As a Coast Guard color guard stood smartly at attention holding flags whipping in the Sunday afternoon sea breeze, the Boothbay community paid a reverent tribute to the 231 resident fishermen lost at sea.

Ray Hulse, 73, a retired U.S. Navy Lt. Commander, described the simple local ceremony as an example of what is right with America. “It is sad, but uplifting,” he said. “Who else honors their dead like we do?”

The memorial service was the last outdoor event of the 40th annual Fishermen’s Festival, which concluded with the Blessing of the Fleet by the local clergy. The clergy read biblical passages as they prayed for the safety and success of local fishermen.

It began with Coast Guardsmen David Fiore, Cameron Geggatt, Alex Merado and Andres Rios marching behind the Fishermen’s Memorial. Then John O’Connell, the Lincoln County Administrator, and Methodist Pastor Ami Sawtelle quietly read the names of the lost. A church bell tolled in ringing tribute.

While the names echoed across the harbor, nearly 65 residents in the audience stood in silence. Men removed their caps and all bowed their heads. Meanwhile, the 39 fishing boats, many filled with smiling family members, waited in the harbor to file past the clergy and seek an annual blessing.

The readers began with the name of Capt. John Murray, who died when he fell down the after hatch of his vessel in 1798, and concluded with the name of Earl L. Brewer who fell overboard and drowned last April.

The phrase “lost at sea” came to life as the readers intoned the circumstances of some of the deaths. Many of the names are still carried by their relatives today. Names like Tibbetts, Hodgdon, Holbrook, Reed, Maddocks, Lewis, Blake and Giles are familiar names in our community.

A combined church choir joined the audience in “Amazing Grace” and the Navy hymn ending in the words: “O hear us when we cry to thee, For those in peril on the sea.”

Boothbay Harbor High School student Kyle Alamo played taps, then the clergy walked to the docks to bless the fleet.

There, the mood turned from somber remembrance to a happy celebration of community pride as the vessels passed within a few yards of the dock.

Happy kids perched on forward surfaces and waving friends in lawn chairs replaced lobster traps and bait trays for the day as the working lobster boats gave a Sunday afternoon boat ride to friends and family.

As Rev. Sarah Foulger, of the Boothbay Harbor Congregational Church blessed one boat and greeted one of the fishermen by name, he replied with a friendly, but decidedly secular greeting: “Hi Sweetie.”

Father Fred Morse, the pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church couldn’t repress a quick quip. “Today, that's Rev. Sweetie to you,” he said, drawing a laugh from the other religious leaders and the boat’s occupants.

There were four branches of the local Christian churches represented in the memorial service and blessing of the fleet. In addition to Morse and Foulger, Sawtelle and Rev. Joseph Beardsley of the Combined United Methodist parish participated, along with Rev. Maria J. Hoecker of St. Columba’s Episcopal Church.

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