A 145-acre island in Newcastle surrounded by the Marsh River, a tributary of the Sheepscot, will be the venue for the Sheepscot Valley Conservation Association's 6th Annual "Champagne on the Sheepscot" party. The island is connected to the mainland by a short causeway over a salt marsh.

The event, to be held this year on Saturday, September 13, is the major yearly fundraiser for SVCA, the private land trust organization that works to protect the land and water in the Sheepscot River Valley area.

Local artist Lucy Harrington, who owns the island and has lived there in an historic farmhouse for almost 50 years, has graciously offered the property for the fundraising event.

It is not the first time she has been generous to SVCA. In 2001 she gave the organization a conservation easement of the property to preserve it as it is forever. Lucy said she made the decision to protect the property from development at the age of 15, when she first saw it. "Even as a kid, I knew this very special place must stay the way it is," she said, pointing out that it is home to all kinds of wildlife from moose, deer and bobcats to ducks, geese and eagles.

The fundraising event will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. This year in addition to the usual food, drinks and music, art work from 13 local artists will be on display and for sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to SVCA.

So do plan to be part of a fun-filled evening September 13, which benefits a worthy cause.

Tickets are $40, or $125 to become a patron of the event. For more information contact the SVCA at (207)586-5616 or svca@sheepscot.org.