Dear Readers,

If you spend any time in Maine, you can be overwhelmed by festivals and other events. Most are designed to reel in our friends from away and help them spend their hard earned money. Those events are good and deserve our attention and participation.

Our Fishermen's Festival this coming weekend is not one of these. It is a celebration of us and our heritage of mining the sea for its bounty. It is a unique event, so different, that last year, a major Japanese TV star and his crew flew more than half way around the world to film it and participate with us. And the festival events feature and encourage participation.

Are you creative? If so, maybe you should decorate a lobster pot buoy. Are you fleet of foot? Try the crate running contest or the cod fish race.

If you and your pals are feeling macho and want to prove your prowess, put together a team and enter the traditional tug of war.

There are events for the kids, too. Don't miss them.

A squadron of big trawlers no longer fishes out of Boothbay, but we still have dozens of skilled local lobstermen. Watch the trap hauling contest, and see them at their best.

If you would rather eat than catch lobsters, for just $20 you can attack a pair of “bugs” in the lobster picking and eating contest.

Several restaurants will be open with specials offerings, like yummy oysters from the Damariscotta River. Some publications, including The New York Times, have heaped praise on the Damariscotta River oysters for their distinctive flavor. 

Musicians will play at various venues; there will be an arts and crafts show at the fire house, where the ambulance service will offer free blood pressure checks. There will be a church supper, too.

While the heritage of the fishing community is filled with skills and laughs, it has a serious side. Fishing in the ocean is very dangerous work.

On Sunday, the festival concludes on a somber note, as we gather around the Fishermen's Memorial across the street from Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church for the choral hymns and the sobering reading of the names of our fishermen lost at sea.

Beginning in 1798, when Capt. John Murray perished on his schooner, to 2012 with the tragic death of lobsterman Earl L. Brewer, more than 225 have perished as they worked the waves to feed their families.

The finale for many is the Blessing of the Fleet, as local clergymen and women seek the Almighty's protection for our mariners.

Bless them all.

For schedules, events and more, visit www.bbrfishfest.com.

An earlier version of this story made reference to The Greasy Pole event, which the Fishermen’s Festival committee has since canceled due to logistics. Taking its place will be the Bail Shoveling competition at the same time. Contact Corey Pottle at 207-380-6196 for information or to sign up.