FREEPORT
Annual Chowdah Challenge will benefit needy families

New England clam chowder, seafood chowders and lobster bisque will be on the menu Saturday at the 18th annual Chowdah Challenge to benefit local families.

The challenge, hosted by Freeport Community Services, will start at 11:30 a.m. in L.L. Bean’s Discovery Park, adjacent to the company’s flagship store on Main Street. The event will run until 2 p.m.

For $10, the public will be able to sample chowders from Freeport Cafe, Bucks Naked Barbecue, Freeport Chowder House, Gritty’s, Harraseeket Inn, Lobster Cooker and Jameson’s Tavern. Homemade pie and ice cream will be available for $3.50.

Proceeds will benefit local families needing food, heating fuel and rides to medical appointments.

PORTLAND
Mushroom guru will sign new book, identify fungi

Greg Marley,  mycologist and author of “Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore and Mystique of Mushrooms” (Chelsea Green Publishing, $17.95), will sign copies of his new book at 1 p.m. Oct. 10 at Rabelais, 86 Middle St.

Got some fungi you can’t identify? Bring it to the signing, and Marley will look it over.

Marley is owner of Mushrooms for Health, a company that provides products made with Maine medicinal mushrooms. He is also a consultant for the Northern New England Poison Control Center.

Marley’s first book was “Mushrooms for Health: Medicinal Secrets of Northeastern Fungi” (Down East Books, $15.95).

For more information, call 774-1044.

Whole Foods announces Gluten Free Day Saturday

Whole Foods Market, 2 Somerset St., will hold a Gluten Free Day on Saturday in recognition of Celiac Awareness Month.

Susan Fekety of True North will give a lecture on celiac disease and living the gluten-free lifestyle from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the store’s cafe.

From 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the store will offer samples of gluten-free products.

For more information, contact Barbara Gulino at barbara.gulino@wholefoods.com.

David’s Restaurant to hold Harpoon Beer Dinner Oct. 7

David’s Restaurant, 22 Monument Square, will hold a Harpoon Beer Dinner on Oct. 7.

Seating is limited to 30, so reservations are required. The cost is $55 per person, excluding tax and gratuity.

The menu will include dishes such as Harpoon Baltic Porter brined pork loin seared with a cocoa-coffee rub.

For reservations, call 773-4340.

NEW GLOUCESTER
Debbie of Debbie’s Pies teaching pumpkin pie class

Learn the secrets of making a great pumpkin pie at Pineland Farms from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Debbie Thurlow of Debbie’s Pies will be teaching the class, which includes lunch, a fresh pie to take home and Thurlow’s pumpkin pie recipe. The cost is $45.

For more information, call 926-3913 or e-mail education@pinelandfarms.org

BATH
Plant Home will sponsor apple, pumpkin pie contest

Think you make a great apple or pumpkin pie? The Plant Home is sponsoring a pie-baking contest Oct. 9 at Waterfront Park.

Apple and pumpkin pies should be dropped off between 10 and 11 a.m. at the Plant Home table in Waterfront Park. Judging begins at 11 a.m.

Contest judges will be owners of local food-related businesses, and they’ll be judging pies on both taste and appearance. Contestants don’t have to make their own crust or filling, but they do have to put the pie together themselves.

In case of rain, the contest will be moved to the Bath Elks Lodge.

First-place winners will receive a turned wooden bowl made by Tom Edwards.
For more information, call 443-8330.

UNION
Sweetgrass apple wine named Maine’s best at competition

The apple wine made by Sweetgrass Farm Winery and Distillery received a gold medal and was named Best Wine from Maine at the 2010 Eastern States Exposition Wine Competition, also known as the Big E Wine Competition.

The Maine winery competed with wineries from across New England and New York.

Sweetgrass apple wine is made from heirloom apple varieties grown on the owners’ farm.

Sweetgrass Cranberry Apple wine, Cranberry Smash and Peach Smash won silver medals. The winery’s peach wine and Blueberry Smash took bronze.