When you have a place in Maine, summer visitors are to be expected.

At Salad Days at the Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, more than 500 visitors in an afternoon are to be expected.

With almost perfect weather, the Center hosted its 24^th annual Salad Days fundraiser on Saturday, July 14 at its campus on Brick Hill Road in Newcastle. After registering and paying the $40 fee, guests visited the plate tent to select one of more than 550 plates made for the event.

Guests then moved onto the salad tent plentifully stocked with salads area restaurants donated. Watershed’s cooks also contributed their culinary talents to make sure there was plenty of food for the uniquely designed plates.

Throughout the afternoon, guests shopped the pottery sale, toured the facility, saw pottery and culinary demonstrations, heard live music, sampled local beer and tried their hands at creating a clay masterpiece at the Pots on Wheels truck.

According to the salad days program, the event celebrates "handcrafted ceramics, local food and community in Midcoast Maine.”  And a celebration it was. The more than 500 plates were made by Salad Days artist-in-residence Christina Bendo.   Each year, a different artist is selected and resides at the facility, producing the plates for the following year's Salad Days.

Sponsors this year are Ames True Value Supply, J. Edward Knight Insurance, Jeffrey Spahn Gallery, Laguna Clay Company, First Advisors, Renys and H. Chester Wright, Inc. More than 20 area food and beverage donors contributed.

The Center gives artists from around the world the opportunity to live and work in a community for two, three or six weeks. For more, call 882-6075 or visit http://www.watershedceramics.org/