This summer heat is great for ripening tomatoes! The plants and vines in my garden are at that stage where I’m starting to struggle to keep up with all the great produce, and I’m spending more time with my “Joy of Gardening” cookbook, finding a variety of ways to consume and enjoy cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes.

As the calendar approaches the beginning of September, there are many events celebrating summertime still to come. This Saturday is one of those times when there are several great things to do. Whether you are headed up North Mountain to the Eagles Mere Arts & Crafts Festival, to Mt. Zion Church on Beaver Lake Road for the Neil and June Shaner Scholarship benefit dinner, or to the chicken BBQ at St. John Lutheran Church near Unityville, you will experience a great central PA summer day. If you are very good with your timing, it is possible to enjoy all three events!

Although it is a few weeks away, mark your calendar now for the 125th Anniversary celebration at the Hughesville Baptist Church, to be held on Sunday, September 13, 2015. The church was founded by the Reverend Joseph Crawford in 1890 with nine members. It has been a mainstay of Hughesville’s community ever since. The 10:15 a.m. worship service will include a guest speaker, Rev. Mark M. Smith, representing the American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware, plus special music by the church choir and the children of the Sunday School. The organization committee is looking for old pictures, record books, and any other memorabilia for display at the anniversary event. If you have any items that you would be interested in loaning for display at the church, please contact Pastor Emeritus Robert Berger at (570)584-2280 for more information.

It’s meteor shower time! For much of the last week or so the Earth has been passing through a region of space which has dust and rocks of various sizes which fall through our atmosphere in blazes of light. The Delta Aquarids meteor shower precedes the better-known Perseid event, named for the Perseus constellation from which the meteors seem to originate. I hope to spot many of these wonderful, unique “shooting stars” over the next week or two. Peak time for the Perseid meteor shower is before dawn on August 13, but many of us will be watching as soon as darkness falls any evening with clear skies from now through the middle of the month. Good luck!

Hughesville events:

Sundays in August, 9:30 a.m. combined services for the Hughesville United Methodist charge, hosted by Bethany U. M. Church, South Second and Academy Streets. The August 2nd service will be presented by the charge “praise Team”.

Sat., Aug. 8, 10-5 and Sun. Aug. 9, 10-4, the 45th annual Arts and Crafts Festival on the Green in Eagles Mere. This much-anticipated annual event features juried fine arts and crafts.

Sat., Aug. 8, 2 p.m., chicken BBQ at St. John “Gordner’s” Lutheran Church, 68 Gordner Church Road, Unityville. Meal includes chicken, baked potato, corn on-the-cob, pickled cabbage, beverage and dessert. Entertainment will include The Greenwood Valley Boys.

Sat. , Aug. 4-7 p.m. Neil and June Shaner Scholarship Benefit Dinner at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church social hall, Beaver Lake Road. Menu includes hamburg BBQ, baked ham, macaroni ‘n’ cheese, baked beans, corn, applesauce, beverage, and dessert. There will also be gift basket raffles.