Indian Lands / Cape Cod Rail Trail Extension

By Ken VanTassell

I've been vacationing in Dennis, Massachusetts since I was four months old. In all this time I had never ventured onto the Indian Lands Conservation Area in South Dennis.

Indian Lands Conservation Area has been closed since last winter due to the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) extension which is adjacent to the conservation area. Since construction has halted for the winter, the town has once again opened up Indian Lands to hiking enthusiasts and their four legged friends.

The hike through this small conservation area is beautiful as it abuts the Bass River and the trail is mostly flat so it is an easy walk for all ages. The "frost layer" blacktop is in place on the yet unopened CCRT extension which currently goes almost up to the River and the missing railroad bridge. The rest of the trail including the bridge replacement over the Bass River is a separate MASSDOT project which is currently out to bid and construction should hopefully start in the spring of 2017.

Once the CCRT extension including the bridge over the Bass River are completed, I can see this section of the trail through Dennis as being one of the best parts of the CCRT. This spot on Main Street in South Dennis will be a major parking area for the rail trail and Indian Lands. It is also the spot of the original South Dennis Railroad Depot when passenger service ran through Dennis ending sometime in the late 1930's. There is a plan to reconstruct the Depot building and use it as a museum, but currently there is no funding so when and if this gets built remains to be seen.

                                  Original South Dennis Railroad Depot now long gone.

Cape Cod Family

By Bob Surrette

Much like much of the Cape, many Cape Cod families are different from those on the mainland. For an example that illustrates that point, I consider two of my summer only, mostly only weekends, neighbors as family. We celebrate family events together, birthdays, anniversaries, etc, but only those that occur during the high season. We go into suspended animation in the late fall only to re-emerge in the early spring as though we hadn't been apart for a day.

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The most intellectually stimulating branch of my Cape family are the members of my writers group. If anything is going to slow the atrophy of my medically certified unremarkable brain, it is interacting with these brilliant, creative and supportive Cape Codders. I cherish my moments with each and every one of them, some more than others, of course. You know who you are.

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I also have a public safety branch of my Cape family, police, fire and rescue. I am a light blue adjunct to these brave men and women in true blue who serve and protect. While they see me as volunteering my time and talent to their mission, in my mind I get back so much more than I give by being a part of their important and necessary work in our community. I believe I also get great returns serving my town by volunteering for ongoing and ad hoc civic efforts. Although it's almost always duty time when I join in with the family that is my town, we do break our overnight fast together once a year, bacon, eggs and hash browns by the Sound.

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