Dear Readers,

The day after the U.S. Postal Service delivers this week's Boothbay Register or Wiscasset Newspaper, April, the month of mud and gloom, will exit the calender. Her place will be taken by the merry month of May.

In some places, May is greeted with civic celebrations and frolics. For instance, in Merry Olde England, some places feature troops of Morris Dancers. Hint: Morris Dancing has nothing to do with romance or even twerking. It just involves a sort of awkward sort of skipping. If you want to know more about about Morris Dancing, look it up.

In an Olde English town named Stilton, they celebrate May by rolling a wheel of cheese down a hill. Of course, a May event in Stilton has to do with cheese. In Boothbay, we celebrate cheese with mac.

Our neighbors in nearby Bath plan to celebrate the first weekend of May by dancing around a maypole. They will also hold a city wide garage sale on Saturday.

We note for the record that May may be the first month in the last six where we should be snow-less. Given our recent weather history, this is not a sure thing, but at least that is the hope.

Out in the garden, we should soon see a flower or two poking up through the detritus of winter. Over on the hill, the tom turkeys still stand around with their plumage fanned out showing off for the hens in hopes they will to come over and give them a kiss or two. The hens, we suspect, are out in the fields sitting on their nests awaiting the next generation.

Friday, May 1 is election day in Boothbay Harbor. It is our chance to help choose the folks who will represent us on the town board of selectmen.

This year we have two contested seats. In the seat for a three-year term, incumbent Wendy Wolf is challenged by Rendle Jones.

There are four challengers seeking the open seat vacated by the resignation of Jay D. Warren. They are Chris Haskell, Palmer Payne, Linc Sample and Tricia Warren.

Good luck to all the candidates. No matter who wins, we appreciate their willingness to serve their town. Serving on the board of selectmen involves a lot of time, hard work, and the ability to absorb lots of complaints from your former friends and neighbors.

The following day, 9 a.m. Saturday, May 2, is the annual town meeting. This year, it will be held at the Boothbay Region Elementary School.

The New England town meeting is a grand link to our past. It was created by our forefathers and foremothers as a way to defy the King of England and his royal minions. It was how we began our proud tradition of self government.

The town meeting is also a great time to visit with neighbors (and share bad jokes) while listening to our elected and unelected officials explain the various articles on the town warrant and urge us to vote to tax ourselves to pay for the items. It is also our chance to ask a question or two. I urge you to attend.

On a somber note, we note with sadness the deaths of some of our best known neighbors and friends, including Ken Honey, Jim Bowden and Lynne Crink.

We also note the death of longtime Boothbay region teacher Evelyn Keene, who was just 107 years old. She helped start the region’s first public kindergarten, coached a high school state championship women's basketball team (in 1930), and once tooled around town in a snazzy red Porsche.

May they all rest in peace.