After more than six years of creating smiles, laughter, and even groans, local resident and author Skip Simonds has compiled more than 1,500 of his humorous posts into a single volume.

Simonds, a Boothbay resident, has been creating smiles daily with both his Facebook posts and on his “Skip of the Day” board at the Southport General Store where he has worked for the last five years. His daily quips have become a staple, and locals and visitors often come by the store just to read the latest.

“Often people would say to me that I ought to write a book of these jokes,” Simonds says. “It occurred to me this past winter that I was writing it, one day, one joke at a time.” So he did just that. Over the winter he compiled all of his missives into a single volume and had them published. The title is “The Skip of the Day,” a term invented by co-worker Michael Beane for Skip’s daily grease board posts at the store.

“The feedback I’ve gotten from people who’ve bought the book has been very, very gratifying,” Skip reports. “One fellow told me he randomly opens the book and reads one joke before he heads out for work each day to put a smile on his face. Another gave the book to her 15-year-old who, with his dad, sat for hours on the living room floor howling (her word, not mine)! The whole purpose of the daily posts and then this book was to counter the daily bad news we get on every front. I didn’t know about COVID-19 when I did this, but the timing of the book couldn’t have been better. I’m really glad I had it published when I did.”

“The Skip of the Day” is available on Amazon and can also be purchased at the Southport General Store. If Skip is at the store when you buy it, he’ll gladly inscribe and sign it for you.