The return trip was as always, a long one filled with adverse weather, barreling trucks, plentiful traffic, potholes and much construction, all worth it to be home again. My avian friends were well tended by my cat/house sitter so they continue to grace my woodland and deck with new additions, male and female goldfinches, pine grossbeaks, and chipping sparrows, the daily chorus and fluttering of wings expands as do our daylight hours and warmer temperatures. Daffodils show their trumpets of yellow, forsythia bursting a bit and the woodland floor is bursting with the unfurling leaves of what will soon be foam flowers and Canada dwarf dogwood, just a few of what is yet to come. In the meadows various hawkweeds and king devils are setting up their low growing furry leaves amid the emerging wild strawberry, dandelions and violets. If you opt for a no mow May, and skip herbicide and pesticide lawn treatments, you will be able to see them all, and the pollinators that come with them. I was sent a fascinating newsletter put out by the Maine Garden Clubs filled with useful spring gardening tips, check out the link if that is something that interests you. https://mailchi.mp/mainegardenclubs.org/maine-grows-august-september-18101535?e=0c57057fdc  

Other letters arrived in my mailbox as well. This is one I had agreed to include in the column once all was official, something that I selfishly hoped would be further down the road, but here we are, a good-bye as well as new beginnings for two amazing people and all the creatures from Cape Newagen Farm. 

“Letter to the community Southport column:

Southport Island will always hold a special place in our hearts. Michael and I got married at Newagen Seaside Inn in 2004. We sold our cabin in Boothbay Harbor and bought our home on Southport in 2005, spending many summers and weekends with our three young kids, vacations away in our lovely seaside village home, new caretakers of the Mildred Barter House. We dreamed of retiring there, to be in Maine, from firefighter and educator to farmers, a new experience as we had never farmed before. We made our home into a farm, as it had been in the days of the Barters. In 2013, as we were building barns and creating pastures, neighbors would walk by and say what? are you bringing emus? No. alpacas, we’d say. What do you mean I have to wait another year … can’t you bring them now? cried Dick Snyder. Everyone was so curious and supportive in those early years and that support never wavered! While applying for our home business, Gerry said, it’s a win-win. A win for you and a win for the town. We hope you have enjoyed our farm as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with you. We truly appreciate all the love and support from our Southport community that grew with us as our farm expanded with alpacas, barn cats, chickens and finally sheep. Everyone celebrated when the new babies were born, cried when we lost one unexpectedly and supported all our community events. We made a really tough decision to leave a place we love. At our closing, we met the new caretaker of the Mildred Barter House, Claire and her young adult granddaughter. Claire’s granddaughter asked why we were leaving. Great question and really hard to answer. I told her that we love where we live, it’s natural beauty and warm community but that life takes unexpected turns, and we looked to be closer to our family as the years move on for us and them. We will never forget the night in 2015 when we brought our trailer across the bridge with the alpacas in it, there was a sighting reported from Robinson’s. Fast forward to 2026, the middle week of April, we packed up all the animals over four days and shuttled them to their new home. I have a picture of Mike walking the boys to the trailer, Bert and Max, the last animals to board our trailer. It was sad to see the last of our alpacas leaving our farm. Truly bittersweet! Southport will always be in our hearts. We are settling in, farming and building gardens. Mike has joined the North Yarmouth Volunteer Fire Dept and I’m getting our business ready to open again. We will miss all of Southport! Thank you for wrapping your arms around us and our dreams and helping to make our dreams a reality. We could not have done what we do with you. If you are traveling off island, head down toward the Wescustogo Park on the Royal River in North Yarmouth and look up. You’ll find our yellow farmhouse on the hill. We’ve kept our farm name and email to simplify life. Drop a line or just like when we started in 2015, if the barn doors are open, come on in! We’d love to see you!
All the best,
Anne and Mike” 

They will all be missed, but not too far away, so visits are possible and probable.

In case you missed this in the Boothbay Register, Lincoln County commissioners approved six local grants April 21. The grants are awarded through Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission and are called ASK grants (assistance with specific know-how). Executive Director Emily Rabbe explained grant details for each recipient. Southport is receiving $3,000 for updating emergency notification of a district map, storm preparedness, and community notification. My guess is that we will be hearing more about what the updates will be and how they will be rolled out. Important information to know ahead of time, which I will make sure to pass along when it is completed.

That week something else of significance occurred, a beautiful baby was born Thursday evening, April 23rd, to Liz and Kunal Tiwari. She is named Lilian Joy Tiwari and is the fifth generation of the family to have a Southport connection, starting with Gordon and Gladys Landon in the early 1950s. Many of you on Southport may know or remember Kunal from his time as student, and then as a sailing instructor, in the SYC program. Congratulations to the parents and grandparents, and welcome to the world Lilian, hope to see you on Southport.

Now, for what is ahead as we move into a new week and month. We will begin at the Southport Memorial Library, 1032 Hendricks Hill Road, open Tuesday 9-4, Thursday 9-4 and 6-8, and Saturday 9-4. Coffee Table will be welcoming one and all on Tuesday the 28th and Thursday the 30th beginning at 10, come for the conversation and enjoy a treat while you are there. Tech Time with Tarsha happens on Tuesdays as well, from 10-11, but it is best to call the library to see if she was able to be there, the number is 207-633-2741. In the evening on Thursday the 30th, from 6 to 7:30, bring yourself and your seeds to the Southport Seed Swap which is being organized by the Bloomin Babes and will have special guests Kyle and Sean from @southportislandfarm and their microgreens. Refreshments will be served, and once you leave you will be ready to start mapping out the garden, tilling the soil and germinating the seeds for planting. It is no longer in the distant future, but just weeks away. Last year the final frost was May 2 and we had 165 growing days, so join the fun and prepare for the bounty of 2026.

On Thursday, May 7 the library will have new art on display with an exhibit titled Magical Maine. It will feature oil paintings by Lori Lynn Hoffer, and continue through June. Lori Lynn’s vibrant work is based on an intrinsic impulse to convey the glory of nature. Working with oils, Lori Lynn applies thick layers of highly saturated colors to a black background in a stylized approach reminiscent of stained glass. Her richly colored paintings vibrate with heightened aliveness – a visual sharing of beauty and life force. She loves mid-coast Maine and visits frequently to paint along the coast and in the gardens. A collection of her floral and garden paintings will be showing simultaneously at Blooms, Birds and Bugs – the season’s opening exhibit at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (May 1 to mid-July). Also look for her dahlia painting in the spring Flower Show at BRAF in downtown Boothbay Harbor until April 30. If you are curious about her and her work, you can find out more at LORILYNN@WATERLILYDESIGN.COM and Instagram LORILYNNFINEARTS.

Friday, May 8 the Friends of the Southport Central School (PTO) will be hosting a Tricky Tray Raffle Fundraiser at Town Hall to support the 6th grade field trip which is memorable trip celebrating the culmination of their elementary years. The event will begin at 5 p.m. and prize drawings will begin at 6:30 but you do not need to be present to win. Many local businesses have donated very desirable items, even a cord of delivered wood, and in addition to those, dinner concessions will also be available for donation. You can still help if you have something to donate by contacting Rachel Wallace at 207-730-3364 or Christina Kurtz at 507-242-3805, or attend and get your tickets, perhaps a winning one, and support the students in that regard, either way it sounds like fun for a worthy cause.

To start the month off with dinner, dancing and a drink make sure to be at Robinson’s Wharf on Friday May 1 from 5 to 8 p.m. for Cattle Call, the band will surely get you moving or elevate your mood. You do not need to wait until the end of the week, their hours are Tuesday-Saturday 11:30-8:00, so lunch, dinner or refresh as needed.

The fabulous sound of the peepers vibrated through the trees last night, clear skies dotted with stars and a little over half a moon, there was a sense of calm and it has all given way to a sun drenched day filled with promise, and an opportunity for outside work. If you too are heading outside do be mindful of the ticks, they are very active already.

Whatever you fill your days with, may there be a bit of childlike wonder in all you see and do, and May Peace Be With You All.