Late July days always remind me of what my grandmother called “High Summer,” when there was as much of summer ahead of us as behind. In Nashville that meant the peaches were ripe enough to pick off the tree and eat right then and there, and we would take a basket full to our family reunion in South Carolina where we would eat boiled peanuts from 50 gallon drums and dig mussels out of the Edisto River with our toes.

High Summer in Maine means the lakes are the perfect temperature for swimming, the mosquitoes are gone and you better like zucchini, because your neighbors are about to start leaving veggies on your doorstep. It is the perfect time to take a hike up one of our preserved mountain trails, a bike ride along curving country roads or a swim in one of Bridgton’s 30 lakes and ponds. Have fun, because life doesn’t get much sweeter than this.

Farm to Table

Looking for locally grown vegetables, free-range meats and home-baked treats? The Bridgton Farmer’s Market is in full swing this week as the summer harvest rolls in. The Market is held every Saturday from 8 a.m. ’til 1 p.m. in the common ground next to the Magic Lantern on Depot Street, where you’ll find garden fresh produce, artisanal goat cheese, organic fruits and flowers and much more. Shopping locally supports your neighborhood growers, guarantees you the freshest healthy produce and keeps your money in town. Thanks!

Shroom-A-Rama

The piney woods of Maine are filled with flora, fauna and…fungi. There are dozens of delicious, edible varieties of mushrooms underfoot in the forests of Bridgton, as well as some seriously dangerous ones. Fortunately, they are easy to identify once you know what to look for, and you will when you join Lakes Environmental Association for their upcoming Mushroom Walk.

Join University of North Carolina student and mycologist Parker Veitch on Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 9 a.m. at the LEA office at Chase and Main for a two-hour, easy-to-moderate walk through the park. Each summer brings a unique bounty due to rainfall and climate conditions, but you might see boletes, chanterelles and black trumpets. And once you know where to look, you’ll never see the woods the same again. Call Mary Jewett at 647-8580 for more info.

Tour de Bridgton

Are you up for a hilly, scenic pedal through the back roads of South Bridgton? Join Loon Echo Land Trust for the 30-mile Bald Pate bike ride on Sunday, Aug. 5, at 8 a.m. Riders meet at the Hannaford parking lot in Bridgton at 8 a.m. where they will take High Street to Route 107 and Fosterville Road, passing the east side of Bald Pate Mountain and into Sebago by Douglas Mountain. The ride returns by the west side of Bald Pate, passing Five Fields and back into Bridgton.

Pace will be determined by riders present and no one will be left behind. All riders should bring water or sports drink, an energy bar and basic tire changing supplies.

Happy Trails

The hundreds of miles of hiking trails that cross Maine are maintained by dedicated volunteers who spend their summers clearing debris, shoring up steps and keeping the paths safe for everyone. It is rewarding work and a great way to help maintain the most beautiful forest trails in the East.

Join the Maine Chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club and Loon Echo for a day of vital trail work on the heavily used Ledges Trail at Pleasant Mountain on Saturday, July 28, from 7:30 a.m. ’til 1:30 p.m. Meet at the Ledges Trailhead on Mountain Road (off Route 302) and come prepared for moderate climbing and work. Basic training and tools will be provided.

Still Life with Flowers

If you like fresh flowers and local art here’s a fun event for you. Lakeside Garden Club in Bridgton holds its Seventh Annual “Art In Bloom” flower show at Gallery 302 on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 3 and 4, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Ten pieces of original art work made by local artists are chosen to be interpreted in fresh floral arrangements, created by members of the garden club. A special youth exhibit is also featured, and Lake Region seventh grader Daria Bosworth has been invited to show her colorful and intriguing classroom assignment which will be interpreted by young artist Sarah Sawin.

The show is family-friendly and free, with art stations and a scavenger hunt for kids and a “First Friday” wine and cheese reception for adults. On Saturday afternoon from 1 until 5, there will be a tea party reception featuring refreshing punch with handmade sweets and savories, and a meet and mingle with the artists and floral designers.

Call Art In Bloom Chairman Judy Alderman at 647-2787 for more information.

Crash!

Celebrated Maine author and raconteur Crash Barry brings his book tour to town, as he reads excerpts from his newly published “Tough Island: True Stories from Matinicus, Maine” at the Bridgton Library on Friday, Aug. 3, at 6 pm.

A colorful retelling of his days in the early ’90s as a sternman aboard a lobster boat on Maine’s most remote inhabited island, Barry spins stories of eccentric scoundrels stuck together on a rock in the Atlantic where the ferry only came nine times a year. No wonder he left there to move to Portland, where he proceeded to kick me and my “posse” (his words, not mine) out of the Free Street Taverna in 1996.

What I could have possibly done to merit removal by a man who wrote a book called “Sex, Drugs and Blueberries” is another story all together, but for now the island tales will have to do. Join me at the Library and let’s give old Crash a rousing Bridgton welcome.