What is the Secret to Summer?
What is the secret to a loon calling contest? Is it motivated by the haunting mystique of a lonely moonlit night or by the friendly reminders everywhere — on store signs and memorabilia and gifts and at lake association meetings and in Summertime in the Belgrades that this is our mascot, our icon, our symbol of the summer?
What is the secret to standing on a dock and producing one or all four loon call imitations when the real loons are flying overhead, presumably laughing all the way to a graceful lake splashdown?
What is the secret to a large crowd of listeners, empathetic and encouraging, flocking to the shoreline, hanging over the bridge, trying to catch every simulated note from contestants as young as single digits and as old as triple digits?
Would they do this for an owl hoot or a seagull scream contest?
The secret to the Belgrade Lakes Loon Calling Contest on Saturday, August 1 is its tradition, its simplicity, its family-centered fun and its consistency. The contest began in 1984, sponsored by Horatio Castle of Castle Island Camps. This is the 25th anniversary of sponsorship by current Castle Island Camps owner John Rice.
Sign-up for the Loon Calling Contest begins at 6:30 p.m., right after the Annual Belgrade Firefighters Association Beanhole Bean Supper.
What is the secret to beanhole beans? Is it that they are cooked in wrought iron kettles buried in hot coals for 24 hours? Is it that they simmer in a sauce whose ingredients are closely guarded and never divulged? Is it that they are ladled generously by those same firefighters who are always there, all day, all night ready to respond to emergencies?
Or is it the music by the Gawler Family, the unending supply and variety of homemade pies, the volunteers who greet the endless lines of families at the Belgrade Center for All Seasons?
The Beanhole Bean Supper begins at 5 p.m. and it’s not all beans. Hot dogs, rolls, cole slaw, and brown bread will make for a full plate. It, too, is a simple tradition, it is family-centered fun, and it has a long history going back to the 1960s.
What is the secret to summer in Maine? Is it a beanhole bean supper with all the fixings and music on the side? Is it a bridge crowded with spectators listening to a dockful of loon call contestants? It’s both of these inland, lake-land traditions and much more.
Webmaster’s Note: Although the loon calling contest and the beanhole bean supper have gone by for 2026, they take place back to back every year on the first Saturday in August. Look for them both again in 2027!
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