Southport Column: the ‘hot spot,’ a new U.S. citizen and more

Wed, 04/11/2018 - 1:00pm

Coming onto the island you cannot miss the work going on in the Robinson’s Wharf parking lot. As we can guess, the owners are putting in a new septic system. With their plans to renovate the old Thompson boat house, perhaps to return it to its original use, the scene greeting us as we return home will be tidied up.

I have heard that Robinson’s Wharf owners have also bought the yellow house and property to the south as you come onto the island. They are fixing up the house for a summer rental.

Plan to come to Robinson’s Wharf this Sunday, April 15, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. for an excellent breakfast cooked by Stephanie Hawke. Donations for the high school’s Project Graduation will be expected in return for your good food.

Also at Robinson’s Wharf this weekend, on Friday night the School Street Band will be playing from 5:30 until 8:30. And just a reminder, our favorite ‘hot spot’ is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, but open all other days of the week from 11:30 a.m. until customers and staff are ready for bed, usually about 8:30 or 9 p.m. Keith Stafford, who has cooked many other places around the harbor, is the chef again this year.

Moving on to the Island Store, work is underway for the opening of the Gift Barn. No cause for alarm when you see the dumpster outside, filling up. Just time to clean house. Dumpster diving might be a temptation, but Janet and crew have many new items with which to stock the shelves including “Applesauce” toys, a special delight for the children.

Andrei Bazaiac, husband of Morgen Mitchell, has passed his citizen’s exam and taken the oath to become a full United States citizen at Scarborough High School on Wednesday, April 11. A number of Southporters drove down to Scarborough to be present for the occasion, including Morgan’s parents, Bob Mitchell and Susan Endicott, John Druce and Kit Sherrill. After the ceremony they all celebrated at lunch at the Sebago Brewing Company. Andrei had been a citizen of Romania. He and Morgan met when he was working in the Boothbay area and have been happily married since July 2012. Congratulations, Andrei

Asplunde continues their work cutting branches from trees overhanging wires along our section of Route 238, and, I discovered, are also cutting on Pratts Island Road near the McWhan’s house. I tried to talk them into chipping the brush we had piled up beside our driveway, but to no avail. I guess Central Maine Power has gotten the word that we are not fond of power outages.

School vacation week begins next week, April 16-20. I expect, if the weather cooperates, we will see more children out and about on their bikes, playing in yards, and on the beach. Perhaps weather will be no deterrent as I was delighted to read in the school’s weekly newsletter that the children have Forest Fridays, where they don appropriate gear for the elements, bright red snow suits in the pictures from the latest edition, so that they could hunt for Easter eggs containing seeds they could then feed to ‘their furry friends.” Each Friday the children have a lesson planned for the woods around the school building, increasing their knowledge of nature and giving them healthy time outside. Well done, teachers. Makes me want to be a student again.