This Sunday, April 23 is our second breakfast for this year! It was great seeing our regular guests back at the last breakfast! I know many had to juggle their schedules in order to celebrate Easter and still be able to enjoy the great breakfast and the camaraderie of our friends and neighbors. Soon we will be welcoming back our snow birds and the many tourists that will once again be invading our peninsula. This is one invasion we look forward to! One issue I wanted to mention concerning our breakfasts. As you know, we ask for a $12 donation for the “all you can eat” breakfast. We also are able to support “take out.” But, the “takeout” is also a suggested donation of $12. At the end of the breakfast (9:30), we will provide takeout boxes for anyone who would like to take home whatever is remaining. If you have neighbors who can’t make it to our breakfast for whatever reason, take a box to them.

On April 30, Honor Flight Maine will be returning to the Jetport with 25 veterans and their guardians. Their flight arrives as 12:30 p.m. and we encourage guests to arrive between noon and 12:30 to welcome them home. There is free parking located at the State Building across from the runway with a shuttle bus service running continuously. We are reaching out to our veteran service organizations to encourage they have a good representation there. We have challenged the VFW, American Legion, AMVETS, DAV, Marine Corp League, and the Military Officers Association of America to see who can have the largest contingent there. We will be counting hats/covers! The next flight will be May 26-28. This flight will have three WW II veterans, two are over 100 years young! For those who have applications in, make sure you keep HFM up to date on any medical condition you might have that might prevent making the trip in the near future. We have many Vietnam veterans who have had applications in for several years (or more). As most of us are in our 70s and 80s, our medical conditions are changing. So, let me know (email is best- dapatch@roadrunner.com) and I will connect you with our medical staff who will make the decision on when would be the optimum time for you to make the trip. HFM staff is working diligently to reduce the backlog. The cost per flight is about $40-$50K, so our ability to increase flights depends on our generous donations from the community and our sponsors. For those who like to support HFM, there is a “donation” button at www.honorflightmaine.org.

Now that the snow has melted and the signs of spring are showing, time to plan our “Spring Cleaning” day at the Hall. As many volunteers as possible would be appreciated on Saturday, May 13, 9 to 11 a.m. Yard clean-up and storage shed organization is the focus.