Summer friends and summer activities are surfacing with a bounce, so have your calendars ready. If you are reading this column online in time, the first news is that the Southport Yacht Club members will gather for the traditional Memorial Day potluck supper at the club house on Saturday, May 27. Come at 6 p.m. for food and fellowship, bringing your favorite food to share. This is the yacht club’s centennial summer, so more celebrations will follow.

Recognition and celebration of our veterans’ service to our country will begin at the normal times and places on Memorial Day, Monday, May 29. We will gather at the Southport Memorial Library in Newagen at 8:30 a.m. and then at the Monument by the Southport General Store at 9:15 a.m.

Next up on Monday, May 30, is your chance to vote at the Southport Town Hall on whether or not the Boothbay Region Water District can raise their debt ceiling. The polls are open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. That evening at 6 p.m., the Boothbay Region Seahawk Singers will give a concert at the Southport Methodist Church. This group is led by Mary Miller, who is also the organist at the church. Then we have the Firemen’s Dinner on Wednesday, May 31 at Newagen Inn beginning at 5:30 p.m. for cocktails and 6:30 p.m. for dinner. Your fee for dinner will go to the firemen, but do call the Inn at 633-5242 for reservations.

From Mari Tiwari comes this notice about our Southport Historical Society. They invite us to join the Friends of the Southport Historical Society for their annual meeting on June 14, at 7 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall. Following a brief business meeting, Jean McKay will give a talk, “The Evolution of the Burnt Island Lighthouse Since 1821.” She explains that the Burnt Island Light was acquired by the Maine Department of Marine Resources in 1998, and after a meticulous restoration, opened its Living Lighthouse program to the public in 2003. McKay is an educator for the lighthouse and the island’s programs, a director/treasurer of the Keepers
of the Burnt Island Light, and an educator for the Maine State Aquarium. Light refreshments will be served after the meeting.

The museum will open for the season on Saturday, July 1 and be open until September on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. They will also be open in the evenings from 5 until 7:30 on alternate Thursdays beginning July 13. During September they will open on Saturdays from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering as a docent at the museum, call Nan Jackson at 633-2003 or email her at
jackson7580@roadrunner.com.

A reminder to mark your calendars for Saturday, June 17, from 5 to 7 p.m. to come to the Southport Town Hall for Bolster Day, one of the fundraisers that the Southport Island Association (SIA) organizes to help underwrite its many activities held throughout the year. There will be a cash bar, and attendees are asked to bring an appetizer to share. The SIA has not held Bolster Day, a fun event that kicks off the summer season, for the past several years due to the pandemic. We all look forward to seeing old members and new faces as well. There is no need to RSVP.

Summer residents are returning. I have visited with Callie and Denis McWhan and Louise and Clark Phippen, and I am sure this weekend will bring plenty more. Great to have them back.

The bulletin boards at the Southport Post Office, the Southport General Store, and the Southport Post Office are all good sources of information as to what is happening around the island and the community. Plenty of opportunities to enjoy our summer.