Enid Johnson will be visiting the island on May 9 and will be available for us to welcome her in the back room of the Island Store. By that time all the moving about in the store should be settled, so we can have a quiet and comfortable time to catch up. Check with the store closer to the date for time.

When son, Andy, and I drove to Hendrick’s Head beach last Wednesday to enjoy our sandwiches from the island store, we saw five cold water swimmers assembling and then wadding out into the calm waters. No one hesitated or made a noise. Just a calm stroll into the water, accompanied by soft music set up by Morgan Mitchell. I was told and now I have seen how soothing such an action can be, but wonder if the heart of an 83-year-old might protest.

An annual spring event is the Southport Island Association’s sponsorship of Island Cleanup, which this year will be Sunday, April 30. Meet at the Southport Town Hall at noon to collect a bag and choose your zone for cleaning. When finished, leave the bag at a designated spot for pickup and then return to the town hall for a hot dog lunch provided by Cozy’s Dockside. Always a fun and useful event. All will be over about 2 p.m.

Parents Day Lunch, also sponsored by the Southport Island Association, is scheduled for Saturday, May 6, with drive by pick up at the Southport Town Hall from noon until 1 p.m. Enjoy a crab roll lunch in partnership with Robinson's and dessert by Sweet Dreams Bakery. The theme is to celebrate all parents with children of any age (yes, even adult children!)! Reservations to be made by calling 633-3546. No cost for Southporters, but donations accepted.

Four members of the Southport Community Project team met at the Southport School on Thursday afternoon to discuss continuing work on the wooded natural playground project. Our committee has hired John Copeland of Kennebec Trail Company to oversee the development of some new and exciting play areas in the woods on the school grounds. Many of you may remember answering a survey about the project last year, and much of the feedback has guided our progress thus far. Next steps include the fundraising needed to continue the project in the woods, which has already received significant work from Mike Wallace in the form of site prep. Please be on the lookout for a letter coming soon showing some pictures of the project and asking for your support to make it happen through financial donations and other possible avenues of help.

Have you ever cooked a good dinner for the family and then observed, especially some younger ones, quietly looking at the cell phones as they eat? If so, or if under other circumstances the cell phone steals time from family events, you will understand why the Southport school is joining other schools and communities around the world in having a “Screen Free Week.” Screens can be useful for education, but so can other avenues such as
direct contact with others through reading, playing, and conversation. May 1 through 4 will be the time to put away the phones. It includes a potluck supper for school families on Tuesday, May 2 from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

Coming up first from the school will be the annual talent show at the Southport Town Hall Wednesday, April 26 beginning at 6 p.m. Fresh baked goods will also be on sale to raise money for the sixth grade trip to Boston.

Mark your calendars for the spring concert on June 7, also at the Southport Town Hall beginning at 6 p.m.

Many people have asked me where the Foofa LLC, DBA Tea Room is after reading about the application to the selectmen to serve wine and malt liquor there. Tancy Mitchell solved the mystery by explaining it is the tea room on Squirrel Island. The public hearing on that application will be held in the Selectmen’s office on April 26.

Many thanks to Donald Duncan who found a copy of book “Lighthouses of the Maine Coast” by Robert Sterlin about the grandfather of Evelyn Sherman, Royal Luther, who retired from lighthouse service in 1928 after 53 years of service. He has given the book to Evelyn who had been looking for it for some time.

Last I looked, the sign in the Southport Post Office that someone has found a laptop computer is still there. Anyone lose such a thing? I would think, if so, they would be very eager to find it.

Many thanks to all who attended the worship service at St. Columba’s last Sunday, in which music chosen by my husband, Kit, was played and sung. And many thanks to those who spoke of what Kit’s ministry and responses in general meant to their lives. I am not sure Kit or I would agree to the term “Southport saint” to characterize him, but the thought behind that statement is very heart warming. His funeral will be held at All Saints by-the-Sea on Aug. 12 at 11 a.m.