Southport Column: Condolences, a potluck and a fire-spewing dragon

Thu, 10/08/2015 - 12:30pm

Our rocky coastline is beautiful and alluring and dangerous. Fortunately most falls result in scrapes or perhaps broken bones. Sometimes, when the head meets the rock, the results are more serious, and last Monday evening, fatal.

Our strongest sympathies go out to the Doelp family. Peter’s twin brother, Paul, visiting with his wife and daughter from Pennsylvania, stepped off Peter’s and Maria’s deck on Pierce Lane, fell down a steep hill and into the water. Peter did his best to save his brother, risking his own life in the attempt, but to no avail. The horror that the worriers among us often envisioned when watching loved ones scramble along our shoreline has come to pass. Peter, Maria and family, please know we share your sorrow.

Fortunately the rest of this week’s news brings some cheer. For Southport Yacht Club members and their guests, remember the end of season potluck this Saturday evening, beginning at 6 p.m. Bring a dish to share, your own libation, and say an official goodbye to friends and to summer. As of today, Tuesday, Oct. 6, the docks are still in and the air seemed perfect for a final sail, but we all know colder weather is not far off.

Maria did a great job last week of listing various revised hours and closings. I will add the news about Robinson’s Wharf. They will be open for lunch and dinner six days a week after Columbus Day weekend, the closed day being Sunday. Watch for luncheon specials.

Congratulations to Mark Powell who traveled to Portland, Oregon, both to spend time with family and to be inducted into the Grant High School Hall of Fame for track. In 1970, when Mark was a member of the track team, the team won the state championship. What took them so long to recognize your ability to run fast and to claim prizes, Mark?

Most of us exclaim in delight when we see a bald eagle, but Molly and Wells Moore, in their summer home on Pratts Island were startled to hear much squawking and to see a bald eagle attacking a sea gull. The next morning only the gull’s bones remained and then even the bones disappeared. Folks with cats and small dogs may want to watch them a bit more closely to be sure they are safe from predators from above.

Be sure to note and enjoy the inflated, fire spewing dragon, mounted on a platform in the parking lot of Sweet Dreams Bakery. This orange and black figure, about 12 feet tall, flaps its wings in, drawing you into its embrace. Thanks to Marie Kelley for this fall fun.

Thanks also to the students and faculty at the Southport Central School who cleaned up Hendricks Head Beach. They are enjoying their new school bus.