Picking up where Susan Reece left off in her last column, Judy Miller gave a fascinating talk at the Sunday Gathering about DNA, heritage and fathers. Called “What is a Father?”, she spoke about investigating her heritage through Ancestry.com and 23andMe and discovered an interesting and intriguing past. Even though it was a life-changing event for her, she will always be Judy to us.

By now, we've all heard about the gorgeous wedding of Madeline Loughridge and Asa Welty, but maybe some of you hadn't heard about her choice of entrance music. Flanked by Jenny and Chip, she walked down the aisle (field) to the strains of the familiar “In the Garden”. Rachel's friend, Kip Wilkins, who is a conductor, arranged for a brass quintet to play the piece. It was magical, hearing the music played out over the ocean. Yes, not a dry eye was seen. The reception lasted far into the night, with friends and family coming in from the four corners of the world. Afterwards, Maddie and Asa stole away to a non-disclosed location for a brief respite before jumping into their lives with both feet. The family all convened later at the island for a week for some well deserved R&R.

In preparation for Will's 80^th birthday, the family all came: Andy and Farrah on the red-eye from LA through JFK in the morning; Maddie, Asa, Lizzie and Anna who brought her good friend/college buddy/roommate, Simone Butler, from Salt Lake City after lunch; Azzie, Michelle, Cade and Drake from LA after dinner; and Jenny and Chip with their chauffeur, Asa, from Boston late at night. Even Patsy's brother, Mike Cope, drove 36 hours from Houston TX for the 'do. Needless to say, they had 2 FULL houses! Bob and Linda Rogers moved into the Mackenzie's to make a happy reunion for the annual Carbonara birthday dinner. This time Bob is feeding 18 at the table!

Thanks to Susan Reece, we heard from Dr. Arthur Spiess, Senior Archaeologist from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission about the Native American discoveries made here on the Island by various “diggers”, most notably, Max Widbiller and Donald Jarvi. There was quite a crowd in the Casino to hear him speak about the region and see so many pictures of IOS on many of the historical maps. Please, if you haven't done so, check out the display at the NeKrangan II, and you will see those finds, all of which were authenticated by Dr. Speiss.

Speaking of the Casino, the inaugural evening of Bingo (in this century) was hosted by Judy Miller (setup by Judy and Roly), and though the turnout was small, it was lively. Very professional callers were Leah Miller and her long time friend, Katya. Those of you who didn't make it, mark your calendars for the next one. You won't be sorry. The hour was unfortunate, but will change next time to accommodate more players. Ideas are already bouncing around to include prizes and other incentives. Kudos go out to all the committee members.

Small World Dept.: It was nice to see life in the Kent Cottage in the form of relatives and friends of Betsy Morrell's ex, Carl Estabrook. Carl's sister, Marcia Estabrook came from Dedham MA with their sister, Donna (and husband, Lou Case) from Ann Arbor MI, and cousin, Martha Dahl, from Peterborough NH. Joining them for the week were Debbie Costine (Southborough MA), Len Gerwick (Marlborough MA) Chris and Rick Toubeau (Franklin MA) and Claire Malette (Glen NH).

What a creative group. They are performing and visual artists and teachers. Debbie is a puppeteer and silhouette design performer. This group meet regularly for vacations and as they trickled in and out of the visit, they waved signs and sang to each other on the dock.

The Sunday Gathering on July 22, came courtesy of Farrah and Andy Mackenzie, where they spoke of Farrah's journey last year, getting a bone marrow transplant and her recovery. She especially wanted to thank the loving and caring Island families for in-person visits and sending cards, letters and gifts. At the end, Will spoke of his dear, talented friend, Harvey Schmidt, who, with Tom Jones, wrote the longest-running Off-Broadway show, “The Fantastiks”. He and Tom had written a sweet Christmas tune about 60 years ago which Harvey had copied and sent to the Mackenzies as a Christmas card. Will immediately learned to play it and taught it to the grandchildren. Unfortunately, Harvey died before they could sing it to him. Not to fear, Will imported a Los Angeles Children's Choir to sing it. Hearing the sweet voices of Farrah, Cade and Drake made it all the more poignant. The group joined in on the last verse for a rousing ending. Harvey would have been proud.

Wow! It was touch and go for the latest s'mores gathering, with fog covering the region all day. Miraculously, the fog lifted and the sun came out over the biggest turnout yet. There were games of Tag, Capture the Flag, Wiffle ball (two full teams!), wading (and falling in) and chowing down on the dogs and s'mores. Thanks go to Julie and Joel Rozen for sponsoring the event, which was fun, fun, fun!

It was a thrill seeing Robin and Jon Woolson and family, Betsy and Mario Garcia and Margoe and Jamie Shaw and family all together at the Ridlon Family Cottage. Lydia Woolson joined the tubing group for the week and managed to stay in until she didn't. I think part of the tubing adventure is getting thrown out of Andy's Tremor! Georgia joined the tubers, flying across the bay shouting, “Faster, faster!” Andy has turned over the tube driving reins to brother Azzie till he returns. The group were too many to enumerate, but just know they will never be able to just swim and jump in normally again. Yippee!

Shhhhhh! Everyone was able to keep the secret of Matt Bogart's and Scott Hutchinson's 50^th birthday surprise at the Casino on Saturday, July 28. It had been advertised as an Island Potluck Supper, but when they came in to a rousing “SURPRISE!”, the jig was up and the beans were spilled. Literally! There were beans, rice, egg rolls, baked onion rings, dim sum and way too much to list. Needless to say, we didn't go hungry. To top it off, the cake was a work of art with a pic of the duo waaaay back when they were tykes. There were pictures from both boys' (I can say that since they are still young) pasts, with framed, captioned photos all around the room. The Pat Caldwell Bandalmost didn't make it because they put 12 Landing Rd into their GPS and ended up on Southport. Let that be a lesson to us all. You must add Boothbay, Isle of Springs or the zip code to end up right here. Ironically, Pat C knows Mike Thompson, had visited the island as a child and was SUPER excited to come back. Another band member is Gabby Pierce's music teacher! There were family and friends who showed up from all parts of the world to celebrate: Claudia's brothers, Harris and Gary came all the way from N. Carolina. Sister-in-law, Dawn, and nephew, Cooper Fleming, are renting the Kent Cottage for the week. Steve Collins, wife, Molly, and kids are lifelong friends of Matt's, and have a house on Capitol Island and live in Portsmouth. Doug Gallacher was also here from Capitol and has been to the Island many times since he was a teenager. Dina and Scott's contingents from Hopkinton, Kerri and Dan Staring, and son, Daniel, longtime renters, were in the Germain Cottage for the week, as well as Julie and Kenny Rodgers and sons, Max and Jack, and Sarah and Daniel Stet (who summer in Sprucewold in Linekin Bay). Laurie and Rich Cohen, son, Ryan, and daughter, Jordan, got the long-distance award for making the trek from London to join the festivities.

Sunday, the 29th dawned with a perfect July morning, just in time for the 2^nd Annual Alice Pierce Balcer Memorial Swim, Paddle, Row event. This has been chaired both years by Jenny Mackenzie, who, with Alice, swam to Sawyer's, and was inspired to continue Alice's joy of the water. What a crowd showed up to celebrate her day! Jenny, Lori Pierce and Lydia Woolson dove in and headed to Sawyer's, picking up six others along the way. This has been the biggest group swimming there at one time, with Lydia being the youngest (12) to make it over today. She wasn't the youngest to jump in though. That award goes to the Reeces, whose grandchildren enjoyed the cheers when they emerged from the deep. Every inch of the dock was used as springboard, jumpboard and diveboard. What a wonderful, inspirational day for islanders of all ages. To top it off, Arthur and Debbie served Alice's favorite cake to those who were ready for a snack. The two wet-suited fashion plates were Jenny and Glen McCandless in full regalia. Representing the non-swimmers were rowboats, many kayaks and paddleboards, and even an import from the Southport Sailing Club with Oliver Grant at the helm. Joining the cheerleaders were Jason Ridlon and friend, Matt, who came in from Sanford ME for the birthday surprise and Alice's event. He had a wonderful time catching up with old Island buddies. Great job, Jenny and Pierces!

Stopping in at Pat and John Ridlon's for a brief visit were Diana and Maury Webb whom they see in Venice FL. They live in Hallowell ME and summer in Cape Cod.

Jenny Mackenzie's documentary film pals, Tyler Measom and Diana Whitten, from Utah breezed in for an ultra quick visit. They had been seeing Diana's mom who lives in Casco ME. Tyler has several well-known docs that have been in many film festivals around the world, and Diana has formed an amazing group of women filmmakers called Film Fatales, of which Jenny is an active member. A very talented duo, these are names we will be seeing in lights soon.

Sunday was topped off with a magical Gathering by Stu Parsons (aka “The Bird Man”), in which he spoke of his passion for the feathered creatures. We loved hearing about his childhood where all his friends were playing football, baseball and other sports and he was climbing, running and listening to birds talk to each other. Two books he used as reference were “Birdology” by Sy Montgomery and “Sacred and the Profane” by Mircea Eliade. In the former book, the definition of birdology could be applied to most of us who see and hear the different species on the Island. In the latter, words like “religious”, “revelation” and “spirituality” resonated with him in thinking of how different people perceive their reactions to beauty in nature. The most magical moment during the evening was when he heard a bird call and he stopped talking and had us all listen to the thrilling trill of a hermit thrush. Maybe some of you remember the Merlin falcon from a couple of years ago who dive-bombed anyone who walked near her nest on the West Shore. Well, now she can be found with her partner near the Reece's house. No one wanted the lovely evening to end.

Tennis with Will Hutchinson has been so popular this year with 11 students on one day and 10 on another! It is amazing how he handles them all with great aplomb. Good job, Will!

And speaking of the tennis court, we now have flip scorecards for the matches. They really are for those of us who can't remember where we are in the games. Getting old ain't for sissies! Thank you, Carol Burvill!

Remember these upcoming events:

Aug. 4 Town Hall meeting 8:30 a.m. and Annual Meeting 7 p.m.

Aug. 5 Tennis Tournament 8:30 a.m.

Aug. 11 Children's Work Party 10 a.m. and Penny Party 7 p.m.

Aug. 12 Children's Gathering 8 p.m.

Please look at the list of column writers at the Library and submit your info. We can't do it without you. Thanks for listening!