Three days of sunshine, dry air, and not a drop of rain in the forecast — you couldn't order a better Maine weekend if you tried. Ten Bucks Theatre wraps up its Brewer run of Julius Caesar Sunday night on the new amphitheater stage, and I'd hate for you to miss it. Grab a lawn chair and go. Some weekends you have to hunt for a reason to get outside. This isn't one of them.

Circle this one on the calendar — the whole weekend is dry.

•        Friday: Mostly sunny. High 83, overnight low 54. Zero percent chance of rain.

•        Saturday: Mostly sunny again. High 83, low 52. About as clean a summer Saturday as Maine hands out.

•        Sunday: More sun than clouds. High 82, low 54.

The sun is doing real work all three days — the UV index runs very high through the weekend, so bring the sunscreen if you're on the water or on a hillside watching Shakespeare.

Forecast source: AccuWeather, pulled Thursday evening.

JULIUS CAESAR — FINAL BREWER WEEKEND  ·  Friday–Sunday, 6:00 PM  ·  Indian Trail Amphitheater, North Main Street, Brewer

This is your last chance to see Ten Bucks Theatre's Shakespeare Under the Stars on the brand-new Indian Trail Amphitheater before the production moves to Fort Knox at the end of the month. Bring a blanket or lawn chair, or take one of the new granite hillside seats — the box office opens 30 minutes before showtime, and the rain location is the Brewer Performing Arts Center at 92 Pendleton Street, though the forecast says you won't need it. [CONFIRM: gate price.] Twenty-plus summers of outdoor Shakespeare in this park, and it's never had a stage like this one.

MÖTLEY CRÜE WITH TESLA AND EXTREME  ·  Saturday, 6:30 PM  ·  Maine Savings Amphitheater, 1 Railroad Street, Bangor Waterfront

The Return of the Carnival of Sins Tour rolls into the Waterfront with three bands on the bill — come early, because Tesla and Extreme are worth the full evening, not just the headliner. Tickets are available through Waterfront Concerts. With Saturday's forecast sitting at 83 and dry, this is exactly what the amphitheater was built for.

FOOD TRUCK EXTRAVAGANZA 3.0  ·  Sunday, 11 AM – 3 PM  ·  Furniture Gallery parking lot, 614 Broadway, Bangor

Ten food trucks fill the Furniture Gallery lot for round three of Bangor's favorite parking-lot lunch — free to walk in, family-friendly, and you pay truck by truck, so pace yourself. Here's the part that matters: a portion of the day's proceeds goes to the Bangor Humane Society, and the shelter will be on site with an education table, so you can meet the folks doing the work while you eat. Come hungry, leave generous.

       Orono Farmers' Market — Saturday, 8 AM to noon, UMaine Steam plant lot. One of the bigger markets in the state, twenty-five-plus vendors, and everything on the tables was grown or made by the person standing behind them. Go early for the good bread.

       Bangor Farmers' Market — Sunday, 11 AM to 1:30 PM, Abbott Square on Harlow Street, across from the library. The right stop on your way to anywhere downtown Sunday.

       Hirundo Wildlife Refuge, Old Town — free canoes and kayaks, seven-plus miles of trails, open dawn to dusk. On a windless 82-degree Sunday, an hour on Pushaw Stream is hard to beat. Leave the dog home, though — refuge rules. Scout's still sore about it.

      The Center Theatre, Dover-Foxcroft — Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is up on the 1940 marquee at 20 East Main Street. A summer epic in a small-town theater that's been showing pictures since Gone With the Wind — that's the way to see it.

Newport Community Market.

Every Friday evening, the market brings together more than 30 vendors, food trucks, live music, children’s activities, and free admission. It gives local growers, makers, and small businesses a place to meet customers face to face. It also gives families a reason to slow down, walk around, and spend time together at the end of the week.

That is what impressed me most. Tipped Trailer is not only selling groceries. It is reducing waste, stretching household budgets, supporting small producers, and creating a gathering place for the community.

Nine years ago, Chris Mendoza was living on Long Island, working in retail, engaged to be married. Then an envelope arrived from Maine — a hand-written letter from his grandfather Jack, who had run The Appliance Doctor in the Bangor area for thirty-six years and believed his grandson was the right person to carry it forward.

Chris and his fiancée Dorothy read it together. Then they took the leap.

In the newest episode of the Maine Thrive Voices podcast, Chris sits down with Sandy to tell the whole story: learning the trade from a grandfather who could diagnose a broken machine just by listening to it, the three years they worked side by side before Jack's passing, and what it's like to walk into kitchens across the Penobscot Valley where customers still remember Jack by name.

There's practical gold in this one too. Chris shares which appliances give Maine homeowners the most trouble (if you're on well water, your washing machine wants a word), a pet-hair maintenance lesson learned in Sandy's own laundry room, and why he'd rather see a working appliance listed on Facebook Marketplace than hauled to the landfill — advice that costs him business, and he gives it anyway.

And the phone number? Same one Jack answered. It's been the business line for as long as Chris can remember: 207-327-1000.

Hear the full conversation — Episode 9 of Maine Thrive Voices, streaming now on Spotify — and read the companion story at mainethriveinsights.com/chris-mendoza. Find Chris at appliancedoc.org.

Two 83-degree days in a row means hot pavement. Press the back of your hand to the asphalt — if you can't hold it there for seven seconds, your dog's paws can't either. Walk early, walk late, or stick to the grass.

A twenty-minute walk outside without your phone does more for a cluttered head than an hour of scrolling — and this weekend's forecast removes every excuse.

This weekend's edition is brought to you by North Star Property Solutions. Tony LaPrino is the handyman for the fix-it list you've been putting off all summer — honest quotes, tidy work, and he shows up when he says he will. One call: 207-745-5304.

That's the weekend — short list, long sunshine. Enjoy it; you've earned it. I'll be back Tuesday morning with the full edition, and fair warning: the Bangor State Fair opens at Bass Park next Thursday, so rest up. If something's happening in your corner of the Valley that I should know about, hit reply —

Scout & I read every one.

— Sandy