A word of caution for Friday, July 26. During the hours of the House and Garden Tour, 9:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., the road in front of the Southport Central School may be very busy with cars pulling in and out of the field to park so that visitors can be shuttled to the Paul Coulombe home. If you are going to the General Store or using Route 27 in the proximity of the school, expect more traffic than usual.

That evening, if you are attending Southport night at the Boothbay Playhouse to see “Once On This Island,” I expect the traffic will have returned to normal. The play begins at 8 p.m., and if you sign the sheet as a Southport resident, a portion of your ticket sales will return to the Southport Island Association (SIA) for island projects.

More Hendricks Head Beach news. Our selectmen will hold a public hearing on July 31 at 6 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall to hear peoples’ opinions about what the town can do so that the public will continue to have access to the beach.

For those of you just joining this conversation, the Ruth Gardner property, which includes the beach, is for sale. A new owner does not have to share the beach as Ruth did for many years. Many Southport residents, both summer folk and year-round residents, have signed a petition asking the selectmen “to take steps needed to allow continued use of the beach by town residents and visitors for generations to come.” This public hearing is one of the first steps in this process.

The next evening, on Thursday, August 1 from 5 to 7 p.m., SIA is holding its Annual Picnic. All Southporters and guests are invited to enjoy the festivities. This year the picnic will be held at Dana and Jane Mulholland’s house at 53 Solon Road on Southport. Picnic food cost is $8 per adult and $4 per child; beverage charges are extra. Organizers appreciate you bringing a dish to share. For more information, call Dana Mulholland at 207-633-7833. If it’s raining, the picnic will be at the Southport Town Hall.

The following day, Friday, August 2 will be the Southport Memorial Library's Book and Bake Sale from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The library is located at Newagen on the southern tip of Southport Island. Homemade pies, cakes, cookies, jams and boxes and boxes of used books will be for sale. If you need more information, call the library at 207-633-2741.

I received a delightful surprise in the mail the other day, an advanced copy of a novel by Emily Croy Barker titled “The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic,” to be published by Viking Press on August 5.

Emily, with her brother Michael, grew up spending summers at the family home on Dogfish Head. A graduate of Harvard University, she spent many years as a journalist and now is executive editor at The American Lawyer magazine. In her note accompanying the book she said she had written the novel in her spare time over the last few years, including during her vacations on Southport. She will be signing copies at Sherman’s in Boothbay Harbor, August 17 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Since I am only on page 165 of a 563 page book, I cannot comment on the end, but I suspect the journey into the fantasy world of good and bad magic will teach the heroine, a disheartened graduate student, filled to the brim with poems of John Donne and other literary greats, how to find her way through whatever life throws at her. And isn’t that what we all need, although only through books will we journey into other worlds to find our way, perhaps. Although I am not usually captivated by fantasy literature, this book has hooked my imagination, so that I am sure I will continue reading what some may tag an adult Harry Potter novel.

Another exciting adventure has been launched by Blake MacDiarmid and Peter Smith. As promised in last week’s column, here is more information about their endeavor. Just as there are special schools for young people heading toward international tennis competition and skiing competition, so now there will be a special school for those young people heading toward Olympic and other international sailing competition.

Many people may remember Blake when he was director of the Southport Yacht Club sailing program before Will Jacobs. With son, Ian, whom we knew as a little boy but who now is a cracker jack sailor, Blake is eager to attract other young people with a similar commitment to excellence. Academics will prepare these students for college.

Afternoons will be spent perfecting their sailing skills. Instruction will be mostly individual and often related to the sea and the sailing milieu. Although competitive sailors travel world-wide, the home base for this school will be Biscayne Bay, Florida. To read more about this exciting school go to www.smartsailor.org.

Do you have a clock that needs repair? Gene Hauser is back on Pratts Island ready to take on these repairs, asking only that you make a donation to the Food Pantry through the Southport Methodist Church. Call Gene at 207-633-6167 for more details.

We congratulate Bob Seaman, who was celebrating his 90th birthday on July 22 by having dinner at Tugboat Inn with wife, Ruth, and Margaret and John MacDonald.

And congratulations to the creativity and hard work of the McWhan family who organized a superb pinewood derby and ice cream social last Sunday afternoon for neighborhood children, showing that sailboats are not the only racing opportunity in Cozy Harbor.