As Sag Harbor gears up for Harborfest weekend, work behind the scenes has focused on the popular whaleboat races. “There was a tremendous community effort to rebuild the whaleboats,” Ellen Dioguardi, the president of the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce, said. A weekend of fun lies ahead.

Art and history at the farm museum, movies for kids and teens, a Lego challenge, a Y.A. author reading, and open play time at Hub 44 are all in the family activity lineup this week.

The application to install a pool and hot tub at the historic Huntting Inn, parts of which date to 1699, has been in front of the East Hampton Village Zoning Board of Appeals in one form or another for more than three years. On Friday, it is expected the owner, Tilman Fertitta wíll make a new appeal to the board.

A car flipped over on Montauk Highway near Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton on Sept. 3, following a collision that resulted in multiple hospitalizations. The driver told police the sun's glare blinded her.

East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo has urged town residents to “be mindful of basic crime prevention practices, such as locking cars and front doors at night, paying attention to surroundings, and promptly reporting suspicious activity,” following a string of apparently unrelated crimes.

East Hampton Village police responded Sunday afternoon to Herrick Park, where a man had been reported “inhaling cleaning products.” He told an officer he wasn’t “huffing,” just blowing sand out of his phone.

This photograph from The East Hampton Star’s archive shows part of the Old Whalers Festival parade, possibly from 1963, with four men dressed as sailors riding in a whaleboat. Behind them is a car towing a whale float.

Moments in local history, from the archives of The East Hampton Star.

A. Philip Dinkel Jr., the owner of the Montauk I.G.A. for almost 30 years, died on Aug. 23 in Easton, Md., at the age of 89.

A conservationist who was fond of birds and dogs in particular, Polly Bruckmann devoted many years to organizations that benefited the environment and the community. Mrs. Bruckmann, of Lily Pond Lane and Manhattan, died on Sept. 3 following a fall. She was 90.

Jean Greenlees Ruggles, who had a long career teaching at the Montauk School, died at home in Montauk on Sept. 1. She was 96.

Time was, East Hampton was famous as the anti-signage town. Have you noticed an uptick in signs on our streets in the last year or two? We don’t like it.

A pertinent subject came up at a meeting of Amagansett’s citizens advisory committee Monday, when members heard from a representative of the Devon Yacht Club, which is seeking permits to rebuild its clubhouse. In short, what was the point of the meeting?

As the recreational boating season hurries to a close here in the Northeast, my ideas of a summer spent at least part of the time afloat on Cerberus slip away.

One of the indignities of getting older is having hair that will no longer express your personality in a way that adequately represents who you think you are, deep down. Our hair betrays us with age.

Someone who grew up in Bridgehampton (this columnist, for one) might think all there was to Leonard Riggio was Minden, his vast and venerable Ocean Road estate. But his passing calls up more.

Remembering the first time I came to the East End 30 years ago also rekindles thoughts of the skyline of India, and my home country’s independence.

Here's what's on our readers' minds this week.

I had a nice chuckle watching an episode of “Gilligan’s Island” in which Gilligan, in his inevitable white bucket hat, hauled in a lobster trap from the overly warm, tropical lagoon (a stage studio out in Los Angeles).

East Hampton High’s boys soccer team defeated Eastport-South Manor 5-1 in its season-opener here on Sept. 4, as Don McGovern, Bonac’s coach, subbed in earnest.