Boothbay Lights celebrated its kickoff evening with committee and community members Sept. 12 at The Boardroom, at 29 McKown St. The kickoff was to provide information and remind the community the region is in for a big surprise this year.

“Part of our goal (is) to really make sure everyone sees all of us working together,” said committee co-chair Mike Maxim. “That's really one of the things we have to do in this rising tide community is work together for it all.”

Maxim and co-chair Abbe Levin said Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens anticipates upwards of 90,000 guests to the region this year. Maxim said part of the reason is the Maine Office of Tourism grant CMBG got this year to market Gardens Aglow around the Northeast.

Two big changes for Boothbay Lights will be a new downtown map and new banners which will adorn the 52 lampposts around the Boothbay common. The map will primarily feature the downtown's businesses, but will list all the businesses open in the area. Maxim said CMBG has been doing its designing alongside the Boothbay Lights committee so information and themes are consistent. Funding from six sponsors – Boathouse Bistro, Harbour Towne Inn, Ports of Italy, Robinson’s Wharf, Seawicks Candle Company, and The Russell House – made the new downtown map possible. Lead sponsors for Boothbay Lights are Knickerbocker Group and Tindal & Callahan Real Estate.

Said committee member Betty Maddocks, “The other really exciting thing is that we're going to have our welcoming center at the Gardens, too. We hope to keep that voluntarily manned (in case) people have any questions about the downtown or the Lights or what have you.”

Levin said CMBG gave her a run through on the space Boothbay Lights would have at the information center and revealed to her, Boothbay Lights would have an entire corner of the building to set up for information.

“It's really a game changer in terms of having a presence there.”

Boothbay Lights rack cards will also be featured in the Maine building at the Eastern States Exposition, or “The Big E,” an event that brings over a million people in just a couple weeks. Levin said the exposure will likely give Boothbay Lights a big boost.

“The last couple years have almost been like a dress rehearsal,” said Levin. “If all this marketing takes hold there could potentially be a lot more people here and the people that will come will most likely be out of state visitors … It's gonna be a way bigger deal.”

The Boardroom owner Tom Myette said from what he can see, merchants in Boothbay Harbor are working together and that is a good sign everything is going to be alright.

"… One thing that really matters to me and that I’m glad to see is that we understand the concept of 'rising tide.' Boothbay Harbor is not competing with the store next door. Boothbay Harbor is competing with Bath, is competing with York, is competing with Rehoboth Beach, is competing with Bath, England. The more we understand that and develop our brand, which we all understand that we have, the better off we're all going to be.”

For more information, visit https://www.boothbaylights.com/ Maxim encouraged businesses to submit a listing on or before Monday, Oct. 1. Anyone in need of more rack cards or who might be interested in featuring them in their business can contact Maxim at maxter777@gmail.com

The Boothbay Lights committee meets at 8 a.m. every first Friday of the month at Tugboat Inn.

This article has been updated from its original posting.