Local fun: What to do in and around Harvard this summer

Although many residents might be welcoming the lazy days of summer, some might be wondering “What the heck is there to do around here?”

Two reliable venues for summer activities in Harvard are the beach at Bare Hill Pond and the town library. You’ll find details for both in the sidebars that accompany this article. But there’s plenty more to do in town and beyond. What follows are some additional options for fighting the summer doldrums.

Visit a museum, for free

The Highland Street Foundation is sponsoring “Free Fun Fridays,” offering free admission to a host of cultural venues throughout Massachusetts every Friday through Aug. 25. It includes mainstays such as the Museum of Fine Arts and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, as well as some unusual venues like the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum in Chestnut Hill. The list includes Harvard’s own Fruitlands Museum, which will be free to visit on July 21. The complete list of venues by date is available in a pamphlet at the circulation desk of the library and also online at www.highlandstreet.org.

Meet an alpaca

The Harvard Alpaca Ranch, in its second year of operation, is open for farm tours on most weekends between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Visitors can meet the herd, which consists of about a dozen alpacas, including Ivan and Jammer, who won ribbons in three shows at last year’s Big E in Springfield. There is also a shop on the farm that sells alpaca yarn and products made from it, as well as “magic beans,” aka alpaca manure, which the ranch’s website calls an “extremely beneficial fertilizer.” To learn more about the ranch (and magic beans), visit the website at www.harvardalpacaranch.com.

Spend the afternoon on an old-timey Main Street

The pleasure of strolling down the streets of a town center, leisurely poking around shops that pique your interest, and picking a lunch spot based on the menu posted in the window is something that Harvard residents usually do only on vacation. But some of Harvard’s neighboring towns, like Clinton, Hudson, Maynard, and Concord, have vibrant town centers where you can while away a summer afternoon, and maybe find a new boutique, ice cream shop, or restaurant that you can visit again before next summer.

Add some locally grown produce to your diet

Local farmstands are just gearing up with this summer’s bounty, and in a few weeks, bins will once again be overflowing with fruit and veggies. Blueberry and raspberry picking at Harvard’s orchards has already begun (see “At a Farmstand Near You”), and although this year’s veggies are a bit behind schedule, farmers say it will be a good year for produce. A summer morning’s visit to a local farmstand can make you feel connected to the ground you live on, inspire your meal plans for the week, and help local farmers survive the fickle ways of Mother Nature. And you may even get to “shoot the breeze” with a farmer.

Explore conservation land

The Harvard Conservation Trust has trail guides for nearly 30 trails on Harvard’s conservation land. Each guide includes a map of the trail, its length, its difficulty, and a short history of the area the trail traverses. Ticks and poison ivy are everywhere this summer, so take precautions. Trail guides are available online at www.harvardconservationtrust.org, and a booklet of the trail guides titled “Harvard Trails” is available for sale at the General Store or by contacting the trust.

Look for beavers at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

The self-guided nature trail at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, located along the Nashua River in Still River, includes stops at two beaver lodges. While you may not see any beavers, felled trees with teeth marks prove they’re around somewhere. The trail loop is about 2 miles long.

The refuge is open from sunrise to sunset, and parking is available at the end of Still River Depot Road. An interpretive guide is available at the parking lot and also online at www.fws.gov/refuge/Oxbow/visit/visitor_activities.html. The area tends to be buggy, so bring your defense of choice.

Help paint the old library

The Harvard Cultural Collaborative has signed a three-year lease to use the old library for classes, programs, and events. The group hopes to enlist enough volunteers this summer to ready the building for a grand opening in the fall, so watch Nextdoor Harvard for pleas for help with cleaning and painting in late July or early August. If you’d like to sign up as a volunteer, either for this effort or to help when the building opens, go to the collaborative’s website at www.harvardculture.org, click on the tree icon on the right, and fill in the form that will pop up.

Ride the Nashua River Rail Trail

If your bike is covered in cobwebs because the hills and narrow roads in Harvard aren’t your thing, the Nashua River Rail Trail might be for you. It offers a fairly flat ride on a 10-foot-wide paved surface from Ayer to Dunstable, just a little more than 12 miles. There’s ample parking at the Ayer trailhead on Park Street, just off Main Street, and when you get to Pepperell, just about the time you might be thinking about ice cream, Charlotte’s Cozy Kitchen is there to oblige.

More rail trails in the area include the first phase of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, which runs 6.8 miles from Lowell to Westford; the Lowell Canal System Trail, a 1.9-mile trail in the Lowell National Historical Park; and the Concord River Greenway, a 2-mile trail also in Lowell. For more rail trail information, go to www.traillink.com.

Learn to row

Bare Hill Rowing is offering rowing fundamentals classes for youth (rising sixth grade and up) and adults. No experience is necessary. Remaining sessions are July 10 to 14 (five classes), July 24 to Aug. 3 (eight classes), and Aug. 7 to Aug. 17 (eight classes). All classes are an hour long and are held in the morning, at either 7, 8, or 9 a.m. A beach sticker is required to use the beach parking lot. For more details or to register, see the website at www.barehillrowing.com/summer.

Explore Council on Aging events and programs

If you’re over 60, you’re welcome at any of the Council on Aging classes, programs, and get-togethers. If you’ve been meaning to try an exercise class, there’s everything from tai chi to line dancing, and you can attend most classes on a drop-in basis, perfect for scheduling around summer vacations.

This summer’s programs at Hildreth House include “Barrymore,” a portrayal of John Barrymore by actor Richard Clark at 1 p.m. July 12, and a showing of the HBO special “If You’re Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast” at 1 p.m. July 24.
More information about Council on Aging activities is available in the monthly newsletters available at Hildreth House, the library, and online at www.harvard.ma.us/council-aging.

Grab some footie with your grommets at the Central Mass. Skate Festival

The Central Mass. Skate Festival returns to Harvard Aug. 4 through Aug. 6, when hundreds of skateboarders will descend on the town to compete in races and “jams,” where skateboarders perform a variety of tricks. If you plan on watching the tricks and can’t tell a “roast beef” from a “Madonna,” help is available on the skateboarding lingo page at www.skatetolive.com. More information and videos of past events are available on the website at www.skatecentralma.com, where eventgoers are advised to “check out the media page to build your stoke.”

Catch movie classics while you dine

Every Monday night from July 10 through Aug. 28, the Strand Theater in Clinton shows classic movies. This year’s lineup has something from every era, from “Singin’ in the Rain” to “Titanic,” and starts the season off on the 10th with “Jaws.” The movies start at 7 p.m., but the doors open at 6 p.m. for those who want to beat the dinner line. The Strand menu includes burgers, sandwiches, and pizza, and beer and wine are available. See the full Monday night lineup, as well as the regular movie schedule and the menu, at www.strandmovies.com.

Be part of the Harvard Farmers Market scene on Saturday mornings

On Saturday mornings, starting Aug. 5, the parking area in front of the Hildreth Elementary School will once again come alive with vendors, music, and a gaggle of Harvard residents and their dogs as the Harvard Farmers Market begins its 2017 season. This year, the market will open at 10 a.m., an hour later than previous years, giving customers time to leisurely make their way there before the good stuff sells out. And it will stay open until 1 p.m. to accommodate customers who told market staff it was too difficult for them to get to the market by 12 p.m., last year’s closing time. For more information on the market, see this week’s market preview article, or go to the website at harvardfarmersmarket.org.

Picnic and listen to the Concord Band at Fruitlands

Every Thursday night in July, from 7:15 to 9 p.m., the Concord Band plays on the outdoor stage at Fruitlands Museum. Concerts continue into the first two Thursdays in August with The Love Dogs and with an evening of bluegrass with Mark Mandeville and Raianne Richards.
Concertgoers are encouraged to bring picnic baskets and blankets or lawn chairs. Food is also available from vendors. Admission is $10 per car for members and $15 per car for nonmembers.
Fruitlands also has a variety of artist talks, classes, and children’s activities over the summer. This summer’s events include a trivia night July 11, a drum circle July 19 and Aug. 23, and “Cocktails with Clara: A Vintage Cocktail Party” July 28. For more information go to www.fruitlands.org. The Concord Band program for each Thursday night in July is also available on the website.

Play ball on Sunday mornings

Every Sunday morning for the rest of the summer, a group of men and women of all ages will gather to play a pickup softball game at 9 a.m. at the Hildreth Elementary School field. The game is a friendly one, with pitches that are meant to be hit and hits that are meant to be caught. All are welcome, and new participants are encouraged.

HARVARD PUBLIC LIBRARY

Playtimes, story times, and programs for kids of all ages, such as this year’s “Animals Around the World,” make the library a valuable summer resource for parents, but it offers plenty of summer fun opportunities for residents of all ages.

Harvard Press Editor John Osborn looks over maps of the Scottish Highlands in preparation for a summer hike on the West Highland Way. The patio of the Harvard Public Library has a view of the pond and lots of seating to enjoy it from. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)

Ever been to the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge or the Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton? The library has passes or discount coupons for a variety of museums in Boston and elsewhere, the aquarium, and much more. Harvard residents may reserve passes up to two weeks in advance at the library or online.

Summer is a great time for stargazing, and library cardholders over the age of 18 can sign up to reserve the library’s telescope for a week. The telescope, an Orion StarBlast, is compact yet “powerful enough to view craters on the moon,” according to the library’s telescope information.

Family movie night is back! Movies suitable for the whole family will be shown every other Thursday at 6:30 p.m., starting July 6, with free popcorn, of course. See the website for movie titles.

The Harvard group Arm in Arm, whose mission is “to promote and uphold a safe, inclusive climate that values diversity and fosters respect,” is also sponsoring movies that fit its mission at the library this summer on July 10, July 24, and Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Movie titles are available on the library website. Arm in Arm will also hold two sessions at Volunteers Hall to discuss the book “Waking Up White.” The conversations are scheduled for July 13 and Aug. 17. The Council on Aging also sponsors “Monday Afternoon at the Movies” at the library on the second Monday of every month at 1 p.m.; July 10 and Aug. 14 are the summer dates.

Library staff have once again set up the “Beach Reads” table in the lobby with summer-themed and light reading choices. For those looking to catch up on bestsellers, the Reader Resources page of the library’s website contains a bestsellers list, updated weekly, complete with blurbs describing each book.

Thinking about brushing up on your Italian before your trip to Rome? The library’s free language app, Mango, can help. In addition to the 63 languages available on Mango, the library has tons of e-resources such as books, magazines, audiobooks, and videos available for download to your tablet, smartphone, or laptop.

Don’t know how to use Twitter? Call the reference librarian at 978-456-4114 or email reference@harvardpubliclibrary.org to book a time for one-on-one technical help with the internet, social media, email, cloud computing, and even Microsoft Word. Help with library e-resources is also available.

Lastly, if you’re homebound for any reason, the library will arrange to deliver books to your home. Registration forms are available at the library, or call to have one mailed to you.

Summer hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Fridays and Sundays. Check the Calendar of Events section on the website at www.harvardpubliclibrary.org for program dates and times, as well as preregistration requirements.