Cool temps, more smiles. And more to come this weekend with the 18^th Annual Westport Island Artisans Guild Craft Show from 9 to 3 at the Town Hall. Great, locally made gifts for special occasions like weddings and birthdays and anniversaries, house warmings and graduations, holidays and no-special-reason days!  I love this chance to meet and talk with these talented folks, like Dexter Averill, Laurel Olson, Joyce Hill, Libby Fairfield, Judy Ward, Kathy Closson, Suzi Whittemore, Anne Cole-Fairfield, Jeanette Reed, Carol Blake, Sandy Besecker and more!  Give a call to Anne, if you have any questions (882-5078).

No rest for the Town Hall this Saturday, as State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr. presents a talk at 4 pm on early 20^th century photographs of Lincoln County and Westport Island by Joseph Leighton of Sheepscot. The program is open to the public and free of charge. Learn a little as well about the Town History Committee’s recent work on the archives room. Questions? Please contact Gaye at the Town Office, 882-8477.

The Westport Island Community Association (WCA) invites area residents of all ages to “Folklore Ballads” on Sunday, September 25 at 3pm for the WCA’s Inaugural Concert. This is a very special event for Westport and the region – it’s a tribute to folksong artists Bill and Gene Bonyun, with songs performed by Johnny Scott at the historical Westport Community Church.

Johnny Scott is the editor of the publications, “Folksong in the Classroom,” and head of the same-named organization that promotes the use of folk songs as primary source material for teaching and enlivening history. This unique approach to teaching history to children through folksongs was pioneered by Bill and Gene Bonyun of Westport Island, and Bill was the organization's inspirational founder.

Bill established the music department at Old Sturbridge Village and founded Heirloom Records, which issued themed recordings such as “The American Revolution,” “The Civil War through Its Songs and Ballads,” and “Songs of Yankee Whaling.” Many of Bill’s records are listed in the Smithsonian Institute’s “Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.”

The Bonyuns, as we know, fell in love with the island and the people, and bought the Frank Thomas 150-acre farm off West Shore Road in 1940. After Bill’s death in 2001, 69 acres of shoreline on Knubble Bay were donated to the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, which maintains trails for public access. Archie and Paul Bonyun, two of the Bonyuns’ sons, live on the remaining parcels. 

Johnny Scott is a retired high school history teacher. He co-authored with his father, J. Anthony Scott, the book, “Ballad of America - A History of the United States Through Folk Song - Third Edition.” Johnny now lives in Holland, Massachusetts.

Refreshments will be served next door at the Town Hall immediately after the concert. The concert is free. Donations of non-perishable food for Helping Hands or cash donations are always gratefully accepted.  

Acorn harvest under way.  And just in time, a luminous harvest moon, which the squirrels always celebrate, will climb in the sky on Friday. A signal also of fall’s official arrival next week.

A good time, too, for me to pass on the megaphone that is the Westport Island column to Pat Smith, a funny, energetic, community-minded neighbor. I’ve had fun and she will too! You’ll start hearing from Pat in the next week or two ... and she’ll be delighted to hear from all of you!