The Mashpee Enterprise

The Mashpee Enterprise Welcome to the community page for The Mashpee Enterprise!

This is the space for Enterprise readers to connect with each other and our team, as well as to discuss goings-on in Mashpee, Massachusetts.

Big Nick’s Ride for the Fallen XVII brought together more than 1,300 motorcycles and thousands of participants last mont...
08/04/2026

Big Nick’s Ride for the Fallen XVII brought together more than 1,300 motorcycles and thousands of participants last month, in one of the largest memorial rides in the event’s 17-year history, honoring US Marine Corporal Nicholas G. Xiarhos and all of America’s fallen service members.

The annual event, organized by the Nicholas G. Xiarhos Memorial Fund, united Gold Star families, veterans, active-duty military, first responders, volunteers, sponsors and community members from across the region in a day of remembrance, gratitude and service.

“As a Gold Star family, it’s difficult to put into words what this day means,” said state Representative Steven G. Xiarhos (R-5th Barnstable), Nicholas Xiarhos’ father and founder of Big Nick’s Ride for the Fallen. “Seventeen years after losing Nick, seeing thousands of people come together to honor, remember, and never forget reminds us that their sacrifice will always matter. We cried. We smiled. We laughed. We hugged. Most importantly, we remembered and honored those who gave everything for our freedom.”

Read more → https://conta.cc/4haa7k9

From the Enterprise editorial board: On July 27, 1956, the buoy tender Hornbeam pulled up to the Coast Guard dock in Woo...
08/01/2026

From the Enterprise editorial board: On July 27, 1956, the buoy tender Hornbeam pulled up to the Coast Guard dock in Woods Hole with two lifeboats lashed to its foredeck, each bearing the name Andrea Doria. The Italian ocean liner had collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm about 50 miles south of Nantucket, and after 10 hours, the crippled vessel slipped beneath the waves.

The legacy of the Andrea Doria has endured through the decades, even as memories of the sinking itself have faded. The wreck, resting 240 feet below the surface, remains one of the most challenging and sometimes deadly scuba dives in the world, yet it is revered among experienced divers. Over the years, the ship has slowly deteriorated. Much of the superstructure has collapsed, and fishing nets sometimes cling like cobwebs to the liner as it rests on its starboard side. The wreck also evokes nostalgia for the golden age of luxury ocean liners, a time before commercial jets replaced ships as the primary way to cross the Atlantic.

Read the rest → https://conta.cc/3TochCX

Each August, the area outside Christ the King Parish in Mashpee is transformed into its own one-night-only Little Italy....
08/01/2026

Each August, the area outside Christ the King Parish in Mashpee is transformed into its own one-night-only Little Italy. The annual La Tavola Italian Feast Under The Stars will take place on Friday, August 7, this year, marking its 20th anniversary.

Since its inception in 2006, the event has been bringing hundreds of people together for a night of Italian festivities. Tickets support the Mashpee Chamber Scholarship Program and other local initiatives.

Founded by former Mashpee Chamber of Commerce President Tom O’Neill, this event is inspired by classic family-style Italian meals, featuring long tables and a familial atmosphere. La Tavola means “the table” in Italian, and the festival encourages connection, celebration and community, mimicking the culture of a tight-knit village in Italy.

“It’s far more than a fundraiser, it’s a celebration of community,” said Patrice Pimental-Cotta, district manager for Rockland Trust and member of the Mashpee Chamber and the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation. “La Tavola showcases and supports local businesses. Restaurants, caterers, florists, musicians, grocery stores, sponsors and countless other businesses all contribute to making the event possible. It’s a great way to invest back into our local economy while highlighting business and the best of Mashpee.”

Read more → https://conta.cc/4wAMBS0

Around 12:20 AM on July 29, 1976, nine Mashpee Wampanoag men were arrested at Twelve Acres, a sacred area of historical ...
08/01/2026

Around 12:20 AM on July 29, 1976, nine Mashpee Wampanoag men were arrested at Twelve Acres, a sacred area of historical relevance not far from the shore of Mashpee Pond, and the spiritual center of Mashpee for the Wampanoag Tribe.

The charges? Disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assault and battery, unnecessary noise. The actions in question? Gathering, drumming, singing and sharing food.

“We were Mashpee Indians sitting in Mashpee, singing Indian songs around the fire,” Chief Earl “Swift Eagle” Mills Jr., also called “Chiefie,” said in the 2016 “Mashpee Nine: The Beat Goes On” documentary. “We were doing nothing wrong.”

On Tuesday evening, the Native Land Conservancy screened the documentary, created by Paula Peters and Talia Landry, for Mashpee Wampanoag youths and families.

“It was a great effort to put this together,” Peters, author of the accompanying “Mashpee Nine” book, said on Tuesday. “Everyone wanted this story told, collected in this way, so we can tell you how hard-fought it is, our right to these cultural practices, to beat the drum, to dance…we are not going to be denied, and this is the story of that cultural justice.”

Renée Lopes-Pocknett, the Tribe’s education director and one of the organizers of Tuesday’s screening, told attendees that it is important to know the Tribe’s history and “what happened 400 years ago…but it’s just as important to know the more recent history” from the elders who are still around to talk about it firsthand.

Read more about the story of the Mashpee Nine and Tuesday's screening → https://conta.cc/4pQt2CB

The Waquoit Meeting Room at Mashpee Town Hall on Monday was filled with residents concerned with a new pickleball regula...
07/31/2026

The Waquoit Meeting Room at Mashpee Town Hall on Monday was filled with residents concerned with a new pickleball regulation requiring noise-reducing balls announced last week.

The regulation was set to go into effect on Saturday, August 1; the Enterprise was informed on Thursday that the noise-suppressing ball requirement will instead go into effect on Thursday, August 13.

The town announced on July 20 that pickleballers are now required to use a Vortexball EVO ball or equivalent in an effort to mitigate noise disturbances and quell complaints from a nearby resident about the noise level at the courts. The 3D-printed ball is “designed for low-noise performance with durable construction to withstand continuous play and is optimized for fast-paced play,” the town’s announcement said.

The day after the Select Board’s discussion, the town announced that the manufacturer had agreed to a 20% discount for residents with the code “Mashpee.” The Enterprise tested this discount code. The sticker price of a three pack of balls is $149. Shipping to Mashpee and duties—the brand is based in Italy—cost another $33.90, bringing the total price to $182.90. With the discount code, the sticker price drops to $119, and duties and shipping drop slightly, to $30.92—meaning that after the discount code, the total price comes out to $150.12, about a dollar and change above the sticker price alone. Savings amounted to $29.80.

Speaking on Monday, abutter Earnest R. Barrows, who has filed several noise complaints regarding the courts, thanked board members and Town Manager Rodney C. Collins for collaboratively reaching a decision—what Barrows called “a good decision”—about pickleball noise.

“We have been back and forth for years on this, and we finally have gotten to the point where we can get something done,” he said.

Collins told the Enterprise that the Vortexball EVO choice “originated by mutual consent from Mr. Barrows and the Town” in a good-faith effort to avoid litigation.

Read more about Monday's meeting here → https://conta.cc/4wENyci

The annual tradition of the Barnstable County Fair comes to a close today, Sunday, July 26. A week's worth of fun was ha...
07/26/2026

The annual tradition of the Barnstable County Fair comes to a close today, Sunday, July 26. A week's worth of fun was had by thousands of residents and tourists who turned out for the Fair in recent days. Head to our website for our full photo gallery from opening day → https://conta.cc/4gSx774

This year’s summer traffic has taught us that there are no back roads on Cape Cod anymore.It is no secret that a simple ...
07/26/2026

This year’s summer traffic has taught us that there are no back roads on Cape Cod anymore.

It is no secret that a simple 10-minute drive on the Cape can turn into a 45-minute voyage due to traffic. We have all learned, or have been taught, tips and tricks on how to navigate through or attempt to avoid traffic congestion, but the reality is that dealing with traffic on the Cape is unavoidable.

The latest Cape Cod Commission travel data indicate that an average of 55,018 vehicles traveled across the Bourne Bridge and 74,551 vehicles traveled across the Sagamore Bridge during an average summer day in 2023.

But traffic is not contained to the bridges; it also spills onto Route 28 and Route 6, and now, as GPS devices have seemingly caught on, smaller residential roads.

We saw comments on social media over the Fourth of July weekend questioning why some of these streets were backed up or expressing frustration regarding GPS rerouting drivers to cut through neighborhoods or side streets to avoid traffic.

Read the full editorial → https://conta.cc/4woby2Y

Want to help protect local news here on Cape Cod? Come deliver for us! The Enterprise is currently looking for reliable,...
07/25/2026

Want to help protect local news here on Cape Cod? Come deliver for us!

The Enterprise is currently looking for reliable, responsible and consistent newspaper delivery drivers. This is the perfect job for anyone looking for a light side gig!

Newspapers must be delivered on Fridays, the day we publish. Papers can be picked up on Friday mornings at the Enterprise office in Falmouth

Interested? Send us a message, give us a call or email Tyler Amaral using the contact information below. We can't wait to work with you!

This month, Liberty Mutual awarded Mashpee-based nonprofit Heroes In Transition (HIT) a $10,000 Make More Happen grant. ...
07/25/2026

This month, Liberty Mutual awarded Mashpee-based nonprofit Heroes In Transition (HIT) a $10,000 Make More Happen grant. For HIT Executive Director Silene Gordon, the award really happened because the community “showed up big.”

“It’s really such a meaningful contribution on so many different levels,” Gordon said in a phone call with the Enterprise on July 15. “It will have such an enormous impact on the people we serve.”

Heroes in Transition partnered with Kingston-based insurance company The Baldwin Group (TBG) to secure the award.

“One of our mantras during this process was that we wanted people to show up big,” Gordon said. “Our rec team showed up big, TBG showed up big, HIT showed up big and the Make More Happen Award folks showed up big.”

Heroes in Transition is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance, programs and financial support to veterans, active-duty service members and military families that are not easily accessible through government agencies. The Mashpee-based organization has been around for 17 years. For five of those years, The Baldwin Group has worked closely in supporting and fundraising for HIT.

“This is about collectively showing up and really going that extra mile because the end is certainly not only worth it, but it’s also about the funding and the value that everyone places on the work that we do,” Gordon said.

Read more → https://conta.cc/4pBn9Jr

A Mashpee woman is facing charges after she allegedly stole more than $13,000 from the company she worked for in Sandwic...
07/24/2026

A Mashpee woman is facing charges after she allegedly stole more than $13,000 from the company she worked for in Sandwich by making fraudulent returns.

Sandwich police were called to Aubuchon Hardware on July 15 at 9:03 AM when the manager of the store reported that an employee was suspected of making fraudulent returns. The employee had been fired from the store.

During the investigation, police determined that Heather C. Wood, 44, of Mashpee had processed 35 return transactions over the course of 36 days. The transactions were processed to Wood’s own credit cards in an amount surpassing $13,000.

Read more → https://conta.cc/4fs6wva

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