August 25 – 31, 2023Vol. 25, No. 11

End-of-Season Letter

In this view toward the east, one can see Long Pond, Belgrade Lakes Village, and Great Pond beyond. The village stretches out along Route 27, from the Sunset Grill on the far right (with a blue roof) to Day’s Store, the large, white clapboard building on the far left. Beyond the village, one can see the islands, peninsulas, and inlets of Great Pond: counterclockwise from the left, Hoyt Island (with Chute Island and the North Bay above it), Stony Point, Otter Island, Horse Point (right edge of the photo), Long Point, and Abena Point. Photo courtesy of Great Pond Marina.

Dear Summertimers,

One of the best endings of the season is saying how much we appreciate everyone who helps make Summertime in the Belgrades such a success.

We especially thank:

Summertime’s readers: week after week it’s hard to keep the shelves stocked. We especially appreciate the phone calls, emails and personal notes of thanks we receive.
Our advertisers, who guarantee the existence of Summertime in the Belgrades, who give our readers access to much-needed goods and services and who sign on year after year. Thank you.
The distribution sites, which are the core of our weekly delivery rounds. We appreciate the welcome we receive and the space that is allocated for our readers to find the latest copy (and past ones, too) of Summertime in the Belgrades.
The delivery crew who load up their vehicles and head out to distribute 4,000 copies of Summertime in the Belgrades every week — in addition to the other busy lives they lead.
Our columnists: wow! Thank you to Martha Barkley, who explores books and libraries and sends in reviews with marathon dedication; to Pete Kallin, who is the ultimate area ambassador for the outdoors, who constantly hikes and fishes and always “brings a kid along”; to the 7 Lakes Alliance, committed to improving and preserving this wonderful region by supplying outreach and educational articles; and to Dick Greenan who provides Summertime in the Belgrades with amazing loon photos and writeups. Dick also chronicles the very popular report on the state of the dams.
And to our crew: a small team who accomplishes a lot.

And so, on to Fall. Fall is not the note upon which summer ends. It is a more invigorating version of summer: still swimmable, definitely hikeable, full of pickings — berries, produce, apples and finally pumpkins — and a delightful transition from green surroundings to glorious foliage, from warm sunshine to warming woodfires.