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☀️ 🇺🇸 The Boy who Saved Falmouth

☀️ 🇺🇸 The Boy who Saved Falmouth

Plus: Chatham's CODO levels up

Cape Coddah
July 03, 2026

Together with:

Good morning Cape Cod. Two big things this week: America turns 250 tomorrow and we've officially launched a personals section in the newsletter. One is a monumental national milestone. The other is our modest attempt to help Cape Coddahs meet each other. Have a great 4th! 🇺🇸

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Falmouth’s feast fit for a queen
The push for P-town oysters
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

🚣 Falmouth's Paul Revere Was a Kid

Everybody knows Paul Revere's midnight ride. Falmouth has its own version, only this hero was a boy in a rowboat.

Back in April 1779, British officers dining on Pasque Island let slip their plan to burn Falmouth at dawn. The tavern owner, John Slocum, had Loyalist leanings, but he sent his 10-year-old son to warn the town. The boy rowed alone across miles of dark water, reached shore, and alerted the militia. When the Redcoats came the next day, Falmouth was ready and drove them off.

Fittingly, the town is also home to a Paul Revere bell, cast in 1796 and still rung hourly at the First Congregational Church. It's thought to be the second-oldest continuously rung Revere bell anywhere, and the signed receipt survives too. Read more»

🇺🇸 The Four-Day Men of Chatham

Chatham's role in the Revolutionary War looked nothing like the Minutemen up in Lexington and Concord. Folks joked they were the Four-Day Men, since hardly anyone owned a horse and reaching a Boston fight on foot would've eaten up four whole days. Some fighters weren't grown men at all, just kids barely able to lift a musket.

The town was tiny, isolated, and understandably wary. Fishing was everything here, and with British warships boxing them in, staying out of it seemed the safer bet. Chatham even skipped the tea boycott early on. Once the British started grabbing boats, though, the mood shifted and around 50 signed up, a few padding their shoes to pass for grown men.

Then in June 1782, well after the war had wound down elsewhere, the fight showed up in Chatham Harbor. Lt. Benjamin Godfrey rallied the townspeople, drove off British raiders, and saved what few vessels they had left. Read more»

SPONSORED BY:
CHATHAM HARVESTERS

250 Years Strong. One Story at a Time.

For generations, Cape Cod fishing families have risen before dawn, worked with the tides, and brought the freshest local seafood home to our communities. At Chatham Harvesters Cooperative, we're proud to carry that tradition forward, connecting you not only to the day's catch, but to the people, heritage, and working waterfront behind it.

The story of Cape Cod seafood is still being written, and we'd love for you to be part of it.

🍽️ Falmouth's Feast Fit for a Queen

The Festa Azoriana do Espiritu Santo, the Azorean Feast of the Holy Ghost, wrapped up in East Falmouth this past weekend. It's a centuries-old tradition, celebrated for at least five hundred years, with this local version running since the 1980s.

Volunteer cooks start days ahead, marinating pork in paprika, garlic, wine, and olive oil, because as one put it, wine and garlic equals Portuguese. The heart of it honors Queen Isabella, a 13th-century Portuguese monarch remembered for feeding her people no matter their station.

Young girls get crowned in a coronation they look forward to for years, big gowns and all. Sunday's centerpiece is "sopas," a rich meat and cabbage soup ladled over bread, served family-style with big bottles of Portuguese wine down every table. Read more»

📸 @kerrycapecod |📍Brewster

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🦪 P-Town's Oyster Farmers Dig In

A small crew of oyster farmers is trying to build something real in Provincetown Harbor. On 40 acres of town-owned flats in the west end, they want to see Provincetown oysters on every menu in town.

Right now, that's not happening. Local oyster landings have actually fallen over the past five years, while Wellfleet pulls in millions. The reasons run from an old parasite that wiped out the clam farms to newcomers biting off more than they could handle.

But there's momentum. Farmers like Dale Gorman and the Chutes at Mermaid Menu are scaling up, experimenting, and selling to spots like the Canteen. And here's the kicker: in P-town, oyster grants are yours nearly for the asking, a rare deal on the Cape.
Read more»

Back during the Cold War, a radar platform called Texas Tower 2 stood on stilts 110 miles east of Cape Cod, part of an early warning system meant to spot a Soviet attack.

Brewster is chasing a bronze rating in the Charging Smart program to make EV chargers easier to add around town, admitting it's playing catch-up with just 134 electric cars registered and zero public charging stations of its own.

🌮 Chatham's CODO Levels Up

CODO, the Mexican spot in Chatham, is back in full swing for summer, and this year comes with a big change. It's gone from counter service to a full sit-down restaurant.

Manager Eddie Sarabia is behind the shift. He grew up in Acapulco, ran his own Mexican place in Harwich for years, and he's leaning into more authentic, elevated cooking. The menu covers all the favorites, from tacos and burrito bowls to enchiladas and churros, but the real fun is the weekly specials. Think octopus tacos, red snapper from his hometown, lobster quesadillas, and a cajun striped bass taco that sold out in one night.

There's also a weekday lunch deal, $14 to $15 for a plate with a drink, and a full bar loaded with margaritas and mezcal. Read more»

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank just received its largest-ever land donation, 28 acres from seasonal resident Elizabeth Campbell that fits neatly into the Wapatequa Woods Reservation in Oak Bluffs.

After eight years of legal wrangling, construction on Nantucket's controversial 156-unit Surfside Crossing development is finally moving ahead off South Shore Road, even as the town and a group of neighbors keep fighting the state's approval in court.

The Coast Guard and local crews spent hours searching the waters off Oak Bluffs Thursday after a report of a stranded paddleboarder, but never found anyone, one of several water scares this week that all turned out fine.

My name is Lisa. I am 62 year old, active, retired woman from Yarmouth looking for a sweet man to share my twilight years with. Let's walk, talk, dine, listen to live music, and share some wine around a fire pit together. (#100)

Summer resident looking to find tennis players interested in playing singles in Chatham. I am about a level 3 player but will gladly play or rally with anyone interested in playing. I am an old guy but can still run pretty well, 😊. (#101)

I LOVE my life! My gardens, my dog, and seeing the sunrise when I wake are my major joys. I am a gal who would really like to meet a Mid-Cape guy in his 70's who would share a few of my interests. Let's start out with digging a few weeds, laughing, picking a few vegetables together and we might move on from there. (#102)

If one of these caught your eye, don't let it pass. Reply to this email with the ad number, a few words about yourself, and I'll make the introduction. Everything stays private until you both want otherwise. Let's get some people connected. ❤️

Want to place your own ad? Reply and send it over, and I'll work it into an upcoming issue.

This newsletter is free to read, always will be, and it's just me behind the scenes. Reading every local story, writing every summary, hitting send every Friday.

If this newsletter is part of your week, your support keeps it alive. A few bucks a month from readers who can chip in makes a real difference.

Monthly or annual, whatever works for you.

Thank you for your support!
~Kari

⚖️ Barnstable Officer Resigns After Probe

A Barnstable police officer resigned in February after an outside investigation upheld sexual harassment allegations from a female colleague.

Nolan O'Melia, a canine officer with the department for about 11 years, was placed on leave in September after the employee reported him. The investigator found he showed her an unwanted porn video and, in a separate incident at the Melody Tent, lifted her off the ground while she was on duty, then called her a vulgar name and told her to keep her head down. Another officer backed up her account.

The report concluded his conduct created a hostile work environment. O'Melia resigned before any further action. Read more»

👋 Meet: Lilly
🐾 Beagle
🎂 9 years old
♀︎ Female
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

SUNDAY - JULY 5

AK Cody @ CC Winery | 12 PM
Jonathan Cabral @ Flying Bridge | 1 PM
Everett Pendleton @ Love Farms | 1 PM
Wayside Sound @ Shipwrecked | 2 PM
Derek Dibbons @ Island Pickle | 3 PM
Northbound Live @ Naukabout | 3 PM
Mojo Skillet @ CC Coffee | 3 PM
Amir Rivera @ Off the Grid | 5 PM
Coastal Wreck @ The Woodshed | 5 PM
Route 106 @ Chapin’s Bayside | 5 PM
Brewster Band @ Drummer Boy Park | 6 PM
Sarah Swain & Oh Boys @ Neptune’s CC | 6 PM
Gracie Grace @ Love Farms | 6 PM
Sean Brennan @ Margaritaville | 7 PM
Hyannis Sound @ 1717 Meetinghouse | 7 PM
The Boss Project @ Cape Melody Tent | 8 PM
Coastal Wreck @ Chapin’s Bayside | 9:30 PM
Joe McCuine @ The Woodshed | 9:30 PM

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

Friday

95 🌡️ 76 | ☀️ | 💧 25% | 💨 W mph

Saturday

90 🌡️ 68 | 🌦️ | 💧 55% | 💨 WNW 12 mph

Sunday

82 🌡️ 64 | 🌤️ | 💧 1% | 💨 E 7 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 69ºF

5 Strand Way, West Harwich
Asking $3.995M
5 🛏️
3 🛁
2,517 sqft
0.63 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 local history buff. 🇺🇸