Five People Run the Chatham Parade: Susan Wegner, Chatham MA

Susan Wegner arrived in Chatham at six months old, asleep in a station wagon. It took most of her life for the town to stop being a vacation.

Her parents drove overnight from Rochester because it saved them a hotel room. A week or two, then home. That held for decades, through California, law school, a husband she brought here on a New England trip, and two sons who spent every summer on the Cape.

Barb Garside sells Cape Cod real estate as a Broker Associate with Coastal Chatham at eXp Realty Luxury, and second-home buyers ask her some version of this question all the time. Susan's answer is specific. A seat on the Chatham Cultural Council, which pairs state money with town money and gives it out every December. A parade committee of five that sleeps all winter, then wakes up in February to find the parade four months out. Sunday rides with the Crush Tour, Chatham's Pan-Mass Challenge team, up to Orleans and back with a stop at the Hot Chocolate Sparrow. A byline in Chatham Living magazine. Mahjong lessons at Stage Harbor Yacht Club.

Ask her what actually changed and she goes smaller than any of it. She recognizes people now when she walks down the street.

Hosted by: Barb Garside

Guest: Susan Wegner

Susan Wegner is an environmental attorney who works part-time and remotely, splitting her year between the Washington, D.C. area and Chatham, Massachusetts. She serves on the Chatham Cultural Council and the town parade committee, where she handled communications and press releases for this year's parade. She writes for Chatham Living magazine and teaches Mahjong at Stage Harbor Yacht Club, where she has also served on the board, co-chaired the auction, and run merchandise.

What You'll Learn

• Turning a part-time address into a real place in the Chatham community

• Picking the committees and volunteer seats that connect you to a small town fastest

• Getting Cultural Council funding behind a program that would never otherwise reach Chatham

• Reading what PFOS and a drought year mean for drinking water on Cape Cod

• Running a parade on five people and eight months of quiet

• Building a network in a town you did not grow up in

• Finding the Cape Cod trails that stay empty in every season

Follow Chatham Coffee Tour for new conversations from around town.

Connect with Susan Wegner

Email: susan@thewegners.com

Connect with Barb Garside

Website: https://barbaragarside.exprealty.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastalchatham

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-garside-a78a554

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BarbGarside

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