The Cape Coddah
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☀️ Old Ladies Go Corvette Fishing

☀️ Old Ladies Go Corvette Fishing

Plus: A 105 year-old restaurant returns

Cape Coddah
July 18, 2025

Together with

Good morning Cape Cod. Did you know, the average Cape household owns 2.3 bicycles, making us the most two-wheeled region in Massachusetts. 🚲

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Leasing to locals
Lasagna Love
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🏁 Old Ladies Fish Corvette Out of Pond

A group of Cape Cod women called OLAUG (Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage) just pulled off their biggest pond cleanup yet at Johns Pond. Eleven divers and four kayakers hauled up everything from golf balls to fireworks to – get this – the front end of a 1990s Corvette. The group has 30 active members with 45 more on the waitlist, and they're not slowing down.

Started in 2018 by three women who decided to clean up a local pond "on a whim," they've grown into a serious operation that's completed 10 cleanups their first year and are on pace for 20 this summer. These ladies don't mess around – they've got safety protocols, emergency training, and enough enthusiasm to cheer over soggy wooden planks.

Next up: Grews Pond on July 22nd at 1 PM if you want to watch the action. Read more»

💰 $10.5M Settlement for Turbine Failure

GE Vernova will pay Nantucket $10.5M to settle claims from the July 2024 Vineyard Wind turbine blade failure that scattered debris across island beaches. The town will establish a "Community Claims Fund" with an independent administrator to compensate businesses for losses over a six-month claims period.

Notably, while Vineyard Wind is released from liability through the settlement, the company wasn't permitted to sign the agreement due to what town officials described as their poor response to the incident. The town explicitly preserved its right to pursue other issues with Vineyard Wind.

Law firms who repped the town will receive 18% ($1.89 million) of the settlement as compensation for their yearlong negotiations with GE Vernova. Read more»

SPONSORED BY CAPE SZN

Life is better with a Cape Babe

Some shirts just get it. This isn't about perfect beach days or flawless summer moments—it's about that feeling when you're exactly where you belong. Whether you're celebrating a sunset, laughing with friends, or just being unapologetically yourself on the sand.

Soft, cropped, and made for those moments that make everything else fade away. Because the best vibes aren't planned—they're worn.

🏠 Vacation Homes to Worker Housing

Lease to Locals programs are gaining momentum across Cape Cod, offering property owners significant cash incentives to convert vacation homes and short-term rentals into year-round housing for local workers.

In its first year, Provincetown's program housed 53 people in 33 properties, offering owners one-time payments ranging from $6,000 to $20,000. The town, where 56% of housing sits seasonally vacant, has renewed the program for a second year, adding a residential tax exemption for continuing participants.

Similar programs have shown success on Nantucket and through Housing Assistance Corporation's Rent 365 initiative, which created 26 year-round rentals. For residents like Chase Alexander, who moved over a dozen times since 2019, these programs provide critical stability. "It's allowed me to grow my businesses exponentially," he says. Read more»

📸 @poetry_with_a_camera | 📍 Wychmere Harbor

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🚐 Layered with Love: Cape Lasagna

Founded during the pandemic, Lasagna Love has evolved into an international movement connecting neighbors through home-cooked meals. On Cape Cod, local leaders Nancy Johnson and Chris O'Neill coordinate a robust operation that serves both individual requests and nine local shelters.

The process is simple: people request a meal through lasagnalove.com, volunteers prepare lasagnas in their own kitchens, and arrange contactless deliveries. Cape Cod's chapter handles 30-50 individual requests weekly while maintaining a flexible volunteer system with 180-200 participants. This summer, they're even providing meals for Cape Cod Baseball League teams.

"It's one of the few organizations where you have neighbors volunteering to help other neighbors," says Johnson. "It's such an immediate good feeling." Read more»

The Barnstable County Fair opens July 21 with free main stage concerts featuring country star Jerrod Niemann, Nashville's Ian Harrison, ABBA tribute bands & more.

A 500-pound leatherback sea turtle entangled in multiple fishing gear was freed by Provincetown's Marine Animal Entanglement Response team.

Barnstable County is offering free water quality testing to Cape Cod's private well owners.

The Provincetown Community Compact has selected three visual artists and two writers for its 2025 Dune Shack residency program.

🛟 Buoys Are Back in Town

After a five-year closure, Cap't Cass Rock Harbor Seafood—a 105-year-old Orleans institution—has reopened under new owners Michelle Lamy and Tiago Batista, who bought the property in 2022.

Lamy, who worked at the shack in the 1980s, has meticulously renovated the building while preserving its history. She kept the original floors, recreated the horseshoe bar, restored Cap't Cass's wife's special family table, and maintained the iconic wall of buoys, that now serve as selfie backdrops.

The menu honors Cap't Cass's classics, including lobster rolls "all meat, no filler," she-crab stew, and clear broth chowder. A guest book already contains 14 pages of memories, including from a couple who first dined there during their honeymoon 49 years ago. Read more»

A Lowell man won the $1M grand prize in a "Jaws"-themed lottery game show on MV.

A Nantucket homeowner is suing a neighbor after he allegedly cut down 16 of her family's decades-old trees to enhance his property's ocean views.

The Obama family's former vacation spot, Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, has sold for $37M.

Habitat for Humanity has awarded its final two Waitt Drive Village townhomes to local Nantucket families.

🏋️‍♀️ BECOME A SUPPORTER

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Already a supporter? Thank you so much. 🙏

🚨 Dennis Beach Strategy Works Again

For the second consecutive year, Dennis beaches saw zero arrests on July 4th, with only 36 calls for service—a 69% decrease from 2024 and 92% drop from 2023's troubling holiday.

The town's strategic restrictions, which began in 2024 and expanded in 2025 to include West Dennis Beach, have transformed the atmosphere at beaches previously plagued by fighting, vandalism, and drunks. The rules include prohibiting daily parking passes on July 4th (allowing only residential, seasonal, or weekly passes), strictly enforcing neighborhood parking bans, and implementing zero-tolerance policies for booze and rowdy behavior.

"We're getting back to the family-friendly and welcoming atmosphere Dennis beaches have long been known for," said Police Chief John Brady, crediting interdepartmental collaboration for the successful turnaround. Read more»

👋 Meet: Friday
🐾 German Shepard Mix
🎂 2 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

SUNDAY - JULY 20

Andrew Dimarzo @ Flying Bridge | 1 PM
F.A.R. @ Neptune’s CC | 1 PM
Dan Sturgis @ Shipwrecked (Falmouth) | 2 PM
Jim Nosler @ CC Beer | 3 PM
Paul Horton @ CC Coffee | 3 PM
Siobhan & Sam @ The Lanyard | 3 PM
Jae Mannion @ Falmouth Raw Bar | 4 PM
Amalia Ververis @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
Chris Richardson @ The Woodshed | 5 PM
AK Cody @ Torino’s | 6 PM
Yachtley Crew @ Cape Melody Tent | 8 PM

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

Friday

80 🌡️ 62 | 🌤️ | 💧0% | 💨 N 12 mph

Saturday

81 🌡️ 67 | 🌤️ | 💧 1% | 💨 S 9 mph

Sunday

79🌡️ 67 | 🌩️ | 💧 88% | 💨 SSW 14 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 69ºF

63 Swift Lane, Brewster
Asking $2.1M
3 🛌
3 🛀
2,395 sqft
0.67 acre lot

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

Thanks for reading The Cape Coddah today. If you found something useful or entertaining, please share it with a lasagna lover.