The good news is that Em Pratt is in our hometown hospital, St. Andrews, still recovering, but now awake and aware of her surroundings. I’m sure Maine Medical Center gave her the most up-to-date care, but being in familiar surroundings is additional good medicine. The family asks that visitors wait a bit before popping in to see her as she needs to build her strength, but we can all keep Em in our prayers and send her cards. Son, Wayne, was here from Colorado, another bit of good medicine for Em and help for Gus.

At the island store I met Bernadette Holloway McKinney, granddaughter to Pauline and Paul Holloway of Stowaway Road, Southport. Bernadette, three months old, wearing a Halloween orange sweater, with a scalloped yoke, de-corated with blue flowers, knitted by grandma, greeted us with a smile. Although she and her parents live in Boothbay Harbor, she seem-ed very much at home on Southport.

Elaine Fearnside reports that son John and bride Kety Yeh were married November 5 in Seattle, Washington. Some of you may have met this couple when they visited Southport at church fair time and thus were pressed into service at the fair’s computers and for other duties.

The Parent Teachers Organization (PTO) offered its usual sweets along with healthy fruit for purchase to voters at the Town Hall last Tuesday. Also on display and for sale was the PTO Village Collection, including the newest addition, the Southport Bridge. We all know the painting of the real bridge is almost finished, and I hear the painting of this cut out of the Southport Bridge went through several renditions before the final product satisfied the committee. Let’s hope we don’t need a vote of approval on the actual bridge. This collection is also available for purchase at the library. Each piece is $15.

A call to all veterans and friends of veterans to gather at the Southport Memorial Library on Veterans’ Day, Friday, November 11 at 10:45 a.m. The Friends of the Southport Library will host a commemoration of the day after which we will gather inside for hot chocolate and donuts.

Library Aides are looking for donations of the following items to make decorations for the library Christmas tree that will enter the Boothbay Region Garden Club’s Christmas tree celebration at the Opera House: Styrofoam balls of any size, fabric scraps with a seaside motif, small bottles, fish netting, sea urchins and other local sea shells, and rubbers stamps with a shell motif. If you have any of these items to donate, please bring them to the library.

In this year’s graduating class at the high school seven seniors are from Southport, all of whom are busy raising money for the senior class. This year one project is a raffle, $1 a ticket or six tickets for $5. The three prizes are home heating oil, two 100 gallon first prizes and one $50 gift certificate for heating oil is the second prize, suitable enticements to buy a ticket given the price of heating oil this season. The drawing will be the first week in December. Tickets are on sale at the island store.

Floats are on dry land at the Southport Yacht Club. The courtesy dingy has been hauled, scrap-ed, and stowed. The last pleasure boat was pulled from Cozy Harbor last Monday. Weather warm for the season continues, but we all know the drop in temperatures is coming. I wonder if the gluttony I observe on the bird feeder means an especially cold or long winter.