Welcome to the fall of 2020. Welcome to a beautiful time of year — clear, crisp, colorful, mellow — a wait-and-see for what the world will bring, a not-too-late to make up for lost adventures here. Welcome to the playground that is the whole outdoors full of lakes and trails and scenic vistas and places to pause for a nap or a snack. There is a flow to fall that in 2020 will not be changed from all the falls that have topped off beautiful summers in this region. More…

You did it! All of you. You got through the summer of 2020 pretty darn well, you hugged the outdoors, you kept your distance, you wore masks, you read Summertime in the Belgrades, and we thank you. We also thank, our columnists, our advertisers, and the many individuals, associations, trusts, friends and organizations who work with so much dedication to promote the protection and preservation of this very beautiful, very special region of the world. More…

Three weeks ago, we wrote about Colby College's new Arts Collaborative, the college's latest investment in downtown Waterville. Today, we look at a very different era in the college's history, back in the 1880s, decades before the move to Mayflower Hill, when the main campus comprised six buildings clustered half a mile north of downtown Waterville between the Kennebec River and College Avenue. More…

Located on McGrath Pond in Oakland, Camp Tracy recently adopted about a mile of shoreline, adding to a growing number of landowners in the Belgrade Lakes who have committed to surveying their shorelines for invasive aquatic plants. Adopt-A-Shoreline is a citizen science initiative where 7 Lakes Alliance works with and trains volunteers from the community to survey their shorelines twice each summer and identify invasive aquatic plants. More…

Even if you don't live on North Pond, you might have heard that North Pond recently experienced a significant bloom of blue-green algae. So why did this happen? More…

"Soon the trees would be adorned with all the spectacular colors of fall. It was a busy time of year in Maine. Everyone was preparing for the winter months. Grammy Mae Fox did her last canning of vegetables for winter. Grandpa Fox was getting his storm windows on the house." This does not sound like a troubled or abused Morning Star Wolf, does it? Morning Star Wolf has a love for her protective grandparents throughout this tortuous tale of an unfortunate adoption. More…

We are back in drought, as the only precipitation in the past 10 days has been the 0.94" of rain recorded at the Wings Mill Dam. But with the absence of precip, both Great and Long Ponds are fortunately holding their own at full pond, with all dam gates still closed and still covered with cobwebs! Our neighbors on Salmon and McGrath are still at 6" below full pond. Snow Pond is doing somewhat better at 3" below full, but we could all still use some rain. More…

Mother Nature is marching forward with her schedule, pandemic or not. Suddenly the days are getting a little shorter, and I am noticing more swamp red maples beginning to turn red in the wetlands and birches turn yellow high on the hillsides. It is still quite warm during the day but the nights are growing cooler. Like the birds and squirrels, I am double checking my summer to-do list and trying to make sure everything gets done. More…