This Saturday welcomes back two regional traditions that are much beloved, that will certainly bring arts and kindness to the streets, but they aren’t the only reason to look for arts and kindness in the streets in August. Also, I have a special ask at the end of this column, so jump to that if you don’t read anything else (but, ya know, do read the other parts too if you can).

Let’s start with Kindness Day Bath, which is this Saturday, Aug. 15, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Want to go on a free trolley ride? Thanks to the city of Bath, you can ride for free during Kindness Day. Do your kids like pencils and stickers? They’ve got that, too. In fact, if any of the following things interest your family, then you should come down to Bath this Saturday morning and load up on kindness (this list taken from the Kindness Day Bath Facebook page which is the best place to stay informed of this event):

Lemonade, bracelets, positivity pins, wheel of kindness game, cotton candy, kindness rocks, kindness pins, balloon animals, coloring, portraits by children, bubbles, hot dogs, cookies, ducks, live music, face painting, and Cindy Lou the Christmas pup (who likes to be petted).

As the dad of 3- and 5-year-olds, these are things of great value to them.

After you leave Kindness Day (or before you head to downtown Bath), you have to check out the Brunswick Outdoor Arts Festival which will feature 100-plus artists for this juried show, and will turn Maine Street in Brunswick into a pop-up tent village. Under these pop-up tents, are collections of pieces that can fit any décor, and range from contemporary styles to New England classics. This is a great place for kids too — I know my boys love seeing all the wood craftsmanship, the photography, and the paintings. It really gives them a sense of what is possible when you have a passion for the arts, and we always pick up a few things from these Maine-based artists. FMI check out BrunswickOutdoorArtsFest.com, or just swing by downtown Brunswick, this Saturday, Aug. 15, from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m.

And now for the other kindness in the streets…

First let’s begin in these two specific downtowns before we speak more broadly.

In Brunswick, the downtown stores and restaurants would love to have you drop in for a grab-and-go treat, coffee, or have a sit-down lunch while you catch some shade during your artistic perusing at the arts festival. With that, there will be more people in town looking for the arts festival, and parking may be confusing for folks, so if you see someone backing out of the wrong parking area, or clearly looking for some signage to find a restaurant they want, perhaps greet them with patience, and ask if you can help. Also, with the tents on the sidewalks, pay a bit more attention while driving for pedestrians crossing the road (and maybe not always at crosswalks). I know it sounds preachy, but for some people this may be the only trip they make to our region this year — let’s be sure we make the experience as good as possible.

As for Bath, we had some great feedback last week from businesses owners affected by the Front and Elm construction zone (road work will continue from now until November). We asked business leaders what they want/need and we are working on finding solutions including: additional customer parking, employee parking, better signage, and other ideas. One piece is that when you go to Kindness Day, don’t forget to drop into the businesses in the construction zone and say “Hello.” A simple way for you to share kindness, whether you can purchase something or not, might be to share your adventure of your favorite stop in Bath, and remind your social media friends that great things are happening in downtown Bath.

Additionally, in terms of the downtown construction in Bath (which will become progress in Bath once these projects are completed), also stop by some businesses outside the construction zone. For sure, the ones having their sidewalks torn up need some extra shine, but businesses on Centre Street, in Bathport, and all throughout Bath (and the region for that matter) could use a little love too.

Using that same social media posting idea — what if for one weekend, instead of dividing ourselves on social media with our hottest political takes, what if we posted three pictures of three businesses we love? Wouldn’t that be a great way to share some kindness?

Finally, and maybe this is only something I have been experiencing, but I have noticed a steep increase in recent weeks of drivers running orange lights, rolling through stop signs, making U-turns where U-turns shouldn’t happen and (OMG) all of the late merging in traffic for those who apparently don’t understand what merge signs and “lane closed ahead” mean. And this is as much of a message to myself as others, but try to have a little extra patience.

These kinds of traffic maneuvers were a regular part of our summer traffic patterns pre-pandemic, and in a way, seeing them again gives me hope that we are getting more and more tourism traffic like we used to. We need to remember that U-turns are common in other states. We also have all gotten rental cars and taken wrong turns in cities we don’t know. We have been in the shoes of these other drivers before, so in the spirit of Kindness Day, maybe we lean into being a bit more tolerant — at least for one weekend.

Bottom line, my three asks are: stop by these great events, be kinder than you need to be, and think about posting three pictures this weekend of businesses you love.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick-Topsham Regional Chamber of Commerce.