I was told there was no room last week for the Southport column, but it did go up online, so anyone interested, I think, can still find it there at www.boothbayregister.com/article/southport/18954. I had written several paragraphs about the Fastnet Race off the southern coast of England in which Taylor Fallon’s husband, Peter Henderson, was racing on the American boat, Belle Mente. She led her rival until the final leg when light winds allowed the other boat to slip ahead. Nonetheless, I found it great fun to follow this boat along the race course, which is easy to do via the Internet. Taylor, whose parents are Marylynn and Dennis Fallon of Pratts Island, learned to sail at Southport, went on to be an instructor at Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, and then to Tufts University where, in her senior year, in 2003, she won the women’s national championship in 420’s. She met her husband in college, so they are a sailing duo.

You know by now that the town of Southport has submitted a bid for 1.25 million dollars, which has been accepted, for the Gardner property on Beach Road. The sale is contingent on the citizens of Southport voting to accept this action. A town meeting will be held on September 18 to hold this vote.

About 75 people came to a public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 14 at noon at the southern end of Pratts Island where Paul Columbe is applying to the Department of Environment Protection (DEP) for a permit to dredge, build an underwater wall, and blast some ledge so that he can get his boat to his dock. Bud Brown from Eco-Analysts, Inc. conducted the meeting where many citizens of Southport and others with an interest in the area, such as Diane Cowan from the Lobster Conservancy, asked questions and made statements about the area and the effect these plans would have on the beach and the juvenile lobster nursery among the ledges. Preliminary plans are available for you to see at the Southport Memorial Library. Another public meeting will be held before plans are submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection. Look for a more detailed article elsewhere in the paper.

A little late, but also please note that on Wednesday, Aug. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in Cozy Harbor the Selectmen announced they would hold a public hearing on the application of the Town of Southport to add a float to the landing at Oliver’s Restaurant. The public notice in the paper did not mention that dredging would also be involved with that project, but in the hearing on August 14 discussed above, in answer to a question, Selectman Smith Climo said the hearing on the dredging in Cozy Harbor would be August 21.

Property tax bills have been mailed. This year’s property taxes are due by September 30, 2013.

In other town news, Jim Gagnon has agreed to be the town’s new building inspector. He will be at the town office Tuesday and Thursdays from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m. Mr. Gagnon is also our town harbor master, so thanks to him for taking on both jobs.

The Rowgatta, on Saturday, Aug. 10, was a great success with calm morning seas. A full article on this event was in last’s week’s paper.

I heard at the Southport Yacht Club’s Arts and Craft Show that a bobcat has been seen near Horn Cove. Please let me know of any additional sightings.

Perhaps you noted in last week’s Southport Yacht Club Column two sets of car keys were found in a wide mouth bottle floating in the Sheepscot near Newagen. One set seems to be to a Ford pickup truck. The other would start a Chrysler product. If either set of these keys sound familiar to you, call the Brinegars at 207-633-2117.

Some repairs have already begun on the Pratts Island bridge, but thus far traffic can still drive onto the island.

On a lovely summer evening last Sunday the Newagen Inn tent was comfortably full with Southporters and guests for the Southport Island Association’s (SIA) annual meeting and party. Current Officers of the Board of Directors are Matt Cole, President, Barbara Baseman, Vice-president, Rimar Reed, Secretary, and Donald Duncan, Treasurer. New board members are Jen Baker and her father-in-law, Charlie Baker. In addition to organizing fun times and useful work such as “Island Clean-up Day,” SIA provides welcome baskets for island newcomers. Just this week Barbara Baseman and Sharma Schacknow delivered 10 baskets.

In other good deeds, SIA has taken in $35,000 for neighbors in need and distributed $26,000. The organization also is contributing the $25 entrance fee for any Southport child whose family enrolls him/her in the 529 college savings program to which the Harold Alfond College Scholarship program will add a matching grant of $200. If a family enrolls a child early in life, these sums will grow into good savings by the time the child is ready for college.

The entertainment at Newagen for the week of August 25 will be Arthur Webster playing in the pub on Sunday and on Thursday Dave Gagne. Our storyteller on Wednesday August 28 will be Michael Parent, from New England to New Zealand, and many places in between. Michael Parent, a native Mainer of French-Canadian descent, has performed as a storyteller and singer in both English and French since 1977.  He has been featured at many storytelling events, including hundreds of schools and libraries, the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, as well as international festivals in France, Austria, Ireland, England, Poland, Brazil, Costa Rica, and New Zealand.

Michael also leads storytelling, story writing, and performance workshops, and is known for his teaching abilities and a knack for creating a supportive workshop environment.  He is a 1999 recipient of the National Storytelling Network's Circle of Excellence Award, and was a keynote speaker at the 2001 National Storytelling Conference in Providence, R.I. After living in Virginia for many years, Michael returned to his home state of Maine in 1998, and now lives in Portland.