All Stories

PUBLIC SAFETY

EASTHAM — The Dec. 12 order shutting down Willy’s World Wellness & Conference Center is the latest chapter in a long and troubled history of the popular gym. Eastham Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard’s posted notice cited “life safety concerns, numerous violations, including work without permits, failure to maintain equipment, etc.” But new details have emerged […]

EXITS

WELLFLEET — Town Administrator Dan Hoort announced Friday that he is resigning from his job after four years, effective June 30. Hoort, a Provincetown innkeeper, holds a degree in accounting and was the head of the municipal finance department for the town of Provincetown before coming to Wellfleet in 2016. “It has been my pleasure […]

LEADERSHIP

PROVINCETOWN — Robin Craver led her first meeting as town manager at 9 a.m. Tuesday, just hours after the select board announced on Monday night that they had agreed to the terms of her contract. “I can tell you, she is tough,” Select Board Member Louise Venden said of Craver. “I spent many hours negotiating […]

CIVICS

PROVINCETOWN — Cheryl Andrews, a veteran elected official in Provincetown, is the first challenger to declare her candidacy for the Barnstable County Commission race this fall. The commission is the three-person executive branch of county government and writes the county’s budget, among other powers. There are currently two Democrats and one Republican on the commission. […]

WAYS AND MEANS

EASTHAM — Town Administrator Jacqueline Beebe presented the select board with a fiscal year 2021 budget totaling nearly $32 million on Jan. 6, representing an increase of 4 percent over the current year’s budget. But, she said, the spending increase will not require an override because total revenue for the next fiscal year is projected […]

VIGNETTE

"Drones" by Daniel Dejean

MLK WEEKEND

Though the great civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was born on Jan. 15, 1929, his birthday is memorialized on a federal holiday on the third Monday in January each year. In 2020, that Monday is Jan. 20. On the Outer Cape, commemorative activities and exhibits throughout the weekend are mostly located in […]

MILLION-YEAR PICNIC

Stargazing in winter is not for the faint of heart. Who would choose to stand out in the freezing cold for hours, staring up at the sky for a glimpse of some tiny wonder of the universe? Amateur astronomers, that’s who. But why in winter? Why not take a break for the season, polish one’s […]

Cafe

"Cafe" by Mary DeAngelis

BABYCAKES

Mila Fae Davies became the first Outer Cape baby of the new decade on Jan. 8, 2020. Mila’s parents, Justine Ives and Edward Davies, braved snowy conditions on Route 6 as they inched along behind a snowplow towards Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth at 1 a.m last Wednesday. Thirteen hours later, Mila was born. […]

RARA AVIS

Confirmed rare bird sightings on the Outer Cape in the seven days preceding the Independent’s deadline on Tuesday, Jan. 14 included the following, recorded on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website: Pacific Loon, Gavia pacifica. Two scoped at Race Point on Jan. 13. Short-eared Owl, Asio flammeus. One at Race Point on Jan. 13. […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline Friday, Jan. 17 Girls basketball: The Warriors (6-3) will take the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard to play the Vineyarders at 4:30 p.m. Boys basketball: The Warriors (4-4) will play their fifth home game of the season as the team takes on the Martha’s Vineyard Vineyarders […]

TENNIS

EASTHAM — The Outer Cape Stripers are about three weeks away from competing in the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Invitational tournament in Orlando, Fla. This will be their fourth year in a row to make the tournament. But this year there’s a problem — the team’s practice facility is closed. The Stripers are […]

CIVICS

PROVINCETOWN — Thaddeus Soulé, the new town planner, said that he’s out to cast a wide net and bring as many people as possible into Provincetown planning. In a recent interview, Soulé emphasized inclusionary and consensus-driven planning. “I think everyone is a planner,” he said. “Everyone has the capacity to provide input and help shape […]

currents

Meetings Ahead Thursday, Jan. 16 Animal Welfare Committee, 12 noon, Council on Aging Community Housing Council, 3 p.m., Town Hall Harbor Committee, 5 p.m., Town Hall Year-Round Market-Rate Rental Housing Board of Trustees, 6 p.m., Town Hall Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall. Monday, Jan. 20 Town Hall closed, Martin Luther King Jr. […]

currents

Meetings Ahead Thursday, Jan. 16 Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m., Town Hall Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m., Town Hall Friday, Jan. 17 Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m., Town Hall Monday, Jan 20 Town Hall closed for Martin Luther King Day Tuesday, Jan 21 Truro Cemetery Commission, 10 a.m., Town Hall Taxation Aid Committee, 1 p.m., […]

currents

Meetings Ahead Thursday, Jan. 16 Herring River Executive Council, 3 p.m., Council on Aging Monday, Jan. 20 Town Hall closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day  Tuesday, Jan. 21 Community-wide Production Information Session, 6 p.m., Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater Conversation Starters Bacon Won’t Run Again Kathleen Bacon announced at the Jan. 7 select board meeting […]

currents

Meetings Ahead Monday, Jan. 20 Town hall closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tuesday, Jan. 21 Historical Commission, 4 p.m., Eastham Room, Public Library Charter Review Committee, 5:30 p.m., Small Meeting Room, Town Hall Wednesday, Jan. 22 Community Preservation Committee, 5:30 p.m., Earle Mountain Room, Town Hall Open Space Committee, 6:30 p.m., […]

ON THE LANDSCAPE

When I was a little kid, the first snowfall of the year meant something more than the arrival of winter. It signified the beginning of the season for a quiet and deeply satisfying tradition. It was time again for the long, slow, wandering nighttime woods drives that my dad would take us on. The snow […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

I have written about the centrality of MacMillan Wharf to Provincetown. I would get no argument in the summer, certainly, or even the shoulder seasons. Ferries first disgorge people, who stream down the wharf into town with great expectations, then take on the exhausted, partied-out vacationers for the return trip to Boston. The whale watch […]

OP-ED

I commend reporter Sophie Ruehr for her incisive story on state Sen. Julian Cyr’s December trip to Israel (“Cyr Defends Trip Funded by Pro-Israel Group,” Jan. 9). I also commend the senator for his transparency and frankness. Julian Cyr deserves even more praise for addressing such priority concerns of his constituents as affordable housing, mental health, […]

POETRY

“In the labyrinth,” writes Oliver de la Paz, “there is constantly the problem of proximity: how what is understood about where you stand depends on where you stand.” A poet for whom multiple possibility and “neurodiverse” perception of the “surface world” are core subjects, de la Paz is the author of five books, most recently […]

AT THE LIBRARY

How to Be an Antiracist By Ibram X. Kendi One World/Penguin Random House: 2019 “There is no neutrality in racism.” That point is central to Ibram X. Kendi’s proposals in How to Be an Antiracist. The opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist,” Kendi argues, but “antiracist.” That is, it is not enough to merely claim […]

MUSIC

But for a papal decree, singer-songwriter Susan Werner might not be who she came to be. “I owe my entire career to Pope John XXIII,” Werner says, “because Pope John XXIII gave the nuns permission to play guitars.” The effect was somewhat indirect. “I grew up in a big Catholic family on a farm in […]

QUEER ‘I’

After the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) in February 2019 upheld the so-called Traditional Plan, which affirms the church’s ban on hosting and officiating same-sex marriages and on ordaining LGBTQ clergy, I had planned, as a writer, to take a look at how Methodists on the Outer Cape, straight and gay, were […]

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

Seven years ago voters sat sweating in the Nauset Regional High School gym for a rare June special town meeting that lasted four hours and resulted once again in a failed attempt to get Eastham voters to approve a municipal water system. Public water had been rejected about a half dozen times in Eastham by […]

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS Club Manager. The Provincetown Tennis Club seeks a responsible manager to oversee business operations May 15 to Oct. 15. Duties include customer service, inventory control, basic accounting, staffing schedules and supervision, light cleaning, managing vendors, enforcing club rules and reinforcing club qualities of inclusivity, community and mutual support. $25/hr + potential bonus. 40 hrs/week; […]

film

PLAYING NOW: JAN. 16-22 Dolittle (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas: Thursday: 7 p.m.; Friday-Wednesday: 1, 4 & 7 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Just Mercy (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas: daily: 1:05, 4:05 & 7:05 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Knives Out (PG13). Waters Edge Cinema: Friday-Sunday & Tuesday: 4 & 7 p.m.; Wednesday: 4 p.m. only; Saturday-Sunday: 1:30 p.m. Little […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Who’s Really for Peace? To the editor: I am writing to express concern over your characterization of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) as a “pro-Israel lobbying group” set against “Middle East peace activists” (“Cyr Defends Trip Funded by Pro-Israel Group,” Jan. 9, page 7). This description implies that JCRC’s support for Israel’s existence is […]

HOME

Open Houses SATURDAY, JAN. 18 Berkshire Hathaway Cape Shores Real Estate 12 Ridge Court, Brewster 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 3BD, 2BA Cape with deeded beach rights $634,900 175 Gingerplum Lane, Eastham 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 2BD, 1BA ranch overlooking cranberry bogs. $387,500 85 Hopkins Drive, Wellfleet 1:30 – 3 p.m. 4BD, 4BA Colonial $669,000 Thomas D. […]

HOME

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Jan. 6 to Jan. 10, 2020. PROVINCETOWN Jan. 6. David A. High to 50 Commercial St. LLC. 50 Commercial St., Unit 1. $5,000,000. Jan. 8. Barbara Rice and Richard McCarthy to Allan P. Dillabough. 93 Commercial St, Unit 7. $500,000. Jan. 9. Jay Charles Anderson to […]

our picks for the week of January 16 through January 22

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Jan. 16, 1 p.m. The second half-hour drop-in session on National Geographic Photography is “Guide the Eye” at Provincetown Council on Aging, 2 Mayflower St. Free. Thursday, Jan. 16, 1 – 4 p.m. The Community Development Partnership holds once-a-month CDP office hours for business questions (QuickBooks, planning, marketing, etc.) at Wellfleet […]

Arts Briefs

‘In a Quiet Time’ at Four Eleven Gallery Galleries in Provincetown are in winter mode during January, and new shows are few and far between. But Four Eleven Gallery, at 411 Commercial St. in Provincetown, is open Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m., and this Saturday, Jan. 18, from 3 to 6 p.m., […]

Know when to hit the flats

REGATTA REDUX

PROVINCETOWN — The year 2020 will see the 19th annual Great Provincetown Schooner Regatta, starting on Labor Day and running for four days, as long as somebody steps forward to take charge of organizing the event. Planning usually gets underway in winter. But after nine years at the helm, Cheryl Andrews says she is stepping […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — The rooms occupancy tax and the meals tax draw attention every year for two reasons — they are a reliable indicator of how the tourist industry is doing, and they also are actual tax revenue that support local programs. Normally, what these numbers show about the underlying economy is the more important consideration. […]

HOUSING

TRURO — Dana Del Gizzi said he’s been in the construction business since the age of 12. “We worked incredibly hard,” he said. “Most kids looked forward to the weekend — I looked forward to Monday.” Dana, who lives in California, is part of a family well known for its nearly 100 units of rundown […]

HOUSING

WELLFLEET — The 11-member task force that has been planning for affordable rental housing across from the Wellfleet Elementary School presented its work so far to a receptive audience of more than 70 townspeople on Monday. The panel sees up to 46 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units serving a range of low- to moderate-income tenants […]

THE WORLD

TRURO — State Sen. Julian Cyr (D-Truro) was among six Massachusetts senators on a 10-day study tour of Israel in December. He defended his participation, paid for by a pro-Israel lobbying group, against criticism from Middle East peace activists. Cyr told the Independent last week that the trip gave him a greater understanding of the […]

VIGNETTE

"Warm Suit" by Daniel Dejean

CEPHALOPODS

“They showed up early and left quickly,” said a Provincetown harbormaster. “Shortfin squid are everywhere,” said Owen Nichols of the Center for Coastal Studies. “For longfin, the Nantucket Sound fishery was late and short this year.” So there you have it, from two great sources: squid were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. They […]

STEAMERS

"The Outermost Unaffordable House" by A. Crock

KITCHEN TABLE

It seems like nobody suggests dinner at our place these days. But I’ve got a great mushroom bisque from the old days that is definitely company-worthy. It came originally from Front Street, and it’s one of those recipes that is not a secret: I got it from a friend in the 1980s, and later it […]

ICE HOCKEY

EASTHAM — The Cape Cod Furies started out five years ago as a co-op ice hockey club for girls from three Lower Cape high schools: Nauset, Monomoy, and Cape Cod Tech. Because it was a club — not school-funded — the girls had to pay to play. “It was $500 just to play, plus equipment […]

Crossword

The January puzzle from Sophia Maymudes spotlights the year in review. Need some answers? We send out the solution in our Friday newsletter. You’ll find the signup for our newsletter right here on our home page! This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

MOVEMENT

Of all the ways to begin a new year, fitness-wise, there is one I think deserves to be at the top of the list. It’s simple and central. And it’s not just about aesthetics. It will improve your athletic performance and reduce your risk of back pain. What is this all-powerful place to start? Strengthening […]

BODY/MIND

Lose weight. Get a new job. Exercise more. These goals have been on my New Year’s resolutions list over the years, and maybe yours, no? Personal development and improvement seem a necessary part of life — after all, without the desire to do and be better, we’d become complacent. But why then do so many […]

About 50 people gathered on Provincetown Harbor on January 7 to let go of their material and metaphysical stockpiles at the annual Re-Rooters Day ceremony organized by Jay Critchley. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

Provincetown residents Patrick Lamerson, Curt Sharp, and Johnny Butero (left to right), wait for their turns to be interviewed for perhaps a dozen jobs at Curaleaf on Commercial Street, which will open at the end of the month if it receives final approval from the Cannabis Control Commission. It is expected to be the first […]

Doing Good

A balmy 38-degree day brought a sunny mood to the Provincetown Polar Bear Plunge on Jan 1. Organizer Steve Katsurinis said this year’s event, sponsored by the Harbor Lounge, Yolqueria, and 8 Dyer Hotel, raised about $2,500 for the Center for Coastal Studies. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or […]

Doing Good

What was a Christmas tree has become a nice spot for Nickerson, one of the educational Eastern screech owls at Wild Care in Eastham. The tree was one of 14 large Christmas trees donated to the organization on Jan. 3 by the Visiting Nurse Association’s Cape Cod Hospice “Tree of Memories” program. Branches provide perches […]

CURRENTS

Provincetown Meetings Ahead Thursday, Jan. 9 Bicycle Committee, 2 p.m., Maushop Community Room, 44 Harry Kemp Way Economic Development Committee, 11 a.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center, 2 Mayflower Lane Planning Board, 6:30 p.m., Town Hall Monday, Jan. 13 Select Board, 7 p.m., Town Hall Tuesday, Jan. 14 Public Landscaping Committee, 2 p.m., Town Hall Wednesday, […]

ECONOMY

EASTHAM — A local resident’s attempt to overturn the special permits awarded to two marijuana businesses was dismissed by Barnstable Superior Court Judge Thomas Perrino on Dec. 23. Eastham’s Steve Wlodkowski filed a civil complaint on July 18, 2019, challenging the planning board’s approval of two recreational marijuana stores, one medical marijuana dispensary, and one […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed of the Independent’s deadline Friday, Jan. 10 Girls basketball: The Warriors (4-2) host the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. Boys basketball: The Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins host the Warriors (3-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 Girls basketball: The Warriors will play the second half of a home weekend matchup […]

UPDATE

WELLFLEET — Mass Appeal, a nonprofit that has given away donated clothing at Cove Corner for the last 23 years, still has no place to go following a Nov. 1 letter from the landlord telling them they had to leave. Bruce MacGregor, owner of the Route 6 strip mall that houses a Dunkin’ Donuts and […]

ENVIRONMENT

WELLFLEET — Kristian Sexton, who says he is developing an aerial imaging system using drones to detect sharks, claims that there are “a number of serious problems” with the Woods Hole Group (WHG) Shark Mitigation Study that was presented at a public forum in October at Nauset Regional High School. After the forum, which was […]

WINTER HOURS

Every restaurant is a fiefdom, each with its own miniature culture and specifics so particular that it’s difficult to write about a lot of restaurants at once. Yet we Outer Cape year-rounders can all bond instantly around a shared hunger for restaurants that stay open in winter. And an objective look at the winter eating […]

'Freddie and Napi' by Mary DeAngelis and Ryan McMenamy

SURFING

The waves were perfect for learning to surf. Knee to waist high, soft and gentle, breaking slowly over an old flat reef now buried in fine white sand. The water was a clear turquoise so pure and bright it appeared to be the source of its own light.We sat on the sand in the shade […]

OP-ED

A “global conversation” has just been launched by the United Nations with a universal invitation to people all over the world to join. It’s called UN75, and it marks the 75th anniversary of the international organization in 2020. Starting this month, the campaign will initiate dialogues in many settings — from classrooms to boardrooms, parliaments […]

MUSIC

Americana music covers a lot of territory, and Ethan Robbins and Ariel Bernstein seem determined to explore it all. Known collectively as Cold Chocolate, the drum and guitar combo, who’ll be giving an afternoon performance on Saturday, Jan. 11, at Wellfleet Preservation Hall, includes elements of folk, funk, bluegrass, and jazz in its musical mix. […]

BOOK REVIEW

I enjoyed watching an adorable mother fox and kits last summer in my South Wellfleet neighborhood. I considered myself privileged to witness their antics and also to catch glimpses of male foxes while I’ve been out and about on long walks. Here on the Cape, I wasn’t thinking of the ways foxes frequently inspire anger […]

AT THE LIBRARY

I read to escape. Not that I have the kind of life one would want to escape — I have a great job and I live in one of the most beautiful places on earth. Since childhood, however, I have been fascinated by the alternative realities I can enter by picking up a book. I […]

Know when to hit the flats

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Frederico Pedro Rocha Jr. of Provincetown, known as “Freddie,” died on Dec. 29, 2019 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis after falling ill on Shank Painter Road. He was 68. Born in Westerly, R.I., a son of Patricia Ann [Joseph] and the late Frederico Rocha Sr., he spent most of his life at […]

OBITUARY

Paul R. Joseph, 77, known as “PJ,” died in his sleep at Cape Cod Hospital on Dec. 28, 2019. He was 77. Paul had two children, Patty and Paul, from his first marriage. Paul later married Carmela Bonfini, who brought her five children to his family. He and Carmela lived together for many years in […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

The news lately, both locally and at a distance, has been filled with drones. Kristian Sexton of Wellfleet says that he is developing the technology to spot great white sharks in the water using drones. Farmers in western Nebraska and eastern Colorado have been reporting swarms of unidentified drones hovering over their homes and fields […]

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Services for Donald John Thomas, best known as Provincetown’s legendary “Dancing Cop,” will begin on Friday, Jan. 17. Thomas died peacefully in his favorite chair at home in Eastham on the morning of Dec. 7, 2019. He was 92 years old. Family and friends are invited to call on the family at the Gately […]

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS Club Manager. The Provincetown Tennis Club seeks a responsible manager to oversee business operations May 15 to Oct. 15. Duties include customer service, inventory control, basic accounting, staffing schedules and supervision, light cleaning, managing vendors, enforcing club rules and reinforcing club qualities of inclusivity, community and mutual support. $25/hr + potential bonus. 40 hrs/week; […]

film

PLAYING NOW: JAN. 9-15 Ford v Ferrari (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas: Thursday: 1 & 4 p.m. Jumanji: The Next Level (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas: Thursday: 1:05 (3D) & 4:05 p.m. (2D). Just Mercy (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas: Thursday: 7:05 p.m.; Friday-Wednesday: 1:05, 4:05 & 7:05 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Little Women (PG). Waters Edge Cinema: Thursday: 4:30 & […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Kindness of the Van Derecks To the editor: Back in the early 1970s during the off-season a number of us hippie types tried living in tents or teepees hidden in the densely wooded sections of the Provincetown dunes. While we saved money that we may not have even had, it was a cold, damp […]

our picks for the week of January 9 through January 15

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Jan. 9, 2 p.m. Letter Writing to Voters: ask citizens in other states to vote, with materials and forms provided, at the Provincetown Public Library, 356 Commercial St. in Provincetown. Free. Thursday, Jan. 9, 6 p.m. Writing fellows J.W. Ptacek and Kevin Fitchett will read from their work at the Fine […]

Arts Briefs

Jim Rohrer Photographs at Wellfleet COA A show of work by photographer Jim Rohrer, “Cryin’ Holy!: Looking for Salvation,” will be at the Wellfleet Council on Aging at 715 Old King’s Highway through Feb. 7, with a reception on Saturday, Jan. 11, 3-5 p.m. “As a photographer, I’m drawn to expressions of faith as a […]

Art and Photography: 2020 Special Section

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Anton “Napi” Van Dereck Haunstrup, 87, who held onto the town’s rustic, bohemian past with his vast art collection, his stock of employee housing, and his 45-year-old restaurant, died at Cape Cod Hospital on Christmas Day due to complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia. In one of Provincetown’s two “Napi-villes,” a […]

UNLIT LIGHTHOUSE

WELLFLEET — The Lighthouse Restaurant, a bright spot for 40 years on this town’s dimming Main Street, is gone. What was a restaurant is now being renovated to become a new location for the women’s clothing store Ragg Time. Concern about the future of what had been one of the few year-round eating places here […]

BUDGETING

TRURO — The select board went into “sticker shock” at the price of a proposed dept. of public works facility next to the police and fire station: $20 million. While officials have been aware that the hodgepodge collection of DPW sheds and garages by town hall are inadequate, they were not pleased on Dec. 5 […]

ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Another Year in Nature" by Mark Adams

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"A Toast" by Mary DeAngelis

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Slacktide" by Robert S. Johnson

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Time Travelers" by Marian Roth

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Outer Cape Portraits" by Marnie Crawford Samuelson

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"How to Save the World" by Teacake the Dog

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"This is My Primal Landscape" by Jane Paradise

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Now What" by Jamie Demetriou

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Constellation" by Daniel Dejean

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Will We Be There?" by Edward Boches

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Remembering" by John Andert

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Sherbet Six Ways" by Marcia Geier

REMEMBERING NAPI

Jamie Demetriou pays homage to Napi in black and white

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"That's News to Me" by JAK

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"The Jack Cheez Journal: Truth is Lost" by A. Crock

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL

"Untitled (The End is Over)" by Chris Kelly

Know when to hit the flats

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Frederico “Freddie” Rocha Jr. died on Dec. 29, 2019 after suffering an apparent heart attack on Shank Painter Road on his way to buy his morning coffee at Cumberland Farms, according to his friend and caretaker David Chick. He was 68. He had left home around 6 a.m. and collapsed near the Provincetown […]

REMEMBERING NAPI

Napi Van Dereck’s Single-Minded Pursuit Peppery, garrulous, ebullient, discerning, resourceful, crafty, steeped in local lore, and deeply rooted on the Outer Cape, Napi Van Dereck may have looked like an ornery eccentric, but he had the instincts of a master. He, his wife, Helen, and a crew of imaginative artists and artisans — Jackson Lambert, […]

BABYCAKES

  Essie Van Staden was born on Dec. 25, 2019 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. She weighed six pounds and measured 17 inches. Her parents, Natalie and Gray Van Staden of Wellfleet, report that she was expected home from the neonatal intensive care unit on Tuesday, just in time for New Year’s. […]

CRAFT

Myrica pensylvanica, also known as bayberry, candleberry, and wax myrtle, is a native species that has long grown across the dunes and woods of the Outer Cape. Unfussy, it tolerates sun or shade, drought, poor soil, and salt spray blowing off the ocean and bay. Myrica pensylvanica makes its own fertilizer, balancing nitrogen as roots […]

KITCHEN TABLE

We lived in Japan for 10 years, and that is where we whetted our taste for sushi. For 20 years now we have lived on Cape Cod, and making sushi at home is a favorite meal in our household, both for family and for company. When friends from Japan come to visit, they rave about […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

Back in 1969 we acquired a street dog named Napi. He was a real son of a bitch. I wanted to call him Walt (Whitman), but the name just wouldn’t stick for some reason. After being abandoned by some heartless soul, the dog had taken up temporary residence on Helen and Napi Van Dereck’s recently […]

REMEMBERING NAPI

As a boss Napi Van Dereck was a terror. At least in the old days when I bussed at the restaurant. Each evening would find him hunched like a hawk at the end of his bar freely opining to anyone who came by or sat next to him. Meanwhile we, the intrepid staff, bore his […]

READINGS

The dazzling sunshine is deceptive: not many would find Provincetown’s windswept Race Point Beach inviting on this freezing mid-December day. Kevin Fitchett ambles up the beach and offers a winsome smile and a sincere apology for suggesting this inhospitable meeting spot. He has brought with him a thermos of hot coffee and two mugs. The […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

We collected a lot of advice while researching the possibility of a new newspaper here. What we heard inspired us to go ahead and dive in, but every now and then someone said something that scared us. On one of those occasions a very smart person looked at us over her drink at the Red […]

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS Club Manager. The Provincetown Tennis Club seeks a responsible manager to oversee business operations May 15 to Oct 15. Duties include customer service, inventory control, basic accounting, staffing schedules and supervision, light cleaning, managing vendors, enforcing club rules and reinforcing club qualities of inclusivity, community and mutual support. $25/hr + potential bonus. 40 hrs/week; […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Truro Is ‘Heaven’ To the editor: I am writing to express my concerns regarding the Dec. 19 letter from the editor entitled “Heart of Darkness” [page 2]. The editorial begins with a description of the editor’s head cold and general malaise, his busy schedule, and his frustration with not having enough time to make latkes. The […]

HOME

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 23 to Dec. 27, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 23. Vincent Garmo to Richard D. Welch and Brian M. Donovan. 432 Commercial St., Unit R3. $64,000. Dec. 27. Michael Coffin and Adam A. Rose to Robert P. Erickson and Carlos H. Ibarguen. 16 Harry Kemp Way, Unit […]

our picks for the week of January 2 through January 8

Outer Cape Calendar Friday, Jan. 3, and Monday, Jan. 6, 1:30-3 p.m. Post-holiday Reset & Recuperation is a small group workshop to process holiday experiences, facilitated by Deborah Smulian and guest, Sam, at Wellfleet Council on Aging, 715 Old King’s Highway. Call to reserve a seat: (508) 349-2800. Free. Saturday, Jan. 4, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. […]

Arts Briefs

‘Sounds of Siberia’ in Wellfleet Sample an earful of Siberian music, performed with a khomus (a kind of Jew’s harp) by Yuliyana Krivoshapkina, along with the Tuvan throat vocals of Aidyn Byrtaan-ool, at Wellfleet Preservation Hall at 335 Main St. on Saturday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m. The show, entitled “Sounds of Siberia,” is presented […]

our picks for the week of December 19 through December 26

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2-4 p.m. Helping Our Women (HOW) is holding its annual Holiday Open House at the HOW office at 34 Conwell St. in Provincetown. There will be gift bags with donated treats for HOW clients, home-baked goods, and music. Free. Thursday, Dec. 19, 6 p.m. Julia Phillips, author of the nationally best-selling novel […]

PUBLIC SAFETY

PROVINCETOWN — Fire Chief Michael Trovato says this town needs its own emergency medical service to replace the Lower Cape Ambulance (LCA) Association, the nonprofit that has provided backup service to Provincetown and Truro since 1937. When the chief argued that the VFW land should be reserved for a new police and fire station at […]

LEARNING

EASTHAM — Nauset Regional High School (NRHS) opened its doors in 1972, and few alterations have since been made to its ahead-of-its-time open-campus design. Now the district is planning a nearly $140 million renovation project that would expand and reconfigure the facility entirely. The school is offering tours for interested members of the community. This […]

PUBLIC SAFETY

TRURO — Police Chief Jamie Calise has denied a request from the Independent for more information about the number, types, and present whereabouts of the firearms and ammunition that were confiscated from former Truro Fire Chief Brian Davis last year after a harassment prevention order was issued against him. As this newspaper reported on Oct. […]

LEARNING

Lisa Brown, a veteran teacher at Nauset Regional High School in Eastham, has a popular class with a curriculum of her own making called Exploring and Respecting Differences (EARD). Brown has observed firsthand how much interaction there is between children of different ethnicities in the school. She is able to consider how the notion of […]

ELECTIONS

TRURO — If voters don’t know Stephanie Rein, a candidate for select board in the Feb. 18 special election, chances are all the kids in town do. Rein, 49, has lived in Truro for 30 years, beginning when she was still in college. Her civic experience includes helping found Sustainable CAPE, the nonprofit behind the […]

SKETCHBOOK

"Beech Forest" by Mark Adams

FARM AND GARDEN

Salvatore Del Deo sits in his kitchen on a snowy December afternoon, holding a jar of dried beans. “My favorites of all the favorites,” he says, holding them up to the light. “These are Romano beans, but we call them Portuguese beans, because they were given by an Italian farmer to a Portuguese guy from […]

Solstice

An annual bonfire celebrates the solstice, the longest night of the year, with firelight, candles, and toasts. This year midwinter came on Dec. 21. As the sun set, a crowd began to arrive, walking the beach path lined with paper lanterns, then gathering around the fire to mark the fact that winter days will begin […]

COCKTAIL HOUR

There have recently been a spate of quasi-reverential articles in food and wine publications about making “batch cocktails.” Now “batch cocktails” are really nothing more than making drinks in quantity, say by the pitcher or quart. The articles reminded me that making drinks by the batch is a time-honored, time-saving practice in restaurants with limited […]

TECHNOLOGY

Sixty-nine percent of kids have their own smartphones by age 12, up from 41 percent in 2015. And on average, 8-to-12-year-olds in the U.S. consume just under five hours’ worth of on-screen entertainment media per day, with teens’ use averaging just under seven and a half hours — numbers that don’t include time spent using […]

STEAMERS

"'Tis The Season" by A. Crock

GRAVEYARD SHIFT

In life, they (the men, at least) enjoyed a raucous, bawdy bonhomie every Saturday night at the Beachcombers Club in Provincetown. In death, many are still together, resting peacefully with members of the fairer sex in Truro’s Snow Cemetery. One wonders if, in the afterlife, this gathering of artists, writers, and patrons is any less […]

      Saskia Maxwell Keller was awarded a master of music with distinction from the University of Edinburgh. The ceremony, held on Nov. 29, included graduates being tapped on the head by the university chancellor wielding John Knox’s cap, said to be sewn from the famous Calvinist’s breeches. From Scotland, musicology degree in hand, […]

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

The Community Development Partnership (CDP) has increased the maximum amount that can be borrowed through its small business loan program from $40,000 to $50,000. Loans are available to both startup and established businesses. Clients have included yogis, artists, mechanics, fishermen, landscapers, chocolatiers, baristas, and restaurateurs. Pictured here are Amy Costa and Molly Costa (no relation), […]

DEPT. OF COMMERCE

  The first retail marijuana store on the Cape was cleared to open in Provincetown after receiving final approval from the Mass. Cannabis Control Commission on Dec. 19. Curaleaf will open at 170 Commercial St. following final state and local inspections in early 2020, according to an announcement from the company. The company, whose major […]

OBITUARIES

Melville Peter Coté of Provincetown died on Nov. 27, 2019 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. He was 82. His death came as a result of the combined effects of Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. Mel was a lifelong educator and student and a true Renaissance man. He was an avid traveler, gardener, fisherman, […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline.  Friday, Dec. 27 Boys wrestling: The Warriors (0-1) will play in the Marshfield Holiday Tournament at Marshfield High School, beginning at 8 a.m. The team is led by first-year head coach Chris Gildehaus. Boys basketball: The Warriors (1-1) face the Wareham Vikings in Wareham at […]

I am dreaming of a Commercial Christmas, just like the one we have every year. You are a hard one to shop for: you have everything, maybe two of everything. Still, I feel compelled to show my love by buying you things. I clutch my credit card like a holy talisman. Hey, I got you […]

ROAD POET

This is for my second hometown I said this poem is for my second hometown Metter, Ga. It’s OK if you have to google it The first time I went the name I kept confusing it Mettle. Middle. Mecca. Southern drawl had me thinking it was one or all of these My roots to slavery […]

PROVINCELANDS

The driving rain and howling winds hardly registered as we moved towards our rendezvous at Race Point beach. Our excitement was too strong; no amount of inclemency could put a damper on that. Months ago, Shannon and I had applied to stay at a dune shack through the Provincetown Community Compact. Open to all and […]

PLAYERS

Tony Award-winner Rachel Bay Jones was born into a theatrical family. But her parents, who were both professional actors in New York City, gave up performing after they had her and moved to Boca Raton, Fla. “I always wanted to stay away from crazy show business,” Jones says of her early childhood. “I planned on […]

ARTS LISTINGS

Trip the Light Fantastic You can watch Provincetown’s First Light Fireworks off MacMillan Pier for free on Town Beach — the dazzlement begins at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29. If you’d rather enjoy champagne, wine, and hors d’oeuvres (4-6 p.m.) while viewing the fireworks from up at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum at […]

KITCHEN TABLE

Latkes, which of course are potato pancakes, are right up there with horseradish-on-homemade-matzo sandwiches among my favorite Jewish holiday foods. There are at least as many theories about how to make the best latkes as there are ways to spell Chanukah. (My friend Jay Gurewitsch and the New York Times prefer “Hanukkah.”) Jay has provided […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

This is the 13th edition of the Independent, which means we have now produced exactly one-quarter of a year’s worth of newspapers. It’s been fun, but we’ve had quite enough, thank you, so we’re quitting to do something else. Just kidding. Sort of. A new newspaper, it turns out, is like a new baby. Acutely […]

PROVINCETOWN — Long-time Provincetown resident Jo Lynne Hohl died on Dec. 5, 2019 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was 62. Jo Lynne was born on July 9, 1957 in Huntingburg, Ind. to the late Donald J. and Joella J. Hohl. She grew up in Chandler, Ariz. and came to […]

OBITUARIES

PROVINCETOWN — John Michael Petti died at his home here as a result of cardiac arrest on Dec. 13, 2019. He was 61, and had suffered from AIDS as well as injuries sustained in an automobile accident. John was born in Brockton, the son of John A. and Mary Frances Petti. He came to the […]

CLASSIFIEDS

JOBS Club Manager. The Provincetown Tennis Club seeks a responsible manager to oversee business operations May 15 to Oct 15. Duties include customer service, inventory control, basic accounting, staffing schedules and supervision, light cleaning, managing vendors, enforcing club rules and reinforcing club qualities of inclusivity, community and mutual support. $25/hr + potential bonus. 40 hrs/week; […]

film

PLAYING NOW: DEC. 26-JAN. 1  Cats (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas: daily: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m.  Jumanji: The Next Level (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas: daily: 1:05 (3D), 4:05 (2D) & 7:05 p.m. (2D); Tuesday: 10 a.m. (2D). Little Women (PG). Waters Edge Cinema: Thursday-Sunday: 2, 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 4:30 p.m.; Wednesday: 4:30 […]

home

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 16. Matthew P. and Joseph E. Chartier Petrelis to John H. Vonmohr. 7 Webster Pl., Unit 3. $440,000. Dec. 18. Stefanie O’Neill to Hruby Living Trust (Cheryl A. Hruby, trustee) and Tolchinsky Living Trust (Jean D. Tolchinsky, trustee). […]

our picks for the week of December 26 through January 1

Friday, Dec. 27, 9-11 a.m. Participants in the Lower Cape Outreach Council’s Foods to Encourage program will receive an extra bag of fresh fruits and vegetables, recipes, food samples, and ideas for healthy eating at the Provincetown Council on Aging at 2 Mayflower St. Free. Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 28-29, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Holiday Market […]

Arts Briefs

Marti Gould Cummings Is Done With 2019 Enjoy “2019 Is So Over!” — an evening of stories, songs, and drag with Marti Gould Cummings and Blake Allen on piano on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 27-28, at 7 p.m. at Pilgrim House at 336 Commercial St. in Provincetown. Tickets are $30 at pilgrimhouseptown.com. Cummings is more […]

NATIONAL SEASHORE

NORTH TRURO — In the Outer Cape’s collective memory, the fear associated with living and working at an Air Force station built to listen for incoming Soviet atomic bombs has faded. Besides being part of America’s mid-century air defense network, the place was a neighborhood. With bingo, a bowling league, softball games, and cheap drinks […]

GOVERNMENT

PROVINCETOWN — How do you build consensus on a vision for the future in a town that needs workforce housing, a year-round economy, sustainability in the face of climate change, a new police station, and possibly an expanded fire station as well? On Tuesday, the select board voted unanimously to turn that conundrum over to […]

CIVICS

TRURO — The select board has set Feb. 18 as the date for a special election to fill the seat left open by the death of Maureen Burgess. At least two people are considering a run. Karen Tosh, 69, an attorney specializing in family law and a member of the planning board since 2017, has […]

LAND USE

EASTHAM — The select board has chosen nine members and two alternates for the committee charged with making recommendations for developing the former T-Time parcel on Route 6 and identifying other resources or partnerships that might help with that process. The regular members of the new committee are Andrea Aldana, Suzanne Bryan, Steve Garran, Scott […]

FACT CHECK

TRURO — Some statements made at the Dec. 5 zoning board of appeals hearing related to groundwater nitrogen levels expected to be produced by the proposed “Cloverleaf” housing development did not pass a fact check conducted by the Independent this week. The planning board’s Peter Herridge, an opponent of the plan to build 40 units […]

SOCIAL JUSTICE

PROVINCETOWN — The Rev. Brenda Haywood received the Tim McCarthy Human Rights Champion Award on Dec. 10. This week, she welcomed a reporter to her home to talk about that turn of events, which, she said, “overwhelmed and surprised” her. It seems it would be hard to find anyone else who would find the choice […]

CLIMATE

PROVINCETOWN — Cape Air founder and CEO Dan Wolf says he is excited about the future of his fleet. At the same time that his company is replacing its aged Cessna 402s with a sleek new Italian model, the Tecnam P2012 Traveller, he is also looking ahead to an entirely new generation of all-electric planes […]

DOMESTIC UNEASE

My son’s school sent home a flyer. It said: “Come Celebrate Your Culture & Heritage! You are encouraged to bring a dish that reflects your family’s traditions.” The organizers of this event have no idea what they are getting themselves into. At our house, we had to come up with our own family traditions because […]

KITCHEN TABLE

An Early Taste Memory Reading Ed Miller’s Dec. 12 Kitchen Table column about rye bread took me back to my own attempt to recreate a childhood treat. My grandma Dora was a good cook and baker, though I never spent time alongside her in her kitchen. It had never occurred to me or, I’m guessing, […]

VIGNETTE

"Delivery" by Daniel Dejean

ECONOMY

On Outer Cape Cod, mom-and-pop shops famously reflect their owners’ personalities. That’s true, say local liquor store owners, even when what’s for sale — beer, wine, and spirits — is mostly made far away. Rule changes that will allow liquor chains to expand, combined with a ballot initiative proposed by Cumberland Farms for the 2020 […]

HEALTH

PROVINCETOWN — The AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod board has named Dan Gates as president and CEO. Gates, 47, replaces Joe Carleo, who resigned in late October. Spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg said Carleo’s reasons for leaving had not been discussed with her. Founded in 1983, early in the AIDS epidemic, with the name “Provincetown AIDS […]

CONSUMER WATCH

Letters advertising low electricity rates seem to fill my mailbox every few months. These come-ons are from companies with innocuous and confusingly similar names, such as Think Energy, Direct Energy, CleanChoice Energy, or Just Energy. Before even opening the envelope, however, every consumer should remember one basic fact: Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard are represented […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline. Thursday, Dec. 19 Girls ice hockey: The Cape Cod Furies (1-1) is a co-op girls ice hockey team representing Nauset, Monomoy, and Cape Cod Tech high schools. The team will face the Bishop Stang Spartans at Charles Moore Arena in Orleans at 5:30 p.m. Boys […]

PUBLIC SAFETY

EASTHAM —Willy’s World Wellness and Conference Center on Route 6 was temporarily shut down on Dec. 12 after Eastham Building Commissioner Thomas Wingard found the facility “unsafe.” Wingard’s notice, posted outside the gym, reads: “The structure has been inspected and is unsafe to occupy as described below: life safety concerns, numerous violations, including work without […]

CIVICS

PROVINCETOWN — The VFW building at 3 Jerome Smith Road was built entirely by veterans, says VFW post member Paul Mendes — volunteers who donated their skills as carpenters or electricians to help construct a post building that was a social center of town for generations. “It’s a very strong building — it can hold […]

VIEW FROM THE HIVE

WELLFLEET — On this farm we have Wellfleetian honey bees — although not really; their origins are more likely Ukrainian. Honey bees were never native to North America. With the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea 200 million years ago, our continent drifted apart from Eurasia and Africa before honey bees evolved. Early honey bees were […]

SKETCHBOOK

"Winter Trees" by Mark Adams

OP-ED

The holiday season surrounds us with all kinds of lights: from the soft glow of candles to colorful bulbs and pyrotechnics shot into the midnight sky. They embody the spirit of the season and offset the diminishing days of the coming winter. It’s almost impossible not to see a similarity between the waning daylight hours […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

I love my library. It is a beautiful building in a beautiful town. A beautiful building that happens to be full of books — rooms and rooms of books, shelf after shelf filled with books. (And also, of course, DVDs and computers and art and workspace and magazines and children’s toys.) As soon as I […]

NATURA VIVA

"Juniperus Virginiana (Eastern red cedar)" by Natalie Van Staden

FILM

For the past year Rachael Brister has operated her own public relations company, which specializes in reaching the LGBTQ community. Though she’s based in Seattle, one of her clients has been the Provincetown Business Guild, with which she has worked on promoting Provincetown Pride, celebrated on the first weekend in June. This year, she was […]

INDIE SCREEN

From the moment the grisly Manson murders occurred in March 1969, they took on metaphoric significance. A band of hippie nobodies living in Los Angeles as a cult in the thrall of a satanic nutcase, the Manson gang viciously maimed and murdered starlet Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of then-hot director Roman Polanski, and four […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Here we are heading into the week of the winter solstice, the dark time, and I must confess that I see signs of that encroaching shroud almost everywhere I turn. That feeling is amplified, no doubt, by my having the plague this week. Well, it’s not really the plague, it’s just the disgusting cold that […]

Historian and longtime Wellfleet resident William S. McFeely died on Dec. 11, 2019, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. He was 89 years old. Born in New York City, Bill, as he was known, grew up in Wyckoff, N.J., and attended Amherst College. After eight years working as a banker, he pursued a Ph.D. in American studies […]

PROVINCETOWN — Robert J. Bednarek of Truro died on Dec. 7, 2019, at Seashore Point Wellness Center. He was 91. Robert was born on Nov. 24, 1928, in Berlin, Wis., the son of Bernard and Mary (Butler) Bednarek, and raised on their dairy farm in central Wisconsin. Robert was proud of his rural upbringing; he […]

Mary Jane Kelman, who was known as “Kelly,” died on Dec. 13, 2019 at Cape Cod Hospital, where she was being treated for complications from heart disease. Born on Nov. 27, 1944, in Bridgeport, Conn., Kelly lived in Provincetown since the 1970s and was a familiar member of the MacMillan Pier art community. In her […]

CLASSIFIEDS

SERVICES Energy Clearing. Jane Celia Hatch (Bethesda Star), a shaman from Santa Fe, N.M., is available now for private healings at the Healing Arts Collective in Orleans. Healings may involve energy clearing, power animal retrieval, crystal healing, soul retrieval, or messages from angels. Email [email protected] or call 505-303-9863. Free consultations. [1-9] Professional House Painting. All […]

film

PLAYING NOW: DEC. 19-25 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG). Waters Edge Cinema: Thursday, 4 p.m.; Friday: 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 2, 4:30 & 7:15 p.m. Cats (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas: Friday-Wednesday: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Honey Boy (R). Waters Edge Cinema: Thursday: 4:30 & 7 p.m. Jumanji: The Next […]

home

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 9 to Dec. 13, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 9. Carl David Gilmore and James E. Heskett to Michael Keyes and Stephen Collins. 2 Fritz’s Way. $839,000. Dec. 10. Mary Ann Cabral to Russell P. Lopez and Andrew D. Sherman. 14 Old Colony Way, Unit D, Building […]

HOLIDAY

Having returned to the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, the annual Yule for Fuel benefit concerts — host Stephen Russell and Chandler Travis, above, at last weekend’s jamboree — will have a new lineup this Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m.: Richard Archer, the Beat Greens, Susan Blood, Broadway Central, Dennis Cunningham, Indira Ganesan, Candace Hammond, […]

THRIFT

WELLFLEET — After 23 years in the same location on Route 6, Mass Appeal must find a new home. The nonprofit that gives out free used clothes to residents of the Outer Cape received a letter on Nov. 1 signed by landlord J. Bruce MacGregor telling the group they must be out by Jan. 31, […]

TAXES

EASTHAM — The select board is considering making Eastham the seventh Cape Cod and Islands town to implement a residential tax exemption [RTE] that could give an estimated 90 percent of year-round residents who own their homes a break on their property tax bills. The RTE, which has been adopted in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet, […]

HEALTH

Two bills being promoted by the Outer Cape’s representatives in the Massachusetts legislature would expand minors’ access to medical care without the consent or knowledge of their parents. One concerns abortion and the other preventive medicine for HIV.   Cyr testified in support of the bill (S. 1237 and H. 1954) before the Joint Committee […]

CIVICS

TRURO — A local lobsterman feels vindicated after a judge reversed two conditions that the Truro Planning Board had imposed on his building proposal. Orleans District Court Judge Robert Welsh III agreed with Christopher and Heidi Townsend, who sought permission to build a 30-by-36-foot barn with an upstairs 1,000-square-foot accessory dwelling unit at their 41 […]

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — The man responsible for the longest running show in Provincetown died at home in his sleep on Dec. 7, 2019. Donald “the Dancing Cop” Thomas, who lived with his daughter, Donna, in Eastham, was 92. Perhaps more than any other street spectacle in this colorful town, Thomas’s graceful steps and spins, done to […]

DEVELOPMENT

PROVINCETOWN — The zoning board of appeals on Dec. 5 granted a variance and the special permits necessary for a new hotel, bar, restaurant, and pier to be constructed at the former Old Reliable Fish House. Chris Snow, the attorney for an abutter, called the plan “the largest and most ambitious project that has come […]

QUEER ‘I’

For older LGBT people, the rise of Pete Buttigieg to the front ranks of Democratic candidates for president inspires awe. Having grown up at a time when homophobia was the overwhelming norm, it’s difficult to imagine that an out gay candidate would even be in the running — let alone get this far. Polls of […]

CHESS

EASTHAM — To understand the story of the Miles Tibbetts Chess Club at Nauset Regional High School you must first know who Miles Tibbetts was. “He started playing chess when he was very young, with his grandfather,” says his mother, Joyce Tibbetts of Wellfleet. “They would just play. I was always oblivious because I don’t […]

KITCHEN TABLE

When I was a kid, growing up in Teaneck, N.J., my favorite bread was the sour rye with caraway seeds from Gratzel’s, the German bakery on Cedar Lane. To paraphrase Levy’s line about its own rye bread, you didn’t have to be German to love that loaf. The Jewish bakery a little further down the […]

CLIMATE

PROVINCETOWN — The Jan. 4, 2018, nor’easter brought a storm surge with it that seemed to lift water out of Provincetown harbor and pour it down Gosnold Street like a river. Salt water rose up over the beach and flowed along Gosnold to Bradford Street, where it formed a deep pool around the Bas Relief […]

ECONOMY

CHATHAM — The Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance (CCCFA) plans to offer a six-day course to teach people the basic skills needed to work on a commercial fishing boat. That might seem to defy logic, given how much we hear about the hardships of the fishing life. Still, the training is being funded by a […]

HOUSING

TRURO — Several residents, including three members of the Truro Planning Board, objected to the so-called Cloverleaf affordable housing development during a zoning board of appeals hearing on Dec. 5. Developer Ted Malone has proposed building 40 units at 22 Highland Road in North Truro. To do so, he needs several waivers from local zoning […]

DEAR INDIE

Dear Indie, When I go home for the holidays, I find myself among friends who are more conservative than my Cape Cod ones. I usually try to avoid political talk. But I think there’s too much at stake now. I want to speak up more about my beliefs and I want to listen and ask […]

Crossword

The December puzzle from Sophia Maymudes should be done on dry land. Need some answers? We send out the solution in our Friday newsletter. You’ll find the signup for our newsletter right here on our home page! This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

VIGNETTE

"Winter Hunting" by Daniel Dejean

BODY/MIND

You’re anxious about being able to afford gifts for everyone on your list. The company party sounds like the worst idea in the world. Someone you loved recently died and you’re grieving, not feeling jolly. Interacting with your family gives you nightmares. Welcome to the holidays. While some situations can be avoided with a quiet […]

ISLAND NOTEBOOK

On an island that has never seen snow and is considered cold if the temperature hits 60, having a white Christmas means purchasing lots of cotton to decorate the front porch. We watched Christmas movies with a decorated willow branch from our grandmother’s tree lit up on the porch. That was the perfect Jamaican Christmas […]

IN AND OUT

In and Out: observations of humans as they come and go from our town

Newcomers to the Outer Cape often ask year-rounders, “Don’t you get bored in the winter?” The answer is often no, because of all the volunteer groups and homegrown music, art, and theater ensembles that can keep your schedule full. You don’t have a be a pro. Take the Outer Cape Chorale (OCC), which has been […]

BOOK REVIEW

“Whatever is in him,” the critic Joan Acocella wrote of Mark Morris in her 1993 biography, “out it comes. This goes for his dances — he creates with extraordinary ease — and for everything he does.” In Out Loud, the memoir that the pathbreaking dancer, choreographer, and conductor Mark Morris has released with the assistance […]

MILLION-YEAR PICNIC

I do a lot of my stargazing in New York City. That’s where I watched the transit of Mercury last month. I set up my telescope (with a solar filter) on a Manhattan street corner, and invited passersby to look. I thought I should manage expectations, and so I warned everyone who came up to […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Thursday, Dec. 12 Girls ice hockey: The Warriors will play the Barnstable Red Raiders at the Hyannis Youth Community Center at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 Girls basketball: The Nauset Warriors will travel to play the Bridgewater-Raynham Trojans at 6:30 p.m. Boys basketball: The boys play at home against the Monomoy Sharks at 7 p.m. […]

DOING GOOD

Doing Good: a column celebrating those who give back.

CURRENTS

PROVINCETOWN — The state fire marshal and Provincetown Fire Chief Michael Trovato have determined the cause of the Nov. 21 fire that killed John Eder was accidental. According to an announcement from state Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey’s office, the fire had three possible causes: an electrical failure, a woodstove fire, or a portable heater malfunction. […]

Hired

PROVINCETOWN — After a national search, Rachael Brister has been hired as the new CEO of the Provincetown Film Society (PFS), the umbrella organization for the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Waters Edge Cinema, and the Gabrielle A. Hanna Provincetown Film Institute, PFS announced on Tuesday. Brister will also serve as the film festival’s executive […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Climate Is a Class Issue To the editor: Sophie Ruehr’s concerns about climate change are admirable (“The Kids Aren’t All Right,” Dec. 5). Unfortunately, her argument simply echoes self-serving corporate rhetoric. As someone born in 1950, I offer no apology to younger generations for the mess our dear planet is in. Is it really a […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Dec. 2. Robert Thomas to KCC Realty Group LLC. 945 Commercial St., Unit A. $325,000. Dec. 3. Conwell Cottage LLC to Benjamin I. Dobson and Timothy C. Harrington Jr. 12 Conwell St., Unit B. $709,000. Dec.4. Leonard McGuire, William […]

CLASSIFEDS

INVITATIONS A Holiday Party in Truro. As part of the Ho Ho Ho Truro holiday stroll, Salty Market invites you to our neighborhood holiday party on December 13, kicking off at 4 p.m. You can enjoy wine and beer tastings, snacks and treats, while taking advantage of our end-of-year discounts and holiday sales. All are […]

Animation Shorts at Preservation Hall The newest edition of animated shorts from around the world, The 21st Annual Animation Show of Shows, will screen at Wellfleet Preservation Hall at 335 Main St. on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 15, at 2 p.m.; and Saturday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. […]

film

PLAYING NOW: DEC. 12-18  A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG). Waters Edge Cinema, Friday-Sunday and Tuesday-Wednesday: 4 & 6:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 1:30 p.m. Wellfleet Cinemas, daily: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Dark Waters (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas, Friday-Wednesday: 1, 4 & 7 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Ford v Ferrari (PG13). Waters Edge […]

our picks for the week of December 12 through December 19

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Dec. 12, 5 p.m. An artist reception for the Julia Salinger show, “What Now,” will be at Wellfleet Preservation Hall at 335 Main St. The exhibit is on view through Jan. 6. Thursday, Dec. 12, 5:30 p.m. Helping Our Women’s Cancer Support Group will meet on the second Thursday of every […]

editorial

I had the good fortune the other day to talk with Marshall Smith, the owner of the Wellfleet Marketplace. We were having a little trouble finding the right place in the store to sell the Independent, as every spot on the newspaper shelf was taken. I thought it was a good excuse to call up […]

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

PROVINCETOWN — By a margin of just 19 votes, 157 in favor, 176 against, Monday’s special town meeting rejected Fire Chief Mike Trovato’s plan for the former VFW site on Jerome Smith Road. The sole article on Monday’s warrant — initiated by Trovato’s petition, signed by 203 citizens — would have designated the town-owned 1.3-acre […]

LIFE & DEATH

PROVINCETOWN — Ever since Dawn Walsh arrived in Provincetown she has been working to take fear and ignorance out of the experience of death. She founded the Day of the Dead Festival in 2016 and soon after that began organizing “death cafés” to foster conversations on the taboo topic. (The next one is Dec. 11 […]

ENVIRONMENT

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) moved to protect herring on Nov. 19 when it approved a new rule restricting the operation of trawlers. Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan, developed by the New England Fishery Management Council over the past several years, prohibits the use of mid-water trawl gear year-round […]

DEVELOPMENT

NORTH TRURO — A water line will be coming to Highland Road to service the 40-unit Cloverleaf housing project and bring new economic development to the scrappy commercial area here. A few weeks ago the state announced a $1.2-million grant from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program to extend the Provincetown-Truro municipal water line by 1,500 feet. […]

HEALTH

PROVINCETOWN — Massachusetts had universal health care before it was cool. Even before Obamacare, local residents were able to get insurance regardless of their work situation, income level, or pre-existing conditions. Some people still haven’t signed up, though. And others might be paying more than they need to. The Independent talked to health care access […]

ON THE LANDSCAPE

I used to rent a small house with large windows. The windows overlooked a meadow of grasses and wildflowers framed at its edges by low oaks and autumn olive. In the days of summer, of lush green and fullness, of breezes that push through blades of grass, the meadow was nearly overwhelming in its richness. […]

PUBLIC ART

PROVINCETOWN — The larger-than-life photographs of five Portuguese women on Fisherman’s Wharf are now down to only three images, but that will change this spring. The installation “They Also Faced the Sea” has suffered from the same harsh elements that have weathered the real-life faces of local fishermen. The portrait of Almeda Segura was destroyed by […]

CIVICS

TRURO — Town officials have hired a Cambridge consulting firm to help figure out what to do with the 70-acre Walsh property, whose purchase for $5.1 million was approved by town meeting in May. The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) of Cambridge will set up a process to guide the Walsh property plan. Stacie Nicole Smith, […]

ARTS LISTINGS

The Canteen’s Holiday Market and Winter Lodge, which returned on Thanksgiving weekend, will be operating weekends through New Year’s. The lodge is a pop-up chalet-style restaurant, in front of and behind the Canteen’s regular counter service, with a special winter menu. It’s open Friday-Sunday, 5-10 p.m. The market is in the Canteen’s beach back yard, […]

steamers

"#Stuffed" by A. Crock

SKETCHBOOK

"Squid" by Mark Adams

EASTHAM

EASTHAM — The select board voted 3-1 on Nov. 25 to approve the renewal of the liquor license for Stewart’s Restaurant on Route 6 despite questions about the character of the owner, William Stewart. Stewart was accused of sexual harassment by former female employees more than a year ago and is scheduled to be tried […]

COUNTING

Census packages won’t arrive in mailboxes across the country until mid-March, but officials and community groups on Cape Cod are strategizing now about how to make sure everyone here is counted. Data gathered in next year’s U.S. census will be used to determine the distribution of federal funds and legislative representatives for the next 10 […]

MOVEMENT

This is either the most wonderful time of the year or the hardest and most stressful. Either way, for most of us, it’s a time when exercise routines lag. It’s easy to forget about fitness from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. The problem is, come January, starting over is hard. The secret to staying at it […]

DOING GOOD

Wellfleet Bay Audubon teams have begun their season of rescuing cold-stunned sea turtles. That’s staff member Jacey Corrente, above, collecting a live Kemp’s ridley at Campground Beach in Eastham. November’s erratic winds seem to have driven the turtles into unusual nooks and crannies along the bay. The wind has made the rescue work tough, too, […]

DOVETAIL JOINT

The question: We renovated our modest cottage in Wellfleet to make it our year-round home. But now that the job is done, we are wishing we had thought more about the site itself. The construction was hard on the surrounding landscape. What could we have done differently? How do we start setting things right without […]

DEAR INDIE

We made it! Thanksgiving has been conquered. Now retailers large and small are bombarding us with snowy cheer, picture-perfect Douglas firs dressed up in color-coordinated balls and tinsel, and the pressure of that perfect gift to make your someone special happy this December, all at the best holiday price. So how do you survive this […]

SQUID PRO QUO

England vs. Argentina (2012). South Korea vs. Japan (2019). These matchups read like a history of World Cup competitions, but in fact they were clashes where countries have gone to the brink of war over squid. It is no surprise that we, too, fight over squid and have been doing it at MacMillan Wharf for […]

POETRY

The first anonymous baying from those backlit hills petitions a single greeny-blue winter star. It silvers as I watch, tuning its sharpness. Deep January in the natural dark, and now another to the south is yelping, Sladesville trying to talk with Prince Valley, or Corn Hill calling Pond Village across the cold. This is their […]

CLIMATE CRISIS

The older generation has taken to saying how sorry it is to leave behind a climate crisis that young people will have to fix. I’ve been the recipient of this condolence dozens of times. Family members, teachers, and politicians are full of regret: the boomers have made a mess that we must clean up. It […]

POETS

Last spring, Joy Priest had some big decisions to make. The Kentucky native, who had recently completed her M.F.A. in poetry at the University of South Carolina, was accepted to the University of Houston’s Ph.D. program in creative writing, the Wallace Stegner Fellowship, and the Fine Arts Work Center’s writing fellowship. Most emerging writers dream […]

WRITERS

A man with high cheekbones and translucent-frame glasses sits alone by the waterfront on a sunny late November day. The waves before him ripple onto the sandy shore in Provincetown’s almost-winter wind, and he pulls his jacket closer. He hails from a faraway land where the winds are warmer, though perhaps not gentler. Gbolahan Adeola […]

SCREENINGS

The story of the Wampanoag nation, the confederation of Native American tribes who lived in what is now Cape Cod and the Islands, southeastern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, is a constellation of tragedies, first among many in the English colonization of North America. But there is an uplifting thread to that history that is recounted […]

FESTIVALS

EASTHAM — The 16th annual Eastham Turnip Festival was a groovy one. Crowds enjoyed music, crafts, food, and all things turnip. Twelve restaurants vied for the top turnip recipe as determined by judges state Rep. Sarah Peake, Van Rensselaer’s Restaurant owner Peter Hall, and Cape Cod Times Food Editor Gwenn Friss. Sam’s Deli won first […]

BACKYARD FOOTBALL

EASTHAM — Thanksgiving is about celebrating traditions with family and friends. Each family and group of friends is unique, but it’s clear that for many of us, these time-honored rituals have sports themes. It might be watching the NFL games (Lions vs. the Cowboys), going to see your local high school team play its arch-rival […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

It’s “Giving Tuesday” as I write this, and I can see from looking at the online posts of local nonprofits that people really are giving. We know firsthand about this generosity because so many of you have contributed to our own Local Journalism Project, helping us to build up the resources that will be needed […]

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Elspeth Halvorsen Vevers, an icon of Provincetown’s art community and a resident since the mid-1950s, died peacefully at home on Nov. 17, 2019, her daughters Stephanie and Tabitha holding her hands. She was 90 years old. She was known for her luminous box constructions, finely wrought from the humblest of materials. Until being […]

LOCAL COLOR Hopper House Tours Gift Certificates. A great holiday gift solution. $69 per person. Tour takes you to hidden places to see more than 50 locations painted by Edward Hopper in Truro in the 1930s. Hopper House Tours continue daily from 10 a.m. to noon until snow flies. www.hopperhousetours.com. [12-26] INVITATIONS A Holiday Party in […]

PLAYING NOW: DEC. 5-11 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas, daily: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Dark Waters (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas, Friday-Wednesday: 1, 4 & 7 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Ford v Ferrari (PG13). Waters Edge Cinema: Friday-Sunday and Tuesday-Wednesday: 4 & 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 1 p.m. Frozen II […]

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 25 to Nov. 29, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 25. Jerome A. and Nancy K. Goedken to Timothy A. Maher. 963 Commercial St. $267,500. Nov. 26. Harry Clark, Amir Abbas Mehrafshar, and Joseph F. Collins to 10 Atwood Realty Trust (William D. Lampeter and Mark D. Bloomfield, […]

our picks for the week of December 5 through December 12

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Dec. 5, 2 p.m. Join a “Trip Talk” with Nauset Regional High School junior Anna Shantz, who traveled to Kenya and Tanzania. Wellfleet Council on Aging, 715 Old King’s Highway. Free. Friday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m. Jeannette de Beauvoir will do a reading from her new Provincetown Mystery, A Fatal Folly, […]

Gifts of David Murphy Collection at PAAM The exhibit “Recent Gifts From the David Murphy Collection” will have an opening reception at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum at 460 Commercial St. on Friday, Dec. 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. It will be on view through May 19, 2020. Sharing the opening reception is […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Perfect Inefficiency To the editor: Regarding the note in your e-mail newsletter apologizing for subscribers’ copies being delayed in the mail last week, rest assured that it wasn’t your fault. Routing the Independent (and all snail mail) through Wareham before it comes to Provincetown is the perfect example of inefficiency: stupidity plus technology plus waste. It’s the […]

home

Real Estate Transactions  Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 18 to Nov. 22, 2019.  PROVINCETOWN  Nov. 19. Center Brook LLC and Lexvest Group LLC to Scott Dodd and Eric Von Platen Luder. 192 Commercial St., Unit 194. $497,000. Nov. 20. RHP 2005 Trust (Gary Danko, trustee) to Marie and Richard Treanor. […]

provincelands

Atlantic to the left, Race Point behind us, we hauled our buckets and baskets and red and yellow plastic beach pails over dune-tops, into hollows, and along the overgrown sand road to the cranberry bog. It was a bright Sunday in early November. Joshua, my fisherman-husband, had glanced at the neighbor’s trees that morning and […]

FOWL PLAY

As upland game season wraps up on Nov. 30, many local hunters worry that a longstanding tradition of pheasant hunting will soon be ending. Following a 2002 court challenge by animal rights groups, the National Park Service is expected to begin phasing out the state’s practice of pheasant stocking, in which non-native ring-necked pheasants are […]

editorial

There are reasons to fear the Dec. 2 special town meeting in Provincetown. On its face, it pits public safety against housing; neighbors with quiet backyards against people who are desperately trying to stay here despite astronomical real estate costs; and a respected leader against essential principles of good governance. Fire Chief Michael Trovato has […]

theater review

The 1946 Frank Capra movie It’s a Wonderful Life is a touchstone of Americana. The title evokes thoughts of Christmas, moral reassurance and sentiment, small towns and loved ones, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. George Bailey’s prayers, after all, are answered — a trope that’s usually reserved for Touched by an Angel. But consider this […]

health

PROVINCETOWN — Jonathan Sperber of Truro moved to Cape Cod last spring. On Oct. 7, he filed his new patient paperwork with the Outer Cape Health Services (OCHS) clinic in Wellfleet. But he will not see a clinician until the end of December. Everyone Sperber spoke with at OCHS warned him it would take time […]

development

PROVINCETOWN — A hotel that’s taller than Whaler’s Wharf and would include a nearly 264-foot pier was heralded as “bold” and derided as “ugly” on Nov. 21 at a zoning board of appeals hearing. Christine Barker is proposing to redevelop 227R Commercial St., the condemned former Old Reliable Fish House, which still has rights to […]

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

PROVINCETOWN — The 1.3-acre parcel of town-owned land that was the former VFW post is once again the subject of debate. A petitioned article from Fire Chief Mike Trovato and 203 voters has triggered a special town meeting in the town hall auditorium at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 2. The petitioners want the parcel […]

civics

EASTHAM — Four of the youngest members of our local select boards, all elected for the first time in the last two years, met for a conversation about the future of the Outer Cape last Thursday at the Eastham library. The audience for the event, organized by the Independent, was small, but the topics that […]

sketchbook

"Wild Turkey" by Mark Adams

craft

ORLEANS — You’re 16 years old, into metalwork, and a fan of “Rambo.” Choosing your first project at welding school is easy. “You make a knife,” says Lucas Burnley of his initial foray into the hobby that would become his trade. Growing up outside Albuquerque, N.M., in a “super outdoorsy” family and at a time […]

books

  Eighty-one-year-old Joel Meyerowitz, éminence grise among Provincetown photographers, was in Manhattan in late October. The occasion was a narrated slide show and book signing hosted by Aperture, his publisher, at its Chelsea gallery, which was packed. Out since Sept. 24, Meyerowitz’s new 160-page monograph, sized for a coffee table, is titled, simply, Provincetown. After […]

loss

PROVINCETOWN — A fire at 86 Atkins Mayo Road on Thursday, Nov. 21 killed the home owner, John Eder, the sole occupant of a house set far back in the woods off Bradford Street. The alarm at 2:33 p.m. brought as many as 40 firefighters to one of the most remote locations in Provincetown, said […]

on the sheet

ORLEANS — “It’s chess on ice.” That’s how Bill Fragaszy of Yarmouth Port describes the intricate sport of curling. Fragaszy and other members of the Lower Cape Curling Club take over the Charles Moore Arena on Wednesday mornings and Sunday afternoons for their league games. For a sport with its own language (see glossary), curling […]

Watercolor

"At the Table" by Traci Harmon Hay

THE SEARCH

PROVINCETOWN — There are times when consensus is impossible, according to Robin Leal Craver, who is one of three finalists for the town manager’s position. In her case, one of those times was earlier this year when she approved a host community agreement for the largest marijuana cultivation and processing facility in the country, greatly […]

graveyard shift

EASTHAM — We can probably thank Hollywood (and maybe Dickens) for the creepy reputation of burial grounds. What would a horror film be without a desolate graveyard overgrown with weeds, strewn with crumbling headstones, their skull and hourglass engravings slowly being erased by time? For the many who dread graveyards — holding their breath and […]

HOLIDAY TABLE

Even in these chilly gray days of November we find color everywhere on the Outer Cape. Marsh and beach grasses are golden fire. Junipers are deep green, their bright berries like tiny punctuation marks in the lush foliage. Scrub oak and pitch pine leaves litter the woods, a russet-colored blanket for winter. The sleeping garden […]

cocktail hour

From Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve (or Day for that matter), drinking Champagne really adds an extra dash of joy. The problem is many people are intimidated by it, seeing Champagne as something too fancy or unapproachable. Then there’s the cash. Spending upwards of $40 for a bottle isn’t something everyone will do — even […]

AT THE LIBRARY

Braiding Sweetgrass By Robin Wall Kimmerer Milkweed Editions: 2015 In Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, author Robin Wall Kimmerer asks readers to “imagine raising children in a culture where gratitude is the first priority.” This is the gist of Kimmerer’s stunning book, where she discusses our relationship to the […]

SURFING

The sun is warm on my shoulders. The salt is starting to pinch the skin at the corners of my eyes as it dries. A small white cup of coffee with a tiny round handle sits on the table. The steam from the cup dances in the low angle of the midmorning sun. The croissant […]

DEAR INDIE

Dear Indie, I put a lot of effort into my Halloween trick-or-treating and came home with a major haul of candy. Way more than my older sisters, who are now officially teenagers and can’t be bothered to work on their costumes and stick to going door to door the way I do. Last week when […]

COURSES

“I started taking classes at Castle Hill when I was 15 years old,” Paul Wisotsky says in his comfortable Truro living room. “I’m 57, and now I’m teaching there in the very same studio. It’s a full-circle experience for me.” Along with Chris Watt, Wisotzky is teaching ceramics at Truro Center for the Arts at […]

PLAYERS

When Spencer Keasey picked his porn name, Spencer Quest, it was because he felt as if he were actually on a quest — for sexual and spiritual freedom. For a man who had been in a monogamous relationship from the age of 18, freedom from shame and fear during the age of HIV did, at […]

classifieds

LOCAL COLOR Hopper House Tours Gift Certificates. A great holiday gift solution. $69 per person. Tour takes you to hidden places to see more than 50 locations painted by Edward Hopper in Truro in the 1930s. Hopper House Tours continue daily from 10 a.m. to Noon until snow flies. www.hopperhousetours.com. [12-26] INVITATIONS  Salty Market invites you […]

Garrow Throop’s Painted Photographs “Garrow Throop: Vignettes From the Outer Cape,” is an art exhibit of photographs shot and painted by Garrow Throop, which will be on view at the Truro Public Library at 7 Standish Way from Dec. 3 to 31. The library will hold an opening reception for the exhibit on Tuesday, Dec. […]

film

PLAYING NOW: NOV. 28-DEC. 4 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas, daily: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Frozen II (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas, daily: 1:05 (3D), 4:05 (2D) & 7:05 p.m. (2D); Tuesday: 10 a.m. (2D). The Good Liar (R). Wellfleet Cinemas, daily: 1, 4 & 7 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 […]

our picks for the week of November 27 through December 5

Outer Cape Calendar Wednesday, Nov. 27, 5-7 p.m. This year’s Lighting Ceremony of the Pilgrim Monument kicks off the one-year countdown to Provincetown 400’s fireworks show, which commemorates the anniversary of the Mayflower’s first landing in 1620 and the history and culture of the Wampanoag people. Join the crowds at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown […]

Teacake's Take

"A Dog's Thanksgiving" by Ellen LeBow

classifieds

INVITATIONS  Salty Market invites you to two Grand Holiday Tastings: Friday, Nov. 22 and Wednesday, Nov. 27. Come sample impressive selections of wine to pair with your Thanksgiving meal and take advantage of our 20%-off yellow dot wine sale and holiday discounts on selected items. 2 Highland Road, North Truro. [11-28] SERVICES Calligraphy & event-planning […]

home

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 12 to Nov. 15, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 12. Dol-Fin Development LLC to Christopher Martin Deiser and Keith David Craig. 16 Carver St. $925,000. Nov. 14. Allan B. Wing Jr. Provincetown Realty Trust (Allan B. Wing Jr., trustee) and Frank Lee Barringer to […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Chief Trovato’s Vision To the editor: Fire Chief Mike Trovato’s vision for the VFW site as a police station and first-responder housing and substation actually sees our needs. This vision makes so much sense to so many people. Proper response is what Mike has been doing for years. He was given an extension on the […]

letter from the editor

The New York Times reported on Monday that 47 percent of Americans say it’s hard for them to know whether the information they encounter is true. Many people have simply stopped even trying to follow the news because it makes them feel “numb and disoriented, struggling to discern what is real in a sea of […]

OBITUARIES

PROVINCETOWN — Richard David Salvador, Sr., 73, of Provincetown died unexpectedly on Nov. 11, 2019 at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, surrounded by his family. The community is mourning the sudden loss of one of its most respected commercial fishermen. Born in Provincetown, son of the late Ferdinand and Philomena (Cordeiro) Salvador, Richard followed in […]

OBITUARIES

WELLFLEET — Martin “Marty” Alexander Buckosh died in his sleep on Nov. 5, 2019 while recovering at his Wellfleet home from a bicycle accident. He was 62. Marty, the youngest of four boys, was a 1975 graduate of Lorain Catholic High School in Ohio. From 1975 to 1978 he served in the U.S. Army with […]

film

PLAYING NOW: NOV. 21-27  A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas, Thursday: 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Friday-Wednesday: 1:15, 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Tuesday: 10 a.m. Frozen 2 (PG). Wellfleet Cinemas, Thursday: 6:15 p.m. (2D); Friday-Wednesday: 1:05 (3D), 4:05 (2D) & 7:05 p.m. (2D); Tuesday: 10 a.m. (2D). The Good Liar (R). Wellfleet Cinemas, […]

LAND USE

TRURO — The Truro Conservation Trust closed on a bayside property on Nov. 1 for $250,000 — far below the original asking price for the 1.1-acre parcel next to Great Hollow Beach. The trust covered the entire cost, with no public money spent. Last year, the property at 2 Kill Devil Road was listed at […]

civics

PROVINCETOWN — The select board will choose among three women who have been named finalists in the search for the next town manager. All three will be interviewed by the board in open session on Dec. 16, and the board will vote on Dec. 17. The candidates are Marie Broadbent, town manager of Berwyn, Md.; […]

HOUSING

PROVINCETOWN — Two of the most acute needs this community is facing, according to multiple studies, surveys, and the town’s own economic development plan, are year-round rental housing and seasonal employee housing. Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties at 235 Commercial St., has proposed a building project that would help address both of them. He […]

climate crisis management

EASTHAM — If a severe storm or flood hit the Outer Cape forcing residents to evacuate, it would cause a major traffic backup. Route 6 is the main evacuation route to Orleans and beyond. But what if the Orleans Rotary were under water? Drivers could try the back roads through Eastham, but that would require […]

OBITUARIES

TRURO — Maureen Alana Burgess, who was serving her second term on the Truro Select Board, died on Nov. 11, 2019 of a stroke that resulted from a brain arteriovenous malformation. She was 72. She was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Feb. 10, 1947. Maureen’s mother, Brigit “Della” Corry, had emigrated from Cooraclare, County Clare, […]

washashores

WELLFLEET — Before Kathy Fletcher and David Simpson founded a nonprofit to help inner-city kids go to college, as many as seven teenagers were living with them in their three-bedroom Washington, D.C. rowhouse. They were buying phones, laptops, and “thousands of phone chargers,” said Simpson. Money was flying out the door $100 at a time, […]

ROOTS

EASTHAM — By the time this story goes live, the library’s countdown clock for the Eastham Turnip Festival will reach two days, eight hours, and counting. You can watch the Festival tick closer by the second on the library website. It’s almost as if the turnip festival, now in its 16th year, were Eastham’s New […]

economy

EASTHAM — The trade war with China is reshaping East Coast lobster sales. Whether local lobstermen feel the burn depends, for now, on where they’re fishing. But with Canada stepping up exports, industry workers worry the tariffs’ negative effects will be long lasting. Wholesalers, whose work involves opening markets, have had sales and margins plummet […]

ON ICE

ORLEANS — It is Friday night, Nov. 15 and the Charles Moore Arena is filled with family members and fans cheering on the Lower Cape Coyotes. The Coyotes Squirt 1 team is facing off against the Yarmouth-Dennis Dolphins Squirt 1 team in what’s known as a “play down game” for a chance to advance to […]

VIEW FROM THE HIVE

Hive entrances are eerily vacant and quiet this frigid November morning, but an ear to the boxes reveals lots of life inside. A healthy cluster of wintering honey bees emits a low and steady hum — the sound of thousands of bee-muscle contractions, fueled by stored honey and generating heat to share. Unlike our native […]

steamers

"Call Me Salty" by A. Crock

HOUSING

PROVINCETOWN — Providing affordable rental housing here for one underserved income group — those making 60 to 80 percent of the area median — is going to be a challenge. At the third community forum on housing at the VFW site on Jerome Smith Road, held on Nov. 13, planning consultant JM Goldson presented a […]

climate crisis

WELLFLEET — Fifteen concerned citizens gathered at the Flying Fish Café in Wellfleet on Nov. 15 to discuss bills now in play at the State House that aim to curb greenhouse gas emissions. They then met with state Rep. Sarah Peake at town hall to seek her support. Volunteer organizer Tony Rogers from the Mass. […]

DOVETAIL JOINT

The question: Now that the weather has turned and the wind picked up, a lot of people notice that their casement windows are getting older. Cranks are tough to turn, some of the seals are not as tight as they used to be, and more. They may have spent good money on them a few years […]

WARRIORS WATCH

The Nauset High School fall sports season is coming to an end as all Warriors teams have completed regular season and postseason action except for football (6-4), which will play its annual Thanksgiving Day game against the Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins (7-3). Here’s a wrap-up of how the remaining teams fared in their final games: Boys soccer: […]

Giving

RAICES–RAISING FUNDS TO REUNITE IMMIGRANT FAMILIES Andrew and Alyssa Staker of Wellfleet at their most glamorous at the Ball at the Hall, a fundraiser for RAICES now in its second year. RAICES –– the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services is a donor-supported provider of pro-bono legal services to immigrants in Texas. […]

Arts Briefs

Present: As its end-of-the-year holiday treat, the Provincetown Theater and artistic director David Drake are offering It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, a theatrical version of Frank Capra’s classic Christmas weepie (happy tears!) as performed on radio, adapted by Joe Landry. The cast (alphabetically) is Laura Cappello, Colin Delaney, Nicholas Dorr, Paul E. […]

OUTER CAPE PORTRAIT

MIKE WRIGHT  |  SCULPTOR  |  PROVINCETOWN I’ve been making sculpture with old found painted wood for 30 years now. In the mid-’90s I would be walking on the beach and trying to search for my materials like the old salvagers used to when there were wrecks washed up on the beach. After major storms in […]

in and out

In and Out: Observations of humans as they come and go from our town

VIGNETTE

"Leaves" by Daniel Dejean

GALLERIES

“I never thought the bottom line would be numbers,” Shirl Roccapriore says, sitting back in the cozy space that is her Oils by the Sea Gallery at 437 Commercial St. on a chilly November afternoon last Saturday. “If I was making money, you and I wouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s sad to walk away […]

MUSIC

Lisa Bastoni is having a great year. The Northampton native, who’ll be the featured artist at Monday evening’s Coffeehouse at the Mews open mic in Provincetown, was one of six artists selected on Nov. 5 to receive the 2019 New Folk Award for emerging songwriters at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas. She has […]

our picks for the week of November 21 through 28

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Nov. 21, 12:30-2 p.m. “Civics 101”: The Provincetown Independent presents a panel discussion with select board members from the Outer Cape. Discuss their role in town governance, ask questions, and meet and greet at the Eastham Public Library at 190 Samoset Road. Free. Thursday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m. Every Thursday (except […]

Grace Hopkins’s Abstract Photography Grace Hopkins’s evocative abstract photography — she scours the world for just the right color and surface texture — is featured in a show at the Wellfleet Council on Aging at 715 Old King’s Highway, with an artist’s reception on Thursday, Nov. 21, 5-7 p.m. The COA is open weekdays, 8 […]

health

WELLFLEET — A large number of children who visit the Outer Cape Health Services clinic here are “under-vaccinated” — having not received a full series of standard immunizations against infectious diseases, which are required under state law for school admission. Only 77 percent of the kindergartners at the Wellfleet Elementary School in the past three […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — The tourism industry brings about $200 million into Provincetown every year, according to Tony Fuccillo, Provincetown’s director of tourism. It’s an enormous economic engine that touches nearly everyone in town, regardless of occupation, and with most of the 2019 season in the rearview mirror, it’s common to try to assess how well the season […]

ECONOMY

Close brushes with death are common for Outer Cape fishermen. Rick Marvin of Eastham, who fishes for lobster, bluefish, and crab, knows from experience that a routine move can quickly become dangerous on a fishing boat. One day in early December 2017, Marvin was tossing lobster traps off the side of a boat when his […]

CIVICS

PROVINCETOWN — The most consequential vote at Tuesday’s select board meeting came after most of the audience had left: a unanimous decision not to recommend Fire Chief Mike Trovato’s petitioned article at the Dec. 2 special town meeting. The board members’ statements against the proposal were wide-ranging and emphatic. They came at the end of […]

CANNABIS

PROVINCETOWN — It turns out the marijuana industry and the end of communism have a lot in common. U.S.-born investor Boris Jordan, the major shareholder of Curaleaf, helped the Russian government privatize after the fall of communism. So he is used to fledgling legislation, a lack of traditional banking, and the complex regulatory environment that […]

MILLION-YEAR PICNIC

With the end of daylight savings time, it’s suddenly darker much earlier in the evening. You may notice that the night sky has changed since those beach bonfires back in August. Look east around 9 p.m., and you’ll see Orion the Hunter rising, which you probably haven’t seen since last winter. Why is that? What […]

BODY/MIND

Ever walked out of a yoga class feeling peaceful? Even-keeled? Like you had hit the reset button? Same here. It was what first hooked me. I reluctantly walked into a yoga studio after injuring myself playing collegiate sports, feeling scatterbrained and despondent about my body. A friend dragged me to a yoga studio down the […]

ECONOMY

Some people, like Shawn Vecchione, are tired of talking about sharks. The constant chatter about great whites caused Vecchione, who owns Vec Surfboards in Orleans, to close the retail side of his business this summer after 10 years. “It got to a point where everyone wanted to talk about sharks,” Vecchione said. “Mentally I wasn’t […]

NATURA VIVA

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OP-ED

I do not doubt Fire Chief Michael Trovato’s list of needs required to keep the community safe. Those needs include a new fire substation, new trucks, more bunks, and more space to train. Unfortunately, the town will now be voting at the Dec. 2 special town meeting to eliminate housing at the VFW property in […]

SKETCHBOOK

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THE HOMELESS

HYANNIS — Freddie Rocha greeted David Chick with his usual questions: “When are we going home?” and “Did you come to take me home?” Chick smiled and asked if he had been smoking cigarettes. Rocha said, “No, I quit.” Chick had arrived on Oct. 31 at 75 Pleasant St., the Larry Doughty House, a tired-looking […]

AT THE LIBRARY

Educated Tara Westover New York: Random House, 2018 Family dynamics can range from quirky to full-blown dysfunctional even at the best of times, but holidays have a way of putting this drama on full display. So, if you’re feeling a little uneasy with Thanksgiving looming ominously on the calendar, take the time to unwind by […]

HOUSING

EASTHAM — What would we do differently if we saw affordable housing as a human right? That’s the key question Andrea Aldana, director of housing advocacy for the Community Development Partnership (CDP) in Eastham, brought back from Ireland last week. She was there on an “affordable housing learning journey” with a delegation of housing advocates […]

ELECTIONS

WELLFLEET — The select board voted 3-2 on Oct. 22 to “retire the horse and buggy,” as board member Kathleen Bacon put it, and replace the town’s 95-year-old hand-crank ballot box made of wood with a $5,200 optical scanning machine to count votes. Interim Town Clerk Jennifer Congel requested the change in an Oct. 18 […]

THEATER

For their first seven years, the four actor-founders of the Harbor Stage Company — Robert Kropf and Stacy Fischer, Brenda Withers and Jonathan Fielding — who run the small Wellfleet theater at 15 Kendrick Ave. on their own without a board, had an affordable place in Wellfleet to live in year-round. “It’s really important in […]

ENVIRONMENT

WELLFLEET — The Blasch property is receiving another massive amount of “sacrificial sand” in an effort to stall the mansion’s collapse over the edge of a coastal bank. The 5,817-square-foot house perched on “the Gut,” a narrow spit of sand between Cape Cod Bay and the Herring River, was only 25 feet from the edge […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

There are heroes living among us, men and women who struggle and prevail every day with the demon of addiction. You may know one of these heroes; you may not. They do not especially broadcast their struggles; neither do they hide them entirely. They rely on equal parts inner strength and the support of others. […]

IN AND OUT

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PROVINCELANDS

Watching a shorebird is like watching a comet: you have to trick your eye into detecting it. To find a comet, you look sideways at the sky until your peripheral vision — more powerful at night than your regular vision — picks out a blotch of white from the neater points of light around it. […]

PHOTOGRAPHY

The Provincetown Art Association and Museum is known for its collection and shows of work by world-renowned painters, sculptors, and printmakers who have lived and made art here. Oil painting, starting with Charles Webster Hawthorne as teacher at the turn of the century, has always been the medium most associated with the Provincetown art colony. […]

BOOK REVIEW

After a two-decade absence, author Michael Nava’s award-winning Henry Rios mystery series returns with its eighth installment, Carved in Bone. (This volume fits chronologically between the first and second books of the series, so it is identified in the sequence as No. 2.) Rios is a gay Latino criminal defense lawyer whom The New Yorker […]

INDIE SCREEN

In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, Martin Scorsese bemoaned the Marvel Universe takeover of Hollywood. He’s right to do so, but it’s a process that has been going on for years. The fact that Scorsese’s new film, The Irishman, was funded by Netflix and will have a limited run in theaters […]

HEALTH

The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority, Cape Cod Healthcare, and the Peter Pan bus company have partnered to create a bus route to bring patients from Provincetown to the hospitals and medical centers in the mid-Cape. The Peter Pan bus service already has two buses scheduled from Provincetown to Hyannis. One leaves Provincetown at 6:30 […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline. Thursday, Nov. 14 Boys soccer: The Warriors (18-0-2) will play the Oliver Ames Tigers (15-3-0) in a Division 2 South Sectional semi-final game at 7 p.m. at Sandwich High School. The winner will earn a spot in the championship. Nauset defeated Duxbury 3-1 in the […]

home

Real Estate Transactions Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Nov. 7. Tracy Hawkins to Timothy Grafft and David Hacin. 606 Commercial St. $677,500. Nov. 8. Catherine Beauchamp, Jennifer Schlauder Lin, and Frank Lin to Jeffrey Caywood and Robert Neel. 24 Captain Berties Way. $699,750. Nov. […]

film

PLAYING NOW: NOV. 14-20 The Good Liar (R). Wellfleet Cinemas, Thursday-Wednesday 4 & 7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.; Tuesday 10 a.m. Harriet (PG13). Waters Edge Cinemas, Thursday 4:30 & 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Wednesday 4:30 p.m. Last Christmas (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas, daily 4:15 & 7:15 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday 1:15 p.m.; Tuesday 10 a.m. The Lighthouse (R). Wellfleet Cinemas: […]

letter from the editor

“Why did you call it the Provincetown Independent?” That’s probably the question we are asked most frequently at our Open Newsroom sessions at the town libraries and in casual conversations about the reasons for launching a newspaper to cover the Outer Cape. The Independent, it’s true, is about much more than just Provincetown. Our mission […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Where Are the Doctors? To the editor: In light of your front-page story on Oct. 31 about the restoration of nurse midwife services at Outer Cape Health Services, I’d like to suggest another topic related to access to health care. We recently became year-round residents and wished to sign up with OCHS. On Oct. 7 […]

classifieds

PROVISIONS Organic Turkeys for Thanksgiving. The East End Market at 212 Bradford St. in Provincetown is taking preorders for Mary’s Organic Turkeys for Thanksgiving. We have limited birds. Sign up today before they are all gobbled up! Vegetarian options, sides, and pies are also available. 508-487-2339. [11-21] Salty Market offers casual catering for family get-togethers, […]

our picks for the week of November 14 through 20

Outer Cape Calendar Thursday, Nov. 14, 2 p.m. “Protect Yourself From Fraud,” a talk about financial scams with officers from Seamen’s Bank, is at the Wellfleet Council on Aging at 715 Old King’s Highway. Free. Thursday, Nov. 14, 6 p.m. Open Newsroom with the Provincetown Independent: join a conversation about community journalism — what’s in […]

this week

BRIEFS Badland Film’s a Fund-raiser for HOW and PFS It’s an interesting idea for a Western: a bounty hunter who goes after Confederate war criminals. Badland, a feature film starring Kevin Makely, Mira Sorvino, Bruce Dern, Wes Studi, and James Russo, will be preview-screened on Saturday, Nov. 16, at 1 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 17, […]

CIVICS

Every town on Cape Cod is encouraged to have a local comprehensive plan, developed in accordance with its residents’ expressed priorities, updated every 10 years, and certified by the Cape Cod Commission — the Cape’s regional planning agency. Only two of 15 towns do. “Ten years goes by pretty quickly,” said Jon Idman, the commission’s […]

CANNABIS

U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling has questions for towns that have issued host community agreements to marijuana businesses.  Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Eastham town administrators all received subpoenas last month ordering them to produce documents, emails, and any other correspondence associated with the agreements.  They must appear at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse to testify before […]

health

EASTHAM — The current e-cigarette ban and recent cases of vaping-related illness have affected the number of students using vaping products on campus at Nauset Regional High School. Assistant Principal Sean Fleming told the Independent that the number of kids getting caught vaping at school has decreased by more than half since last spring. Gov. […]

economy

WELLFLEET — The town’s taxpayers now own over 162 acres of shellfish flats on Indian Neck, the most productive part of the harbor, after purchasing the acreage from the How Do You Like Them Apples (HDYLTA) Realty Trust. The purpose of the $2 million purchase, finalized at a closing last week, was to protect public […]

civics

PROVINCETOWN — The select board will hear from the Pier Corp. on Nov. 12 about the harbormaster’s budget, money that the town has paid to the Pier Corp. for years. This arrangement dates to 2005, but the agreement defining it expired in 2017. The select board must now either develop a new agreement with the […]

HEALTH

Laurie Veninger of Truro is organizing Cape Cod women to lobby lawmakers on Beacon Hill on Thursday, Nov. 14 in support of a bill aimed at protecting and expanding abortion rights under current state law. The bill, S. 1209, is titled “An act to remove obstacles and expand abortion access.” As of Monday, 24 Cape […]

CROSS-COUNTRY

EASTHAM — After ending the regular season with a 9-0 record and a first-place finish in the league championship meet on Oct. 26, the Nauset High girls’ cross-country team aims to defend its state sectional title on Nov. 9 at the Eastern Mass. Division 4 championships. Nauset won the Atlantic Coast League (ACL) championship last […]

Halloween 2019

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VETERANS DAY 2019

PROVINCETOWN — The pride with which this town has always acknowledged the sacrifices of its veterans is evident in the many tributes one sees here. Keeping vigil over Commercial Street at town hall, the Doughboy Monument beckons passersby to reflect on the more than 250 Provincetown residents who served in World War I. The town’s […]

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performance

By Susannah Elisabeth Fulcher |  Photographs by Marcia Geier Walk down Commercial Street in Provincetown pretty much any time of year and, if you’re lucky, you might encounter a tall, exuberant queen with bouncy blond curls, a round-faced smile, and obvious hip extenders under her 3XL dress, sashaying gleefully in high heels. She isn’t handing […]

Crossword

  The November puzzle from Sophia Maymudes should be done on dry land. Need some answers? We send out the solution in our Friday newsletter. You’ll find the signup for our newsletter right here on our home page! This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

POLITICS

WELLFLEET — State Rep. Sarah Peake and Sen. Julian Cyr appeared before a friendly crowd of shellfishermen at Preservation Hall on Nov. 1 and told them what they wanted to hear: that the so-called Cutler bill, H. 746 before the state legislature, has virtually no chance of becoming law. The legislation was originally promoted by […]

dovetail joint

The question: We have two grandchildren and a third on the way, so we are thinking of adding a playroom space to our home. The problem is, we can’t add on. What is the best way for us to gain space, given our tight lot? We do have a full basement that is just used […]

economy

EASTHAM — Rock Harbor is in line to receive additional upgrades starting in March. Shana Brogan, the town’s conservation agent, told the harbor planning committee on Oct. 17 that the state will begin with improvements to the parking area and boat ramp. Voters approved a $1.3 million Rock Harbor improvement plan at a 2018 town […]

island notebook

Elmas Gustauvos Bowlin — or Dadda Bowlin — was a man respected by the entire community for his resourcefulness and way of life, and he was my own hero and mentor. I can still remember standing next to him as he met with Jamaica’s fourth prime minister, Michael Manley. Traditionally, most Jamaicans have a nickname […]

ON THE LANDSCAPE

Frost etches the margins of the grass in the early morning. You can see your breath when you step outside at night. The bin of winter clothing has been pulled from beneath the bed and all the warm blankets are out of their summer hiding place. You have brought your house plants back inside. They […]

the observer

I think we all can agree that Sophie’s Choice was a great movie, but no one wants to be Sophie. At Provincetown’s upcoming special town meeting, however, the year-round community will experience something like it. Housing has been a long-standing priority as the town attempts to address the crisis, while the fire department has long […]

EASTHAM CURRENTS

The public will hear the final proposed cost of the Nauset Regional High School building project in February, according to Greg Levasseur, chairman of the building committee. Levasseur told the Eastham Select Board on Oct. 23 that the Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) will vote to fund the project in February at a final proposed […]

Poetry

  “Senzo” is also the title of a Cape Jazz album by Abdullah Ibrahim, the anti-apartheid activist who once described improvisation as a life-preserving skill. Alluding already to ancestor in Japanese and to action in Zulu, Evie Shockley’s “senzo” soaks up another meaning: improvised poetic form. Pouring into rhymed stanzas (“rooms” in Italian), her dissonant […]

book review

In the 2007 novel Call Me by Your Name, André Aciman created a beautiful and sensual love story about two young men — Elio, a 17-year-old American piano prodigy spending the summer of 1983 in Italy with his parents, and Oliver, a doctoral student working with Elio’s archeology professor father and living with the family. […]

VETERANS DAY 2019

PROVINCETOWN — Veterans and volunteers have organized a number of activities to commemorate Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11. The first event honors those who served in seagoing services and will be held at MacMillan Pier at 10 a.m. At 11 a.m., a ceremony paying tribute to all veterans takes place at the Veterans Memorial […]

steamers

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OBITUARY

Willie Fenichel, known as “Farmer Willie,” of Truro, died on Oct. 9, 2019 after a brief illness. He was 47. Willie grew up in Watertown and graduated from Watertown High School and Suffolk University, where he majored in history. He worked odd jobs for a few years, and then moved permanently to his family’s home […]

PROVINCETOWN CURRENTS

Developer Christine Barker’s plans to redevelop a long-shuttered restaurant include rebuilding Benjamin Lancy’s Wharf. Her proposal, which goes before the zoning board of appeals on Nov. 21, includes a 264-foot pier. The proposal for the condemned Old Reliable Fish House calls for a pier that will provide a pathway from Commercial Street over the beach […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Rift at Provincetown Arts To the editor: As the Independent can attest, when the subject of an article about the dramatic changes at Provincetown Arts came up, I expressed strong resistance to the idea. Close scrutiny of the situation, I believed, would do the magazine and Provincetown Arts Press no good. But since it’s crucial that the newspaper remain true to […]

WARRIORS WATCH

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline. The regular season has ended; only a few teams are left competing in postseason action. Results Boys golf: The Warriors placed fifth in the Division 2 state finals after finishing the regular season with an impressive record of 12-5. Girls field hockey: The Warriors finished […]

MOVEMENT

It’s too bad so many of us are taught about good posture as merely a matter of virtue or aesthetics. Good posture is actually a matter of good health, starting with the fact that it reduces strain on your muscles and ligaments while positioning your joints correctly for movement. Most people know that poor alignment […]

letter from the editor

Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes they’re big. I received an email from a reader who signed himself “Tim C.” complaining about a variety of blunders in the last two issues. “Need to proofread the paper,” he wrote. “There were a number of errors in the issue of Oct. 24: 98 Conwell instead of 9A, Danny Schmidt […]

home

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, 2019. PROVINCETOWN Oct. 28. Rosemarie Consoli and Stephen Brackett to Jonathan Cade Cowan. 9 Bangs St. $697,000. Oct. 28. David Frost and Michael Richards to Mark Bryant and Christopher Chung. 29 Conant St. $1,087,500. Oct. 31. Patricia Deluca to WJHJR LLC. […]

our picks for the week of November 7 through 13

Thursday, Nov. 7, 6 p.m. Open Newsroom — Local Journalism Project, Truro Public Library, 7 Standish Way. The Provincetown Independent invites community members to join in making local news more collaborative. Editors and reporters will be on hand to hear about issues. Free. Thursday, Nov. 7, 6:30 p.m. The Grab Brothers’ acoustic duo will be […]

this week

BRIEFS Sparky and Rhonda Rucker Perform at First Encounter Sparky and Rhonda Rucker — musicians, authors, and teachers — will perform a variety of folk songs, spirituals, and historical ballads on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7:30 p.m. (doors open at 7 p.m.) at the First Encounter Coffeehouse at Chapel of the Pines, 220 Samoset Road […]

classifieds

DO GOOD Casino Night Returns. Helping Our Women’s popular Casino Night returns to Montano’s on Saturday, November 16 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  Join HOW for an evening of fun and gaming! Try your luck (or skill) at the Roulette Wheel, poker and blackjack and win CASH prizes while raising money for HOW.  Montano’s […]

film

PLAYING NOW: NOV. 7-13 The Current War (PG-13). Wellfleet Cinemas, Thursday 4:15 & 7:15 p.m. Harriet (PG-13). Waters Edge Cinemas, Thursday 4 & 6:45 p.m.; Friday 4:30 & 7 p.m.; Saturday 2, 4:30 & 7 p.m.; Sunday 7 p.m.; Monday-Tuesday, 4:30 & 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 4:30 p.m. Last Christmas (PG13). Wellfleet Cinemas, Friday-Wednesday 4:15 & […]

music

When, in the 1930s and ’40s, Cuban musicians such as trumpeter Mario Bauzá and percussionist Chano Pozo introduced the American jazz world to Afro-Cuban rhythms, they kicked off a cultural cross-pollination that continues today with the Cuban jazz combo Harold López-Nussa Quartet. The group — López-Nussa on piano; his brother, Ruy López-Nussa, on drums and […]

metaphysics

Ghost hunter Joni Kosmach points a hand-held infrared camera into the shadows. Black, metallic, and blinking with strange energy, it looks like something a Navy SEAL might wield — or a character in “The X Files.” “Is there anyone with us?” Kosmach asks. “Would anyone like to talk to us today?” Crouching on the cement […]

book review

A book on the oil and gas industry, Russia, and government corruption? Sounds a bit daunting. But Rachel Maddow, host of MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show, author of The New York Times best seller Drift: The Unmooring of Military Power, and part-time Provincetown resident, has written a page-turner on those very subjects — Blowout: Corrupted […]

dia de los muertos

That which frightens us makes us feel more alive. Politics, sex, death, the unforeseen: all things outside our control serve this purpose. It’s the end of October, the season for feeling more alive, even for the dead — a time for all the signs of death-within-life to grow reckless and vivid and in your face. […]

CIVICS

PROVINCETOWN — Longtime Fire Chief Mike Trovato has turned in a petition with 203 signatures on the future of the VFW site, enough to trigger a special town meeting now set for Monday Dec. 2. The meeting will consider a single article, Trovato’s plan to dedicate the former VFW property at 3 Jerome Smith Road […]

HOUSING

PROVINCETOWN — Development of the town-owned VFW site on Jerome Smith Road, long envisioned as a likely spot for affordable housing, appears to be moving forward with a plan for 51 units — primarily rentals for tenants making well below area median income. A series of public meetings have helped town officials narrow the choices […]

health

Outer Cape Health Services will restore its nurse midwife practice following a year with no prenatal or postpartum care available here, OCHS CEO Pat Nadle said this week. Certified nurse midwife Meredith Goff will start part-time in March and work one day per week, spending half her time in Provincetown and the other half in […]

them apples

WELLFLEET — “We got the money, baby!” crowed Edward Englander, the Boston attorney who represents the HDYLTA Trust, on Tuesday following the closing of the sale of the trust’s shellfish flats to the town for $2 million. “We like them apples!” Englander was referring to the trust’s name, which stands for “How Do You Like […]

civics

PROVINCETOWN — Artists, gallery owners, and retailers gave resoundingly bad reviews to Ray Wiggs’s attempt to have the town ban the sale of fine art in restaurants, bars, and inns at an Oct. 22 meeting of the Provincetown Licensing Board. “I don’t think anyone here can honestly say it’s fair that someone can host a […]

LEARNING

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HALLOWEEN

PROVINCETOWN — Say the words “Nelson Avenue” to local kids in October and watch their eyes light up. For years, this small neighborhood off Race Point Road has made up for what it lacks in water views and fancy architecture by being the most decorated and most candy-filled place to go trick-or-treating. Nancy Roderick, of […]

sketchbook

Northern Long-Eared Bat (threatened, endangered). Scientists know them by their calls, and catch them in mist nets. These guys frequent kettle ponds. Across the dunes and forests of Cape Cod and the Seashore, 8 species of bats have been found. They eat massive amounts of insects every night. (White Nose Syndrome found on Cape Cod […]

provincelands

I’ve bought time, the most beautiful thing for which we pay. Time to act out an old monkish dream of a spare cell facing out over water. Time apart, a moratorium on my own life into another, pretending to simplify, to distill. Being on an artist’s residency makes me feel attached to the many artists, […]

STEAMERS

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COCKTAIL HOUR

We’re deep into harvest season — although some people might say we’re heading into the holiday season, since it now seems to start with Halloween rather than Thanksgiving. Either way, there are pumpkins everywhere. And where you find pumpkins, it seems, there is “pumpkin spice.” A quick internet search for “pumpkin spiced cocktails” yielded a […]

OUTDOORS

HOLDEN — I’m sitting in a tree stand 15 feet off the ground. I’ve been here since 6 a.m. and it’s now 8:45. I believe I saw a deer at about 6:30, but it was at a distance and too dark to know for sure. “Every good hunter mistakes a stump for a deer twice […]

FIRST RESPONSE

EASTHAM — The town’s police station was built 30 years ago and has stayed virtually unchanged ever since. But now some much needed exterior and interior renovations are under way. The building received a new roof this fall and renovations to the locker rooms, kitchen, and training room are expected to begin in January and […]

IMMIGRANTS

TRURO — Fall hasn’t yet hit Down Home Farm: devoid of the expected autumnal colors, its fields glow green. The growing season isn’t over, and the farm’s cozy stand on Truro Center Road boasts a lush array of radishes, zucchini, arugula, broccoli, and flower bouquets. This patch of land is cultivated by its tenants, Bhala […]

dovetail joint

The question: When we had our deck built, we were told it would last forever. But each year a few more boards crack or rot and they’re expensive to replace. I suspect it’s not real mahogany. What do you think? Please don’t tell me to treat it. The whole idea was that this expensive hardwood […]

ENVIRONMENT

BOSTON — The Boston Globe’s multimedia reporting project “At the Edge of a Warming World,” published with much fanfare last month, held few surprises for Cape Codders. Most of it was old news — yes, we’re experiencing erosion, flooding, storms, and biodiversity loss. Species are shifting their ranges. Fish stocks are dwindling, and special habitats […]

WINTER WATCH

In the wake of the Thursday, Oct. 17 nor’easter with winds of up to 90 mph Eversource received over 100,000 Cape Cod power outage reports. According to Eversource representative Reid Lamberty, restoration efforts lasted over 72 hours, with the last customer back online the following Sunday morning. The coming winter is forecast to be colder […]

WHISTLE-BLOWER

WELLFLEET — Barbara Jacobs is demanding a refund of $256 after members of the Wellfleet Fire Dept. ordered Silver Cloud Towing to take away her disabled car rather than the AAA-authorized towing service she had arranged. Chief Richard Pauley has refused her written request, saying the tow had to be done quickly because her car, […]

GETAWAYS

I live in Truro, she lives in Connecticut. We’ve both been to New York City many times. For me, it’s been about work. I could tell you what’s on exhibit at every major museum. She goes for theater and knows every little out-of-the-way neighborhood place. We met online, and we’ve been seeing each other for […]

HOUSING

TRURO — It was no surprise to any board of health member that the Delgizzi family had not complied with the latest orders to clean up their property and submit plans for repairs and septic upgrades. Daniel Delgizzi and his son David have for years ignored town rules and failed to pay taxes on multiple […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Our reporter Sophie Ruehr followed up this week on her August 29 story about tenant farmers in Truro by writing about Bhala and Digree Rai, the Nepalese immigrant couple who have created Down Home Farm on an acre of land owned by Ron Singer. Ruehr’s earlier report focused on the way connecting owners of arable […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Saving Provincetown Arts To the editor: Your Oct. 17 article “Eight of 11 Board Members Quit Provincetown Arts” [page 9] was one-sided and didn’t present a complete and balanced account of events. As you noted, one of the people whose written comments are quoted extensively in the article, Mary Maxwell, is a backer of the Independent. More […]

Our picks for the week of October 31 through Nov 7

Thursday, Oct. 31, 2 p.m. On the Trail with the Classics: Wyman Richardson. Salt Pond Visitor Center, 50 Nauset Road, Eastham. These 45-minute programs are set in locales that inspired writers and poets and include a one-mile walk. On Oct. 17 Mary Oliver’s poetry was featured; this time visitors can enjoy Wyman Richardson’s descriptions of […]

OBITUARIES

Susan A. Wheelan of Provincetown died peacefully at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 72. Susan was born in Providence, R.I., the daughter of Daniel and Janice Wheelan. She was a graduate of Bay View Academy, Stonehill College, and the University of Wisconsin Madison with a […]

this week

‘Buying Gay: How Physique Entrepreneurs Sparked a Movement’ East End Books, 389 Commercial St., will host a reading on Friday, Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. Author David K. Johnson, an associate professor of history at the University of Southern Florida, presents a vivid look into the lives of physique entrepreneurs and their customers. The book […]

classifieds

SERVICES Planning a Wedding? Rev. Vernon Diannah Porter, Provincetown’s own wedding specialist, would be honored to be a part of your special day. Officiating with love, respect, and optimism, whether your marriage is gay or straight. Also known for her WOMR role as DJ “Lady Di,” Vernon is a minister and a certified professional life […]

home

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds during the week of Oct. 21 to Oct. 25.  PROVINCETOWN Oct. 21. Jaime A. Del Manzano to Thomas Jung. 400 Bradford St., Unit 3. $804,325. Oct. 21. Allen Bradbury to Markes Property Group LLC. 133 Bradford St. $935,000. Oct. 23. ESB III Trust (Edward S. Still III […]

CLIMATE

TRURO — The nor’easter that struck the Outer Cape on Oct. 10 and lingered for almost three days caused massive erosion at Ballston Beach. Sand dunes and bluffs were carved away, exposing the bare clay beneath. The new scenery is unfamiliar — almost Martian in its hues and its bizarre ridged formations cut into the […]

CIVICS

TRURO — Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer has announced she will retire on June 30, 2020 after five years as the town’s municipal chief. “It’s time,” she said on Tuesday. “It’s been a great five years. I feel we’ve done a lot of great work together.” Palmer, who lives in Eastham, told her department heads […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — A 600-foot floating concrete structure is being installed in Provincetown harbor over the next two weeks. Each 60-foot segment is six feet tall and 15 feet wide, and weighs more than 20 tons. This height and heft will reflect and dissipate wave energy away from MacMillan Pier. The attenuator will protect all four […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — Freda Powell has been coming from Jamaica to work at Marine Specialties on Commercial Street every year since 1998. Like many other seasonal workers on the Outer Cape, she comes here via the government’s H-2B visa program, and she is grateful for the opportunity. “Money from here is sent home to family for […]

ECONOMY

Five small groceries on or near the Outer Cape have closed in the past few seasons, limiting off-season food access for local residents. Bradford Natural, a Provincetown health food store, closed most recently this past May, preceded by Phoenix Fruit in Orleans, Nauset Market in Eastham, Soul Food Natural Food Market in Wellfleet, and the […]

oysterfest 2019

The crowd: There were a total of 18,178 admission tickets sold, 11,486 of them on Saturday. This is about average compared to other years. Before we go on with more stats on the OysterFest, let’s set the scene with a few pictures.       OysterFest by the Numbers Serving those 18,178 festival-goers were 190 […]

warriors watch

Note: Team records are listed as of the Independent’s deadline. The fall sports season is winding down and many teams will compete in their final regular season games this week, with some headed for postseason action. Thursday, Oct. 24 Girls field hockey: In their final game of the season the Warriors (7-6-3) will host the […]

PEOPLE

There are moments in life that seem to unfold in slow motion. Zeno Schwebel, 20, of Truro, remembers one. It was June 27, 2019, the start of what was supposed to be an adventurous summer aboard his friend Kai Olney-Miller Malicoat’s new 58-foot steel seining vessel, the Ginny O. They planned to fish for salmon […]

KITCHEN TABLE

A study published this summer in Science suggested trees are the best tool we have to stabilize our rapidly changing climate. We could increase the world’s forest cover by a third without affecting existing cities or agriculture, the researchers say, and cut atmospheric carbon dioxide by 25 percent, to levels last seen almost a century […]

OBITUARY

Actor, director, producer, and teacher Gabriel Kuttner, a well-known presence on Outer Cape stages for more than a decade, died at his home in Amherst on Oct. 5, 2019 of an accidental drug overdose. He was 45. Kuttner’s credits were copious: the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Harbor Stage Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Lyric Stage, New […]

vignette

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THEATER REVIEW

When a work of theater focuses exclusively on the lives of older women — the things that pain them, humiliate them, terrify them, strengthen them, elate them, or amuse them — it’s instantly marginalized. Unless they’re gargoyles or saints, older women are typically on the periphery, and their courage and self-actualization are matters that most […]

steamers

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PROVINCETOWN 400

PROVINCETOWN — The select board is looking to break the logjam on two projects related to the Provincetown 400 commemorations. The board voted on Oct. 15 to hire a landscape architect to help improve the Pilgrims’ First Landing Park, inside the rotary at the far end of Commercial Street, near the spot where the Pilgrims […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — A 31-room hotel, restaurant and bar with outdoor dining, and four condominiums are in the plans to redevelop the Old Reliable Fish House property on the waterfront at 229R Commercial St. A preliminary design for the project was presented by developer Christine Barker to the planning and zoning boards on Oct. 10. The […]

TURNING THE TABLES

PROVINCETOWN — I was having lunch recently with a friend who loves food and restaurants as much as I do. We always have a blast together, laughing pretty much nonstop, and he must have really enjoyed his lunch this time, because there wasn’t a trace left on his plate. When the server came by to […]

ENVIRONMENT

EASTHAM — “There isn’t a single alternative or suite of alternatives that can 100-percent guarantee the safety of all individuals who choose to enter the water,” coastal scientist Adam Finkle told a crowd of about 100 at Nauset Regional High on Oct. 17. Representing the Woods Hole Group (WHG), Finkle presented the results of the […]

Letter from the editor

“There is no such thing as a pure fact, innocent of interpretation,” wrote Howard Zinn in the afterword to the 2003 edition of his wonderful book, A People’s History of the United States. “Behind every fact presented to the world — by a teacher, a writer, anyone — is a judgment. The judgment that has […]

home

Recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds during the week of Oct. 15 to Oct. 18. PROVINCETOWN  Oct. 15. Sheltons Bend LLC to Stephen Netemeyer and Ned A. Gizinski. 421 Commercial St. $915,000. Oct. 18. T and Celine Funk Gandolfo to Marjorie M. Kyriacou. 744 Commercial St. $1,855,000. Oct. 18. Vincent S. Garmo to […]

sketchbook

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classifieds

Let’s get right to it: these sweet little ads are among the most practical pages of any community newspaper. The classifieds are a friendly way to seek, find, swap, buy, sell, or even brag. Special pricing as we kick this off: get a standard ad, 50 words or fewer, run it for up to 4 […]

surfing

The alarm always comes too early. An anxious dream cut short of its unpleasant conclusion. The body knows that at any moment the sound will come, and so it is tense. My alarm is the sound of a harp. But at 4 a.m., even the instrument of the angels can seem harsh. I wake up […]

the year-rounder

PROVINCETOWN — It is true that Provincetown was incorporated in 1727, but it was not much of a town then — more like an outpost. It really wasn’t until the early 19th century that the town began to develop, with the growth of fishing and whaling activities. And one of the major components of this […]

at the library

Palaces for the People: How social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life. Eric Klinenberg New York: Crown, 2018 I have often said that the best place to view a community is from behind the circulation desk at the public library. From that vantage point, I can see everyone. Individuals. […]

movies

In January 2004 “Heir to an Execution,” Ivy Meeropol’s documentary about her grandparents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 as Communist spies after what can only be called a political show trial, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. “It was a film that was incredibly personal and difficult to make,” Meeropol says. […]

FAWC

The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown welcomed its 2019-20 class of 20 winter fellows on Oct. 1, 10 in writing and 10 in visual arts. They will be in town through April, working on individual and, occasionally, collaborative projects. The Independent queried the fellows via email about their work and unique backgrounds. Here is […]

Women’s Week 2019

Growing up in the bucolic countryside of Hertfordshire and Cambridge, England, Fiona Goodwin began to suspect that she was different when she developed unusually strong emotional attachments to other girls. Her sense of otherness and isolation was reinforced by a mercurial and troubled mother, and by the loss of contact with her father when her […]

at the library

When local libraries began to introduce computers with searchable databases, most patrons thought they’d seen the last of the old card catalogs — those imposing wooden drawers filled with index cards that contained arcane data decipherable only by librarians. But three libraries on the Outer Cape are proving that there’s still life in the old […]

oysterfest 2019

WELLFLEET — Organizers of the Wellfeet OysterFest announced last week that this year’s event will be “plastic free” in response to rising concerns about the environmental impact of single-use plastics. Lead organizer Michele Insley said of SPAT (Wellfleet Shellfish Promotion and Tasting), the group that puts on the festival, “We’re a nonprofit that supports the […]

environment

EASTHAM — The culvert connecting Great Pond and Deborah’s Pond will be replaced to allow significantly increased water flow, the conservation commission decided last week. This is good news for herring, which return each spring to Eastham’s brooks and ponds to spawn. The commission voted 5-0 on Oct. 9 to increase the size of the […]

kitchen table

It’s been a good fall for mushrooms, with plenty of rain followed by some warm, sunny days. I’ve been out in the woods looking for boletes — being careful not to trample the pine needle duff in their favorite settings as I go. There are lots of different boletes out there. They like woods like […]

EXECUTIVE SESSION

WELLFLEET — The town’s purchase of 254 acres of shellfish flats for $2 million from the HDYLTA Trust, which was supposed to close by Sept. 20, has been at least temporarily derailed by the results of a survey of the property commissioned by town officials. The survey showed the trust’s holdings totaled less than two-thirds […]

view from the hive

Unlike some bipeds I know, honey bees never seem to procrastinate in their preparations for the big chill of an Outer Cape winter. The bees take advantage of every warm day, coming and going at the hive entrance at a seemingly frantic pace. Like people, they need to ensure a source of heating fuel that […]

CULTURE DESK

PROVINCETOWN — Every summer for the last 34 years the fat and glossy Provincetown Arts magazine has hit the newsstands with a proud thump. On its pages — and this year’s edition had a colorful 156 of them — mingle the work of artists, performers, and writers, connected to the town whether by deep roots […]

sports

NRHS — “Shocked” is how the members of the Nauset Figure Skating Club described their first-place finish at the Harvestfest competition in Dover, N.H. on Oct. 6. The club is new for the regional high school this year. The Nauset club is made up of eight skaters ranging from sophomores to seniors. Six girls from […]

PEOPLE

PROVINCETOWN — In the Portugal Jose DeBarros grew up in, it wasn’t uncommon for young people to leave high school and set out in search of work. The country was transitioning from dictatorship to democracy, and the economy was lagging. DeBarros wanted something different for his family. So in 1980, the 32-year-old and his bride, […]

MUSIC

“I was sort of ordained to play music.”   So says blues singer-guitarist Joe Louis Walker, who’ll be performing at the Payomet Performing Arts Center in Truro on Saturday, Oct. 19, as part of OysterFest weekend. A member of the Blues Hall of Fame and four-time Blues Music Award winner, Walker was born and raised […]

Outer Cape Portrait

My dad’s a shellfisherman. Grandma is. She digs a bunch of clams. She’s really good at what she does. She gets a lot of clams for the truck at the pier. My dad has a huge boat out on his grant, and me and my brother Asher play on the boat, and when we are […]

in and out

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steamers

This month’s drawing by A. Crock does a doubletake on Marty. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

Women's Week

The last four days of Women’s Week, from Thursday, Oct. 17, to Sunday, Oct. 20, are jam-packed with events. We highlighted several venues last week, and there are some more on this page, but there are always a few events that defy categorization, so we’re breaking them out day by day, below. On Thursday, Oct. […]

million-year picnic

The constellations of summer are passing from the night sky, while our old wintertime friends, like Orion the Hunter, are making their way onto the stage. The planets Jupiter and Saturn are still visible in the early evening, but not for much longer. They’re setting earlier each night, and will soon be lost in the […]

queer I

Fantasia Fair, which unfolds from Sunday, Oct. 20, to Sunday, Oct. 27, represents the best of Provincetown. This isolated village at the end of Cape Cod is a haven for the transgender community — it’s friendly, it’s tolerant, it’s uninhibited, it’s experimental. By 1975, the year of the first Fantasia Fair — before Women’s Week, […]

HEALTH

PROVINCETOWN — Knowledge equals power when it comes to navigating a health crisis. Sometimes it even means financial power. No one knows this better than Molly Perdue, co-founder of the Alzheimer’s Family Support Center (AFSC) of Cape Cod, who told the Independent that financial crises are often one of the unexpected consequences of dementia. She […]

ENVIRONMENT

The reports of dead lobsters being pulled from Cape Cod Bay started on Sept. 23. The cause: warmer than average late fall water temperatures and low wave action that led to “unprecedented” low levels of oxygen in the water. That day the Mass. Div. of Marine Fisheries began getting reports of dead lobsters coming up […]

sports

EASTHAM — From the seat of my kayak I have come to see Nauset Marsh, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, as the Everglades of New England: more wilderness than civilization, a place for endless exploration. My family started kayaking when the kids were small, and we had a typical pair of […]

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Beware the ‘Appeal to Nature’ To the editor: The front-page article in the Sept. 6 issue titled “Culling Seals Is Wrong Answer to Shark Threat, Scientists Say”) is a fine example of the rhetorical device (and logical fallacy) known as the “appeal to nature.” It may well be that infestation by sharks and seals is […]

WELLFLEET OYSTERFEST 2019

Wellfleet OysterFest 2019 will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19-20, rain or shine. General admission tickets are $10 per day. Shellfishermen and food vendors will line Main Street to peddle their wares and chat with customers about Wellfleet’s unique shellfishing community. Wellfleet SPAT (Shellfish Promotion and Tasting), the […]

OP-ED

Susannah Fulcher’s Aug. 9 article about childbirth on the Outer Cape in this newspaper exposed serious weaknesses in our existing medical system here. It also made me want to share my gratitude for midwife Rebecca Taylor’s low-key professionalism in providing prenatal care and home delivery of our third child in Wellfleet in 2008, when I […]

METAPHYSICS

Driving west over the Sagamore Bridge in early October, heading back to Chicago, I sighed as I realized I was once again doing my biannual Persephone act. Ah, but which side of the bridge is the Underworld? There’s the rub. In terms of the calendar, I was going from the light of summer to the […]

ECONOMY

PROVINCETOWN — As recently as 10 years ago, there was only one oyster farmer in Provincetown, and his efforts were small scale and experimental. Nine farmers now land Provincetown oysters at MacMillan Pier and aquaculture operations are approved on 25 acres of deep water in the East End and 38 acres of tidal flats in […]

letter from the editor

Some people love performing and being on camera. Others cringe at the thought, especially in this age of surveillance capitalism, when we can’t even go to the supermarket without getting the feeling that we’re being watched and recorded. (Yes, we mean you, “Marty.”) So we understand the resistance exhibited by some local town officials to […]

WOMEN WITHOUT LIMITS

By the time I arrived in Provincetown in 1982 to find myself there was already a vibrant community of young women washashores here, nourished by a long and deep tradition of strong, independent Portuguese women. There seemed to be no boundary to what we could do, and no limit to what we could imagine ourselves […]

letter from the editor

More than one reader of the brand-new Provincetown Independent has asked us about our “politics” as a newspaper. What is our position on property taxes, or the Mass. Shellfish Initiative, or the funicular (sorry, “inclined elevator”) up the hill to the Pilgrim Monument? What’s our agenda? My usual answer to these questions is not very […]

MOVEMENT

Strength training is good for you, and not just for increasing muscle mass. It increases bone density and even improves cardiovascular health. But a lot of people have trouble making weightlifting part of their routines. I blame the mantra “No pain, no gain.” That idea is just wrong. And it’s one of the top reasons […]

COCKTAIL HOUR

I’ve had a bout lately of nostalgia for the 1990s, a decade when we were younger, prettier perhaps, and definitely more civil with one another. One reason for this nostalgia was spending a lot of time in Provincetown this summer, which reminded me of my first visits to town in the ’90s. In the course […]

PROVINCETOWN WOMEN'S WEEK 2019

The 35th annual Provincetown Women’s Week, which officially runs from Oct. 14 to 20, celebrates, among many things, lesbian visibility. It’s fitting, then, that one of the most popular events of the week is likely to be a film about the efforts of a few women, starting in 1970s, to document lesbian lives so they […]

THE PITCH

PROVINCETOWN — At the top of the hill on Winslow Street sits Motta Field, home of the Provincetown Fishermen soccer team. It’s an energetic mix of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders, coed and diverse in color and national origin. “I don’t think there’s another [middle-school] team as diverse as ours,” says Tracey Anderson, the team’s assistant […]

on the landscape

Shhhhhhhh. The wind is given voice by the grass. The wind has no sound if not for the things it passes through, around, within. It is not the sound of the wind, but of the grass. The wind does not scream in the lines. The wind allows the lines to speak their sound. Shhhhhhh…. Blades […]

in the wild

The Outer Cape’s sandy, acidic soils are generally seen as inhospitable for food crops. But every fall, people travel from across New England and farther afield to visit our dunes and pine forests, looking for the special mushrooms that thrive in nutrient-poor soils and in symbiotic relationships with pines and oaks. The number of mushroom […]

PROVINCETOWN WOMEN’S WEEK 2019

It officially starts on Columbus Day, doesn’t it? Women’s Week may have aged a bit over its 35 years, and there seem to be fewer lesbian inns and hangouts these days, but the week itself in Provincetown has been ever-expanding in time and with things to do, both free and fund-raiser-expensive. Indeed, there is so […]

environment

WELLFLEET — The owners of a mansion teetering on the edge of a dune near Great Island won approval from the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to construct a 241-foot-long rock revetment to shore up the structure, despite opposition from the town and the Cape Cod National Seashore. The DEP approval does not, however, […]

civics

PROVINCETOWN — Town Planner Jeffrey Ribeiro is resigning from his job this week to become the Truro town planner next week. The Truro position offers slightly more money, but according to Ribeiro that’s not the reason he’s moving — it’s that there are more interesting opportunities coming up in Truro. The Provincetown planner’s time is […]

housing

TRURO — Last week the Truro Board of Health gave a landlord up to 15 days to begin repairs to his motel where about 50 tenants live year-round. If Daniel Delgizzi, of Braintree, and his son David fail to meet the town’s deadlines for the Truro Motor Inn repairs, the town will petition the housing […]

technology

ORLEANS — If you’ve been to the Stop & Shop supermarket here recently, you may have noticed a new staff member roaming the aisles. He’s seven feet tall, thin, rolls on wheels, and has a pair of big googly eyes. His name is Marty the Robot, and he arrived in Orleans in May. Although he […]

Rail Trail

WELLFLEET — Following a heated exchange on Monday with a crowd opposed to the extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail extension to Route 6, the Wellfleet Select Board voted against sending a letter to Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker about it. The letter would have asked the governor to temporarily stop work on the current […]

transportation

WELLFLEET — Increasingly, statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) indicate that America’s roads are safe only for those who drive on them. In 2018 for the second year in a row cyclist and pedestrian fatalities increased while motorist fatalities dropped slightly. Preliminary 2018 data from the NHTSA show that an estimated 36,750 […]

health

Every Tuesday night starting Oct. 29 there will be a dinner party with 100 guests at the Wellfleet United Methodist Church. Dana Franchitto will play classical pieces on the piano and the food will be prepared by teams of cooks who get a little competitive with their culinary creations. Along with the best meatloaf on […]

oysterfest 2019

WELLFLEET — Ever wonder how all those oysters get to OysterFest? This year, Wellfleet Shellfish Promotion and Tasting (SPAT), the nonprofit that organizes the OysterFest, is expecting to serve 130,000 oysters to around 20,000 people over the course of the two-day festival on the weekend of Oct. 19-20, according to Michele Insley, SPAT’s executive director. […]

ASK INDIE

Dear Indie, My husband, “Cosmo,” and I have been married for almost a year and are very happy. He is the most loving man I know and a wonderful stepfather to my three young children. We were both married before, and in fact Cosmo was still married when we met and fell in love. This […]

letters to the editor

Reproductive Health Overlooked To the editor: I was pleased to see your front-page article on childbirth on Outer Cape Cod [“Childbirth on the Edge,” Sept. 6, 2019], a topic that along with women’s reproductive health care in general is all too often overlooked. As a midwife who specializes in women’s health care, including prenatal care, […]

OBITUARIES

PROVINCETOWN — Mary Dorothy “Dotty” Mulcahy, a free-spirited child of the 1960s whose mischievous smile and sparkling blue eyes live in the hearts of all who knew and loved her, died of ovarian cancer at her Provincetown home on Sept. 16, 2019. She was 70. Dotty leaves her wife, Cherie Mittenthal, her McBride family, and […]

ENVIRONMENT

EASTHAM — Restoration Agriculture author Mark Shepard of Wisconsin visited the Nauset Food and Research Garden at Nauset Regional High School last week to speak with about two dozen community members on agroforestry. Shepard is well known in permaculture circles for his pioneering vision of perennial agriculture and advocates using trees to grow staple crops […]

Crossword

This month’s puzzle can also be found in our October 10, 2019 print edition. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

BACKTALK

ORLEANS — Walking into class and seeing a substitute teacher at the front of the room can mean different things to different students. Some see an excuse to relax and mess around. Others see an opportunity to help out a guest. At the Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans, which most Outer Cape kids in […]

Vignette

Holding on to summer as the fall rains arrive. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

natura viva

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the year-rounder

PROVINCETOWN — My late father-in-law was a wonderful man, with a simple palate, a real meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. Whenever any of his three daughters (each an accomplished and inventive cook) attempted to serve him something creative, something Asian-fusion or whatever, he would take a bite or two, look up quizzically, and ask, “What is […]

housing

TRURO — About 50 residents of a rundown Route 6 motel that serves as affordable year-round housing were spared eviction on Thursday night when the Truro Board of Health voted against condemning the property. Despite what board of health members described as serious state code violations — including overloaded electrical outlets — the board voted […]

sketchbook

It’s fall. Migrating birds are flocking and staging along the coast. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

POETRY

Shirt To get into it As it lies Crumpled on the floor Without disturbing a single crease Respectful Of the way I threw it down Last night The way it happened to land Almost managing The impossible contortions Doubling back now Through a knotted sleeve                     […]

civics

PROVINCETOWN — Former harbormaster Rex McKinsey, who has been on administrative leave since August, will return to work on Oct. 15. But he may have a new title, marine coordinator, and a more limited set of duties, as town officials consider splitting his old job into two or three new ones. This page is available […]

environment

Maine lobstermen have withdrawn their support for an agreement made last April to protect whales by limiting the amount of rope they use, and Cape Cod lobstermen are not happy. Severely endangered right whales are thought to become tangled in the ropes connecting buoys to lobster traps set on the ocean floor, leading to increased […]

the observer

PROVINCETOWN — Tell me if you have heard this one: A coastal community, remote, popular, seasonal, with a shrinking population because the year-round jobs are disappearing while housing costs climb, driven not by local conditions but by the purchasing power of its second-home owners, while the year-round residents struggle to secure just one. The community […]

PEOPLE

WELLFLEET — In September Melissa Lowe Cestaro became the director of Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. She succeeds Bob Prescott, who is retiring after nearly 40 years in the post. Melissa is an environmental educator and came to the Audubon from the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. The Independent asked Cestaro about her […]

Environment

WELLFLEET — A Cape May warbler is flying through a pine forest. Its brown-green wings flutter madly as it races to keep up with its flock. It has been feeding all summer in Canada on an abundance of spruce budworms and has accumulated enough fat to make the journey south. As it heads towards a […]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

On Friday, Sept. 6 the first edition of the Independent on paper rolled off the press at Graphic Developments Inc. in Hanover, Mass. It’s always a thrill to see the beautiful precision and power of the Goss Community web press and the skill of the printers who keep the news coming to us. Many of […]

island notebook

WELLFLEET — I grew up in the agricultural community of Black River, Jamaica, where my grandfather, Elmas Gustauvas Bowlin, was a prominent butcher at the local farmers’ market. The pride he took in his work, and in all he did, is something I embrace and continue to live by. Our back yard had flourishing vegetable […]

sketchbook

“… Yeah, just got a year-round place in P’Town, you and the fam should visit…”   This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

Health

PROVINCETOWN — Concerned residents have been calling the health dept. to report rat sightings in recent weeks, according to a public notice posted on the town website. The notice urges townspeople to eliminate the animals’ food sources by storing garbage in rodent-proof containers and install traps, or use poison if necessary, to mitigate the problem. There […]

Economy

WELLFLEET — At a contentious meeting on Tuesday, the Wellfleet Select Board voted 3-0 to limit the number of shellfish racks that may be left on aquaculture grants through the winter and to require that all such equipment be pushed down to be flush with the sea floor. The new regulations are intended to prevent […]

ART AND POETRY

WELLFLEET — Art critic and poet Monique Brunet-Weinmann and artist Bertrand Bracaval are both from Brittany, the westernmost region of France, but they did not meet each other there. That happened in Montreal, where Brunet-Weinmann has lived since 1969. She showed Bracaval her poems in a series titled “Exile,” about her longing for the places […]

THE 400TH ANNIVERSARY

PROVINCETOWN — The public landscape committee presented its plan to renovate the Pilgrims’ First Landing Park in the West End at a joint meeting with the select board on Monday, and the selectmen encouraged the committee to find common ground with the dept. of public works. The DPW’s Richard Waldo had presented his own plan, […]

LEARNING

PROVINCETOWN — Disagreement over who should be eligible to benefit from a town scholarship fund established more than 30 years ago led the select board to ask for help from town counsel last week. In question is the John Anderson Francis Family Scholarship, established by the will of Cecilia C. Francis in 1985, before school […]

NATIONAL SEASHORE

Efforts to revive the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, which was deep-sixed by the Trump administration and Senate Republicans last year, produced a glimmer of hope on Wednesday. The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources unanimously approved H.R. 182, which would reauthorize the commission’s existence. But the outlook for congressional passage of the bill […]

LEARNING

EASTHAM — A proposed revision of the strategic plan for the Nauset Regional School District emphasizes social and emotional learning, global citizenship, and partnerships between the schools and the community at large. The plan was presented to the regional school committee on Sept. 17 by Maxine Minkoff, former principal of the Nauset Regional Middle School, […]

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — The Rev. James W. “Jim” Cox of Provincetown died on Sept. 10, 2019 at home, surrounded by friends. He was 59. Born in Barnstable and raised in Wellfleet, he was the son of Hazel and the late William T. Cox. After graduating from Nauset High School, he went on to study at Centenary College, a Methodist Church-affiliated school in […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

PROVINCETOWN — I live in an unusual Provincetown neighborhood. There are 11 nearby dwellings, and eight of them are occupied year-round. (That’s 73 percent.) Two of my year-round neighbors own their own businesses, three others work for local companies or nonprofits (and so do my wife and I), and two are self-employed. This all sounds […]

OBITUARIES

Mary Lou Santos, 90 TRURO — A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20 for Mary Lou Santos, who died at age 90 on April 2, 2019 at her home in North Truro. Friends and family are invited to attend the service at St. Peter the Apostle Church on Prince […]

VIEW FROM THE HIVE

Honey bees, like all social insects, are inherently aware of the late summer’s waning day length, low sun angle, and chilly nighttime temperatures. With the end of the sweet pepperbush nectar flow in mid-August the colony’s expansive mood of May and June has abruptly shifted — to conservation and consolidation. It’s not surprising that our […]

FIRST RESPONSE

WELLFLEET — A fiber optic cable fire on Route 6 near Pamet Point Road took out telephone lines and blocked first responder communications from Wellfleet to Provincetown for several hours on Sunday, Sept. 8. Communications between the Outer Cape and the Barnstable County Sheriff’s office were disrupted as well. “Phone lines and, potentially, 911 were […]

sketchbook

The summer beach builds during calm seasonal weather until this time of year when stormier tides take big bites out of the mounded sand, leaving rugged scarps. If there’s a few weeks between storms, the beach rebuilds. But winter will finally scour away the summer’s contours. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to […]

OBITUARY

PROVINCETOWN — Anne Lord Malicoat, a long-time resident of Provincetown, died peacefully at home on Aug. 29, 2019, with her family at her side. She was 81 and had lived for over a decade with Parkinson’s disease. A respected artist, a community- and conservation-minded citizen, and a nurturer of all, Anne reveled in the outdoors, […]

CLIMATE

WELLFLEET — As citizens organize to address the certainty of disruptive climate-related events here, librarians — including Wellfleet’s Gabrielle Griffis — are taking a leading role in urging communities to prepare for the crisis. An emerging statewide network called Climate Change Conversations in Libraries is cosponsoring a program on extreme weather events at the Wellfleet […]

MOVEMENT

We all strive to find balance in life. In a physical sense, it’s central to everything that we do from walking to surfing and from gardening to high-intensity sports. The clinical definition of balance is the ability to maintain the center of gravity over your base of support. For both elders and athletes, this translates […]

EASTHAM CURRENTS

EASTHAM — The 400 Commemoration Committee isn’t waiting until 2020 to start the celebrations; the first of its events, in partnership with the Eastham Public Library, takes place this Sunday, Sept. 15, at the Salt Pond Visitors Center. Kathleen Bragdon, an ethnographer and author of Native People of Southern New England 1500-1650 will present a […]

HOUSING

EASTHAM — Some 200 local residents filled the Orleans-Eastham Elks Lodge on Sept. 5, waiting anxiously for their numbers to be called by representatives of Pennrose, the developer of the Village at Nauset Green, Eastham’s new affordable rental housing complex. The lottery determined the order in which the 263 applications that had qualified for the […]

THEATER

PROVINCETOWN — Everybody knows the name Tennessee Williams, the two-time Pulitzer-Prize-winning playwright who gave us The Glass Menagerie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Not everyone knows the name Yukio Mishima, a Japanese author who was thrice considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature, though he never won. Very few […]

ON THE LANDSCAPE

If I were asked to describe one image that most aptly represents the character and feel of the Outer Cape, it would be a gnarled, wind-sculpted pitch pine clinging to the top of a sand dune. Its roots firmly anchored in the sand, a tapering trunk bending back onto itself in turns, coarse and knotted, […]

Crossword

This month’s puzzle also appears in our print preview edition This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

THEATER

WELLFLEET — Spoiler alert: Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, which opens this weekend at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, ends with a defiant declaration. “I’m not capitulating!” shouts the last man on earth. It’s not a bad motto for a troupe that was shut down on its opening weekend back in 1985 and nearly collapsed under crushing financial burdens […]

A comprehensive listing of artistic, cultural, and community events in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham. Send listings to [email protected] and include a phone number for verification.   TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 10-11:30 am: Wellfleet Eastham Knitters. Eastham Public Library, 190 Samoset Rd., Small Conference Room. Free 10 am-12 noon: Outer Cape Moms. Eastham Public Library, 190 Samoset Rd., Children’s […]

ENVIRONMENT

WELLFLEET — A multimillion-dollar plan to restore Mayo Creek could significantly improve water quality in Wellfleet Harbor and would not threaten nearby structures or septic systems, town officials have concluded. The select board voted unanimously earlier this summer to proceed with planning the restoration following preliminary research into the project’s feasibility. But nearby property owners […]

HEALTH

WELLFLEET — Health and Conservation Agent Hillary Greenberg-Lemos issued a warning on Wednesday that the Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus had been detected in Wellfleet. The rare but deadly disease is contracted from the bite of an infected mosquito. Greenberg-Lemos said that residents should try to avoid being bitten. “I don’t think they should be super […]

EASTHAM CURRENTS

EASTHAM — It’s been called “the party the town throws itself when the tourists go home.” Eastham’s Windmill Weekend celebrations extend far past the edges of the triangular swath on which Cape Cod’s “oldest and last working gristmill” (when it’s working) sits. The 42nd edition of the festival takes place this weekend, although the windmill […]

Poetry

Sharks’ Teeth Everything contains some silence. Noise gets its zest from the small shark’s-tooth- shaped fragments of rest angled in it. An hour of city holds maybe a minute of these remnants of a time when silence reigned, compact and dangerous as a shark. Sometimes a bit of a tail or fin can still be […]

Learning

Photos and words by photographer Edward Boches. TRURO — Where could you go to get a full-body workout, improve your concentration, build self-esteem, and learn how to collaborate better? At the summer circus camp at the Payomet Center for the Performing Arts, young people work hard to gain those skills. But if you ask them, […]

Provincetown

Photos by Marcia Geier taken at this year’s Carnival parade, with words collected online and in conversations afterwards by Susannah Elisabeth Fulcher. PROVINCETOWN — “Joy in the street!” The words of longtime Provincetown visitor and now year-round renter Barbara Dyett perfectly captured the mood of this year’s Enchanted Forest Carnival Parade. The costumes were magical […]

wellfleet

Photographs by Jacob Greenberg, taken on Saturday, August 24 The acoustic duo Cumberland, Jim Rohrer and Lynda Shuster, played bluegrass and traditional Appalachian tunes.   Blue Dog brought jazz to the front porch of the Wellfleet Public Library.   The Atlantic Rhythm Pigs perform on African drums.   Singer-singwriter Tom Leidenfrost entertained the crowd at […]

Letters To the Editor

The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers. No fancy form for now; just send us an email. Please include your phone number, for verification, not publication.   Only in Wellfleet To the editor: In your article concerning the apparent dysfunction within the Wellfleet Select Board [“Wellfleet Struggles With Leadership Crisis,” Aug. 16], you attribute the following […]

economy

TRURO — At least 11 Truro farms are providing local markets with fresh produce and flowers this year, up from just one farm in 1987. But it may come as a surprise that half the growers at the Truro farmers’ market cultivate land they do not own. Instead, these farmers have leases or more informal […]

eastham currents

EASTHAM — Two weeks after showing high concentrations of a green filamentous algal bloom, a pair of Eastham ponds remain closed by order of the town’s health dept. Recreational activities at Schoolhouse and Minister’s ponds are prohibited and residents are strongly advised to avoid any contact with or ingestion of the water from either pond. […]

economy

WELLFLEET — Shellfishermen here are mobilizing to oppose state legislation that they say threatens their way of making a living from the sea. The Outer Cape’s state legislators and the Wellfleet Select Board are in their corner. “We need people behind us to fight this thing,” Brett Morse, a member of the shellfish advisory board, […]

dear indie

Note: The deadline for submissions for the advice columnist position has now passed. Keep watching the Independent for further developments in the selection process.   Dear Indie: My husband, “Cosmo,” and I have been married for almost a year and are very happy. He is the most loving man I know and a wonderful stepfather […]

ECONOMY

WELLFLEET — Along the pine-fringed stretch of Route 6 in South Wellfleet, farm stands have come and gone, motels have changed hands, and a clam shack has turned into a patisserie. But there is one roadside scene that hasn’t changed much over the years — give or take a few giant inflatable dinosaurs. Two souvenir […]

million-year picnic

The planets Jupiter and Saturn returned to the evening sky last month and will be with us through autumn. Jupiter looks like a brilliant white-gold star, and Saturn is a dimmer, rich gold color. They’re a beautiful sight against the night sky, but bright objects like these can be seen earlier, just after sunset, when […]

ENVIRONMENT

TRURO — The climate crisis is “the greatest threat to the integrity of our National Park Service that we have ever experienced, and we’re at the forefront of it,” according to Cape Cod National Seashore Supt. Brian Carlstrom. Responding to that threat includes getting creative with practicalities like dune stairways and beach bathhouses. That’s because […]

THEATER

PROVINCETOWN — It was the evening before Provincetown’s Carnival parade, and Commercial Street was filled with half-naked people in 10-inch heels and three-foot Afros. Loud men in thongs hawked tickets to “Bearlesque.” It was our last chance to see it! Seven p.m.! The feeling of freedom and unabashed sexuality extended to the stage of Fishermen […]

PEOPLE

PROVINCETOWN — The 250 Bradford St. home of artists Elspeth Halvorsen and Tony Vevers, formerly owned by Mark Rothko, is hidden behind an overgrown patch of trees. On this sunny, hot August day, light splatters through leaves and pine branches creating an enchanted forest of another time, a Provincetown past. Inside, Halvorsen sits under a […]

ENVIRONMENT

PROVINCETOWN — Calls to curb the seal population in Cape Cod waters by ending their protected status under federal law are misguided, say scientists who study marine ecology. In spite of the increased presence of great white sharks here, they say, the return of both seals and sharks represents a re-establishment of the balance of […]

THE YEAR-ROUNDER

PROVINCETOWN — Sailing or motoring out of Cape Cod Bay, rounding Long Point and entering Provincetown Harbor, there is a sense of protected water. The harbor appears as a big round bowl, the rims running from the shores of Truro through the crowded town waterfront, backed by dunes, and out to the Point. Refuge. Indeed, […]

VIEW FROM THE HIVE

WELLFLEET — In early August, sweet pepperbush, also called summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), comes into bloom where I live, in north Wellfleet. And when it does, the “honey factory” goes into full production. The bee yard is one loud hum as thousands of bees per minute pour in and out of hive entrances. Foragers streak off […]

sketchbook

Drawing by Daniel Dejean, who lives, gardens, runs, and draws pictures in Wellfleet. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

OBITUARY

EASTHAM — Half an hour before he collapsed on Aug. 7, Joe Abbott was working with his fellow staff members at Willy’s Gym, where he directed the tennis program. “They were laughing, giggling in the office,” owner Barbara Niggel said. “He went back down to the courts to teach a lesson.” There, near the courts, […]

environment

A father sprays his son’s back with sunscreen and releases him into the water at Newcomb Hollow Beach to play. It’s a common scene: an estimated 1.9 million people visit the Cape Cod National Seashore each summer between June and August and most tourists spend a good deal of their time in local waters. The […]

economy

As the registration and first payment deadline for the new Mass. short-term rental tax approaches, some home owners are confused and frustrated by unanswered questions about how the tax is collected and exactly who owes it. Airbnb has acknowledged that it has collected the new tax from customers of at least some hosts who are […]

economy

EASTHAM — Wellfleet is world-famous for oysters. Neighboring Eastham is not. But there are folks in town who are trying to change that. One is 31-year-old Jared Collins, whose family has been here for five generations. Jared has three small shellfish grants in Town Cove, including the first grant in the town of Eastham, dating […]

eastham currents

EASTHAM — Some 16 months before the 400th anniversary, plans are well under way to commemorate the Dec. 8, 1620 “first encounter” between Native Americans and European pilgrims. Perhaps the most ambitious aspect of the celebration is an effort to bring the sailing “shallop” Elizabeth Tilley to Eastham for both display and tours. The vessel, a replica […]

metaphysics

TRURO — “Autumn is over the long leaves that love us,” wrote William Butler Yeats. The first harbingers of autumn are suddenly over the Outer Cape, as we see the sharpening of the colors of the water and feel the chill in the morning air. But the Outer Cape has become more permanently autumnal, as […]

next month in review

Artists, poets, therapists, fortune-tellers all understand that the urge to uncover meaning in an apparently random arrangement is an aspect of the human condition. We long for personal messages whispered to us in the patterns of the wordless world — stars, dreams, inkblots, playing cards, smoke swirls, serendipities, coincidences, or even someone’s gaze. At the […]

wine

With July behind us and each evening on our glorious peninsula growing shorter, we sense this summer beginning to flit through our grasp. We cherish our last few visitors somehow more than the others who came early on. And I, for one, am done with sharing cheerful but unremarkable wines. Especially the lightly sweet rosés […]

civics

WELLFLEET — The select board’s efforts to address citizen concerns about the process leading to the signing of a purchase and sale agreement for 247.5 acres of shellfish flats off Indian Neck have been stymied for a month by members’ recusals and a canceled meeting. It is unclear at this point how the board will […]

Letters To the Editor

The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers. No fancy form for now; just send us an email. Please include your phone number, for verification, not publication. ‘It took us back’ To the editor: We enjoyed Dennis Minsky’s essay, “Peculiar and Superior,” in the first issue of the Independent. It took us back to our year-round […]

people

WELLFLEET — The picture, painted in about 1898 by S.F.M. Badger for Capt. Lewis R. Paine, was a classic Americana image of Paine’s ship plowing a translucent sea in full-blown sail, a lighthouse stiff in the background. It was also a restorer’s nightmare. A descendant of Wellfleet’s Paine family had brought it to Debra Dickinson’s […]

economy

PROVINCETOWN — The OpenCape fiber optic cable network went live in January 2013, having secured $40 million in grants and offering the promise of high-speed internet connections to Cape Cod residents from the canal to Provincetown. Six and a half years later, mention OpenCape to almost anyone here and the reaction is “Whatever happened with […]

housing

WELLFLEET — The long-delayed plan to build four affordable single-family homes on Old Kings Highway has hit another wall: a new lawsuit filed by a group of abutters. The zoning board of appeals unanimously approved a comprehensive permit for the project on July 18. Five members of the ZBA and Habitat for Humanity of Cape […]

environment

WELLFLEET — On the afternoon of July 11 the beach at Gull Pond was empty: no chairs in the sand, no children doing cannonballs and belly flops from the dock. “CLOSED, NO SWIMMING,” a sign read. “Swimming May Cause Illness.” A routine test the day before had found a high level of potentially toxic cyanobacteria […]

people

PROVINCETOWN — Bartender, bullet maker, bookkeeper — Beata Cook has been all these things. Not necessarily in that order. But who cares about chronology when you’re listening to a master raconteur? It’s a hot Sunday afternoon in late July, and Cook, dressed in shorts and a white tank top that matches her close-cropped hair, has […]

island notebook

WELLFLEET — Black River, where I grew up, is the capital of St. Elizabeth’s Parish. Known by the beautiful sobriquet “breadbasket of Jamaica” because of a thriving agricultural and fisheries community, it is a city with no city life to offer. It’s still a place where there’s no need to maneuver through traffic, or to […]

the year-rounder

PROVINCETOWN — It happened again the other morning: walking my dog on the beach I met a couple and we began talking. I mentioned something about last winter’s storms. There was a pause. He asked: “Do you live here?” Yes. “Year-round?” Yes. “Nice!” he exhaled in a reverential tone. Instantly I felt my status elevate: […]

on the landscape

There is a trail I follow through the forest behind my house, a winding old fire road grown narrow over the years. I have walked these woods for most of my life. The walk is one I take when I need to hide from the summer heat in the shade only an oak forest provides. […]

Crossword

This puzzle from Sophia Maymudes is the first installment of a monthly feature in the Independent. This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.

sketchbook

In the late season the tree swallows make flocks, sometimes thousands of birds, roosting on remote beaches and descending on stands of bayberry shrubs with their candle-wax berries (which few other creatures can digest). We came upon them after a long dune walk, clustered and swirling in a hollow near the ocean. This page is […]

in season

Striped bass migrate north from the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River during the summer into Cape Cod Bay. I learned from my grandfather that catching a “schoolie,” which is a small bass, about 12 to 18 inches long, is one good reason a person might choose to live on the Cape. These are catch-and-release fish […]

health

“Will we make it to the hospital in time?” That’s one of the big questions faced by young families living on Outer Cape Cod and expecting a baby. As intimidating as Route 6 traffic can be in the summer, it turns out that there are even more daunting issues facing prospective parents here — including […]