FALMOUTH — There are many ways for residents to celebrate the town’s 300th anniversary and one is the Move300 Challenge, which encourages participants to log 300 miles of activity in 2018.

It’s not too late to register online and any type of physical activity counts, from taking a walk to riding a bike to kayaking to dancing at the upcoming Hi-Fi Sock Hop.

In addition, any 20-minute session of aerobic activity from cardiovascular exercises to shoveling snow or gardening counts as a mile and a one-hour fitness class of any type counts as 3 miles.

Participants are on their honor to correctly log in the number of miles they’ve moved and for every 25 miles logged they’re eligible for a monthly prize drawing.

If participants complete all 300 miles by the end of the year, they can also become eligible for the grand prize, which has a cash value of $300.

Move300 came out of a discussion about “how to showcase all Falmouth has to offer, especially our trail systems, multi-use sidewalks and bike-ways,” said Erin Bishop Cadigan, the town’s tercentennial coordinator.

The whole idea, she added, was to “encourage residents to get outside and experience Falmouth firsthand.”

While there are no specific tercentennial events to help participants meet the Move300 goal, Cadigan said “many of the (planned) 300th events are a great way participants can log miles.”

For instance, last weekend the Falmouth Land Trust held a snowshoe trek, she said, and there’s a Volksmarch planned for June, a kayak trip in the fall and the Ugly Sweater 5K and Fun Run next December.

“All of these are ways to rack up miles,” as are the three dances being held to help celebrate Falmouth’s 300th anniversary, Cadigan said.

These dances include the Hi-Fi Sock Hop, which will be held on March 24 at Lunt Auditorium to benefit the Falmouth Historical Society, the 55+ Club’s annual Senior Prom and a Street Dance scheduled for August.

“We’ve also created a list of 375 things to do in Falmouth, which provides lots of great ways to log miles and meet the challenge goal,” Cadigan added.

The hope is that residents will check off at least 300 of the listed items.

Some of the suggested activities include cross-country skiing on any of the town’s conserved properties, snowshoeing on Mackworth Island, fishing the Presumpscot River at the Blackstrap canoe launch, bird watching at Maine Audubon, taking a swim at Town Landing and playing tennis at Legion Field.

Along with ongoing tercentennial events, such as Move300 and the Donate300 challenge, the 300th celebration also includes a storytelling series called, “Changing Landscapes, Shifting Tides.”

One such lecture will be held this week. On Thursday at 7 p.m., Andrew Barton, a forest ecology professor at the University of Maine at Farmington, will speak about the changing nature of Maine’s woods.

Then on March 10, the Falmouth Conservation Commission will hold a session called, “Lawns and Lobsters: Environmentally Safe Lawn Care,” and on March 27, the Falmouth Memorial Library will host a talk about the Wabanaki in Casco Bay.

Most of the Changing Tides lectures are free and open to the public, but pre-registration is suggested at http://bit.ly/2o2E6y9.

Kate Irish Collins can be reached at 710-2336 or kcollins@theforecaster.net. Follow Kate on Twitter: @KIrishCollins.

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