With Christmas Eve being on Sunday this year, the Southport United Methodist Church will have one service that day, combining the morning service with a Christmas Eve service at 3:30 p.m. All are welcome to join Southport friends and neighbors in worship.

All Saints by-the-Sea will not open for Christmas Eve worship this year, but has filmed the service, which will be available online beginning at 10 p.m. Christmas Eve. You can find the film by going to allsaintssouthport.org, look under Services, and click on YouTubeChannel.

Another celebration of the season was on Dec. 13 when the Southport Central School children presented a Christmas concert at 6 p.m. in the Southport Town Hall. “Once Upon a Winter’s Tale” was a great display of the children’s creativity. I think you will find pictures and more description of the event elsewhere in this paper.

A couple of days later the town hall was joyous again with a birthday party for Andrei Bazaiac, husband of Morgan Mitchell. Balloons, games, good food, and a lovely cake were all part of the fun as well as many pictures of Andrei strung up across the opening to the stage.

If you are reading this column online on Monday, note that the Southport Memorial Library will host a holiday open house on Tuesday, Dec. 19 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. First will be a children's story time and craft at 10 a.m., then live piano music from 1 until 3 p.m., and you may enjoy coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies all day. Remember also to bring non-perishable food items to the library, which they will then take to the food bank. Place donations in the box under the table that you see when you enter the front door.

Again, look elsewhere in this paper for information about two topics the Southport Planning Board has been discussing: (1) blasting and (2) short term rentals. The blasting ordinance passed by the planning board now rests with the Selectmen who have been asked, in addition, for blasting to be forbidden on Pratt’s Island due to disruption of a permanent resident’s wells. The Selectmen must consult the town lawyer and amend the wording before it can go forward
to the town meeting.

The amendment concerning short term rentals has been tabled for now so there may be more discussion and hopefully more agreement on the options for solving the problems described by Southporters who are neighbors to such rentals. Thus the public hearing scheduled for Dec. 19 in the Southport Town Hall has been canceled, and such legislation will probably not be voted on at this year’s town meeting.

Thanks to the Southport Island Association (SIA) for coordinating Christmas caroling around the island from 1 until 3 p.m. last Sunday, Dec. 17. Matt Thibault drove the Southport school bus to about a dozen houses where people answered the door in great expectation and seemed very grateful for the singing. Ella Long was our song leader, helped along by 7-year-old Aiden Nunan who suggested which songs to sing and added his very good voice to the effort. His younger sister, Trudy Sue, waved her hands to the music as well. Thanks to Eden Climo, who could not join us as her household had contracted a tummy bug, but she had organized the event and printed the words to many carols to help us along.

Due to Christmas the column for next week must be submitted on Friday by 4 p.m. If I do not have sufficient news, I do have a gift to share from June Elderkin. Stay tuned.