If Schoonerfest can spend a couple years coming to fruition as it did in Wiscasset last week, we can take a few minutes honoring what it accomplished. Make that about 12 minutes, to come up with one Schoonerfest success for each letter in the word:

S is for social gathering. Lifelong friends and newer ones stood in circles talking, or friends and families milled about amid the music, crafts, games and more along the waterfront where the schooners were docked.

C is for the chanties that went with Schoonerfest’s nautical, historical theme reflecting Wiscasset’s past as an important port. The live chantey singing against the harbor backdrop helped people live the theme.

H is for the harbor that is beautiful no matter the season; dog owners, fishermen and recreational boaters are used to seeing it, but during Schoonerfest, new faces appeared.

O is for the on and off again rain and threats of rain Schoonerfest and its volunteers persevered through.

O is for the outstanding job Wiscasset Middle High School students and teacher Jean Phillips did day after day of Schoonerfest, all over it from the dock to the Sunken Garden and downtown, recreating the shillings laws with scrolls, bell-ringing and the period dress Phillips made and the students wore. Another example of helping Schoonerfest goers live history. And it looked like it took a little guts to step into the activities wherever they found them, get the attention of all those adults and say what they came to say about the long ago laws. Be proud of their effort, WMHS and Wiscasset.

N is for the nice setting the Sunken Garden made for parts of Schoonerfest.

E is for every volunteer. From Fleet Headquarters on Main Street to the harbor, together the Schoonerfest crew pulled it off and stayed friendly to event goers.

R is for the really eye-catching, painted wooden schooner silhouette sculptures along Main Street. It was like a smaller scale, schooner version of the pumpkin artwork along Damariscotta’s Main Street at Pumpkinfest. Maybe next time, each artist could paint theirs at the spot of the sidewalk where each will be displayed, like happens at Pumpkinfest. Just a thought (and not a bad one, eh)?

F is for the cannon firing that welcomed the schooners into the harbor. For two cannon each maybe a forearm long, they accomplished the loud, smoky job for the schooners and for attendees to see and hear on shore. 

E is for the education attendees got, from the students, singers and others, on local and seafaring history.

S is for the schooners. They were beautiful coming into the harbor and a sight to behold again and again during their stays. They really made Schoonerfest. As with Windjammer Days, there is more to the festival than the schooners, but they are the draw, and did not disappoint.

T is for the teamwork. Wiscasset police were a friendly presence and Wiscasset Parks and Recreation, WMHS, the Schoonerfest crew and anyone I’ve failed to mention all had a hand. 

What does it spell? Well done.