As the soggy summer sails past, the slugs continue their slime festival, partying on porches and front doors, yards and patios, leaving trails behind them

sure to disgust even the most stout, beer-drinking Pittsburgher. My Mother's Dahlia looks like a skeleton flower and the small fern growing nearby appears to be the victim of a slug hit-and-run night time feast.

Karen the Cougar shows her disdain for the repugnant creatures by only venturing out on warm, sunny afternoons, a rarity this season. Recall she was jaunting around in the grass a couple of weeks ago when she slipped on a slug trail and broke a claw. This week she was playing hide-and-seek in the yard with a gentle doe that comes out to graze in the soybean field behind the trailer.

Karen was also begging hotdogs and Bratwurst that Brian had prepared on the grill. Perhaps she is a German cougar.

The delicious charcoal smells emanating from the grill give us some semblance of summer.

CN will now be covering the South Shenango Supervisors Meetings, which are held every second Tuesday of the month at 2:30pm. Citizens are encouraged to attend in order to stay informed.

Alert: South Shenango roads Burns, Scott and Livingston continue to be treacherous to travelers as the load of stone from City Slag contains small, sharp metal fragments. Supervisors and Postmen alike are getting flat tires driving these roads, and every time it rains, more metal shards turn up.

Welcome back from vacation Espyville-Tuttle Allotment resident Dolly Gol. Sunny Florida is extra hot this time of year. Welcome home, also, to summer resident Elaine Silinsky, just out of the hospital, with get well wishes.

Speedy recovery to summer resident Rick Reinginsen, too; it seems the fresh, country air really does help a person's health.

Condolences go out to the Sebak Family in Espyville on the passing of Mary, a lifetime resident and member of St. Phillip's Church.

The Espyville All-Boys Coffee Klatch, which meets every Wednesday morning at the Countryside Restaurant, had Glenn Linn recite their morning prayer over Java last week.  The All-Boys Rule is never strictly enforced, as three of the wives were spotted, also. Topics of discussion included songbirds, local weather and the crops seen growing around the Espyville area.

Many people who keep a feeder going all year report that birds such as House Finches, Cardinals, Orioles and Titmice are now bringing their babies to pick at seeds or fruit in the feeders. Of course, the hooligans such as Grackles and Jays get in on it, too.

Unofficial Klatch president, Clarence "Dewey" Forsythe is getting ready for the annual Kids' Free Fishing Derby, to be held August 1 and 2 at the new Pymatuning Pavilion. Check the CN for further updates and official coverage of the event.

Other local events are the 9th Annual Clean Water Festival, to be held at the Linesville Fish Hatchery on September 12th, 2009. Call 814-333-1258 for more information.

Fishing reports have been coming in from Pymatuning; while some walley are still being caught, small and large mouth bass numbers are up. A 27 pound channel cat was caught last week.

Ticket sales for the Gun-A-Week Raffle, sponsored by the North Shenango Volunteer Fire Department continue. Purchase yours for $50.00 from any member, the Raffle starts the first week of January, 2010, and continues for 52 weeks thereafter.

Support your local Fire Department, folks, they are all-volunteer and new equipment doesn't grow in local fields. This Department does not receive any money from local taxes, either, so when they say "All-Volunteer," that's what they mean.

Look for the NSVFD Boot Drive for MS at local eateries; Li'l Bit, Countryside, Yorkie's, Russell's and Lakeside General all have big black boots setting near the registers.

The NS volunteers will have their Big Chicken BBQ come this Labor Day, and you can find them out at local crossroads with boots that weekend collecting donations for MS. For further information, check out their website:www.17house.org.

And while you won't see Dave White or Pearl flipping burgers down at Li'l Bit, it seems to be a family affair, with the new owners, Patty and Tom Holman and Kathy and Tom Hitchcock doing a lot of changes to the local landmark.

Dodge those raindrops, folks, we'll talk again next time. Keep the bugs off your bumper and the dust off your tail.

Thanks for reading the Espyville Buzz and keep on buying the Community News. Leaving you with the immortal sounds of the Glenn Miller Band and a little "Moonlight Serenade," sponsored by Chesterfields.