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☀️ Cold Plunges & Hot Pies

☀️ Cold Plunges & Hot Pies

Plus: The Pokemon caper strikes again

Cape Coddah
December 05, 2025

Together with:

Good morning Cape Cod. Pantone just announced “Cloud Dancer” as the 2026 color of the year. It's white. Or off-white. Or as we call it here: winter beach or morning fog. ☃️

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Nantucket’s STR ban has a loophole
How to winter on the Cape
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

✏️ Meet Cape Cod's Newest Superintendents

Three new superintendents started July 1st across Cape Cod school districts, bringing 88 years of combined education experience to oversee about 3,000 students.

Michele Conners in Mashpee faced a tough first few months...a nearby school shooting threat, safety concerns, and backlash after canceling the annual DC trip. "I had to ask myself if I had the capacity to do this work," she said.

Paul Teixeira in Provincetown is navigating $11,000 in federal funding cuts. Glenn Brand in Nauset is dealing with vacancies in key finance positions while wrapping up a $170M high school building project.

All three are prioritizing community partnerships and leaning on each other through regular superintendent roundtables. "We're vying for the same students, but we also understand we're working together," Teixeira said. Read more»

🥖 When the Pantry Becomes a Lifeline

When a Brewster woman showed up at the Family Pantry in October, she was teary and anxious. She'd lost her job, which included housing as part of her compensation. She had money for two nights in a hotel.

Program Manager Melissa Masi gave her groceries and a resource guide listing local agencies like the Homeless Prevention Council and Housing Assistance Corporation. The Pantry even waived the usual 10-day wait between visits so food wouldn't be a stressor.

Fifteen days later, the woman returned. She'd been living in her car for 13 nights. This time the tears were different. Thanks to the resource guide, she'd found secure housing and a new job. Now she actually had a refrigerator and a place to cook.

The Pantry scrambled to find donated pots, pans, dishes, and kitchen essentials to get her apartment started.

For most Cape families, hunger is a symptom of a bigger problem...usually housing costs eating up half their monthly income. The Pantry can't solve that. But they can make sure food isn't another worry, and connect people to the help they actually need. Read more»

SPONSORED BY CAPE SZN

🎄 Believe in a Little Cape Cod Magic

Being a Cape Mama means teaching your kids the important stuff, how to find the best beach glass, which ice cream shop has the shortest line, and why that first glimpse of the ocean never gets old no matter how many times you see it.

This festive sweatshirt celebrates the moms who do it all with a little coastal flair. Soft, cozy, and perfect for everything from Christmas morning chaos to those breezy winter beach walks when the kids need to burn off energy.

Because raising kids on Cape Cod (or just loving it here) is its own kind of Christmas magic.

Want to see your business here? Contact us.

🚫 Nantucket's STR Ban Has a Loophole

Nantucket banned corporations from owning short-term rentals in 2024, but companies like Stay Heirloom found a loophole.

Heirloom operates six luxury STRs on Nantucket by registering properties under LLCs owned by co-founder Daniel Glaser. The bylaw allows LLCs when "every shareholder, partner, and member is a natural person," designed to protect residents who keep personal property in LLCs.

Neighbors aren't fooled. "It's not fooling anyone, it's most clearly corporately owned," said Josh Hammond, who lives across from a Heirloom property dealing with massive garbage output and constant turnover.

Even pro-STR advocates are uncomfortable. "That doesn't seem like it's in the spirit of what we're trying to do here," said former real estate brokers president Penny Dey. Closing the loophole without hurting legitimate local STR operators? Nearly impossible, experts say. Read more»

📸 @poetry_with_a_camera | 📍S. Yarmouth

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

❄️ One Woman's Guide to Outer Cape Winter

Emily Shiell wasn't a winter person when she moved to the Outer Cape from Vietnam three years ago. That first winter she wore a wearable sleeping bag every day and looked "like Chewbacca."

Now? She's all in. Her perfect winter day starts with a run to Pamet Cranberry Bog, picking berries if she finds them, then a cold plunge at Ballston Beach. She follows up with a long sauna session at the Provincetown Gym.

At home, she dehydrates bananas and cranberries, makes Japanese-inspired soups and stews with spices from Atlantic Spice Co., and forages for mushrooms in secret spots. "It's like being a kid on a scavenger hunt."

Evenings might include checking out a movie projector from Truro Library's "Library of Things" for cheesy '80s sci-fi movies. Her classic Christmas film? Ridley Scott's Alien. Read more»

Oak Ridge Elementary installed a book-vending machine paid for entirely through Scholastic Rewards from book fairs, where students can use tokens earned for good behavior and achievements to "buy" free books.

Chatham's Eldredge Public Library site improvements could break ground in March after years of planning.

Volunteers from the New England Mountain Bike Association's Cape Cod chapter built a half-mile Funtrack with jumps and boardwalks at Oak Ridge School in Sandwich.

🥧 Chatham's Pie Legacy Since 1947

Marion's Pie Shop in Chatham just baked over 4,000 pies during Thanksgiving week. That's a lot of hip-checking in the back kitchen.

Cindy and Blake Stearns have owned the Main Street institution since 2003, carrying on a legacy that started in 1947 when Marion Matheson first sold chicken pies from her home's kitchen window. With zero professional cooking experience when they took over, the learning curve was steep. "It's one thing to make a pan of brownies from scratch at home. It's a big difference to make 200 of them a day," Cindy said.

Twenty years later, their holiday order binder is busting at the seams. Realty companies place 100-plus orders. People line up down the block to pick up their pies.

The shop closes Christmas Eve for a well-deserved five to six week break, reopening in early February. Read more»

The Ultimate Guide to Nantucket’s 2025 Christmas Stroll.

MV Regional High School's interim principal Sean Mulvey is returning to the counseling department after one year, triggering a principal search at the same time the district is searching for a new superintendent.

MV’s two-week shotgun deer hunting season runs through December 13th, with Land Bank properties closed to the public and hunters required to wear blaze orange.

If this newsletter kept you informed, connected, or just entertained this year, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to support our work. All content remains free for everyone.

Already a supporter? Thank you so much. 🙏

🚨 $40K in Pokémon Cards Stolen

Two Cape Cod trading card stores got hit by burglars within days of each other, and the similarities are hard to ignore.

Darkwater Games in Mashpee was broken into late Thanksgiving night. Someone in goggles, a beanie, and face covering smashed through a door and loaded up a duffle bag with rare Pokémon cards. Owner Robert Drexler arrived Black Friday to find holes in walls, shattered glass, and empty shelves. Total loss: $40,000.

Days later, Vanguard Tabletop Gaming in Hyannis got hit. Same M.O....smashed glass door, face covering, beanie. The thief grabbed Star Wars and Magic: The Gathering cards and was out in under two minutes.

Manager Rob Zeida, who started working there to connect with his kids after his wife died, says his 9-year-old daughter is now scared to come back to the store.

Both shops say customer support has been overwhelming. Police are investigating, but no arrests yet. Read more»

👋 Meet: Chubs
🐾 Chihuahua - Smooth Coated
🎂 2 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

Garden Club Holiday Boutique in Harwich

The Garden Club of Harwich presents its Holiday Boutique on Saturday, December 6th from 9 AM to 11:30 AM at Harwich Community Center. Shop hand-made fresh evergreen wreaths, holiday sweets, centerpieces, decorations, and items from the White Elephant Table. All proceeds benefit the Garden Club's mission to Keep Harwich Beautiful through tax-deductible donations.

When: Saturday, December 6th from 9 AM to 11:30 AM

Where: Harwich Community Center, 100 Oak St, Harwich, MA 02645

Click here for more information on the Garden Club of Harwich.
(Sponsored)

FRIDAY - DECEMBER 5

Wreath Sale @ Orleans Comm. Center | 11 AM
Soap Making @ Wellfleet Library | 3 PM
Tree Lighting @ Wellfleet Town Hall | 4 PM
Windmill Lighting @ Brewster His. Society | 4 PM
Boat Lighting/Singing @ Hyannis Main St. | 5:30
Eg-Nog Extrvgnza @ Brewster Bookstore | 5:30
Carol Sing-Along @ First Church (Sandwich) | 7

SATURDAY - DECEMBER 6

Santa Stampede 5K @ The Barley Neck | 8:30
Holiday Story Time @ AWSC | 9 AM
Christmas Fair @ St. Barnabas’s (Falmouth) | 9
Poetry Club @ Hyannis Library | 10 AM
Holiday Market @ The 204 | 10 AM
Holiday Festival @ Taylor-Bray Farm | 10 AM
Off-Season Tours @ Museums on the Green | 10
Art-Tastic Holiday Party @ Cahoon Museum | 10
Breakfast w/ Santa @ CC Mall (Food Court) | 10
Winter Sowing 101 @ S. Dennis Library | 10 AM
Love Local Fest @ Hyannis Village Green | 10
Holiday Craft Fair @ Bourne Middle School | 10
Holiday Fest @ Orleans-Eastham Elks | 10 AM
Maker’s Market @ Center for Coastal Studies | 11
Ugly X-Mas Sweater Party @ CC Winery | 12 PM
Wreath Marking @ CC Art Center | 12 PM
Holiday Hop @ East Orleans Village | 12 PM
Santa’s Workshop @ Cobb House Museum | 1
Nauset Model RR Club @ Hilltop Plaza | 1 PM
Jacquelyn Mitchard @ Brewster Bookstore | 2 PM
Tree Lighting @ Mashpee Community Park | 5:15

SUNDAY - DECEMBER 7

Art-Tastic Holiday Party @ Cahoon Museum | 10
Holiday Festival @ Taylor-Bray Farm | 10 AM
Peter H. Reynolds @ Brewster Bookstore | 10 AM
Christmas Market @ Naukabout | 11 AM
Family Party @ CC Museum of Nat. History | 11
Village Stroll @ Sandwich Village | 12 PM
Christmas Parade @ Falmouth Main St. | 12 PM
Kid’s Holiday Party @ CC Coffee | 1 PM
Christmas Stroll @ Yarmouth Port | 1 PM
Christmas Stroll @ Centerville Main St. | 3 PM

SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 30

Mike Garvan Group @ The Barley Neck | 2 PM
Nauset Chorus @ Brewster Ladies Library | 2 PM
Ukulele Festival @ Cotuit Center | 6 PM

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll let you know when something's sponsored.}

Friday

31 🌡️ 26 | 🌤️ | 💧 0% | 💨 SW 6 mph

Saturday

43 🌡️ 32 | 🌦️ | 💧 57% | 💨 S 5 mph

Sunday

40🌡️ 28 | 🌥️ | 💧 4% | 💨 WNW 5 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 45ºF

104 Toms Path, Dennis
Asking $599,000
2 🛏️
1 🛁
1,152 sqft
0.64 acre lot

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll always let you know when something's sponsored.}

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