Wellfleet Scholarships
To the editor:
At the recent annual town meeting, Wellfleet postponed consideration of a motion to contribute a significant amount of money toward a scholarship fund for Wellfleet residents graduating from Nauset Regional High School.
Although I support this proposal, I suggest we amend it to include scholarships for students entering apprentice programs as well as traditional postsecondary education. These scholarships should be available not just to Nauset High graduates but also to graduates of Cape Cod Regional Technical High School. They could be used for living expenses while students are in apprenticeship programs.
We should of course support our youth who want to go on to college or university. We also need to support those students who would postpone entering the job market to complete an apprenticeship. Considering the acute shortage of skilled tradesmen in the region, it would be to the advantage of us all.
John Cumbler
Wellfleet
Redeveloping an Eyesore
To the editor:
I have watched the shenanigans involving Christine Barker’s attempt to develop the property at 227R Commercial St. in Provincetown, the former site of the Old Reliable Fish House. I respect her development experience and tenacity.
In the beginning, I attended zoning, planning, and historical meetings to support Ms. Barker’s plans to build such a large-scale project in a small town. As a real estate broker, I applauded her guts and determination.
I have looked at this derelict property for way too long. The building, the driveway, the pier, and everything else about it has become an eyesore and a danger.
I have been reading about this nonsense for years on end. This entire battle over the development of 227R Commercial boils down to three things: money, greed, and jealousy. The days of staring at a decrepit pier, a derelict building, and a driveway that is a hazard need to come to end.
Ms. Barker is neither a good witch nor a bad witch, but just smarter, more tenacious, and driven to realize her dream of building a hotel in a town she loves and lives in. I have no financial interest in Ms. Barker’s project. I am just a passionate girl from Provincetown who has had enough of this battle of egos.
It’s time to drop the fight and let the project proceed. Provincetown needs more hotel rooms, not lawsuits.
Emily A. Boynton
North Truro
Running for School Committee
To the editor:
I am a candidate for one of the two open positions on the Eastham Elementary School Committee. I have lived in Eastham for 29 years, raising a family while working as an elementary school teacher at the Truro Central School.
My roles as a parent, Eastham taxpayer, school council member, and local teachers’ union president have given me a deep understanding of the distinct and vital responsibilities of everyone involved in the welfare of a school.
I will work to develop policies that support teachers and increase attention to our children’s social and emotional health. Furthermore, I will advocate for sustaining a diverse, compassionate, and inclusive school community. I promise to prioritize educational excellence while addressing equity and fiscal challenges by putting children first.
Debra Raymond
Eastham
Wainwright the Virtuoso
To the editor:
Re “Rufus Wainwright Comes Home to Provincetown for the First Time” [May 4, page C1]:
Wainwright was amazing at town hall on Saturday. He’s a virtuoso — you’d swear you heard an orchestra accompanying him. But somehow it was all Rufus, on piano and guitar.
His songs are both familiar and deeply personal, reminiscent of a different place and era. It’s a new kind of music, not like anything else — it often steps between the notes and into a world unique to Rufus. Is it a ballad? An opera?
He sang two Judy Garland songs: “You Go to My Head” (forgetting the words just where Judy did at Carnegie Hall) and the most beautiful “Over the Rainbow” I’ve ever heard, measured and melancholy.
His encore blended cleverly into Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” It was beautiful, of course. But I would have been just as happy with “Rufus Is a Tit Man,” which his dad, Loudon, wrote to sing for him. I saw Loudon do that at the Quiet Knight in Chicago in the mid ’70s, holding baby Rufus in his arms.
Tom Ross
Provincetown
