A Christmas Day tradition returned to the Boothbay region as 20 volunteers served a free feast to 125 community members. Last year’s dinner was cancelled due to the coronavirus. But this year, the annual dinner made a triumphant return. On Dec. 25, organizers describes this year’s turnout as one of the largest ever as community members dined on turkey, ham, pork, mashed potatoes, stuffing and several other traditional holiday meal offerings.

The annual Christmas Day Community Dinner dates back to when the local Catholic church hosted the meal. Several years ago, the tradition was in danger of ending for lack of volunteers. But Barbara House and several other volunteers stepped in to continue the community dinner now held at the Boothbay American Legion Hall. This year, House was joined by volunteers who either prepared or served the meal. 

For House and the other volunteers, serving a community meal is what the holiday is all about. “About five years ago, we started serving the dinner. We didn’t want to see it end so we all decided to keep the tradition going,” she said. 

Christine Franz is another volunteer. She began living in East Boothbay 30 years ago as a part-time resident. She moved here permanently three years ago and wanted to be a part of the community tradition. “I just wanted to do something to be a part of the community and this is such a wonderful event,” Franz said.

Mark Rigas owns Boothbay House of Pizza. He considers Christmas Day a family day and he wanted to spend part of it with his extended family. “This is a wonderful community. Everybody knows about what a great meal this is, and it’s like serving a meal to a great big family,” he said.