HarborFest 2011 is sailing into Sag Harbor this weekend, offering a slew of things to see, eat, and do. The festival starts tomorrow with a lobster bake fund-raiser at the Whaling Museum, where clams, corn, crustaceans, and live music will abound. A couple of singer-songwriters, Inda Eaton and Dick Johansson, will perform, and there will be a silent auction. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and tickets cost $85.

    A parade with floats and banners courtesy of various village organizations will begin at the Palmer Terrace and Main Street intersection on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. and continue down Main Street, ending at the American Legion Hall. Jack Tagliasacchi is the grand marshal.

    The weekly farmers market at Long Wharf, which typically runs from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., will be extended an extra three hours Saturday. Fresh organic vegetables from a number of South Fork farms will be available, as will cheese, seafood, bread, and pastries.

    Additional activities on Saturday and Sunday include an arts-and-crafts fair from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will offer paintings, photographs, pottery, needlework, jewelry, and other items from East End artisans. Shopping can also be done at a sidewalk sale of everything from burgers to books from Sag Harbor shops and restaurants. The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

    Also running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. those days is Refreshments Alfresco on Long Wharf, serving a wide variety of East End cuisine and wine, as well as a display of vintage boats by the East End Classic Boat Society.

    John Corr will lead a sing-along of traditional seafaring music on Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m.

For the Kids

    HarborFest features a number of activities for the pint-size crowd. Kids can head down to Long Wharf at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday for a corn-shucking contest or have their faces festively painted starting at 10 a.m., among other activities and games.

    At the beach by the windmill next to the wharf, children can gather for an old-fashioned boys-versus-girls tug-of-war on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. Sunday also finds Waldo the Clown goofing around from 1 to 3 p.m.

Rescue Boats, Broken Masts

    There are several historical tours and demonstrations to take in throughout the weekend as well. Weather permitting, Coast Guard officers from the station in Montauk will offer a tour of a deep-sea rescue boat at 10 Saturday morning.

    At the same time, the Long Island Divers Association, in conjunction with the Sag Harbor Fire Department, will conduct an underwater dig off the wharf. Not only that, members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary will demonstrate the nautical knots a mariner should know and offer free boat inspections at a floating dock.

    Saturday morning also offers a walking tour exploring the village’s maritime history. It starts at 10:30 and meets at the windmill.

    An Old Burying Ground tour will take in Sag Harbor’s oldest cemetery and the graves of the village’s earliest residents, revealing tales of whaling and Revolutionary War victories. It begins at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday next to the Old Whalers Church.

    A tour of Oakland Cemetery, which opened its gates once the Old Burying Ground was filled to capacity in the 19th century, will feature the famous Broken Mast Monument honoring many captains and sailors who died whaling. The tour begins at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday.

History a-Go-Go

    The Eastville Community House will have a historic walking tour through that area of Sag Harbor, including a renowned stop on the Underground Railroad, from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The community house will also offer a tasting of traditional African-American and American Indian cuisine. Tickets cost $5.

    Artists and art enthusiasts alike might enjoy the “art walk on gallery row,” which starts at the windmill at 2 p.m. on Saturday and lasts two hours, winding its way through the galleries on Main Street.

    As the sun begins to set Saturday, there will be a hike to the Cedar Point Lighthouse in Northwest, East Hampton, with the great-grandson of the last keeper of the light. The hike, which starts at 5 at the Cedar Point County Park parking lot, entails a talk about the history of the lighthouse as well as efforts to restore it. Hikers will return by lantern light.

    At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, a walking tour of houses, called Women’s Lives, will meet at the windmill to offer some insight into the famous or just downright interesting tales of Sag Harbor women, from the philanthropist Mrs. Russell Sage to the feminist author Betty Friedan.

    Festivalgoers can also head to Temple Adas Israel, the oldest synagogue on Long Island, for an hourlong tour at 2 p.m. on Sunday, or get a free antiques appraisal (of no more than two items) at the Sag Harbor Yacht Club on Bay Street from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Whaleboat Races

    A HarborFest tradition, the Whaler’s Cup whaleboat races off the windmill beach, will start at noon on Saturday. Teams compete on a triangular course of 200 yards in a series of heats over Saturday and Sunday. Defending their titles will be John K. Ott in the men’s division and the Corner Bar in the women’s division. The finals are at 3 p.m. on Sunday, following the Firefighter’s Cup race at 2.

    Also on Sunday at 3 is the Nails and Whales Regatta at the Breakwater Yacht Club. The race is open to the public as long as one person in a competing boat is a member of the club. A female must be at the helm from start to finish. Tickets cost $10, and more information is with Sara Nightingale at sara@sara  nightingale.com.

    Back on land, among the Saturday afternoon competitions are a bucket brigade, a lobster-roll eating contest, and a clam-shucking contest following the final whaleboat race. Pete Ambrose, last year’s winner, is expected to defend his shucking title. Registration is at the Food Pantry table.

Musically Speaking

    Among HarborFest’s musical performances are the Community Band concert at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the American Legion Hall and, at 7, the Singing Boys of Pennsylvania, a choir of 18, at the Old Whalers Church. Tickets cost $20 to $25 and benefit the church’s community house fund.

    On Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Sampawan’s Creek will sing sea chanties and folk songs at the windmill.

    The Rev. Bill Hoffmann favors small towns and is used to cold winters. So he should be a good match for the Montauk Community Church, where he has been installed as its new pastor.

    Mr. Hoffmann, his wife, Valerie, and three daughters, the youngest of whom enrolled in the Montauk School yesterday, moved to the hamlet in early August from the Rochester (N.Y.) Community Church, where winters can be harsh, but still not as bad as was his time serving the ministry in Minnesota. “It cannot be any worse than that,” he said.

    Montauk is familiar to him. He grew up in Hicksville and visited Montauk in his early years and as a teen. He went fishing with his father and grandfather and with friends to the beach. But what he enjoyed most, he said, was hiking through the area’s wooded acreage.

    “As one who loves the outdoors, it’s certainly an amazing place to be,” he said. “I’m feeling pretty spoiled to look out my window and see the ocean right now.”

    Mr. Hoffmann and his wife were married almost 30 years ago, three days after he received an undergraduate degree in forestry. He became superintendent of Wisconsin’s state parks, but was always active in the church. Eventually, he began to sense a calling. “I was exploring if this was the right thing for me,” he said.

    Through prayer with his family and local pastor, he made the decision to attend a seminary in Kentucky.  When he graduated in 1996, he served in several upstate New York towns and also counseled prisoners incarcerated nearby.

    One day, while tinkering at the computer, he searched the Presbyterian Church’s network, mainly to catch up on friends. “I wasn’t looking to move,” he said. But he and his wife had thought that if an appointment came up in Montauk they should look into it.

    That is what happened. After meeting with the church’s research committee, the congregation voted unanimously to hire him in June. “It seemed like a good fit,” he said.

    Mr. Hoffmann said the Montauk church’s ecumenical spirit and the community’s closeness attracted him, adding that the almost oceanfront parsonage was also a draw. “It’s beautiful,” he said.

    As a hiker, he said he cannot wait to get out on the wooded trails and paths in the hamlet. Sitting at his desk with a computer open and stacks of books neatly on shelves, the new minister said he does house calls, as was evident from an overheard phone call. As for his ministry, he said he planned no quick changes.

    “I think it’s important for me to learn what’s important to [the congregation]. The things they have already in place are excellent. I’d just like to strengthen those relationships.”  

    Irene was the big weather news in August, but as tropical storms and hurricanes go, it “could have been more severe,” Richard G. Hendrickson, the United States Cooperative weather observer in Bridgehampton, wrote in his monthly report for August.

    “It stayed on its northward path and we were spared the true severity of its wind and high ocean,” he said. “Some trees are down and many, many branches are torn off trees. High tidal water, some shore erosion, but mild compared to the damage done during the path of some of our previous hurricanes.”

    Mr. Hendrickson, who has been observing and recording weather in Bridgehampton for more than seven decades, knows of what he speaks.

    Daytime temperatures last month were mainly in the 80s, according to his report. The warmest days — at 88 degrees — came on Aug. 1 and 8, but it was in the 80s on 20 other days, as well. The coolest night was on Aug. 12, when the temperature dropped to 52.

    Mr. Hendrickson recorded 9 clear days, 10 partly cloudy days, and 12 cloudy ones. Measurable rain fell on 10 days, for a total of 4.19 inches, making for an excellent crop of summer vegetables in both quality and quantity, he said. Prevailing winds were from the southwest on 13 days.

    “Let’s hope that September can be as mild and storm free as last year,” he wrote. “Our coming late-summer days should be mild and clear. Yet, in the long run, some of our heaviest rains have come in the month of September.”

    Tests conducted twice last week at the south end of Lake Montauk by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services revealed a brief but heavy influx of enterococcus bacteria following heavy rain, but an almost total absence of the potentially harmful pollutant two days later.

    Reached yesterday morning, East Hampton Town Supervisor Bill Wilkinson said the test results “speak for a retention pond in that area. In the meantime, the south end should be closed to bathing for a time after heavy rains. We will benefit from the new data.”

    The tests were made at the suggestion of Supervisor Wilkinson following an Aug. 10 discussion of the lake’s overall health by members of the Lake Montauk Watershed Advisory Committee. Tests by the Health Department to see if the water at the popular spot known as South Beach was fit for swimming had not been made since 2005.

    That was the year the town decided to remove a lifeguard from the beach. Health Department protocol does not require testing at unguarded beaches. The Health Department agreed to Mr. Wilkinson’s request, however.

    In accordance with the recommendations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and with requirements of the state’s sanitary code for bathing beaches, the county uses enterococci as  indicator organisms for marine beaches. The E. coli bacteria are used as indicator organisms to test for shellfish contamination and for bathing at freshwater beaches. Both types of organisms are associated with human sewage.

    The tolerance for enterococcus (an intestinal flora) is 104 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters of water. The tests conducted on three locations at the south end of Lake Montauk on Aug. 16, immediately after the heavy rains of the previous two days, showed levels greater than 800, 892, and 800 c.f.u. per 100 milliliters respectively. The test conducted near the area used for bathing measured 800 c.f.u. per 100 milliliters.

    The same locations — one at the bathing area, the other two near streams entering the lake on either side — were tested again two days later. The results showed a dramatic drop in enterococcus bacteria, to 4 c.f.u. per 100 milliliters in all three test sites.    R.D.

    While cities and states across the country are struggling financially or on the verge of default, East Hampton Village — through careful budgeting and a few unexpected windfalls — ended up with around $700,000 more than expected when the fiscal books closed at the end of July.

    “Revenue exceeded the budget,” Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. said at a village board meeting on Friday. Larry Cantwell, the village administrator, chalked up the good fortune to the fact that many of the village department heads kept a close eye on their budgets. “All the departments came in slightly under budget for the year,” he said.

    “The village collected about $300,000 more in actual revenue that we originally estimated in the budget and we spent about $400,000 less than originally budgeted, and as a result we estimated the year endingd July 31, 2011, surplus was $700,000,” Mr. Cantwell said yesterday. “The $700,000 will be added to the fund balance and result in a fund balance going forward of $2.7 million.”

    The village had carried a fund balance, for emergencies and unanticipated needs, of approximately 12 percent of the total budget of $18 million, or $2 million, but now will be able to reserve between 15 and 16 percent of the total budget, a change that ups the village’s credit rating and allows for any financing the village may seek to come with lower interest rates.

    Increased revenue came from $100,000 in parking tickets and $100,000 in additional building fee permits, along with an increase in the number of beach permits offered for sale and in mortgage taxes paid to the village.

    The exact figure will not be known until the end of the year, but for now, the village board is pleased.   

    The annual Fisherman’s Fair takes over the Ashawagh Hall green in Springs on Saturday, offering fun, fare, shopping, crafts, and camaraderie for the 79th year.

    From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the grounds surrounding the hall, the Springs Library, and the Parsons Blacksmith Shop will be full, rain or shine.

    Food will range from mussels and clam chowder to hot dogs, corn on the cob, and baked goods. For children, there will be pony rides, a water slide, crafts, and games. Artisans and crafters will sell their creations, and on the library grounds there will be a big book sale.

    Produce and other locally produced foods will be for sale, as they are every Saturday, at the Springs Farmers Market, which will set up by the blacksmith shop.

    Inside Ashawagh Hall, visitors can see the 44th annual Artists of the Springs Invitational exhibit. Posters from past exhibits, signed by well-known Springs artists including John Little, Elaine de Kooning, and Arnold Hoffmann, and limited-edition posters by Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner will be for sale.

    For the first time this year, there will be a number of recreational opportunities offered in conjunction with the fair. At 9 a.m., an hour before things really get going, Jim Zajac of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society will offer a guided tour from the Parsons Blacksmith Shop through the Lassaw Preserve and to Green River Cemetery, where visitors can see the graves of some of its illustrious and less-well-known tenants.

    At 11 a.m., Ray Hartjen will present plans for the construction of a new bridge across Pussy’s Pond and lead a short excursion to the site. At 1 p.m. there will be a guided hike, by Nancy Kelley of the Nature Conservancy, to the Merrill Lake Sanctuary along Accabonac Harbor, and at 2:30 p.m., Mike Bottini will lead a kayak and canoe tour of the harbor, departing from Landing Lane and focusing on open-space acquisitions and existing nature preserves.

    The Montauk Village Association, the group responsible for beautifying the hamlet with trees and pots of flowers, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and will party down on Friday, Aug. 19, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Montauk Yacht Club.

    Founded in 1952 as the Montauk Civic Association, it became the Montauk Village Association in 1961. Since then the group has dedicated itself to making Montauk a “lovelier” place by keeping members’ hands in the soil, a newsletter from 1981 proclaimed. And that hasn’t always been easy since the hamlet is at the eastern tip of Long Island and susceptible to a great diversity of weather, including the heavy and salty whipped winds that result in the dying trees the village association periodically replaces.

    At this year’s event, the group will honor Dick Cavett, who, since the beginning, according to Nancy Keeshan, the group’s president, has been very supportive. “On our 50th it only seemed natural to honor him. He’s been a member since we started,” she said.

    The group was also responsible for landscaping the Montauk Post Office when it was new and installing the bulletin board that announces local events. The association encouraged the refurbishment of the Montauk railroad station, where members planted evergreens, Rosa rugosa, and annually flowering plants. They remove dead trees, replace them, and hope for the best. Many trees don’t make it in the harsh weather.

    The association can also be thanked for the Christmas tree that is lighted each year in Kirk Park, a grassy three-acre parcel on the south shore of Fort Pond that the group acquired in 1962 through the Montauk Properties Investing Corporation. Members make sure the wetland ecology there is kept in harmony with public recreational use.

    The park was dedicated in 1962 to Maj. Gen. Norman Thomas Kirk, a United States surgeon general who reportedly held a special place in his heart for the hamlet and served it as a physician and civic worker after his retirement. In 1968, the park’s floating pavilion was dedicated to a number of people whose names are mounted on an entrance plaque.

    All of the projects are paid for through fund-raising events that include the annual Greenery Scenery, which for several years was called Drinks by the Links and held at Montauk Downs. A few years ago, the group restored the event’s original name and moved it to the Montauk Yacht Club. Tickets cost $100 each and can be purchased in advance at Keeshan Real Estate and Pospisil Real Estate, or at the door if available.

    Ms. Keeshan has promised a lovely event with an abundance of sunflowers to brighten the space. In honor of the golden anniversary, group members will serve lemoncello martinis along with their fabled apple martinis. Nancy Atlas will perform, and Charlie O’Connell, formerly of “The Bachelor” television show, will be bartending.

    “There is a spirit about Greenery Scenery that is a real reflection of the Montauk community — business owners, locals, and guests coming together to have a good time and to support keeping Montauk clean and green,” Ms. Keeshan said.

    While thunder and a little lightning were frequent occurrences last month, on the whole, July was free of severe thunder and lightning as well as ocean storms, according to Richard G. Hendrickson, the United States Cooperative weather observer in Bridgehampton.

    The warmest days of the month were July 22 and 23, when the thermometer rose to 98 and 91 degrees. Most of the month brought midday temperatures in the 80s. The coolest day, at 75 degrees, came on the 29th, according to Mr. Hendrickson’s records. The lowest nighttime temperature was 56 degrees on July 1, the only time last month when it was in the 50s.

    Mr. Hendrickson recorded measurable rains on only three days last month. July 9 brought the heaviest rain, 1.92 inches. On July 18 and 26, there was another 1.42 inches, bringing the total rainfall for the month to 3.34 inches, in keeping with the long-term average for July.

    “Years ago, without a fair July rain, crops dried up and were a total loss. Then when irrigation became possible, such losses were prevented,” Mr. Hendrickson, a retired farmer, wrote in his monthly weather report.

    “Our wind direction for July was greatly varied, as varied as I have seen it in all my years as a weather observer for the U.S. Weather Service.” Generally July means wind from the southwest. “This July, it was from the southwest on only 12 days. I have never recorded such a low number. July wind direction has always been 20 to 25 days or more from the southwest. What is the reason for this low number? Global warming? What is Mother Nature doing? I bet she has other plans.”

    Mr. Hendrickson recorded 10 clear days, 12 partly cloudy days, and 9 cloudy days last month.

    In August, he advised, “If we get weather squalls, most of them will come from a westerly direction. An afternoon or evening look in that direction can, at times, be very helpful.”

    It’s time to whip out those sculpting tools, and whatever else is needed to carve out those bas-reliefs, creatures, and cities from the sand.

    The Clamshell Foundation’s 20th East Hampton SandCastle Contest will take place on Saturday at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The rain date is Sunday.

     Good fun for all ages, trophies and prizes are awarded in five categories: Sand Fleas, for children up to age 8 (with an adult), Sand Hoppers (9 to 15-year-olds), Sand Tribes (families), Sand Shapers (adults), and Sand Pros, (professionals). Admission to attend is free; to compete costs $10 for up to six people. The money raised from registration fees, the sale of T-shirts and other merchandise, and any other donations go to various local charitable causes helped out by the Clamshell Foundation.

     A few caveats from Rossetti Perchik, the founder: No going in the dunes for any reason. Never leave children alone. No building in front of the lifeguard stands. No power tools, pumps, or bulldozers, and only indigenous beach materials will be allowed.

    It seems like Dina Merrill — the actress and arts benefactor who has lived on West Dune Lane for over 50 years — will still be able to see the sea she loves.    Her husband, Ted Hartley, chairman of R.K.O. Pictures, sat in the second row at the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals meeting on Friday while his attorney, Rick Whalen, laid out plans to rework an existing walkway and platform in the dunes outside the couple’s house to accommodate Ms. Merrill’s wheelchair.

    The existing “corduroy” boardwalk has been in there since 1970. Ms. Merrill and Mr. Hartley’s attorney submitted additional photos of it, and the platform, to the board. Also, they brought Bruce Horwith, formerly of the Nature Conservancy, to provide an independent assessment of the dune, as requested by the board.

    The preservation of the dune and its vegetation were the foremost concern of the board, and Dr. Horwith explained that to tear up what was already there would be more detrimental than the minor readjustments that were necessary to make the existing walkway and platform accessible.

    In mitigation, Mr. Whalen said, the Hartleys were willing to only keep the expanded platform up as long as it was needed, and also to share access to the beach with the property next door, at 3 West Dune Lane, which currently does not have beach access, thereby eliminating the possibility of another walkway’s being built if that property were sold.

    Andrew Goldstein, the chairman of the board, said a determination would be made at the next meeting on Aug. 12.

    Also on Friday, Johanna Caleca represented Mark and Candy Udell, owners of Main Street’s London Jewelers, who want to expand their house on Pondview Lane. A two-story addition was proposed to accommodate three generations of Udells, including the couple’s parents, children and their spouses, and a nephew, who also participate in “keeping a close watch on the local business,” Mr. Udell said.

    Although Ms. Caleca submitted plans and said the addition was “minimally visible” because of the landscaping and “not in contravention to the area,” Mr. Goldstein was unconvinced.

    “This house is already in excess of requirements,” he said of the 5,856-square-foot structure. The proposed addition totals 1,462 square feet.

    “I appreciate the exigencies that would help the Udells, but you’re asking for this to be 25 percent bigger. The benefit to be achieved, frankly, does not outweigh the inconsistencies.”

    “This house is huge,” said Bruce Siska.

    “It’s a precedent I don’t think we should set,” added Frank Newbold, another board member.

    When Ms. Caleca asked for the hearing to be held open while her clients came up with an alternate plan, Mr. Goldstein answered with a terse “no,” but then relented, and the hearing was adjourned until Aug. 12.