In an e-mail the day they left the island for France, Susan Reece summed up their spring as hectic. Duncan graduated with his MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth. He and Valerie will be living in Cambridge, Mass. beginning in August. He'll be working for Health Dialogue in Boston. Evan and Annie will be joining the senior Recess in Provence, where the family will rent a farmhouse for a week. This news is delayed by a week and they all may be back in the U.S. by now. When July rolls around they hope to see Duncan and Valerie, Cam and his girl Ellen (who were here for Memorial Day) Hugh, and then maybe Evan in August. Susan also said that two weekends ago Richard and Joanne Phillips entertained Betsy, Brad, and Coop Hastings along with Evan and Annie at the McClennan homestead. They also took in the Jonathan Edwards concert at the Opera House, which they enjoyed tremendously.

Susan also asked me to relay the info that the islanders are encouraged to deliver their framed or dry-mounted favorite photos of the island to the NeKrangan II by the final weekend in June. Please include your name and the reason it is a favorite shot. The committee will be setting up the museum display on July 1st. They are not quite sure of the opening celebration.

Please don't forget the opening party will be on Saturday, June 28 at 6 p.m. at Will and Patsy Mackenzie's. Please bring a nibble to share and libations will be supplied by the Ladies Improvement Society (and our ladies need improving!).

The following day, Sunday the 29 th will have President Roland Miller presiding over our first church service at 8 p.m. in the venerable Casino.

The Weltys have returned to the island from a very different and interesting trip down the Danube. They started in Prague, a lovely old city undamaged by World War II, a city with centuries old buildings, castles and museums. They had side trips into the countryside, ate good food, and walked a teeny village of 120 souls. Lots of music in Prague, they danced the polka, enjoyed an evening of chamber music and the ballet. The drive to Budapest included lunch in a wine cellar in Bratislava. There was another musical evening in Budapest with male and female opera singers and a pianist which included dinner in an elegant old palace.

In Budapest they caught the river boat down the Danube to the Black Sea. The river scenery was rustic, no castles or towns as on the Rhine. They did have a home visit with a Croatian family who served lunch after a visit to a local primary school, where the kids spoke very good English. A 60-mile Danube canal landed them in Constanta where they dipped their hands in the Black Sea. On to Bucharest, a bustling city in the throes of trying to modernize. Unbelievable traffic and no place to park (sounds like Boothbay Harbor in summer). Their hotel there was ultra modern and had only been open two weeks. Their tour guide was a Romanian who told lots about himself and the way they were under Communism, called Socialism now. The bureaucrats are just as corrupt and don't always do the right thing.

He listed for them the "Seven Wonders of Communism:"

1. Everybody has a job.

2. Everybody has a job but no one works.

3. Even though no one works, the five-year plan is fulfilled 110 percent.

4. Even though the five-year plan is fulfilled 110 percent, there is nothing in the stores.

5. Even though there is nothing in the stores people have everything they need.

6. Even though people have everything they need, they keep stealing.

7. Even though people keep stealing, nothing is ever reported stolen.

Jan summed up with, "We got a good dose of Eastern European geography and how the people survive on monthly incomes of $400-$600. No one pays income tax. Overall it was an amazing trip. Most everyone spoke English and took U.S. money. We converted little money and used credit cards everywhere. A U.S. passport goes for $5,000 on the black market.