Dear Readers,

Did you notice it was tough to find a parking space in Boothbay Harbor last weekend?

As summer officially arrived, gas prices nudged down a bit and the 50th Annual Windjammer Days celebration kicked off.

The result was our streets were crowded with cars with strange license plates. Our stores were beginning to see an influx of lookers and buyers, and the Hannaford parking lot was nearly full. We saw folks walking the streets wearing caps that did not say "Red Sox" or "Patriots." I even saw some folks who seemed to be N.Y. Yankees fans.

Let's have a big "Welcome Back" cheer for the "Fourth Class" of Boothbay Harbor folks.

The "Fourth Class?" Yes, the "Fourth Class."

Now, I am not a sociologist (but in college I slept through an 8 a.m. sociology class), but it seems to me you can separate our Boothbay Harbor community into four groups.

The first class is, of course, the natives: the folks who were born here. Many of them have deep family roots going back to the English, Scots and Irish folks who moved here after the early Indian wars ran out the first European settlers.

The 1607 Popham colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River didn't count. After spending a winter in log huts tucked into the ledges of Atkins Bay, the folks who survived hightailed it back to the UK just as soon as they could build a boat. Most classify them as Maine's first "summer people."

The second group is the summer folk, the families who inhabit summer cottages dotting our shores in communities like Ocean Point, Bayville and Capital Island. Some of these families have handed these dwellings down through generations. They love it here and spend a lot of time reading and rocking on their front porches and watching the surf and catching up with their neighbors. We are glad when they return each year, but chide them for deserting us when the snow flies.

The third group is the retirees. These folks have decided to spend their "golden" years living in a community they picked for its geography, its community, its amenities and the warm welcoming feeling they received from other folks.

Some of these folks are year-rounders, while others head for Hilton Head or Sanibel just as soon as the oak leaves turn and the summer water is turned off. A lot of our community groups would have trouble existing without the retired folks who volunteer and pitch in just because they believe it is the right thing to do. Bless them, for they are keys to making our community a better place.

The fourth group is the tourists, weekly visitors or day trippers who come up here for the lobster, the boat trips, the lighthouses, the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens and the various community events. In many ways, they provide the activity (and cash) that keep our inns open, our restaurants filled and many or our friends employed.

In recent years, many of these folks watched in horror as the national economy turned their 401K retirement plans turn into 201K retirement plans. Lots of them just stayed home.

The result was empty hotel rooms and empty restaurant seats. This translated into fewer working hours for our folks who depend on summer work to pay winter heating bills. Many admit it was an unsettling couple of seasons. This year, at least for the now part of this year, it seems to be a bit different.

Time will tell if we have turned the economic corner and are heading back up the right track. Our shipyards are still building world-class vessels and at least one group of visitors "from away" seem to be back.

Capt. Danny Stevens, the skipper of the Black Jack, a premier charter fishing boat, reports the offshore marine life is jumping. He says humpback whales are there in force, along with tuna and other species.

Do all these signs point to a good season for all of us? No one knows for sure, but I guess this time it all adds up to a strong maybe.

Joe Gelarden