The Port Byron school drama club presented its spirited production of “Peter Pan” Nov. 13, 14 and 15. Using a cast of seemingly hundreds, the club presented a record four performances to friends and family members. Kudos to Joni Lincoln for her hard work and to the entire cast for all their work.

The long list prevents me from naming them all, but a special nod should be made to lead cast members: Andrew Sealy, Erika Green, Joscelyn Emilio and Christian Cobb. (I told my wife, after watching Andrew give a rousing monologue as Captain Hook, that I would like to see him play Hamlet.)

Christian played Peter and perhaps is the first person in school history to “fly” in a school production. Flying doesn't come cheap, and it was nice to see the long list of sponsors, especially the businesses, that stepped up to make this production possible. Try to keep these local businesses in mind when you are deciding where to spend your money. As the economy tightens, they will need your help.

In other news:

#&149; Work is under way for another Heritage Days celebration. The committee has been meeting to plan the 2009 version of this local family event. If you want to help, or just give your ideas to make a better event, stop in or call the Mentz Town Office for information.

#&149; The Lock 52 Historical Society will be hosting a couple young war vets at 3 p.m. today. Master Sgt. Mark Emerson and Staff Sgt. Jim Murnane will be on hand to speak about their tours in Iraq. The society will also be showing off the redesigned Veteran's Room, which with the help of the local American Legion Post and under the guidance of President Chick Walker, has been painted and reorganized. The society building will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop in to say hi.

#&149; Does it seem like there is a fundraising dinner every weekend? Between the Weedsport, Port Byron, Montezuma, Conquest and Throop church groups, fire departments and local societies, a person can find a dinner or two or three, every weekend. Wouldn't it be nice if all these local groups tried to coordinate their efforts so we wouldn't need to pick one over the other on the same weekend? I write this with some prejudice, as our local volunteer monthly paper, the InPort, of which I am the board president, has expanded its community events calendar and is trying to list all these events. If you are working on a dinner or local event, list it (free) in the InPort and let us make it possible that we can enjoy all these events without stepping on one another. Now is the time to plan out the 2009 calendar.

#&149; Why is it that someone keeps knocking out the beaver dams in the old Erie Canal? The village hired consultants who proposed spending $700,000 to build dams to re-water the canal, and yet the beavers do it for free and someone knocks apart the dams and drains the canal. Do we want to re-water the canal, or not? Maybe the beavers need to hire a consultant of their own and then we could leave them alone.

Michael Riley is the Mentz historian