27/09/2026
September weekend is my favourite weekend of the Millport Calendar. I love the fireworks, the street entertainment, the sandcastle competition...it's just the best isn't it?
I'd decided for my window display to attempt to depict another time honoured tradition in the Boyle family holidays for quite a few years- The Late Great Mr Millport Breaks stoically pulling the orange dingy .
Our three children loved this event. I don't recall where the dingy came from: a spur of the moment purchase I think maybe from Mapes, but all three children would hop in, and Mr Millport would haul them around. I sat on a nearby bench occasionally calling encouraging things:
" Woops! Jack's nearly fallen in! Careful ! Yes, you're going very deep uh huh!" then returning to reading my book and thinking about what I'd get from the Ritz later on. It was blissful, I can tell you. For me, anyway....
This touching little scene was recreated in my window with cardboard box houses, showing Beside the Bay at Kames Bay, air drying clay people and boat, and blue and green cellophane sea.
The sea was trickier than expected. I'd not brought enough glue sticks with me , and so it was hard to stop it springing up, giving the alarming impression that Mr Millport was hauling the dingy through a veritable tsunami of surf. Indeed his wee air-drying clay legs kept becoming obscured by cellophane and it was almost over his head.
The tiny lights were hard to fix into place in the cardboard houses, too.
Grumbling a bit that this was not how I had envisioned it looking, I set out with my collection bucket and Hi Vis Vest to collect cash for September Weekend 2027, and was soon cheered by the Pebbles Cafe and Garrison House Café street entertainment which made me laugh so hard I nearly dropped my bucket.
Thank you to everyone who donated, who stopped to look at my display of Mr Millport Breaks being slowly swallowed by a sea of cellophane, who oohed and ahhed at the amazing fireworks, thanks to everyone who gives up time and trouble to organise all the fantastic events.
It makes this special weekend even more special.