Birds that are great at soaring often seem to do so into, what is for them, uncharted territory, especially in spring when they can ride warm, southerly winds and thermals.

Several years ago, well maybe more like seven or eight years ago, Barry Sherman called me. “Bobby!” Barry has always called me Bobby, I’m not sure why.

“Bobby! We are putting out flags for vets in area cemeteries and hoped maybe you could give us a hand.” Well, as anyone who knows Barry Sherman, when a task is at hand one must muster troops when available. Barry is an old buddy. I was available.

“We will meet at 0700. Phil Chapman and maybe one other person will be helping. Thanks Bobby, see you in the morning.” And so it goes.

First of all, I had no idea how many cemeteries there are in our

The Boothbay Region High School girls tennis team lost to North Yarmouth Academy, 4-1, in North Yarmouth on May 19.

Scores

#1 singles: Hannah Kreft (B) lost to Eleanor Zviches (NYA) 6-1 6-1

#2 singles: Izzy Andreasen (B) lost to Mia Desgrossielliers (NYA) 6-0 6-1

#3 singles: Addie Barter (B) defeated Kiana Roundy (NYA) 6-2 1-0 retired

#1 doubles: Olivia Hardwick, Ava Barter (B) lost to Leah Ziminski, Ginger Gillett (NYA) 6-0 6-0

#2 doubles: Maddie Andreasen, Frida Kirchhauser (B) lost to Caroline Pond, Sidney Bouman (NYA) 6-1 6-0

Dear Editor:

Ten years ago, the least-qualified presidential candidate in American history, Donald Trump, responded to this question in the final debate with Hillary Clinton, the most-qualified candidate in our history: “Do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely accept the result of this election?” Characteristically, he didn’t answer the question. “I will look at it at the time…. I’ll keep you in suspense.”

A day later, he did answer it. “I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election — if I win.”

Significantly more than half of the voters in

Dear Editor:

A slush fund by any other name will still stink. The Trump administration’s $1.776 billion "Anti-Weaponization Fund" is corruption on a scale so vast that it makes Nixon’s scandals look like milk money. Back then the Republicans in congress had something called integrity, but those days are long gone.

If the pardoning of the January 6 rioters, insurrectionists, and figures convicted of seditious conspiracy were not scandalous enough, illegally misappropriating our tax dollars to compensate them without authorization from Congress is not just an outrage, but a crime. If this is

Dear Editor:

Wiscasset may be Maine’s “Prettiest Village,” but it’s facing challenges that are anything but pretty: lack of affordable housing, the shadowy possibility of a hyperscale data center, rising seas threatening our wastewater treatment plant, and a dwindling school population, just for starters. We need cool heads and courageous hearts to tackle these problems.

Cassaundra Rose, Heather Jones and Sarah Whitfield have all proved that they are conscientious public servants who care about the town. They deserve your vote for Wiscasset selectboard on June 9.

Anne Leslie

Wiscasset

Dear Editor:

Many of you are hearing about this for the first time, so here’s the short version: MaineHealth is considering closing Labor & Delivery services at Lincoln Hospital (Miles) in Damariscotta. If that happens, families across Lincoln County and surrounding communities could face hour-plus drives for childbirth care — during labor, emergencies, winter storms, summer traffic, and everything else rural Maine throws at us.

This is not a political issue. It’s a community issue. Rural hospitals across Maine have already lost maternity services, and once they close, they almost never come

Bump, set, spike. Three simple actions, repeated over and over on a volleyball court, have become the foundation of community at the Boothbay Region YMCA.

Every Wednesday night starting at 6 p.m., pick-up volleyball brings people together from across Lincoln County for movement, laughter, and connection. In a place where long winters and busy schedules can often leave people feeling isolated, this weekly tradition has become much more than a game. It is a space where people gather, stay active, and build meaningful relationships through play. 

Since starting in January 2023, the group has

Please note: Our Wednesday Ladies Who Love to Dance group is now meeting at Spruce Point.

Mark your calendar to join Judy Milinowski, holistic practitioner and owner of Alternative Health Solutions here on June 22 at 10:30 a.m. for "Coffee with Judy." This is a great opportunity to meet her and learn about her new book, "Bridges to the beyond: How to create real life adventure with angels and spiritual guides. “

This correspondent has been out of town the past few weeks, and when I turned into the driveway to the Rotary Clubhouse last Thursday evening, it was a beehive of activity. Club Rotarians were whacking away at the ever-healthy weeds and clearing away last autumn’s leaves and generally making the Clubhouse yard as hospitable as possible. All this while President Laurie was doing her thing at the grill – the reward for our sweat equity was burgers and dogs and all the fixings, topped off by Klondike ice cream bars. Do we live right or what?

This coming Thursday, May 28, we’re looking forward to

Maine is often described as one big, small town where people are eager to lend a helping hand. When it comes to caregiving, Mainers certainly step up to the plate. According to AARP’s most recent Report on Caregiving, 28% of Maine adults, or 324,000 Mainers, are caregivers; everyday people making sure that their loved ones have care that they need.

Just who are family caregivers? AARP’s Report on Caregiving has some interesting statistics about caregivers. Across the New England states 59% of caregivers are women and 40% are men. 70% of caregivers are working while providing care. Over half

Chances are you’ve signed up for a rewards or loyalty program at some point—even if you rarely check your account. These are popular targets for this very reason—loyalty account owners don’t tend to monitor their balances the way they might monitor financial accounts.

Criminals hack into loyalty and rewards accounts through phishing messages, malware-infected sites that collect your data, and stealing username and password combinations. Once inside, they transfer the points or redeem them.

Protect your rewards by protecting your accounts with strong, unique passwords and turn on multi-factor

It’s Memorial Day and the Buzz is back. Summer is back too - at least it felt that way for a couple of glorious days last week. As my dad would say, the weather was an 11. Though it didn’t last long, it gave us a reminder as to what’s to come.

The speed bumps are in place and the moorings are slowly filling up with their dance partners, so you know the masses are soon to follow.

The Munnells once again have bragging rights for getting their boat in the water first, but this year Pamela proudly sits, named in memory of Chris and Brittany’s mom and Hamilton’s wife.

Chris sent the following to me

Over the last month as we’ve walked our little black dog around the neighborhood each morning, we’ve rarely been out of earshot of the trilling songs of either dark-eyed juncos or chipping sparrows. Both species are among the vast numbers of birds that produce a song made up of rapidly repeated notes.

It can be quite difficult to tell apart the regularly occurring birds of our area that have these trilled songs. The list includes, along with the junco and chipping sparrow, pine warbler, palm warbler, and swamp sparrow. Add in species like worm-eating warbler, which breeds as close as

It has been a pleasure to record the Boothbay region’s Memorial Day parades for the newspaper for many years. With help from other staff members, we try to cover the ceremonies in Newagen, Southport, Boothbay Harbor, Boothbay and East Boothbay.

Most years, the turnout of citizens to watch and listen to the ceremonies has been good. We hope that continues this year. It’s one morning a year to remember those who gave their all for our country … barbecues can wait until the afternoon or evening.

We also hope that veterans who are able to march in the parades turn out. Many area veterans are

Thousands of miles east of Boothbay’s Ocean Point, Russians troopers are being slaughtered in a conflict that was supposed to be a cake walk for Russia.

But is it?

Russia’s four-year invasion of Ukraine is just the latest chapter in a regional conflict dating to the 18th century when Catherine the Great annexed Crimea, and maybe longer.

After the USSR collapsed in the Cold War, and the current president wrestled his way into power in 2014, Putin sent his troops waltzing into Crimea and took it from Ukraine. In February 2022, after a free election kicked out Putin’s stooge government, Ukraine

Every year, our family tries to arrange a weeklong gathering in August. It’s a much-anticipated event for everyone to be together on Monhegan, one of the most favorite places we know. Sometimes we have needed to adjust, as we did last year with the arrival of two wonderful additions to our crew, Vera and Winslow, our first grandchildren. We adjusted and managed to employ alternate plan B for visits on the fly, one grandchild in Maine and one in Brooklyn, New York. This year we are looking forward to having everyone together, including our newest little ones.  

A few years ago, we also needed

The art of more than 400 students was on display the past two weeks at Boothbay Region Art Foundation here in Boothbay Harbor. And, if you missed it, you can catch a glimpse of the incredible work from the show.

The imaginative work of students Pre-K to grade 12 from Boothbay Region High and Elementary schools, the Center For Teaching and Learning, Southport Central School and Edgecomb Eddy School filled the gallery like light through a prism!

Abstract expressionism, clay coiled pots (one with a fairy sitting on the edge of a flower), painted leaves (based on the Aboriginal artists of