The dog days of summer are almost behind us.

The flurry of fund-raising that has been upon us since the end of April (Summit Talent Show, Bill Ayres Scholarship Dime-a-Dip Dinner) into May (ELQRT Garden Art Faire and Chicken Dinner, Eddyville Charter School Senior Trip fund-raiser), June (ECS Booster Club fund-raiser), July (a pared-down Logjam in Logsden) and August (Summit Star Quilters’ Raffle Quilt, Summit Summer Festival) has left local residents in need of a rest.

The past two weeks have been quiet as locals head out on last-minute vacations, sit around and wait for their tomatoes to ripen, clean rifle barrels in anticipation of hunting season or just chill.

For our local kids, parents and teachers, however, this past week has been a busy one preparing for the start of the new school year.

The Blodgett School is up and running with 24 students in Jennifer Gray’s kindergarten through second-grade classroom and 13 in Julie Torkelson’s third- and fourth-grade classroom.

This dynamic duo of teachers has been providing an excellent education in a small, rural setting for years, to the delight of area parents and kids.

Down the road, Eddyville Charter School is having another banner year, enrolling 230 students. The school has 95 in kindergarten through fifth grade, 64 in the middle school and 71 in the high school.

Most of the charter school’s staff has returned, and there are also two new teachers and two elementary teaching assistants.

Adam Kriz will be taking on health and other high school classes along with his position as athletic director, and Kathleen Daugherty will be teaching the middle school core classes.

Lisa Renfrow will be returning to the Eddyville elementary wing this year after several years of working as a media specialist at Toledo Middle School and Newport High School. Greg Frost will be moving from the art department at Eddyville Charter School to the elementary classrooms.

The enthusiasm of staff, students and community promises another great year for this four-year-old charter school.

Club needs help

This is a new year for the Blodgett-Summit Community Club, too.

The club will hold its first meeting of the school year today at 7 p.m. in room 2 at Blodgett Elementary School.

The club is actively seeking new members. Everyone interested in participating in community projects is encouraged to attend. The goal of this long-standing group is to help local residents who are in need and to bring the school and community together.

Besides providing aid for victims of fire or those with health problems, the community club has been successful over the past more than half century in supporting Blodgett Elementary School.

From providing much-needed classroom materials to helping with field trips, members of the club are involved in a variety of school projects throughout the school year.

The group also helps maintain the school facility, since the buildings are a valuable resource for the community. Many locals have used the kitchen or gym for sports activities, baby showers, anniversary parties, etc.

Last year, the community club raised enough money to replace the range in the kitchen.

Now the club is seeking new members, especially those with enthusiasm and fresh ideas and a willingness to help with the organization’s main fund-raiser, the bottle collection from the Blodgett Store.

The returnable bottle box in front of the store has been a very lucrative source of money for the club and without volunteer recyclers, the club will not be able to support the community to the extent it has.

Currently, three dedicated volunteers — Connie Weaver, Sue Miller and Jim Damitio — have been doing all of the returning of bottles.

Since Jim is retiring from the job at the end of the month, there is a desperate need for more volunteers.

Ideally, eight people on bottle-returning duty would make the job easier and more efficient.

If you are a Coast Range resident who goes to town fairly often, you might consider volunteering to take some bottles with you and help out your school and community.

The Blodgett-Summit Community Club meets at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month at the Blodgett School.

Anyone interested in helping with the bottle return project who cannot make it to tonight’s meeting is asked to call community club president Connie Weaver (453-4858) or Julie Tork elson at the Blodgett School (453-4101).

Western Sunday

The Blodgett Community Church is planning a very special Western Sunday for Sept. 23.

The Knox Brothers of Harrisburg will be performing at the 10:30 a.m. service.

A potluck/barbeque will follow.

Nashville resident Kathi Downing can be contacted at ramdown@peak.org or 456-4252.