Caring for Elders
To the editor:
Thank you for the excellent article on the home care crisis on the Cape [July 20, page A7], exemplified by the persistent backlog of those seeking home care services. As your article says, the current backlog is almost 400. There simply are not enough service providers to offer them full home care. It is a continuing problem with no easy solution.
As with almost everything, additional funding could help solve the crisis. Unfortunately, virtually every nonprofit on the Cape has budget issues, exacerbated by the decline in federal support as Covid relief money disappears. We on the board of Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands (ESCCI) are working diligently to find ways to fill the holes in the budget, but it is not an easy job.
ESCCI, the umbrella organization for our councils on aging, manages many programs in addition to home care. These include a senior nutrition program that provides thousands of meals each week to older residents, a protective services program designed to prevent elder abuse, a family caregiver support program, a money management program, and several others to enhance the quality of life of the elder community.
See its website, escci.org, to learn more about the organization and its programs.
Stephen J. Greenberg
Wellfleet
‘Some Things Need Protection’
To the editor:
Many years ago, I visited Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks, longing to see the famed “wild horses.” I imagined walking right up to one of them and, if possible, making contact.
I soon learned that the horses have protections, with penned-in areas that keep the overzealous at bay. While it put a twist in my expectation, I gave it some thought and realized that there are some things in nature that need protection from the masses.
The legacy that Josephine Del Deo worked so hard for with the Cape Cod National Seashore did not include monetizing the dune shacks of Provincetown to the highest bidder. Had it been so, she would have rented hers out for 50-odd summers and made a handsome profit.
Anyone hardy enough to withstand the winds of the dunes to maintain one of the shacks — which have no running water or septic systems — has earned the right to live there. How greedy is our government that it would evict a 94-year-old in favor of a bidder with deep pockets? This is not right. Leave Frenchie’s shack to its rightful caretakers, Sal Del Deo and his family.
Noelle Rilleau
Lakeville
The Crust Was Missing
To the editor:
I worked at the Lighthouse Bakery for my first summer job on the Cape, arriving every morning at 6 to get the muffins out into the trays for the first rush of customers.
The recipe in your July 13 issue [“Wellfleet Yearns for the Lighthouse Blueberry Muffin,” page B1] missed a critical element: the delightfully crunchy crust of large sugar crystals baked into the muffin top. Without that, they will surely disappoint.
Eliza Miller
New York City
Smitten by Muffins
To the editor:
I fell for the Lighthouse Restaurant’s blueberry muffins [July 13, page B1] in the summer of 1974. But more important, I fell for the pretty young woman across the table from me. And we’re still together, happily, nearly a half-century later.
The muffins were big, firm, and loaded with blueberries — perfect for slathering with butter.
We didn’t have much money, and for probably less than $10 including the tip, we could each have a muffin, a cup of coffee, and a refill while spending most of an hour reading the Sunday paper.
Frank Gallant
Santa Cruz, Calif.
