Leigh Sherrill is on vacation.  

The Southport Memorial Library has free coffee and great conversation available when they’re open. Additionally, every Tuesday and Thursday around 10 a.m., a small group gathers to enjoy some camaraderie and solve the problems of the world. This past Thursday they shared fond memories of Donald Duncan and June Elderkin, both recently deceased and active participants for years. There is plenty of room at the table, so come on out and enjoy some great company! 

The latest art show at the library highlights artists Dave and Pat Higgens of Sheepscot. The walls are decorated with beautiful digital photographs and multi-layer mosaic art. 

Mark your calendars for Friday, March 14 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Southport Store. They’ll be serving a traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with all the fixings. You can then walk it off the following day at the annual Southport Island Association winter walk, starting at the library at 3 p.m. Mike Ciccarelli and Anne Gobes, accompanied by some of their lovable alpacas, will be leading the walk that will end up at the library for some social time and refreshments. 

The annual Southport Town Meeting was held on Monday the 3rd, well attended and informative as usual. It’s been covered elsewhere in the Register, but I wanted to note Fire Chief Gerry Gamage’s beautiful tribute to Jean Thompson. Jean passed away this past year at the age of 99 and was the Southport Fire Departments biggest supporter. Her grandfather, father, husband, and “adopted son” Gerry were all fire department chiefs. 

Last Tuesday, Ella Long of the Southport Climate action team led a most interesting discussion on emergency preparedness on Southport. It’s well covered in another section of this week's Register, but all should be aware of what is going on here on the island and the efforts being made by the team and the Southport Fire Department. 

The annual meeting of the Friends of the Southport Historical Society will be on Monday, June 16 at 7 p.m. at the Southport Town Hall. Les Fossel of Restoration Services will be the guest speaker and talk about restoring old buildings and identifying their age from photographs. 

Gerry Gamage, who has done a terrific job of placing veterans banners all around Southport, tells me over 155 will go up again in May and stay in place through Veterans Day. If you are interested in getting a banner to honor a loved one, please contact Sarah Sherman-McGrail at ShermanMcGrail@yahoo.com or me at Singerjo@aol.com or (207)751-8540 for details. 

The new knitting group at the Southport Store meets in the dining room every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. Contact Annie at the Store (207) 633-0402 for further information. 

Fans of Antiques Road Show will be interested to know that they will be filming three shows at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, June 18. Details will probably be appearing soon! 

The latest update from Maine DOT shows the Southport Bridge restoration project will be completed May 17! Imagine, two-way traffic again! 

As a final note, Robinson's reopened again this week on Tuesday! They will have the Murky Waters band playing this Friday night from 5 to 8 p.m., and the Holy Mackerels performing on Saturday.