We tend to ask just about everyone we think could even possibly have some sort of serious event requiring CPR or intubation what their wishes are. The reason for that? Because experience has taught me, over and over again, to tackle these questions at the beginning.

In 1923, more than 100 donors, including such notables as Childe Hassam, P.G. Wodehouse, and Lion Gardiner, contributed to a fund to buy a portrait of the actor John Drew to be presented to East Hampton Village. Days after it was presented, the painting was loaned to the artist, never to be seen again. At least so far as anyone can tell.

Kilian Ruckriegel, 12, and Sophia Cosmina Ruckriegel, 14, brother and sister surfers from Springs, made waves as organizers of a paddle-out held on Aug. 26 at from the beach at Napeague Lane in Amagansett in support of inclusion and solidarity in surfing and the Black Lives Matter movement. "Bring your voice! Bring positive vibes. Spread the word," an Instagram post said. "Let's come together as a community."

With the first day of school just a week away, Springs School families -- many with mixed feelings about the district's reopening plans -- learned this week that students will start the year with a new acting principal and interim assistant principal. But neither are new to the school; the acting principal, Christine Cleary, was assistant principal, and her number two, Maria Mondini, is a former teacher.

It is back to school season for college students too, but as with many things during a pandemic, it may not really feel like it. "It's obviously not ideal, but learning how to manage expectations is just a part of life," said a University of Iowa junior from Southampton.

Local home-school families say a common misunderstanding about that educational model has emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic: Home schooling and receiving remote lessons at home from a child's school are two entirely different systems.

The Y.M.C.A. of Long Island has announced that it will open the doors of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter on Tuesday.

It’s impossible to ignore. Labor Day is upon us. While still technically summer, it’s less than three weeks until fall formally arrives. The early essence of our next season can already be felt in the cooler mornings and more deeply slanted rays of sunshine in the afternoon. Much like a book, the page is being turned.

In an effort to manage development and protect water views and character, the Sag Harbor Village Board has proposed a law that would suspend until March 1, 2021, the planning board’s authority to grant approval of site plans, special permits, and subdivisions.

Fifty years ago this month, the Free Life balloon took off from George Sid Miller's field in Springs to attempt the first trans-Atlantic balloon voyage. The balloon appears in the photograph seen here, from the collection of the Springs Library. Pamela Brown and her husband, Rodney Anderson, hired a balloon pilot, Malcolm Brighton, to navigate the 52-foot-diameter balloon.

Cintra Carter-Sander of Montauk and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., died on Aug. 3 at home at Marsh Landing in Florida. She had been in failing health for a week.

Robert P. DeVault of East Hampton, a Vietnam veteran and artist, interior decorator, carpenter, and entrepreneur, died unexpectedly at home on Aug. 25. He was 65.

Virginia DiPietro, a longtime East Hampton resident who was known as Dolly, died of a heart attack on Saturday, Aug. 22, at home in Ocean Township, N.J.

Steven Levin, a Manhattan commercial real estate developer turned surfer, died at home in Montauk’s Hither Hills on Aug. 20. The cause was complications from Parkinson’s disease, with which he had been afflicted for many years.

John Francis McCaffrey, “a true son of Wainscott,” his family said, died on Aug. 21 at the Highlands Living Center in Pittsford, N.Y. He was 88 and had a recurrence of pancreatitis. A month earlier he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer.

Helen Louise Burke of Montauk and Boynton Beach, Fla., died on Aug. 21 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. She was 89. An obituary will appear in a future issue.

Gail Sheehy, a New York journalist and writer of renown who also lived for a time in East Hampton, died on Aug. 24 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

Representative Lee Zeldin of New York’s First Congressional District was a speaker at last week’s Republican National Convention, during which he described President Trump’s efforts for New York State during the coronavirus pandemic as “phenomenal.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released a poll conducted last month that had Nancy Goroff leading Representative Lee Zeldin, 48 percent to 46 percent, in the race to represent New York's First Congressional District. 

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has endorsed Laura Ahearn, the Democratic nominee for the First State Senate District.