Speaking of weekends, this coming Saturday and Sunday, the Friends of Fort Edgecomb will be on encampment at the Fort. Meanwhile, Sue Carlson has been discussing custom houses and their sometimes colorful clientele, with the Union Historical Society.

On the first of September, Lea Wait's third children's book, "Wintering Well," was officially released. Again set in Wiscasset, this story involves a teenager who must confront the harsh realities of physical disability in the 19th century, and his sister, whose care for him leads her to an ambition which was very controversial in those times.

Congratulations, Michael Brew-er, son of Richard and Shareen Brewer, who married Sarah Smith of Boothbay August 7. A happy life to you both!

Our deep sympathies go to the family of Faye Caton on the Middle Road, who passed away August 22.

Dr. Michael Sieracki, on the Cross Point Road, a senior research scientist at the Bigelow Labs, has been supervising summer students studying the intricacies of phytoplankton in Boothbay Harbor seawater.

Joyce Bell has just opened her weaving studio and shop on Route 1, offering her hand-woven blankets, pillows, napkins and placemats, scarves, shawls, yard goods and much, much more!

Nine-year-old Mitchell Boucher, on the Mill Road, came in Second in the Junior-Junior League Golf Tournament recently held at the Boothbay Country Club. Well done, Mitch!

Meanwhile, the Boucher house has been buzzed by an juvenile bald eagle, eyeing them all severely! Followed a little later by Momma! (Just checking, Junior!)

And more natural history, Judy Deiley on Route 27 just called to report throngs - 30 to 50 - of dragonflies, swooping and soaring all over, in back of her barn! Over here, I've seen them just hovering in place, lined up like a squadron of fighter planes. Handsome insects!

More on Japanese Beetle Clean-up: Polly Steadman tells me, "...I've got to give you my "easy" way of getting rid of Japanese Beetles, who just don't seem to have the tenacity to hang on to what they're trying to destroy. I half fill a mayo jar with vinegar (or dish detergent, ammonia, etc.) and keep the lid on the jar between dunkings. For the last three years one jar has lasted a season! Hold the jar underneath the beetle(s) to git, maybe even bend the plant down over the jar mouth and tap the leaf or stem so that the beetle falls into the drink. I think it's a fairly humane thing to do, it's fast and effective. Generally, I try to do Beetle Patrol twice a day. Sometimes I find and get only one or two (but they're important!); other times I'll get 50 - and sometimes clusters at a time!"

Yes, I know. The beetles are dumb. They sit there with their legs sticking out, easy to pick up with tweezers and put into the killing jar. The potato bugs are smarter. They curl up inside their hard shiny striped carapaces. Tweezer-proof. They just let go and drop down into the depths of the potato patch, unless the jar is poised below.

Apropos absolutely nothing at all: Recently the sportscasters have been praising Martina Navratilova for winning at Wimbledon at the age of 47, "oldest woman to do so since 1922." But nowhere and at no time have I seen or heard who was the second oldest woman, way back in 1922! Driving me crazy! So I googled on the web (don't you love it?) to learn that Dorothea Douglass Chambers was 40 in 1919 when she was defeated the first time by Suzanne Lenglen, a mere lass of 22 years. Chambers, known as "Dolly," was the last of the old school. She played tennis in full corset and long heavy skirts, and she gave the spritely Lenglen, shocking in her calf-length loose white tennis costume, a run for her money before she lost to her. Dolly tried again in 1920, again defeated by Lenglen who went on to enjoy a seven-year blitz. The last time Chambers was a Wimbledon champion was 1914. So how old was she then? Born September 3, 1878, she died in 1960. She was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. Happy Birthday, Dolly!

Leaping over the net at 234 River Road, 633-2978, bonesukl@mid coast.com. This column appears in the Boothbay Register, The Lincoln County News, the Wiscasset Newspaper, and at www.Edge comb.org.