John Bangert (left) and Ed McManus stand under the giant copper beech tree that guards the entry to the natural amphitheater. ALAN POLLOCK PHOTO
Selectman Seeks Sylvan Setting For New Music Festival by Alan Pollock
HARWICH — As part of an effort to get the event back to its hometown roots—and back to nature—this year's Harwich Cranberry Festival will include a new Harwich Music Festival to be held in the natural amphitheater in the woods behind Brooks Park.
“I was driving by and one day I looked down there,” Selectman Ed McManus said. To discourage littering and other problems, the highway department had cleared away the thick brush from the area, revealing the natural bowl-shaped clearing just east of Brooks Park. McManus, the president of the cranberry festival committee, had been working with other volunteers to find a way to introduce a homegrown musical component to the event. Before long, the pieces started to come together.
McManus was approached by Bob Weiser, a radio host and event producer with the Provincetown-based public radio station WOMR-FM, who was looking for a venue for a musical event. Weiser, a Harwich resident, said WOMR was looking for an event to coincide with the station's launch of a satellite transmitter in Brewster, which will help expand its market to the rest of Cape Cod. McManus suggested the Brooks Park site, and they gave it a careful look.
What they found was a natural performance space with great acoustics, close to parking lots, rest rooms, the bike trail and a playground. The two met with the recreation and youth commission, which has jurisdiction over the site, and police and fire officials. There are several obstacles to using the site for a public performance space, “nothing insurmountable,” McManus said, but a sizeable electrical service will need to be brought in, and some provision will need to be made for handicap access. Public safety officials and the rec and youth commission have given preliminary approval, McManus said.
WOMR will pay to erect a stage and a dance floor for its free concert on Sept. 18, and will make the stage available for the new Harwich Music Festival on the following day. Thanks to WOMR, “We're not using any taxpayer money,” co-organizer John Bangert said. During its event, the radio station will raise money from the proceeds of a beer and wine bar, which will have professional bartenders and a fenced-in area where the alcohol will be consumed.
The radio station's event will be an excellent test of the amphitheater's suitability for crowds, McManus said. “We can get a sense of how it works,” he noted. If the test is successful, the town can consider making more permanent improvements, like installing a wheelchair ramp, but not much else, Bangert said.
“We want to keep it natural, not overdeveloped,” he said. The natural space is guarded by a giant copper beech tree, whose trunk bears generations of initials from young adventurers and lovers. It's a fitting centerpiece of the music festival, McManus said. “It's got its roots in the community,” he said.
In the short term, a vehicle will be used to provide wheelchair access to the amphitheater, and people will be encouraged to bring beach blankets or lawn chairs for seating. The festival committee will also need to obtain the necessary permits for food and beverages to be served there.
It's a logical step to begin migrating festival activities to Brooks Park, away from the high school site, McManus said. The town is likely to be building a replacement high school in the years ahead, probably utilizing much of the existing front lawn, where the craft fair is usually held.
“It makes sense to build the future of the festival around here,” he said.
The new natural performance space is in keeping with the back-to-basics thrust of this year's cranberry festival, Bangert said. “It's about more culture, less carnival,” he said. The professional craft show, which drew dozens of crafters and merchants from a wide geographic area, will be replaced by a show with more local artists and craftsmen.
“Our goal is to take the 'starving' out of 'starving artists,'” Bangert said. A strong core of local artists has already emerged, including Paul Lagg, who designed an impressive logo for the event. Lagg's full-time job is as the GIS coordinator for the town of Chatham.
Even the food concessions will be encouraged to find and use local produce in their offerings, Bangert said. Likewise, the music festival will feature home-grown performers like Paul Pena, Greg Greenway, Carol Chichetto, Sarah Burrill, Kris Larson and David Roth. The event will also feature The Fireman's Daughter, a Nashville-based folk duo co-starring Catie Flynn of Harwich; Annie Lynch of Annie and the Beekeepers, Emma Dubner of the Ticks, The Elbows, JO & CO and other groups. It's an opportunity for popular, established performers, as well as up-and-coming local acts, Bangert said.
Details on the Harwich Cranberry Festival's plans will be firmed up over the summer, and information will be posted at
Six years ago the voters of Harwich gave me the opportunity to serve them as a member of the Board of Selectmen. I am grateful for the trust that was placed in me and I am asking for your help to continue to serve the Town of Harwich.
Not withstanding the financial problems we have had to face over the past years, much has been accomplished, and much still needs to be accomplished. In addition to setting policies on debt and use of free cash, most important has been the commitment to using ongoing revenues to pay for the ongoing expenses of the operating budget, not free cash or other one time sources. I have enjoyed being part of this process and feel I have made and will continue to make positive contributions.
Over the past three years we have advanced on many fronts. I take pride in the role I have played in developing new needed facilities whether it is the Habitat Housing at Gomes Way, the new police station, refurbished recreation facilities like the Bocce and Tennis courts at Brooks Park or the expanded parking and new restrooms at Earl Road Beach. In planning for Harwich’s near and long term future I have pushed for design funds for the Route 137 rebuild, economic planning activities in East Harwich, a High School Building Needs Study, adoption of Beach and Harbor Management capital plans and continuing support and funding for Clean Waste Water planning. The advances and awards that our schools have achieved has been nothing less than outstanding and deserving of our continued support.
I am also committed to continued work with the many businesses and organizations that support our town through the recreational, cultural and social events and improvements they work on. The Chamber of Commerce with their Fall for Harwich initiative, the Junior Theater’s efforts to bring activity and restoration to the Old Rec. Building, the Senior Softball League’s investment in fields and sponsoring the annual fall tournament, these are all things that bring a richness to our town which supports our tourism economy.
While I believe we have made a lot of progress over the past three years, the years ahead pose many challenges. We will have to decide what course to take in cleaning our waste water; which services to consider regionalizing with our neighbors, and to what extent; what services we can no longer afford, if any; and to what extent we are going to expand existing revenues or look to new revenue sources. I am asking for your help to allow me to continue to work on these challenges that face our Town. We must continue to maintain a good balance between the services provided, the cost of those services and the burden on our taxpayers. Thank you for your help in what we have done, and in what we will do in the next three years.
If you feel you can help me in an active, public or tangible way, please return the enclosed slip. I am grateful for your support, your trust, and your vote on May 15.
Sincerely,
Edward J. McManus
Candidate for Re-election to the Board of Selectmen
