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☀️ Pour Out a Bag of Chips

☀️ Pour Out a Bag of Chips

Plus: What Cape Cod read in 2025

Cape Coddah
January 30, 2026

Together with:

Good morning Cape Cod. Apparently one snow storm wasn't enough, so Mother Nature has decided to give us an encore performance on Sunday. Have a great weekend. ☃️

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Changes to Chatham’s July 4th Parade
Seagrass collection arrives in P-town
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🥔 The End of a Chip Era

Campbell's announced Thursday it will close the beloved Cape Cod Potato Chips factory in Hyannis after more than 40 years, ending a tradition that drew generations of visitors to watch chips tumble down production lines through plexiglass windows before receiving free samples.

The plant, which also produces Kettle Brand chips, will cease operations in April, impacting 49 employees who'll receive separation benefits and job placement support. The Hyannis facility produces only 4% of Cape Cod Potato Chips' annual volume, making it no longer economically viable.

Brothers Steve and Jude Bernard founded Cape Cod Potato Chips on July 4, 1980. Production will continue at Campbell's other plants in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Campbell's plans to sell the facility and continue community investment through culinary programs and grants. Read more»

🇺🇸 Big Changes to Chatham's July 4 Parade

Chatham's July 4th parade will look different this year as the town expects bigger-than-usual crowds for America's 250th anniversary.

Three major changes: The parade starts at 9 AM instead of 9:30, will turn down Old Harbor Road at the rotary instead of continuing to Crowell Road, and vehicles will no longer be allowed to park along Main Street.

Police Chief Michael Anderson cited safety concerns, pointing to tragedies at public events involving vehicles driving into crowds. "The July 4th parade route this year will be a tow zone from start to finish," he said.

The route change shortens the 1.5-mile parade by just one-tenth of a mile and should ease traffic congestion. Select board member Shareen Davis abstained, calling it "almost a cultural change." Read more»

SPONSORED BY: CAPE SZN

🌞 Mentally, we’re here

Sorry. Can't. Cape. Bye. It's the most honest out-of-office message you'll ever send—and the vibe we're all living in right now. Sure, you might be stuck in winter reality, but mentally? You're already there. Beach chair set up, ocean breeze, zero responsibilities.

This sweatshirt says what we're all thinking. Whether you're daydreaming through January or actually planning your escape, it's the perfect reminder that Cape Cod is always waiting. Cozy enough for winter, ready for those first warm beach days when you can finally make good on that "sorry, can't" excuse.

Because life's too short to be anywhere but your happy place.

🔬 World's Largest Seagrass Collection

The Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown now houses the world's largest seagrass collection, over 20,000 specimens from 42 locations spanning 22 years, after scientist Agnes Mittermayr rescued 86 boxes from a New Hampshire lab facing renovations in 2023.

Mittermayr, who directs SeagrassNet's international monitoring network, says the specimens help researchers study how seagrasses sequester carbon 30 times faster than most forests. Despite covering just 0.2% of the seabed, seagrass meadows account for 10% of the ocean's carbon storage capacity and provide critical habitat for young fish and shellfish.

Massachusetts eelgrass has declined 50% since the 1990s due to nutrient pollution and warming waters. Mittermayr recently joined the UN's 2030 Seagrass Breakthrough, aiming to conserve 150,000 square kilometers by 2030. Read more»

📸 @capeimagesbyamie |📍Skaket Beach

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

📚 What Cape Cod read in 2025

Cape and Islands library patrons checked out 1.4M items in 2025, with 23,000 new borrowers joining the network that serves 190,000 people. E-audiobooks and memoirs surged in popularity, along with "Library of Things" items like hotspots and jigsaw puzzles.

Top checkouts:

Adult fiction: Percival Everett's "James," Clare Leslie Hall's "Broken Country," Louise Penny's "The Grey Wolf"
Nonfiction: Javier Zamora's memoir "Solito," Geraldine Brooks' "Memorial Days," Mel Robbins' "The Let Them Theory"
Most holds: Ariel Lawhon's "The Frozen River"
Top e-book: Liz Moore's "The God of the Woods"
Most-borrowed digital magazine: The New Yorker, followed by The Week and Us Weekly

Read more»

Eastham released its draft Climate Action Plan for 30-day public comment, outlining goals and strategies, with comments accepted online, by mail, email, or phone through February 28.

Listen: "Cape Cod Stories" features eleven short stories by Joseph Crosby Lincoln (1870-1944), an American author known for nostalgic tales of fictionalized Cape Cod that celebrated community warmth and simpler times.

Barnstable County's new entomologist Escher Cattle is merging his cartoonist background with tick prevention work by creating a raccoon mascot-led campaign, to help Cape Codders avoid tick bites.

🦉 Snowy Owl's After-Dark Transformation

Snowy Owl Coffee is moving to the former TD Bank building at Underpass Road and Route 6A, expanding into a larger space with extended hours, an expanded menu, and a new evening concept called "Night Owl."

Co-owner Shayna Ferullo says the familiar coffee and atmosphere aren't changing, "we'll have more of them and we will be staying open later." The evening hours (5-10 PM) will feature wine, beer, coffee drinks, snacks, and acoustic music, offering a pre-dinner spot for people heading to Brewster restaurants.

They'll operate five nights weekly in summer, three in off-season, with local musicians performing. The current location closes February 8, with the new spot opening late February or early March after renovations. A grand opening will be announced on social media. Read more»

Oak Bluffs planning board approved a revised building sequence for the stalled Lagoon Ridge subdivision, allowing developer Ryan Roy to build 23 housing units, including four affordable.

The nearly century-old former Nantucket Electric Company building on New Whale Street was demolished in less than an hour Thursday by National Grid after the Historic District Commission voted 3-2 to allow demolition.

Maeve, Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's four-year therapy dog has become a beloved fixture in the Student Affairs Office where she comforts stressed students and helps teenagers "turn into kids" during difficult moments.

The Nantucket Land Bank voted to apply for a deer damage permit that would allow contracted hunters to kill deer outside normal hunting season on properties like Beechwood Farm in Polpis.

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🚨 Facebook Sale Ends in Armed Robbery

Two men were arrested after robbing a 22-year-old Sandwich resident during a Facebook Marketplace watch sale outside his home on January 14. Broderick Simoneau, 19, of Hyannis, and Alexander Vakalopoulos, 22, of Centerville and Dennis, fled on foot after the armed robbery before entering a vehicle.

Sandwich police, assisted by a Mashpee K-9 unit and the Barnstable County Sheriff's Crime Scene Unit, identified both suspects and obtained arrest warrants. Barnstable police arrested Simoneau on January 23, while Dennis police arrested Vakalopoulos on January 27. Both face armed robbery charges.

Police say it's a good reminder to meet buyers in public places during daylight hours when selling stuff online. Read more»

👋 Meet: Bailey
🐾 Shetland Sheepdog
🎂 7 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

FRIDAY - JANUARY 30

Exercise Class @ Eastham Library | 8:30 AM
Adult Crafting @ Centerville Library | 11 AM
Public Skating @ Charles Moore Arena | 11:30
Friday Films @ Falmouth Public Library | 2 PM
Wine Glass Painting @ CC Coffee | 6 PM

SATURDAY - JANUARY 31

Pancakes & Pajamas @ CC Children’s Msm | 8
Scavenger Hunt @ Osterville Library | 10 AM
Beyond Peasant Bread @ Highfield Hall | 12 PM
Lego Club @ Sturgis Library | 1 PM
Mary Poppins Jr. @ Barnstable HS | 2 PM
Paint & Sip @ Chatham Bars Inn | 4 PM
Grammy Viewing Party @ Gifford House | 8 PM

SUNDAY - FEBRUARY 1

Mahjong @ Dennis Library | 12:30 PM
Mary Poppins Jr. @ Barnstable HS | 2 PM

SUNDAY - FEBRUARY 1

Concert @ Sandwich Glass Museum | 2 PM
Joan Kirchner @ Brewster Ladies Library | 2 PM
Mottley James @ CC MOA | 4 PM
Yoko Miwa Trio @ Highfield Hall | 4 PM
Josh Ayala @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
David Hoffman @ Margaritaville | 7 PM

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

Friday

15 🌡️ 2 | ☀️ | 💧 9% | 💨 W 13 mph

Saturday

19 🌡️ 14 | 🌤️ | 💧 0% | 💨 WNW 6 mph

Sunday

32🌡️ 21 | ❄️ | 💧 98% | 💨 NNE 31 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 33ºF

7 Loon Lane, W. Yarmouth
Asking $1.08M
3 🛏️
1.5 🛁
1,930 sqft
0.31 acre lot

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

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