Opportunities for outdoor worship on Easter Sunday exist both at the Town Landing where the Southport United Methodist Church will hold it annual sunrise service and at Hendricks Head Beach where the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church will hold a service, both beginning at 6 a.m. All are welcome at either service, but even though people will gather outside, please wear your mask. And let’s hope for warmer and dryer weather. So far the forecast is favorable, and my computer says the sun will rise at 6:14 a.m. on that day.

We have a few more days to vote absentee on the town’s warrant items for this year. You can vote the day of the town meeting, April 5, but with over 50 articles on the ballot, asking for a ballot ahead of time and returning it before 6 p.m. on April 5 is the easiest method. And you can make counting even easier if you return your ballots either to the box outside the town hall parking lot entrance or in person to Donna Climo before that time and date.

Only a few people attended the second discussion of those articles held in the town hall parking lot on March 24 at 3:30 p.m. Present were are superintendent of schools and several members of Southport’s school board to answer questions and to explain the articles concerning requests for money for the school budget. Article 18, titled “Cost Center Budget Transfers,” which generated much discussion at the first meeting, was explained to mean that, if passed, the amount of money that can be transferred from one budget item to another may exceed 5%, the amount that would be allowed without a vote. I suspect many of us make these transfers all the time with our household budget. For example, if we spend less on gas in one month, we can transfer that cost savings to have lobster or steak for dinner several times in the next month. In response to concerns about voting for one amount in a budget item, but finding in the following year more had been spent on that item, the superintendent noted that each month on the administrative website the spending for the month is itemized, so you can tract the spending. Thanks for everyone who has given time and energy to being alert and involved in our town finances.

Head Selectman Gerry Gamage noted that we did get a ‘Keep Maine Healthy’ grant of $66,616, but would probably not receive more funds. In response to a questions about the upkeep, especially around the building of Cozy’s Dockside Restaurant, he responded that this year it would receive care.

At its regular monthly meeting on April 7 at 5:15 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall, the Southport Planning Board will conduct a site plan review of the Ship Ahoy development project. As always the public is welcome to attend, but due to COVID-19 masking and social distancing will be required, and meeting capacity will be limited to 60 people. In the event the number of attendees exceeds that limit, and provided the weather is acceptable, the meeting will be held in the parking lot of the town hall. Should the limit be exceeded and the weather is not acceptable, the meeting will be recessed and continued to the following night, Thursday, April 8 at 5:15 p.m. as an online Zoom meeting. If this happens you can email board chair, Skip Simonds (skipsimonds@mac.com) to request the link for the Zoom meeting. Again, you can find a formal notice of this meeting elsewhere in this paper.

In other town news a public hearing on installing broadband availability on the island will be held on April 10 with a town meeting for a vote on the matter to be held May 7. Look for a formal announcement elsewhere in the paper.

The Southport Island Association reminds all of us that they have three financial programs available for Southporters. First are educational grants for students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. These grants can finance trips, special projects, or summer programs that add to one’s educational experience. Second is for Southport residents over 18 who may need a “leg up” to attend a course not part of the regular academic curriculum. Third is financial help for those persons needing a boast to cope with life’s other financial needs. Applications are available through counselors at our schools, at the Methodist Church, or by contacting Carole Zalucky at
czalucky@gmail.com or 207-841-0577.

If you saw spirals of colored plastic hanging from trees in the school yard this past week, they were the result of the students’ project “Restore our Earth,” focused on how important it is to recycle plastic. Another creative project was teaching geographic shapes of continents by cutting them out of slices of pizza, which could then be eaten! An excellent way to teach while keeping the students involved.