Lots of fall celebration on Southport! First is the Fall Festival at the Southport General Store on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. with wine tasting from 1 until 3 p.m. Much good food will tempt you beginning with barbecued breakfast and delicious baked goods. Then pumpkin soup and charcuterie boards with local Lakin’s Gorges cheese from Waldoboro along with more barbecued sandwiches and fresh desserts will be available throughout the afternoon. Music will accompany all this good food.

Other changes at the store are, first, the hours that are now 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. during the week and 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday. The store is closed on Sunday. The Gift Barn will also close for the season after this weekend, but many of the items will be moved to the dining area of the store, so you can still do some Christmas and other shopping. Be sure to welcome a new employee whose name is “September.”

The next celebration is the Halloween party, Oct. 31, organized by the Southport Island Association at the Southport Town Hall. All are invited, wearing costumes or not. If you do don a costume, you can join in the costume fashion show! You can also participate in the chili cook-off and have a fun “trunk or treat” experience. Cars will welcome Halloweeners with their trunks open in the Methodist Church parking lot. The trunks will offer candy and other treats. The Town Hall doors open at 5 p.m., the Chile Cook Off will begin at 6 and the fashion show begins at 6:30.

Volunteers to participant in the Chile Cook Off and willing to open their trunk to provide treats are still needed. Updates will be posted to the SIA's Facebook page, and if anyone has any questions or is willing to volunteer, they can reach out to southporthalloween@gmail.com or call Eden at 513-739-2422.

On Saturday, Nov. 2, beginning at 2 p.m. at the Southport Memorial Library, we can learn more about mushrooms from Hilary Bartlett. Hiliary is a local author and artist, whose latest book is “Mushroom Mania.” Her artwork is also exhibited at the library. Look for more information in an article elsewhere in this paper.

Southport Planning Board will meet at the Town Hall at 5 p.m. on Nov. 6. Such meetings are open to whomever wants to attend.

Then add to your calendar Nov. 11, when we will gather at the Southport Memorial Library for the annual Veterans Day observance to honor all who are currently serving our country in the military, as well as those who have previously served, and those who have died. You are invited to gather at 10:45 a.m. with the ceremony beginning at 11. The service can also be seen on Channels 7 and 1301 along with Jim Singer’s slides of our local veterans. I believe it will also be time to say “Good-bye” to all those veterans whose pictures have decorated our roadsides this spring, summer and fall as they will be put away for the winter.

As usual the Southport Central School children have been busy with creative projects. The second and third grade class, under the tutelage of Mr. Shawn, were experimenting with engineering processes, exploring the principles of buoyancy and estimation. Their challenge was to build a vessel out of tin foil to see which structure could hold the most pennies. “After everyone made a first attempt, each student shared what they observed and was given another attempt to build.” The plan is for the class “to spend the year exploring the design process and discussing how engineers work to create many of the beautiful technologies we use every day.”

Mrs Browne’s fifth and sixth grade class, with help from a visitor, Ms. Kay, learned to build robots and then to race them. In the building process the students changed several variables to see if that increased speed and pulling strength. The expressions on the children’s faces in the newsletter tell you they are not only learning, but also having great fun!

Southporter Betsy Thibault is looking for a job housesitting and/or pet sitting. You will see her brochures at the post office and the Southport General Store. Please call her at 207-315-6419 if you can offer such a job or have a lead to one.

Absentee ballots are still available until 5 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Southport Town Hall. If you are going to be out of town or cannot get to the town hall during voting hours, here is your chance to make your voice count.