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After the isolation of the pandemic, "we all feel like we need to unite," Nia Dawson said, and so she has organized an East End Interdependence Day for Sunday, the Fourth of July, to celebrate unity and highlight food justice.

A relatively quiet weekend is ahead for the East Hampton Library, which has returned its self-service Starbucks coffee and tea machine to the main lobby. It had been removed when the Covid-19 pandemic first spread across the nation. The cost is $1 for those who supply their own mugs; $2 for those who don't.

The Hampton Classic has released the poster for this year’s event, designed and photographed by the equine photographer Shelli Breidenbach. The poster was to have announced last year’s big annual horse show, but the event was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last week the number of water bodies in Montauk and Amagansett with harmful levels of enterococcus bacteria increased, according to Concerned Citizens of Montauk, and a harmful blue-green algae bloom was in Kellis Pond in Bridgehampton.

Want to get outside? Here are some upcoming activities that promise to satisfy your thirst for the outdoors. 

On Saturday, the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society invites hikers to explore the numerous trails of Amagansett’s hilly and shaded Stony Hill area, featuring glacial kettles and a mature beech forest. Those interested are to meet on Red Dirt Road (1/4 mile east of Accabonac Road) at 9 a.m. More information is available by calling 212-769-4311. 

Montauk is a happening place to be. Upcoming programs and events include musical performances, rummage sales, a book talk and a lecture, and more.

Amanda M. Fairbanks, author of the new book "The Lost Boys of Montauk," will be at the Montauk Lighthouse next Thursday at 7 p.m. to sign copies of her book about the four Montauk fishermen lost at sea during a storm in 1984. She will read excerpts and answer questions from Tom Clavin, the author of "Dark Noon," about the wreck of the Pelican party boat off Montauk in 1951.

The Town of East Hampton has scheduled a Stop Throwing Out Pollutants day — known as a STOP day — for Saturday. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., residents can take hazardous waste to the East Hampton recycling center at 260 Springs-Fireplace Road for proper disposal.

Oyster farming on Long Island will be the focus on Thursday at 5 p.m. when South Fork Sea Farmers hosts a discussion of its challenges, benefits, and possibilities. The first of what will be a monthly presentation, the conversation will cover the future of aquaculture as a logical area of economic growth and environmental restoration on the East End.

The lifting of more Covid-19 restrictions last week has impacted mask-wearing rules at local libraries.

At the East Hampton Library, masks are no longer required in the building for vaccinated people. Signs will be put up to encourage unvaccinated people to wear masks. Seating and computers will return to full capacity.

Concerned Citizens of Montauk on Thursday reported that 9 of the 25 bodies of water it routinely tests have medium to high levels of harmful bacteria. 

A memorial service for Betty Mazur, a longtime East Hampton Town Democratic Committee official, will take place on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton, at 94 Pantigo Road.

The Town of East Hampton has scheduled a "Stop Throwing Out Pollutants" event — known as STOP Day — for Saturday, June 26. From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., residents will be able to bring hazardous waste to the East Hampton Recycling Center at 260 Springs Fireplace Road for proper disposal.

Stony Brook Medicine has begun conducting a survey of the health needs of the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community, the first such on Long Island. The survey is expected to be a crucial cog in shaping the future of the Island's first comprehensive L.G.B.T.Q.+ Health Center, named for the Southampton activist Edie Windsor, which will open this month.

The Wainscott Sewing Society's annual Strawberry Shortcake Festival returns on Sunday at the Wainscott Chapel from 2 to 4 p.m., or until Lisa and Bill Babinski's fresh farm stand berries run out.

Shortcakes can be devoured inside the chapel or out, or taken to go. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12. Proceeds help the sewing society to maintain the 152-year-old chapel.

This article has been updated to correct the date of the event.

The Mimi Meehan Native Plant Garden behind Clinton Academy on Main Street is in full flower. It is a project of the Garden Club of East Hampton and may be visited during daylight hours. Visitors should be careful to close the gate behind them so that deer do not get into the garden.

Another site kept up by the club, at Home Sweet Home, holds an 18th-century collection of plants used for medicinal, culinary, and dyeing purposes. The roster of garden club gardens is much broader and can be seen at gceasthampton.org.

First up, Don Lemon, the CNN anchor, and Georgette Grier-Key, the executive director of the Eastville Community Historical Society, will discuss Mr. Lemon's new book, "This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism."

The Alliance for Community Media Foundation on Monday awarded LTV a 2021 Hometown Media Award in honor of all the station does for community media, community radio, and local cable programs on its government and education public access channels.

Graduation season is upon us, which means not only lots of pomp and circumstance but also a chance to formally congratulate high school seniors on their accomplishments in a special issue of The Star on June 17.

The South Fork Islanders boys lacrosse team, featuring a half-dozen East Hamptoners, has received the 10th seed among Division 1's top 11 teams, and is to play at seventh-seeded Connetquot on Tuesday, June 8, at 3 p.m.

For those with an appreciation of nature or a thirst for paddling, hiking, or biking, there are lots of upcoming activities that promise to be interesting.

Saturday is National Trails Day, and the Friends of the Long Pond Greenbelt invite hiking enthusiasts to a 3.5-mile hike and lunch from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants should take their own food and meet at the Friends' nature center at 1061 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike. Dai Dayton will lead the hike, and can be contacted for questions at 631-745-0689.

LTV has announced a new annual program to celebrate young people's creative and capable use of smartphones. From now through Nov. 1, for its "Fone Film Festival," LTV will accept submissions of short movies created via smartphone by those 18 years or younger.

In December, a film festival marathon on LTV's channel 20 will feature the films, which will continue to be broadcast throughout 2022.

Democratic Party debates for East Hampton Town supervisor and town board happen Thursday night at 7, broadcast live on LTV's Channel 20, on its YouTube channel, and at ltveh.org.

In memory of Edie Windsor, the well-known advocate for same-sex marriage who died in 2017 at the age of 88, Southampton Town has launched the Edith Windsor Heart Project to build a heart-shaped pavilion at Town Hall to be used for performing civil marriage ceremonies. The heart will consist of 220 smaller, interlocking hearts, which will be engraved with personalized messages from supporters of the project.

Kids ages 12 to 17 who opt to get fully vaccinated for Covid-19 will be entered into a random drawing to win a full college scholarship, including room and board costs, to a SUNY or CUNY institution, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced.

Blooms of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, have been detected in Wainscott Pond and in Lake Agawam in Southampton, according to analysis by Stony Brook University. Suffolk County health officials have asked residents not to use, swim, or wade in the water bodies and to keep children and pets away from the area.

Starting on Friday, East Hampton Village will provide a free morning and afternoon shuttle between the longterm and Reutershan parking lots for those who work in the commercial district. The shuttle, which will operate daily, will take a direct route through Herrick Park.

The village has hired Circuit, the company that also provides free transportation to the beach, to provide the service between 8 and 10 a.m. and between 5 and 6:30 p.m.

I-tri, a free fitness and empowerment program for middle school girls, will host a "sip-and-shop" fund-raiser at Sole East on Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m.

The event will feature an outdoor marketplace with skin care products from Tasteful Skin, including all natural healing balms, aromatherapy sanitizers, artisan bath salts, and a new baby skin collection. Susan Nieland Jewelry, unique beach stones set in earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, and charms, will also be available for purchase.

Under a New York State rule enacted in 2020 that is known as Brianna's Law, all operators of motorized watercraft are required to take a boating safety course by Jan. 1, 2025. With that in mind, New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio has scheduled a safety course that meets those requirements.

Dr. Gail Schonfeld of East End Pediatrics will run a youth vaccine clinic this weekend in response to the federal government's May 10 announcement expanding emergency use athorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to include adolescents 12 to 15 years of age. Previously, children had to be 16 or over to receive shots.

Project Most’s annual plant sale will be Saturday at the Neighborhood House at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will organic vegetables seedlings, herbs, and flowers grown by its after-school students.