Maria Doelp will be your columnist for the next two weeks. Please send her information at pdoelp@roadrunner.com or put written information in the envelope at the Island Store. Thanks, Maria.

A number of people on the peninsula as well as several groups from Southport attended the Camden Conference this past weekend. This gathering of knowledgeable speakers from around the world and attendees, high school and college students plus adults, mostly from New England, but also further afield just completed its 31st year. The venues have expanded to include not only the Camden Opera House, but also the Strand Theater in Rockland, the Hutchinson Center in Belfast, and the University of Southern Maine in Portland. This year three of the four venues were sold out.

Some folks elected to attend the conference from the comfort of their homes, paying a fee to have the entire conference live streamed into their living rooms. Aims and Susie McGuinness, for example, stayed in Colorado and enjoyed the conference in this fashion as did Carol Palmer and friends in East Boothbay.

“To promote civil discourse on important global affairs that affect our nation,” is the mission of the conference with this year’s subject being “New World Disorder.” To condense the speakers’ thoughts into a few sentence is beyond my capacity, but perhaps the title of the keynote speaker’s talk, “The Best of Times and the Worst of Times,” and the final speaker’s talk, “This Too Shall Pass,” sums up the spread of ideas. Global trade, climate change, rising popularism, immigration, and the new cultural divide are some of the terms addressed.

Public radio rebroadcasts much of the conference, and you can get a booklet summarizing much of the conversation as well as going on the website www.camdenconference.org for information. Next year’s conference topic will be China’s growing engagement in world affairs.

Another opportunity to engage in discussion of world affairs is this Thursday evening at the Harbor Theater when Southporter Paul Zalucky, a retired CIA executive, will introduce the film made of the inner workings of the White House during President Obama’s last year in office. Titled “The Final Year,” the action closely follows cabinet level appointees in National Security and the State Department as they travel around the world to establish a global presence. A question and answer session about the film led by Paul will be begin at 6:30 p.m.

Informed and engaged citizens are what make our country strong. Anther opportunity for involvement is the Democratic Caucus described last week in this space. Southport Democrats will be caucusing on Sunday, March 4, at 2 p.m. at the Boothbay Region High School. Those planning to attend are encouraged to pre-register at my.mainedems.org/caucus/prereg through March 2, printing your pre-registration form so that you can bring it with you to the caucus to facilitate the check-in process. Even without pre-registering you can still participate at the caucus.

The purpose of the caucus is to learn about candidates running for offices in the Maine election in 2018; to learn about ways to get involved in supporting those candidates, and to elect Southport Democratic Leaders. Doors with open at 1:30 p.m. If sever weather forces cancellation, the caucus will be held on Sunday, March 11, same time and place. If Southport Republicans have a caucus, please let me know.

Then on Monday, March 5, the town of Southport will hold its annual meeting. Most of you know the drill for this event. Voting for town officers will take place at the town hall during the day from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with the voting on additional articles beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Town Report containing details of the town finances, various committee reports, and the articles on which we will vote should be available soon at the town office, the post office, the Island Store, and the library. You can read the warrant online at townofsouthport.org.

Be a good citizen, be informed, be involved, and vote.