What’s that smell in the air? I think it is people mowing their lawns.

I was talking to Dutch down at the port the other day and he could hardly wait to get out there and start cutting the grass. We all enjoy the look and smell of a nicely groomed lawn.

This year we have a lot more grass to cut. The new little park on West Kingston Road should be ready for public use as soon as we get some new fencing up. We want to make sure the neighbors’ property boundaries are well identified and protected.

The other new lawn is, of course, in our new park above the ferry holding lane. Those of you who have been in town for more than half a dozen years might call it “the old Kingston Inn property.” By the time you are reading this, we will have held our March 20 community meeting to discuss how we will develop that spot.

A local landscape architect has been hired to develop ideas that the community will have had a chance to look at and make comments. After the meeting on March 20, we will get working on a final design and be ready to apply for an open-space improvement grant in May. With the help of that particular funding, we should be able to develop a great gateway park for our town. It will be a place that is kid-friendly and a relaxing area from which to enjoy the vista of our region.

Another project, of course, is that old dredge issue. Hopefully, the departments of Ecology and Fish & Wildlife will soon get their heads around the method we will use for eelgrass mitigation. It looks like we may become owners of an eelgrass nursery. If that happens, I will then use this space to let you know what such a nursery is. We are still looking at a late summer or early fall time for the work to be done. Hopefully, it will be after crabbing and in between good salmon openings.

I have heard that the Kingston Cove Yacht Club is resurrecting the annual fishing derby. Keep a lookout for fliers and advertising. I am not a part of the planning, but I do believe I will go fishing that day. I will try to keep you updated here with a word or two about it in June.

I love April. The days are getting longer (and warmer), so many flowers start to bloom, everyone is doing things outside and the Kingston Farmers Market opens up down at the port. If you haven’t seen the friends you usually run into at the post office during the week, chances are they will be down at the market. I know Clint has a great music lineup this year too! It is always so nice to stop and listen to a tune or two from whoever is playing Saturday at the market.

OK, I know winter is over and all threats of snowfall in Kingston are gone for the year and we have put our sleds away, but I was poring over some old nautical terms and found one referring to a town similar to ours, but quite far to the east: “Nantucket sleigh ride.” When a harpooned whale would race off, towing a dory full of seamen, the seamen were said to be on a Nantucket sleigh ride, a reference to the whaling port of Nantucket, Mass.

So, there it is for another month. It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since I started the Down at the Port series in the Community News. It truly is enjoyable for me to do this. Thank you for taking time to read it.

— Pete DeBoer is a Kingston port commissioner. Contact him at pete@petedeboer.com.