The theme of this year’s most popular Cape Cod Wave stories were profiles of interesting people.
We have profiled almost 40 of Cape Cod’s most interesting people since Cape Cod Wave set up shop in May 2013. These are often long profiles, thousands of words – and you, our readers seem to like them. We think the reason is because we have found such interesting people.
This year, several of our top 10 most popular stories were profiles, beginning with one of the first stories we published, early in Janary, about a young man who rose from tough circumstances and is very thankful for those who helped him. That touching story was our most popular, but several others also touched a nerve in one way or another.
And, of course, some of our most popular stories aren’t on this list because they have been published in previous years. Most of our stuff is designed to be evergreen – meaning it remains relevant years after. We dive into important stuff, and more.
One other note – every year weather stories are among our most popular but only one such story made the top ten this year. We take a lack of spectacular weather in the news as a good sign.
These are our most popular Cape Cod Wave stories of 2017. If you like what we are doing, please spread the word so we can continue to grow and create this kind of journalism. Thank you for your support, and especially for reading these stories.
1) Darby’s Story: An Angel House Kid Grows Up: By far our most popular story, this tale of a young man who rose from very tough family circumstances, with the help of Angel House, run by Housing Assistance Corporation, touched many people. We were among them.
Amanda Converse
2) Shift Confusion – What Does A Local Brand Name Mean On Cape Cod?: Amanda Converse, owner of the women’s clothing store Shift Eco Boutique in Hyannis was at first confused when people came in saying they had been in her Chatham store. She does not have a Chatham store, but a retailer on Nantucket opened a store in Chatham called SHIFT that sold women’s clothing. Converse has since taken SHIFT to court.
3) R.I.P. Otis Okernick – Falmouth’s Bartender: We don’t run obituaries and we don’t run In Memorium of well-known people who died. But we have run remembrances of an Outer Cape surfer, a Chatham barback, and this story, on Otis Okernick, longtime Falmouth bartender. This one is a bit more personal. Otis was a friend. Brian needs a new place to watch the Super Bowl this year without Otis around.
4) Rick Weeks’ Endless Summer: A 69-Year-Old Surfer Stands Up: A friend of Rick Weeks said of him, “He has donated his whole life and his whole being to surfing. It’s his identity. It’s his love. It’s everything to him.” And he is still at it, going out on his SUP board almost every day on the Outer Cape, at almost 70 years old.
5) John Holdren, Obama’s Science Advisor, “I’m Not Going To Be Silent Now”: John
John Holdren
Holdren, President Barack Obama’s Science Advisor, gave Cape Cod Wave his first interview after leaving the White House when the new administration took over. The Falmouth resident talked about the importance of fact-based decision making, and the need to speak up in times when science is challenged.
6) Chris Blood, The Incredibly Casual Sound Guy At The Beachcomber: Chris Blood is a sound guy. He stays up late and turns knobs and makes many people happy. He moves levers. He pushes buttons. And he talks to and deals with bands, often the best bands on Cape Cod. Our profile of the guy behind the scenes at the Wellfleet Beachcomber was as popular as the bar itself.
7) Brian Switzer, The Teacher Who Made It Cool To Be Smart & Motivated: Brian Switzer retired after 30 years of teaching fifth and sixth graders at Morse Pond School. What he taught them is that it is cool to be smart and motivated. He created a school newspaper, a school radio mystery show, a school TV show and more. Our readers were thrilled to learn more about the best teacher we’ve ever seen.
8) Heavy Rain Causes Falmouth Flooding – Slideshow: Of course there is a weather story
Flooding in Falmouth
in our top ten. That’s pretty consistent every year. We’ve learned that readers love crazy weather and this flash flood certainly qualified.
9) Jon Evans’ Studio – A Place In The Woods Where Songs Are Made: Jon Evans is a professional bass player who has played on gold records and toured Tori Amos, Sarah McLaughlin and other recording stars. He records music for NPR and has appeared on several national television shows, including on the David Letterman show 14 times. He also he has an incredibly nice recording studio in the woods in Orleans. We watched a song get recorded.
10) Chronicle Comes To Falmouth Because Of The Turkeys: Turkeys again – this time fueled by television. The award-winning TV show, Chronicle came to Falmouth and interviewed Brian and others about the Falmouth turkeys. Ted Reinstein of Chronicle talked to Brian about their mutual interest in turkey journalism.
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– A Novel By Brian Tarcy of Cape Cod Wave
A softball team called the Townies. A slick developer with a sketchy story. A town divided over a zoning change….— YOU CAN’T SELL RIGHT FIELD, A Cape Cod Novel
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