Camp Sunshine Watermelon Festival

A new Maine tradition, the Camp Sunshine Watermelon Festival will transform the streets of Freeport and the L.L.Bean campus into watermelon central as hundreds of watermelons are brought to town.

Watermelon carving, seed-spitting contests, music, lawn games, face painting and more will be at Discovery Park on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The new event will celebrate summer fun and benefit Camp Sunshine, a year-round retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families.

The day kicks off with music, food, family and kid activities and lots of watermelon. There will be pop-up puppet shows from noon-2 p.m. The Greased Watermelon Relay happens at 1 p.m. The Watermelon Eating Contest is at 2 p.m. Juggler Steve Corning will have a show at 2:30 p.m. The music line-up includes D.J. Nate Hicks at 11 a.m., Blindsided Breakaway at 12:30 p.m., Fighting Fiction at 1:45 p.m. and, at 3 p.m., OC and the Offbeats will hit the stage. The festival will conclude at 4 p.m.

Amazing Place Adventure Race

Freeport Amazing Place Adventure Race is a team challenge for adventure seekers and explorers. L.L. Bean is proud to host the Freeport Amazing Place Adventure Race on Sunday, Aug. 13 to benefit the American Cancer Society. It’s a team challenge for adventure seekers and explorers that will also help to forward the lifesaving mission of the American Cancer Society. Contestants will navigate their way through Freeport to discover clues and complete challenges, including physical competitions, fun brain teasers and more. Last year, teams spread out through the town, solving problems which included trivia about the town and physical challenges. There will be more than 20 clues, challenges, and historical check points to be found on foot. No driving needed. Prizes will be awarded throughout the adventure, and all teams who complete the race will receive recognition.

Teams of two to four people are required, along with a team captain and a team name. Teams must decide which time slot is best for them: 10 a.m., noon or 2 p.m. The captain will need to register and each member needs to sign up. There is a $25 per person registration fee to participate, which counts toward the fundraising goal in support of the Cancer Society. Participants should plan to dedicate two to three hours to the event. For more information and to register see bit.ly/2vLTd5z.

Metro Breez blowing in

Metro Breez Express Commuter Service between Portland, Yarmouth and Freeport will expand to Brunswick starting Aug. 24. The expanded service will have more trips per day, route changes, and schedule changes. Changes include more than a dozen round trips on weekdays and six on Saturdays. There are significant changes to the number of trips that will make current riders happy, as well as enticing new riders to take public transportation.

Breez bus service will be free to the public Aug. 24, 25 and 26. For complete information on the updated schedule and route map see http://gpmetrobus.net/.

Free lunch for kids

A healthy lunch is available for children every weekday from Freeport Community Services, prepared and served free through the Summer Free Lunch for Kids Program. Lunches are served 11:30 a.m.-noon, Monday through Friday at the Freeport Community Center, Village View Apartments Community Room, Mast Landing School and Wildwood Acres on Elm Street. There are no income or residency requirements. All youth under the age of 19 are welcome. For more information on the program call Sarah Lundin at 865-3985, ext. 205.

Browntail moth survey

Have you seen fat, fuzzy white moths around your lights over the past three weeks? If so they may be browntail moths, which have brown bodies. The Maine Forest Service, Maine Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation, would like residents’ help in tracking the moth flight. Visit bit.ly/2vKDD9f fill out a survey on where and how many moths were seen. Over the past three decades the browntail has been a problem along the Mid-Coast and islands of Maine. The population is now spreading farther inland. Many people in these recently colonized areas are unaware of the impact browntail moths can have on both people and vegetation. Knowing where moths have been seen in large numbers give people a heads-up about what they may have to deal with next spring. Controlling the moths is not practical, but there are actions that can be taken to fight the caterpillars. For more information, see http://bit.ly/2kPvkmV, or call the Maine Extension office.

First FCS Community Day coming

On Friday, Aug. 18, Freeport Community Services will hold the inaugural FCS Community Day and Tent Sale at 53 Depot St. in Freeport. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be held rain or shine. Conversations by FCS staff about opportunities to expand the organization’s mission of “neighbor helping neighbor” brought them to this new initiative. The purpose of this event is to bring awareness about Freeport Community Services and the resources and services available, support those in the community, and introduce visitors and others who may not be familiar with the organization.

“We are excited to host this event for the community. FCS is a hidden gem in the heart of Freeport and we want to get the word out about who we are and what we do,” said Paula Paladino, executive director. “Our Community Day promises to have something for everyone and we invite the community to come visit us.”

The day will feature a summer tent sale with back-to-school clothes, antiques and collectibles from the popular FCS Thrift Shop. There will also be music, food for sale – burgers, hot dogs and snacks – face painting, and school supplies to help students prepare for the upcoming school year. Slugger, the Portland Sea Dogs’ mascot, will be visiting at 1 p.m. FCS has invited other area organizations to participate to help everyone learn about the opportunities and services they provide in the area. The participating organizations are American Legion Post No. 83, Casco Bay YMCA, Freeport Chamber of Commerce, Freeport Elders Association, Freeport Public Library, Freeport Rotary, Maine Bureau of Veterans Services, Mobile Vet Center and Wolfe’s Neck Farm/Teen Ag.

“Connecting veterans to services in our community is an important need,” Paladino said. “We are excited that the Mobile Vet Center vehicle will be here as well as the Maine Bureau of Veteran’s Services. They will be able to provide benefits information and questions about the VA claims process.”

The ‘Tide’ is coming in at local library

Freeport Community Library Summer Concert on the lawn will be held Friday, Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. Bring a picnic supper, a lawn chair or blanket and sit outside to listen to String Tide. The folk/bluegrass/Americana quartet plays music for the whole family. Matt Loosigian, who is a regular at the library and a favorite, is part of the band.

SSG Field Memorial Ride

Get ready to honor the service and sacrifice of Army Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Field of Lisbon at the Saturday, Aug. 26 motorcycle ride.

Sign Up will start at 10 a.m. and the ride will depart at 12:30 from the Durham AMVETS Post No. 13, at 1049 Royalsborough Road, Durham. The ride that will end at L-A Harley Davidson for the after party, with food and live music by Whiskey Militia. This year the money raised will go to the SSG Field Memorial Scholarship and the local veteran’s assistance fund. For more, contact Durham Amvets on Facebook, email Durhamamvets@yahoo.com or contact Ride Organizer Darin Baker at 713-8544.

Wolfe’s Neck Survey

Wolfe’s Neck Farm wants to hear from the community of visitors and supporters to learn about what is working well, where there is room for improvement and where the focus should be in the coming years. Perhaps you’re one of the thousands who come to explore the oceanfront landscape each year, to visit the animals, go on a hike, or to partake in a farm-to-table dinner. Maybe your child or grandchild heads off to Farm Camp each summer or has visited on a school field trip. Or maybe you have enjoyed a summer night around a campfire at the campground.

Wolfe’s Neck Farm asks its supporters to fill out the brief survey found on the website at Wolfesneckfarm.org.

Those who complete the survey will be entered into a fall raffle to win their choice of a family pass to the Fall Festival, two tickets to the Harvest Dance or a Weekend Camping Adventure that includes two nights of oceanfront camping, kayak rentals for two, bike rentals for two, and a lobster dinner for two.

Family Farm Dinner

Enjoy a summer evening of food and fun at the Family Farm Dinner 4:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 13. Set under the Little River Farmstead tent, the whole family will enjoy pizza from the Farm Café’s new wood-fired oven, salads and sides harvested fresh from the Teen Ag vegetable plot, and dessert. Lemonade and other non-alcoholic beverages will be served. The farm is at 184 Burnett Road in Freeport. Tickets are $15 per child, ages 3 and under are free, $30 per adult. Purchase tickets at http://bit.ly/2hkaAUC.

Movie screening for Summer in the Park

L.L. Bean Summer in the Park Friday evening activities continue Aug. 11 with “The Lego Movie,” a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, the story focuses on an ordinary Lego mini-figure who finds himself being the only one to help a resistance stop a tyrannical businessman from gluing everything in the Lego worlds into his vision of perfection. Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman provide their voices for the film’s main characters.

The evening also includes food trucks, which have proven to be a very popular addition to the event. The food trucks will arrive at 6 p.m. and the movie begins at dusk. The full schedule is at http://bit.ly/LLBeanFridays.

Winslow Park Summer Concert Series

On Aug. 10, come hear original songs and cover adventures in jazz and rootsy Americana, including vintage country, blues, and R&B from the Ronda Dale Band, at the Winslow Park Summer Concert Series.

On Aug. 17, The Cormack McCarthy Band, led by an amazing singer songwriter, combines a mix of folk, country, blues and Americana.

Shows start at 6:30 p.m.; free with park admission, or $2 for Freeport residents, $3 for nonresidents. Campers and season pass-holders are free. For more information call 865-9052.

Local kids can stop by one of several locations in Freeport on weekdays this summer to enjoy a nutritional free lunch.

String Tide – featuring popular local singer Matt Loosigian – will be appearing for an outdoor concert at the Freeport Community Library at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18.

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