I apologize in advance if you sent me any news that didn't make it into this week's column. Our phone has been out for a few days, and I have had no access to the Internet.

October is many a Mainer's favorite month as the weather is cool, but not cold; the mosquitoes have all but disappeared; the tourist traffic has trickled to the point of not so bothersome and we're all free to go about our business of winterizing.

This is the time we choose to stack up the wood, fill the oil tanks, place a few extra canned goods in our pantries and clean up the yard before anything left out freezes to the ground or gets buried in snow. (Oops, sorry!)

Despite how out of season it may appear, as selectman I have been asked to serve on the Fourth of July committee in Wiscasset. This group is dedicated to bringing back the fun we all remember from a few years back. They would like to get all the surrounding communities involved in planning and preparations for this upcoming event. Ideas so far have included an extended long weekend of activities including the regular parade, a car parade, games and booths at the waterfront, food and activities at the high school and the usual dance and fireworks.

One idea is to ask the local communities if they are interested in having their town historical committees put together displays. I thought it would be fun to see how we all interacted with each other in the "good old days" before bridges and easy communications. It would be interesting to have displays of old schools, post offices, stores, local servicemen, early baseball teams, etc.

If any of you have ideas about activities, questions, suggestions or an interest in being involved in some way, please get in touch with me at 882-9032. I am very interested in producing and entering an "Island" float in the parade as well as having Westport Island represented in the historical display.

Friday night the store served a spectacular hot turkey dinner. I got to work that day, so I helped cook. You have got to check out those Friday night specials! Jay and Lori were so happy with the large number of pizza orders on Sunday; they've decided to offer a special for football fans. Give them a call at 882-9300 to find out just what's happening.

If you have any news you'd like printed in this column, please contact me at 882-9032 or e-mail me at pbonyun@gwi.net.