numerous organizations, churches, businesses and individuals all participated in providing warm winter clothing and holiday wishes to 232 children in our town. We coul...

Perhaps the most frequent reason a town erects memorials or monuments is to recognize its citizens who served in the military, in some cases dying while fighting this nation’s wars. Many eastern seaboard communities have placed on their town greens monuments dedicated to soldiers who fought on either side of the Civil War, though memorials to combatants in the Revolutionary War seem less frequent. Considering the...

“Goodbye to you my trusted friend We’ve known each other since we were 9 or 10. We had joy, we had fun We had seasons in the sun But the wine and the song Like the seasons have all gone.”   The song is “Seasons in the Sun” and Canadian singer Terry Jacks sold 10 million copies of the record after its release in 1974. The song was written by Jacques Brel in 1961 and was originally named “Le Mo...

One of the arguments used by opponents of sidewalks along Stage Harbor Road was that they would destroy the street's historic streetscape. Many of those same people have torpedoed a proposed National Register Historic District for the neighborhood. Just seems a bit ironic to us. There's no arguing with the historical commission's assertion that Stage Harbor Road contains one of the most significant grouping...

Negative Impact Of Skydiving Editor: How unfortunate that Cape Cod elected officials are promoting aviation and skydiving interests (to benefit the few) at the expense of their constituents’ quality of life. We have watched similar scenarios unfold in communities across the country. If the Citizens for a Safe Chatham Airport lose their judicial case against the town, you can rest assured the entire communit...

<Headline>Negative Impact Of Skydiving   Editor: How unfortunate that Cape Cod elected officials are promoting aviation and skydiving interests (to benefit the few) at the expense of their constituents’ quality of life. We have watched similar scenarios unfold in communities across the country. If the Citizens for a Safe Chatham Airport lose their judicial case against the town, you can rest assure...

A long stretch of light gray cloudy glass ran up the narrow inlet, thick and heavy. In the mild – as much as one should ever expect in early January, especially following a two week stretch of solidly-below 20 degree temperatures – air, the cool breeze from the southeast carried moisture. Rain had been forecast for later, and on top of the still-frozen ground, created the danger of flooding. My gravel driveway...

If you want to know what climate change and sea level rise looks like, just check out photos and videos from the winter storm that hit our area Jan. 4. Local officials would do well to pay attention to that preview. We've become inured to storms inundating certain areas along the coast; Chatham's Ryder's Cove floods regularly, as do a number of roadways hard by the water, including the intersection of Route 28...

New Year's Resolutions For Trump Editor: Some modest but important 2018 New Year’s Resolutions for Mr. Trump: Reveal your 2015/2016 taxes publicly in the press immediately. Stop seeking and accepting public adulation from your cabinet members. Listen more to Average Americans, not just to millionaires. Give Mr. Pence some real work to do, like fix Puerto Rico. Have dinner with your family eac...

Father Time, often synonymous with the Grim Reaper in appearance and philosophy, is off the hook until next year, having just transitioned us into 2018. The guy never fails…I’m not convinced the tradition of handing the New Year over to an infant is such a good idea. Would we give a baby the car keys? But the old wise guy is no fool – he’s gettin’ out while the gettin’s good. Throw enough fireworks, liquor and ...

Chatham Selectman Shareen Davis was right when she said that proposed general and zoning bylaws prohibiting the sale of recreational marijuana, as written, are too broad. The same can be said of similar bylaws that will go before voters in Harwich and other Cape towns. As Davis said recently, nobody is advocating opening up a pot shop on Chatham's Main Street. Rather, she wants to preserve the ability of local...

Many Cape Codders say there is no spring season here. Others complain about the crowds and traffic during the summer. Autumn often ends up too hectic with holiday season activities. For me, the hardest of all is winter, especially the three months of January, February, and March. Like many retirees, I knew little about winter on Cape Cod, having spent most of my visits enjoying summer or fall vacations. A few ...