Summer has hit full stride and Bayvillians are taking full advantage. Houses are filled to capacity and maximum occupancy limits are well exceeded. Tent City seems to grow by the hour as exasperated hosts run out of room, but not the willingness to entertain.

Though Bayville was still abuzz from last weekends incredible Waterfront Festival (be there July 25, 2020!) it was time to move on to this weekends happenings.

First off was the Bayville Village Corporation meeting. As always, chair Greg Merrill and moderator Al Roberts did a great job answering queries, fielding comments and keeping things moving along. Sewer Guy Dave delivered his less than stellar news regarding an increase for those on the community system.

Barbara Spencer was hard at work last week, again creating another worthy award for The Bayville Waterfront Festival. This one is for competitors 12 and under and is called Ruler of the Bay. Haven Merrill proudly accepted the inaugural award in front of a record crowd (triple digits) at the Lobster Bake. Congratulations again Haven! Enjoy your year of travel and fame.

D.R. came out of retirement - again - and provided another delectable feast of lobster, clams, mussels, corn on the cob and a wide selection of appetizers and desserts. Special thanks to him, Phil Roberts and Bill LaPointe for putting together such a great event!

Rachel Roberts came to town along with her friend, Michael Davey. Being his first time to our village, everybody rolled out the red carpet. Al and Phil Roberts were especially gracious as they turned the BVC meeting into a roast of the unsuspecting visitor. The comedy routine was so successful that Michael decided to head back to Florida at 3:30 AM the next morning. (His flight was already scheduled for that time but let’s ignore that fact as it makes a much better story). The reports from all were extremely favorable but sorry Michael, this was only one step in the Roberts (sans Karen and Becky) initiation process. I would start preparing for upcoming tasks by studying the Bayville Handbook. I believe a solo performance of the Bayville Song  is the next test.

After some time to digest lunch and all the news from the BVC meeting, people again rallied as the evening’s festivities began at 5 when the cocktail cannon was shot off. Celebrities from as far away as Brazil were in attendance. I am not at liberty to say whether Giselle was one of them. As in the past no drink concoction was good enough to earn the Bayville Buzz moniker, but there is always next year.  

The evening’s activities closed out with the 2019 grand opening of The Pit. There, Mark Spencer showed off his uncanny Michael Jackson vocal skills.

Sunday brought more fantastic weather — keep it coming please — and first duties were cleanup detail from the night before. There was a good turnout which of course made the work much easier. Thanks to the usual cast of characters; Greg Merrill, Mark Spencer, John Merrill, Phil Roberts, Kevin Keegan, Bill LaPointe, and Pat McNamara. Others visiting from further away and also helping out were Perry Bradley Jr, Eric Geiselman and Will Allison. The younger generation was represented by the hard working Brian McNamara and Gus Bradley. Thanks again! As always, I’m sure I missed someone, so my apologies in advance. In fact, last week this scribe was delirious after all the sun and fun at the BWF and didn’t realize that Tika was also there with ice cream scoop in hand, helping keep everyone cool and sated. Thank you Tika!

After cleanup, my brother Will and I had our first run together in quite awhile and then sister Karen joined us for a swim to Fishhawk. The water was perfect and others (though not sure who) had the same idea and were out there also.

During cleanup in the morning, it was discussed how we remembered past generations having frequent porch parties. Perry Jr liked the sound of bringing that tradition back and that evening The Ledge was alive with lots of folks enjoying laughter, fun and appetizers in another beautiful setting. Who will volunteer to be the next host of this fun byob event?

Chuck Wolfram had a great surprise for his visiting family at the Bayville dock the other day as they are now enjoying the world of power boating. Though it’s a bit louder, they have all found tubing much more enjoyable than it was behind the sail boat.

Thankfully, there is a lull in organized activities until The Cabbage Island Swim on Aug. 18. Be at the Collins dock at 12:45 ready to swim or paddle.

Until then, enjoy your time with family and friends and send your news to thejeffallison@gmail.com

Happy Birthday to Jill Albaum and Liz Bagonzi!