It's hard to imagine that the summer of 2015 is already two thirds over. We all need to be sure we take advantage of all the great things our community has to offer for the remainder of the season.

The annual Juniper Point tennis championships are almost upon us. The draw will be announced Sunday, Aug. 2, with competition commencing Monday, Aug. 3, and finishing by Aug. 18 at the latest. Please contact Jessica Dumphy to throw your name in the ring for the ladies' competition; Andy Matthews for the men's competition; and Dave Taylor for juniors. Adult competition will be doubles and we will do our best to find a partner for anyone interested in playing, but without a partner. The deadline for submitting your interest is Friday, July 31. A potluck ladies luncheon will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at the Community House to celebrate a wonderful tennis season.

On Thursday, July 23, the JPVIS junior tennis team competed in a match against Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. Many players from both clubs played in the match. Participants from JPVIS were: Jackson Emery, Mitchell Dixon, Gus McGee, Buck and Ryan Lewis, Clay Kynor, Tess McComisky, Ethan and Augie Barnard, Oliver and Emma Monsourian, Allston and Judd Armstrong, Rath Schoenthal, Madison and Herbert Durfee and Maeve and Soren Zimmer.

On Saturday, July 25, the Squirrel Island tennis program graciously hosted several of our JPVIS juniors for a tennis tournament. Point participants were: Tommy Tavenner, Clay Kynor, Soren Zimmer, Augie and Ethan Barnard, Oliver and Emma Monsourian and Devin Pai. Special thanks to Dave Kynor, Tom Tavenner and Brigette Monsourian for providing boat transportation to and from the island. A great time was had by all!

A reminder that JPVIS hosts, for members, movie night at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and an ice cream social on Thursday evenings at 6:30 p.m.

Bring your appetite for pancakes and tennis to the annual Juniper Point breakfast and tennis exhibition on Aug. 8 at 10 a.m. Dave Taylor has rounded up some of the region's best players for a morning of delicious breakfast and Davis Cup-worthy tennis. Volunteers always welcome for pancake-making duty. Please contact Jessica Dumphy for more information.  

Caroline and Kit Andrews have been running a two week "Grandma Camp" for Caroline's four grandchildren,Taber, Bowdoin, Lily and Violet. One of the highlights has been the fun JPVIS tennis clinics run by our tennis pro David Taylor with Po Grant, the children's third cousin. The children have also enjoyed playing with neighbors Gus and Delaney McGee and with Liam and Quinn Dooley, who flew in to visit their grandmother Anne Dooley for two weeks. Nancy and Fred Kelly from Annapolis have been staying in the Andrews' little cottage and have been a big help to the Andrews sisters. Nancy grew up in the Welch House in the 1950s while her father ran the marine resources lab at the end of McKown Point. After tennis, the Andrews' beach has been a popular place to swim and play. Another third cousin, Cyrus Bowditch, grandson of Bob and Louise, often swims over to join the fun.

The Barneses will take off the first week in August to be in Dedham, Massachusetts, to reconnect with granddaughter Maddie Bremer who has just returned from a six month stay in Cameroon, Africa, where she participated in a program sponsored by Dickinson College. She was housed by a local family and spent her time there speaking only the local language, French. During our time away from the Point our cottage will be occupied by the Peisers. Richard is a Harvard professor; they are familiar with our area as they also spent time in our abode last summer. Please welcome them.

The Barneses will also be out of the area for part of the 2nd and 3rd week of August as well to join a group of Stanford alumni at Vinalhaven. During the next three weeks news for the JPVIS column in the Register should be sent to the following: Anne Dooley, Aug. 6 edition; Lee Corbin, Aug. 13 edition and Ann Swope, Aug. 20 edition. Please send your news and announcements to those individuals.

Below is a beautiful essay sent to me and written by Kim Gillies that I would like to share with all our residents. It does a wonderful job of expressing the feelings that we all have regarding our good fortune to be able to spend our summers in this wonderful location.

“Summers in Maine”

There's much implied in saying just those three words. If you spend your summers here, then you understand. The minute the cool air greets you, the yearning begins for the sound of fog horns, a crackling fire, or some other favorite attributes from this beloved part of the world. It's the place you go to year after year, generation after generation. The place where, when you pull into the driveway after being gone for some time, the memories come flooding back. You hear the laughter from summers past, feel the love of being with family and friends, and your heart fills with so much gratitude that it feels as if you might not be able to contain it. Whether it be a camp, a cottage, or something in between, the smell of pines lining a dirt path or the sound of waves kissing the shore enchants your every sense and fills your soul.

It's where you can leave your doors unlocked and your possessions in plain view because there is a collective understanding and sacred trust. Or maybe your key is under the same rock that it has been for the past 50 years, and everyone knows it's there. Your neighbors will look out for your special place when you are not around, just as you do theirs. It is an honor bestowed upon each other because each of you recognize how blessed you are. Great pride is taken in the collection of memories gathered here over the years, and in preserving the heart of them for each other and the generations to come.

It is where friends think nothing of just walking in without knocking and shouting, "Hello, anyone home?" or they enter from the back porch instead of the formal front door. Either way, they help themselves to a cup of coffee on their way to finding you sitting in the sun enjoying a good book. You look up; happy that they have stopped by unannounced.

It's the no knocking I love. There's a warm and unmitigated feeling that accompanies it, and an instinctive delight knowing that it is welcome. I'm not sure there is one word that correctly defines this phenomenon. Maybe it is best described as an unspoken sense of connectedness simply because we are a part of this remarkable place and have history here. It is a compliment really. A sort of unstated membership in a club. A club where anyone can join just as long as they revere their good fortune to have found this place, relish in all its gifts, and, of course, understand the invitation not to knock.