Trivia: The first of what would become known as Afternoon Tea was served in the home of Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford, in 1840. The Duchess began feeling hungry around 4 p.m. but dinner wasn’t served until 8. So she asked for a light meal of bread and butter, cakes and tea (of course!) to be brought to her. Soon she was inviting friends to her estate in Bedfordshire to join her.

On June 19, Boothbay Region Garden Club will bring its new annual event, “Tea By the Sea” to Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. Additionally, there will be a curated Summer Home and Garden Market. There will be serveral raffles going on in the Market for large floral basket arrangements and those creatively themed gift baskets BRGC is known for.

Civic Development Committee member Karen Iliades and Vice President Cathy Fisher are heading up the event, which will have two seatings at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each table will be dressed up with a gorgeous flower arrangement and place settings. The BHYC dining room will be set for 100 people, eight per table. Tickets, $55 per person, are available at https://shorturl.at/UPYEa – and going fast!

The delectable savory and and sweet selections will each be served on its own three-tier serving trays. The savories, the first course, including finger sandwiches, and maybe quiche, Iliades said. The second course will be the sweets, which, at an English Tea, are both impressive and irresistible, from petit fours to chocolate to sandwich cookies. Each course will be served on small, indiviual-sized trays.

Fisher and Iliades have met with BHYC’s Chef Raymond Franklyn to discuss the menu and suggestions of what they were looking for. Iliades and Fisher are also members of the Yacht Club and know Chef Raymond will come up with delicious fare.

Light savory selections, Iliades said, will include finger sandwiches, scones and perhaps quiche as the first course. The second course, the sweets, are sure to be gorgeous as well as delicious. There will also be traditional English tea condiments – clotted cream (known across The Pond as Devonshire Cream), lemon curd and a fruit jam, often strawberry.

For the tea, Iliades said they looked for a Maine tea company and went with Bar Harbor teas. “Being from Bar Harbor, it also goes with our theme of tea by the sea and the yacht club views also looking out on the water.”

Look for an assortment to include Earl Gray, breakfast black, blueberry black, and blueberry decaffeinated on each table, with Barters Island Bees honey.

“We're trying to keep it simple,” Fisher said. “We (Club members) will be the waiters and hostesses taking care of four tables each. Just circulating to make it easier for everyone to get what they need.”

The Summer Home and Garden Market will be filled with garden plants and outdoor décor. There will be jewelry, art (hopefully floral or gardenesque!) by local artists;home décor and tableware. The BRGC Sweet Shop will have tempting treats, going with the English tea theme, to bring home.

And BRGC members are creating fascinators, decorative headpieces adorned with flowers, netting and such, attached to a headband or large comb. Fascinators will be for sale at the Market.

“We're putting together a photo area with a large gold frame,” Iliades said. “You can get your picture taken with your daughter, mother, or girlfriends wearing the fascinators.”

“There'll be a menu on everyone’s plate when they come in stating what each course is, so they'll know what to expect,” Fisher said. “On the reverse side, we'll have a list of the sponsors who are helping support the efforts.”

For example, Fisher shared one of the sponsors is Coastal Maine Popcorn Company. “Right after Easter, Julie Roberts will have a window display of a tea set up in the front window. “It’s an opportunity for the community to participate with the Garden Club, and that is something we are really excited about,” she said.

Sponsors at press time: First Federal Savings, Rotary Club of Boothbay Harbor, Barters Island Bees, Tree Keepers, Coastal Maine Popcorn Company, and First National Bank. Other organizations and businesses interested in sponsorship can contact Cathy Fisher at gboothbayregion@gmail.com

Serving tea at meetings is a longstanding tradition for Boothbay Region Garden Club, and when you consider 2026 is its 95th anniversary, that’s a lot of tea! “So, a lot of the members like the idea of a tea,” said Fisher. “And it's an opportunity to bring in more people from the community, on a more intimate level, who can get to know what the Garden Club is and what we do. We’re excited about doing something different.”

And for those who’d like to attend, but require help walking down to the entrance of the event, the yacht club has a golf cart to get them there. Said Fisher, “Anybody who's pulling up to drop someone (requiring assistance) off and then going to park, they'll (BHYC) bring them down so that they don't have to negotiate that.”

Proceeds from “Tea By the Sea” support BRGC’s mission to promote gardening, environmental education, and the beautification of the Boothbay Region. For more information about Boothbay Region Garden Club and to get those tickets, visit https://boothbayregiongardenclub.org/