The first ever Boothbay Region Land Trust (BRLT) Volksmarch and Grill Party on July 6 was a lot of fun, in spite of the heat and humidity. Participants had an opportunity to hike on two of BRLT's 22 preserves, as well as feast on a German-style barbecue. It was a festive event with games for the kids and great music by The Spaceheaters.

This could not have been possible without the generosity and support of community partners and volunteers. Thanks to the kindness of Pine Tree Preserve neighbors, attendees were granted special permission to hike private property surrounding the preserve.

We also had many business contributors which included our lead sponsor OsmanPage; second tier sponsors Flagship Inn, Griffin Law Offices, Harbor Embroidery,  Pottle Realty, and Tindal & Callahan; and third tier sponsors Bath Savings, Coca-Cola, Computer-ninja.net, First Federal Savings, Geary's, Gimbel's Country Store, Grover's Hardware, Hammond Lumber, Harborfield's Cottages, Janson's Clothing, J. Edward Knight, Morse's Sauerkraut, Oak Street Provisions, Red Cup Coffeehouse, The Bank of Maine, The Maine Grind, Tidal Transit Kayak Co. and Topside Inn. We also thank Kennebec Rental Equipment and Mill Cove Lobster for their special contributions.

An event such as this requires a tremendous amount of work and wouldn't be possible without dedicated volunteers. Hats off to the planning committee that included: Pauline Dion, Deezie Flower, Stephen Gottlieb, Tim Hanley, Kathleen Jones, Dick Palmer, Nancy Raithel and Ingrid Roveillo. They all did multiple jobs. Kudos to Cameron Jones for his design of the Volksmarch icon. Special thanks to those who ensured we ate and drank well: Kate and Ken Culbert, Judith Crane, Barbie Eldred, York Fischer, Jack Fulmer, Jeanne Harding, Debbie Holmes, Frank Johnson, Enid and Bruce Johnson and Carol Ostermann. Registration was ably handled by Kathy Bugbee, Jean Hawley, Merry Knowlton, Angie McLellan and Patty Zinkowski. Taking care of a myriad of other tasks were Linda Burley, Jim and Alec Dun, Bill and Jo Haney, Mark Knowlton, Jodi Lunt, Ham Meserve, Carole Palmer, and Mark and Patty Wood. Alan Lewis and Rupert Neily also helped to establish the trail. Holding it all together and working more hours than can be counted were the incredible BRLT staff members: Michael Warren, Skye Wood and Nick Ullo. Many thanks to all.

If you missed the Volksmarch, you can still purchase one of the magnificent T-shirts commemorating the event for $5 at the BRLT office on 187 Townsend Avenue. Thanks to all of those who came out in support of Boothbay Region Land Trust and our mission to conserve for the public benefit the natural habitat, scenic beauty and working land of the Boothbay Region. We hope this will become an annual event.