WHITE LAKE — Folks were out Thursday at White Lake Water Park in an effort to beat the heat.

Although summer won’t officially begin until Sunday, Mother Nature has dropped several days of 100-plus degree heat throughout the region, chasing folks indoors or to places like White Lake and the White Lake Water Park for relief.

In the photos: The sign at Bladen Community College shows another 100-degree reading in Wednesday afternoon; and, at White Lake Water Park … youngsters get doused by a bucket full of water; employee Summer Howd of White lake poses with Camp Freedom camper Gracelynn McLain, 5; Lexi Mitchell, 4, of High Point splashes down a slide; folks enjoy floating along the Lazy River on tubes; and employee Kaitlyn McCormick of Elizabethtown joins Howd and McLain.