Jim ‘Butch’ Ellis is best known as our village blacksmith, but he is also a seasoned fisherman with years of experience working in and out of Barnstable harbor.  Starting in the late 1940’s when he was 9 years old, Jim …

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Edward Otis Handy, Jr., aka Ned Handy… My father, Ned Handy, loved Barnstable Harbor.   His was a long and active affection – from the time he was a boy, he fished and hunted, walked the flats and clammed, watched birds, …

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Carving by George "Red Dog" Warren

George was always the insider/outsider.  He knew everybody but behaved differently than anybody.  He often spoke the unspeakable and contradicted the acceptable.  No doubt, this one of the reasons that I always sought his company at Barnstable parties, that and …

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The large stretch of sand dunes on the harbor side of Sandy Neck, between trails 4 and 5, is known as “Braley’s”.  They once belonged to Braley Jenkins, a West Barnstable farmer who grew pears and cultivated cranberry bogs.  The …

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Bunny Howard and the Beetle Cat ~ John G. Howard (1920-2004) was a life-long champion of sailboats in Barnstable Harbor.  He sailed boats, mostly wooden; he taught generations of children to sail and love boats; he repaired boats and he …

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