Alert! Due to the forecast of thunderstorms Tuesday and Wednesday, both the Southport Central School’s Field Day and graduation parade and ice cream social are moved to Thursday, June 10, with the times remaining the same, morning for the Field Day and the graduation parade leaving the school at 5:30 p.m., driving south to Newagen, then around to the east side, driving north on Cape Newagen Road. Please plan to greet our graduate, Madisyn Blackman, and her friend, Makayla Abbe, a fifth grader, with cheers and lots of other celebratory noise.

Next up is the Southport Island Association (SIA) distribution of “Southport Sprouts.” On Saturday, June 12, from 9 until 11 a.m., SIA will have 60 starter seedling kits to offer, free of charge, to Southporters of all ages. Each kit will contain three vegetables, a marigold, and an herb. Morning Dew Farm is the source of the seedlings that have been tended by Brady Hatch, and who is providing them to SIA at wholesale prices. Two Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG) educational staff members will offer tips on planting and growing. The kits will be available on the Southport School grounds. Sharma Schacknow and Janet Duchaine, SIA Board members, are co-leading this new initiative. To reserve your seedling kit, please call Sharma at 561-876-5151 or email to sharmajschacknow@earthlink.net; Let’s Get Growing!

All Saints by-the-Sea will open for services beginning Sunday, June 20. The first service with Holy Communion will begin at 9 a.m. The second service will begin at 10:30 a.m and will include Holy Communion except on the fourth Sunday. COVID-19 restrictions will apply. A maximum 45 congregants can be seated for each service, requiring pre-registration each week via chapel website, www.allsaintssouthport.org. or by calling the chapel phone at 207-633-7301. Please leave a message. Also there will be 10-12 spaces for additional folks on porch. Everyone in the chapel must wear masks and there will be no congregational singing, but the organist, Henry Lowe, will provide music. The Reverend Dr. Virginia Sheay will be the celebrant for the first two Sundays. All are welcome.

Mark your calendars for Monday, June 21, beginning at 4 p.m., as the date of the Friends of the Southport Historical Society’s annual meeting to be held on the lawn of the residence of Bruce and Medea Harris, 65 Hendricks Hill Road, Southport. Following a short business meeting, our own Joe Gelarden will talk about the history of the Lawnmere Inn as the popular vacation spot it was in its heyday. Members of the audience will be invited to share their own experiences with the Inn following Joe's remarks. Then a lobster pot table created by Gerry Gamage will be raffled off at the meeting. Light pre-packaged refreshments will be provided following the program. Should rain preclude meeting on the lawn, the meeting will be held indoors at the Southport Town Hall. For everyone's safety attendees should the meeting be moved indoors, you are asked to wear a mask that fully covers the nose and mouth, unless you are fully vaccinated.

Lynn Schafer is home again on Hendrick’s Head Road and will be opening her “Possibilities” shop in the most afternoons. Call 633-0788 if coming a distance. All are welcome to the shop as well as to stroll through the gardens. Specialty items include textiles, hand-made rugs, one-ofa-kind treasures that make a house a home. Fresh flower bouquets and vases are also available.

The Southport Island School’s talent show last Friday was a delight with the youngsters exhibiting talent from singing to acrobatics. I especially like their final number, which began with one student singing the introduction to the number, but then all the students joining in to complete the song, “We will come back home again,” an especially appropriate song for our island young people. I also loved the way the students so enthusiastically supported each other. We are so fortunate to have the leadership and staff we do at this school.

The Southport Yacht Club (SYC) will open this year for the sailing program and events at SYC that can be held outdoors. Events will be capped at 150 attendees, and registration for all events with food and beverages will be required. Events where alcohol is served by the club will be only open to ages 21 and older. The Senior Club House will be open on weekends. The main SYC dock will be available at all times and the junior program dock will be available after 4:30 p.m. M-F and on weekends. To protect our youngest sailors, you are asked not to interact with the sailing program students or enter the buildings during the weekday program (M-F, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.). Fully vaccinated adult members and guests are not required to wear a mask or socially distance while at SYC. Non-vaccinated members and guests must wear a mask indoors and when six feet of distance cannot be maintained outdoors.

The Southport General Store has had to reduce hours to the following: Saturday-Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. through 5 p.m. The Barn opens at 9:30 a.m. each day but closes on the same schedule as the store. This warm weather has brought many people to enjoy the new picnic tables scattered around the property. A new presence in the store is Arthur Hathaway, the kitchen supervisor who has returned to his home town of Boothbay Harbor after living away. Welcome home and to the store community, Arthur.

The Ship Ahoy Motel “for sale” signs are down, so I expect construction will start soon. No action, however, around Cozy’s Harborside. The sign on the door still says “Opening in June” but I expect that will depend on whether adequate help can be found.

Lots going on, and the warm weather caused even me to put a foot in the ocean water. I wonder how long the hot weather will last. Enjoy!