July 4 in the morning we heard the wail of fire sirens coming down Route 238, heading north. At first I jumped outside to see if my neighbors were okay, but then realized that probably the trucks and their drivers were giving us their form of a Fourth of July parade. Thanks Guys. A little “heads up” would have made the experience even more fun.

The big news of the week is that Ruth’s House has been sold. The buyers are Christine and Kenneth Dillman of Andover, Massachusetts. The purchase was final June 30 with the money to the town being $491,859.49, allowing the town to retire the mortgage. In my conversation with Selectman Gerry Gamage, he said he did not know for sure what the buyers intended to do with the property, but he had heard they planned to have their daughter’s wedding there next summer.

Gerry also said the Thompson bridge replacement was due to be completed on July 14, just a few days from now. Perhaps there will be a small ceremony to mark that milestone. Talking with the workers I learned that paving is planned for today, July 9, and that they will dismantle the working structures and clean up the area before they move on to a new project.

After celebrating the reopening of the Thompson Bridge, the next day, July 15, we can enjoy lobster rolls and homemade cookies, as well as buy plants at the Southport women’s annual County Fair and Lobster Roll luncheon. Call Elaine Goodwin at (360) 301-6715 or Deb Tukey at 633-5144 between July 2-12 to pre-order your lunch. On the day of the fair you can come to the Southport Methodist Church parking lot between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. to shop in person, obeying all the rules for avoiding, as best we can, infection of ourselves and others, i.e. wear and mask and stay six feet from anyone else.

Although the solar panel array is completed, it is not yet producing electricity for the town because the town must await action by Central Maine Power. Too bad to be losing this production time.

As you probably know, Cozy’s Dockside is closed for this season, but Gerry said the folks who ran the eatery in Cozy Harbor last year intend to renew the lease for the 2021 season. Let us hope the COVID-19 virus is gone by that time.

Although we did not have town-sponsored fireworks, Mr. Coulombe sponsored fireworks in the harbor that our family watched from the Capitol Island Bridge. I am told David Winslow set off fireworks in Love’s Cove, and the Farrin/Rodridue wedding that took place on July 4 on David’s Island set off fireworks ending the celebration with a bouquet of flowers in the sky. Well done, everyone.

I am sure the following story has been repeated numerous times, not within the Jacobs family, but from other docks around the west side of the island. A missing boat, a helping hand, and all is well. Read on.

Sometime during Sunday night, a Sears Gamefisher Skiff got loose from its haul-out in front of the Jacobs home. This skiff has survived nearly half a century— through the wear-and-tear of four children and eight grandchildren— and has been lovingly restored over the years, including installation of Duck tape to abate the fiberglass rash syndrome, wooden panels for broken thwarts, globs of fiberglass to patch the bottom, and a recycling of random leftover paint found in the garage.

After somehow making its way on its own to Five Islands, the skiff was kindly retrieved by Gerry Gamage and brought to the Southport Yacht Club. Gerry contacted Chris Jacobs, and Charlie and Bryce recovered the undamaged skiff from Cozy Harbor. Apparently, the knot attaching the painter to the skiff (which had been tied by past commodore Chris) came undone. “I can’t even blame it on my nephews,” said Chris in an email to Gerry. Due to Chris’ past experience with the Maine media, he is taking all inquiries about the situation.”

In other boating news I counted 15 turnabouts in Cozy Harbor this morning, about the same number that participated in the annual Fourth of July ‘Firecracker’ race. Chris Jacobs did a great job of chairing the race committee, and although I am sure an official account of the winners is elsewhere in the paper, I hear that Pete Smith and Trevor Britton came in first, and that Parker Baker came in fourth. Great to hear that some of our summer events can be held even in these strange times.