The Community Center is celebrating its first anniversary and the addition of a 645-square-foot space that will “Get people moving,” according to Director Jane Good.

The space, which is referred to as “the Annex,” is at the end of the same corridor as the Center which will host six new classes including line dancing, fiesta suave, tai chi, yoga stretch, balance and exercise.

All work on the new space was done by Center volunteers and a contribution toward the effort was made by members of Alan Lewis’s family, who wanted to remember Michael Lewis by making a donation from his estate.

Renovation of the room was completed in time for the Center’s first anniversary. Good, Shawn Lewin and Margaret Perritt, all members of the Center’s governance committee, reflected on the progress made over the past year.

“We discovered an invisible population who were not coming out of their homes except for food shopping,” Perritt said. “Now we have a thriving community here — a home away from home.”

The numbers support the claim. Good estimates that on average 800 area residents come through the Center’s doors every month and the numbers for overall participation from area residents are impressive given the small year-round population.

In its first year of operation, the Center has hosted 1,822 Boothbay residents, 173 Southport residents, 1,453 Boothbay Harbor residents and 203 Edgecomb residents — all without charging for classes or activities.   

“We saw it all come together in three weeks,” Lewin said, remembering efforts at the beginning. “We have been blessed by a helpful property owner,” Good said of Thomas Ellis and Stacey Jenkins of Ellis Commercial Management.

The group was able to furnish the eight-room space in one week by obtaining items that had not sold at the annual Rotary auction and by contributions from members of the community including computer equipment, a refrigerator, microwave, dishes, chairs and even a keyboard organ.

And local service organizations have helped through fundraising. The Lions Club hosted a turkey dinner and the Rotary hosted a Kentucky Derby party with proceeds going to support the Center. Among the “village” of volunteers who keep the effort going are more than 40 class instructors and 25 staff members. The Center even has a group of “bakers” who donate their baked goods for daily visitors.

Local towns have seen the benefit to their residents and have contributed. For 2016-17, Boothbay provided a requested $3,500 donation, Southport increased the requested $1,500 to $2,500 and Boothbay Harbor agreed to provide $1,750.

The Center not only relies on contributions from local service organizations and municipalities. It has a “parking meter” in which visitors can donate cash, it offers items for sale from its own groups and there is a “Clink” program for recycling bottles.

“It’s a must to give back to the community,” Good said, so programs have included purses and hand-knitted scarves for victims of domestic violence, collection of non-perishable goods for the local food pantry and materials for the animal shelter.

In the Center’s meeting rooms, serious topics share space with hobbies and classes. The American Legion provides an expert on veterans benefits twice each month. More recently, a cancer support group has started to meet. Good wonders if finding space for the number of activities may prove challenging in the future.  

Asked what lessons have been learned since opening the Center, Lewin, Perritt and Good agreed. They said they learned how to take risks, and that it’s been a leap of faith.