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☀️ Meet the Cape’s “Forever Residents”

☀️ Meet the Cape’s “Forever Residents”

Plus: From Sandwich to the South Pole

Cape Coddah
October 31, 2025

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Good morning Cape Cod and Happy Halloween. This week we welcomed our 8,000th subscriber, and we're honestly speechless, thank you for making this little corner of the internet such a special community.

Every single one of you makes this labor of love worthwhile, here's to growing this community together. 🍻

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

Harwich bogs return to wetlands
From Cape garage to the NHL
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

👻 Meet the Cape’s “Forever Residents”

Turns out you don’t need to buy a ticket to a haunted house on Cape Cod — you could be living in one. Paranormal investigator Adam Berry, a Provincetown local and TV ghost hunter, says the Cape is packed with spirits who’ve stuck around for all sorts of reasons: unfinished business, family ties, or maybe they just love it here too much to leave.

Provincetown alone is crawling with activity — the Lancey Mansion, Crown Point Inn, and even the Pilgrim Monument have stories. Over in Barnstable, the famous Barnstable House reportedly hosts eleven ghosts, while the Orleans Waterfront Inn is home to “Hannah,” a friendly spirit from the Roaring Twenties.

Whether you believe or not, locals say when the tourists leave, the other “residents” finally come out to breathe. Read more»

🧊 The Cape’s Ice Queen of Endurance

Sandwich resident Gretchen Swarr doesn’t do anything halfway. She’s already conquered all six World Marathon Majors, finished an Ironman, and even snagged a Guinness World Record for running a marathon dressed as a chef, while carrying a cast-iron frying pan.

Now she’s headed to Antarctica this November for her first ultramarathon: the Antarctic Ice Ultra 50K, a 31-mile race across frozen terrain. A researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Swarr says her love for running started when she was four, cheering for her dad and brother at the Boston Marathon.

From post-pregnancy goal-setting to icy trail runs in Barnstable, she’s proof that grit (and maybe a little craziness) can take you literally to the ends of the earth.
Read more»

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🪏 Bogs Get Second Life as Wetlands

Two retired cranberry bogs off Headwaters Drive in Harwich have undergone a $1.9M transformation back to natural wetlands after the 31-acre property was sold to Harwich Conservation Trust in 2021, creating the Hinckleys Pond – Herring River Headwaters Preserve.

Excavators removed cranberry vines and sand in a process called microtopography, exposing a native seed bank dormant for over a century. Within weeks, natural wetland vegetation began returning.

The project rehabilitated 500 feet of Hinckleys Pond shoreline and features a nearly one-mile All Persons Trail accessible to walkers of all ages and abilities, plus an overlook area at the pond.

The rewilding is expected to increase biodiversity, restore fragmented ecosystems, and improve water quality in the Herring River, which flows south to Nantucket Sound.
Read more»

📸 @capeabilitiesfarm | 📍Cape Abilities Farm

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🚫 Bourne Bans Kratom: Pain Relief or Deadly Risk?

Kratom, an opiate-like substance from Southeast Asian tree leaves, has quietly become available at Outer Cape convenience stores, sparking debate as users report both pain relief benefits and dangerous addiction.

The AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod reports patients seeking help for kratom dependence while others use it as an opioid alternative, with adverse effects including nausea, heart palpitations, and seizures. The substance isn't detected by drug tests, raising concerns about youth use.

Bourne's Board of Health voted unanimously to ban kratom sales after hearing from mothers who lost children to kratom-related overdoses and advocates claiming it transformed their chronic pain management. Several Massachusetts municipalities have followed suit, while the FDA recommended scheduling kratom's synthetic derivative 7-OH as a controlled substance in June.

State Senator Julian Cyr is reviewing a statewide ban proposal. Read more»

Cape Cod offers five cranberry bog tours this fall with prices ranging from $10 to $60 per person and most requiring advance reservations.

Filmmakers Geoff Bassett and Kim Roderiques spent over 100 hours creating "The Hand that Holds the Line," a documentary about Cape Cod's commercial fishing families.

After six years of planning, Orleans celebrated the opening of 107 Main Street, a new 14-unit affordable housing development built on the former Masonic Lodge site.

🏒 From Cape Garage to the NHL

Bill Farrington, a Sandwich contractor and hockey dad, started hand-building life-sized training dummies in his garage to help his son become a better goalie by blocking shooting lanes and working on sight lines.

His first dummies were cobbled together from scrap materials, including an old teak rocking chair for legs. Despite the rough start, his first creation went to the Worcester Sharks and quickly got called up to the big leagues.

Now, Farrington's fully adjustable screening dummies are used by 13 different NHL teams. "Mannequins are supposed to look pretty. Dummies are supposed to work," he explains, emphasizing their durability for professional use.

His next goal is getting the dummies to college programs so the next generation of players can access the training tool that's already proven itself at hockey's highest level. Read more»

Edgartown unanimously approved allowing up to 275 oversand vehicles at any given time on Chappaquiddick's Trustees-managed beaches from Tom's Neck to Cape Poge Lighthouse.

The Nantucket Land Bank and Nourish Nantucket are purchasing 17-21 Boynton Lane to create a permanent home for the Food Pantry and a deer processing facility that could provide 75,000 meals every year.

The Great Blizzards, an all-inclusive ice hockey program for players with disabilities, is expanding to Martha's Vineyard Arena to serve the local special needs community.

Authorities searched conservation land on Nantucket this week for 56-year-old Andrew Vonderwies, who vanished after stepping off the Hyannis ferry Friday morning and hasn’t been seen since.

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⚖️ Main St Shooting Suspects Held On Bail

Evan Araujo, 18, and Jacob Winbush, 19, are being held at Barnstable County Correctional Facility on $50,000 and $25,000 bail respectively after being charged with assault to murder and other firearms offenses related to an early morning October 18th shooting on Main Street in Hyannis.

Police found a 28-year-old woman shot in the chest after witnesses heard four to five gunshots followed by her falling down a staircase. She was flown to Boston Medical Center and expected to survive.

After an hours-long standoff with Cape Cod Regional SWAT and Negotiations Team, both teens left the house and were taken into custody without incident. Police later found ammunition, a bullet hole in the stairwell wall, and seized a black Glock 19 BB gun and pellet rifle from the apartment.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for November 13th. Read more»

👋 Meet: Cinder
🐾 Domestic Shorthair
🎂 2 months old
♀︎ Female
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

FRIDAY - OCTOBER 31

Halloween Parade @ Brewster Library | 10:30 AM
Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice @ Falmouth Library | 3
Trunk or Treat @ Wellfleet Drive-in | 3 PM
Trick or Treat @ CC Mall | 4 PM
Street of Scarecrows @ Falmouth Village | 4 PM
Greet N’ Treat @ Veterans Comm Cent. | 4:30
Pumpkin Palooza! @ Wellfleet Pres. Hall | 5:30
Halloween Party @ Uva Wine Bar | 7 PM
Halloween Party @ Daily Brew Lounge | 7 PM
The Adam’s Family @ Highfield Theater | 7:30
Halloween Ball @ Cape Rep Theater | 7:30 PM
Costume Party @ Chatham Squire | 8:30 PM

SATURDAY - NOVEMBER 1

Holiday Craft Fair @ Monomoy HS | 10 AM
13 Moons @ Brewster Ladies Library | 1 PM
Autumn Art @ Cahoon Museum | 1 PM
Open Weekend @ Marconi-RCA Museum | 1 PM
Line Dancing @ Sandwich Library | 1:30 PM
Retro Video Game Night @ Cordial Eye | 5 PM
Boo Bash @ Chatham Bars Inn | 7:30 PM
Art & Souls Masquerade @ Cotuit Center | 7:30

SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 2

Fiber Arts Circle @ Wellfleet Library | 11 AM
Open Weekend @ Marconi-RCA Museum | 1 PM

SUNDAY - NOVEMBER 2

Mike Garvan Group @ The Barley Neck | 2 PM
High Horse @ Cult. Cent. of CC | 3 PM
Joe Merrick @ Chatham Squire | 5 PM
Karaoke @ Knockout Pizza | 6 PM

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

Friday

60 🌡️ 46 | 🌦️ | 💧49% | 💨 WSW 21 mph

Saturday

57 🌡️ 40 | 💨 | 💧 0% | 💨 W 27 mph

Sunday

51🌡️ 41 | ☀️ | 💧 4% | 💨 WNW 8 mph

💧🌡️ Water temperature = 55ºF

344 King Phillip Road, Wellfleet
Asking $3.775M
3 🛏️
3 🛁
2,578 sqft
1.51 acre lot

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

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