The Friends of Windjammer Days met recently to hear committee reports.

Mark Gimbel talked about the partnership with Tall Ships of America and the Tall Ships Festival being held June 25-27. Windjammer Days follow, June 27-July 3.

“This (Tall Ships Festival) is an event of local and national significance,” said Gimbel. “This will be the only appearance Tall Ships will be making this year. Anywhere.”

The four tall ships coming to Boothbay Harbor are Privateer Lynx, Santa Maria, Alert (also a regular sight during WJD), and the Spirit of Bermuda. Deck tours are being arranged. To see where these magnificent vessels will be docked, visit www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org

The Friends discussed the community requests many members had heard to put the street parade back on the schedule for this year. It was noted the parade takes months to prepare for. The following is their response, written after the May meeting and posted on the festival’s official website and Facebook page:

“We have heard from lots of friends who would like us to ‘put the street parade back on’ now that COVID guidelines are changing. While we would like nothing better, it's not as simple as an about-face. We're too close to port now to change direction. We must stay the course and stay safe. We hope you will join us in celebrating community with our 2021 Porch Parade.”

The Porch Parade theme is Land Ho! Residents, businesses and nonprofits are encouraged to participate in this first ever festival-long event – all entries stay up June 26-July3. Decoration of homes, crafted props, lighting, etc. must pertain to the theme: What would you see if you were looking through a spyglass from the water?

Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce is heading up this unusual event. The Chamber will create a map of all Porch Parade participants (say that three times fast) and everyone checking out the imaginative displays can vote on their favorite in each category. For more information and to sign up, call the Chamber at 633-2353, or send an email to Lisa@boothbayharbor.com

Hometown Heroes is another new facet to WJD. The pandemic, and how it drastically changed how we all lived, is the idea behind it. We started out sheltering in place and wearing masks, and businesses deemed non-essential were ordered to close. Businesses were trying to find ways to survive and take care of their employees. And yet, there were people continuing to do their jobs, not from the comfort and safety of their own homes, but at the workplace. These included the employees of Hannaford, pharmacies, medical offices, emergency services, the police department, Grover’s Hardware and Hammond Lumber.

Mark Gimbel thought the festival would be a very public way to honor these heroes among us. And so, this year sponsors of the windjammers have each named a group or person to acknowledge. Many sponsors have shared their reason(s) for choosing a group or person – check them out on the official WJD website!

Those sponsors and their heroes are:

Bangor Savings Bank (Victory Chimes) – Hero: Toby LeConte

Boothbay Harbor Oceanside Resort (Alert) – Hero: Capt. Craig Murray

Pine State Beverage (American Eagle) – Heroes: the “Covid Conquerers Team”/ volunteer and nurse Lori Grinnell

BOSTON BEER Co. (Ardelle) – Heroes: Hannaford employees

Tugboat Inn, Boothbay Harbor Inn and Fisherman’s Wharf Inn (Eastwind) – Hero: Rep. Holly Stover

Bristol Marine (Ernestina-Morrissey) – Heroes: US Coast Guard/W. Boothbay Harbor

Knickerbocker Group (Heritage) – Hero: Boothbay Harbor Police Officer Larry Brown

Spruce Point Inn (Jenny Ives) – Heroes: AOS 98 teachers

Pepsi (Lazy Jack) – Hero: Honor Flight Maine/David Patch

J. Edward Knight (Mary E.) - Hero: Food For Thought

FORJ (Privateer Lynx) – Hero: Howard Wright Sr

Tindal & Callahan Real Estate (Agness and Dell) – Heroes: the fire departments of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport

Mark and Mariann Powell (Harvey Gamage) – Hero: Maine Medical Center

Jeff Suyematsu and Laney Hebert (Sycamore) – Hero: Stephanie Hawke

Down East (Lewis R. French) – Hero: Life Flight of Maine

Bill and Amy Goldenberg (True North) – Hero: Wreaths Across America

Signup has begun for the Lighted Boat Parade on Saturday, July 3. And, it being Independence Day eve, Fourth of July-themed boats seem like a distinct possibility!