A big day

This is one of the busiest weekends of the summer in Bridgton. Many of you might be spending camp parent weekend here visiting your kids at one of the dozens of summer camps in the area, or maybe you are lucky enough to have a camp of your own where you spend the whole summer.

Whether you love art or artichokes there is something for you this weekend. On Saturday, July 19, you can check out both The Farmer’s Market Festival and Art in The Park, just a short walk from each other up Main Street.

The Farmer’s Market Festival celebrates local food, products, music, and art with a party, 8 a.m.- 1 p.m. at the Depot Street Commons behind the Magic Lantern Theater. Market vendors sell everything from homegrown flowers and vegetables to handmade goat cheeses, organic baked goods and local free-range meats.

There will be demonstrations on floral design, cooking with fresh herbs, and home gardening and live music from the Highland Strings Trio.

Just up the street in Shorey Park on Highland Lake is the fifth annual Art In the Park, an all-day event featuring the best of Maine painters, jewelry makers, potters and sculptors. We have an abundance of talented artists in the state and this juried exhibition brings the best of the best to Bridgton for the day. Celebrate summer in Bridgton and enjoy these two special events with us.

How did you get here?

Bridgton holds a special place in our hearts in summer, and there is no place I would rather be. It is always nice to see the “summer faces” return each year and know that they love our town too.

The last person I would have expected to see, however, is my dear friend Blake Smithson, who is executive chef at a 27,000-acre wild game ranch in south Texas. We had not seen each other in years, as is often the case when life happens.

So imagine my surprise when I walked out of Bridgton Books last Saturday and almost ran smack into him on the sidewalk. He is spending July in Maine and had come to Bridgton to see Jon Shain from Asheville, N.C., play at the Big Kahuna.

We both have deep Southern roots, and even a few shared ancestors, but none of them Yankees. He did not know I was in Maine, much less in Bridgton. After a few shocked and speechless seconds we marveled over the serendipity of it and spent the afternoon catching up. It was a magical day and one I will not forget. It really is a small world.

A fair for the mind

Bridgton is full of eclectic businesses and fascinating people. We have the Institute of Massage Therapy and Birthwise Midwifery School, the Loon Echo Land Trust and Lakes Environmental Association, a Thai restaurant and an African imports company funding women’s programs in Kenya.

One of the more dynamic members of our community is metaphysical philosopher Dr. Debra Snyder. After her daughter was born with a severe brain malformation that left her permanently non-verbal, Synder developed a method of intuitive communication that enabled them to interact.

She has written a book about the technique called “Heartglow: A Parent’s Guide to Energy Communication and Healing” and travels the country teaching and helping other parents and children.

Synder also runs the Maine Center For Spiritual Enrichment at 328 Main St., and is hosting the fifth annual Summer Psychic Fair there on Saturday, July 26, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Among event participants is well-known psychic intuitive Sue Yarmey, who will be doing individual consultations.

There will also be holistic practitioners, aura photography and energy work that Snyder likens to massage therapy for the mind. Whether you are a believer in the esoteric arts or a skeptic, this fair will surely be an interesting and unique experience. The mind is our most powerful tool, and who can know what potential it holds? Why not tap into yours?

For more information call Snyder at 647-5799 or e-mail her at deb@heartglowparenting.com.

Finger-picking good

Our local blues club the Big Kahuna is bringing a bona-fide guitar virtuoso to town this weekend. Piedmont bluesman Frank Fotusky plays old time American music from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s in the syncopated fingerpicking style that resembles a ragtime piano. He will perform both Friday, July 18, and Saturday, July 19.

Aside from performing at the Kahuna Fotusky is hosting a guitar technique seminar Saturday afternoon. He will demonstrate classic fingerpicking moves and offer individual feedback.

You can sign up by e-mailing Fotusky on his Web site www.fotusky.com or by calling the Big Kahuna at 647-9031. Seating is limited, and you should bring your own guitar. The Big Kahuna is located at 270 Main St.

Mid-summer bummer

I know every summer goes too fast, but this one is really flying by. I must be having a hard time accepting that it is already the middle of July, because in last week’s column I referred to several events as happening in June.

As much as I wish it were not so, time marches on and August is just around the corner. Hopefully readers were not sharing in my denial and did not miss any of the fun events in town last week.

One good thing that came out of my oversight is that I now know many of you really are reading my column, and apparently quite closely. I have never had so much feedback, albeit just to point out my mistake.

Keep reading, please, and keep sending me your news items and story ideas. I will be more than happy to write about them, and hopefully I will even get the dates right. My apologies to the Chickadee Quilters, I hope your show was a success.