Gilbert family and friends revive Boothbay Common holiday light display
Joint Economic Development Committee member Dawn Gilbert, left, is joined by, from left, her son Charles Gilbert, granddaughter Eva Gilbert, Scott Campbell, Eric Marden and Brett Leeman on Nov. 28 in displaying four ships decorated with Christmas lights on the Boothbay Common. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Three ships decorated with Christmas lights re-emerge on the Boothbay Common on Nov. 28. After nearly a decade absence, the display returns as part of the Boothbay Festival of Lights. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
A fourth ship joined the Christmas display on the Boothbay Common this year. On Nov. 28, volunteers assembled this ship along with three others as part of the Boothbay Festival of Lights. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Joint Economic Development Committee member Dawn Gilbert, left, is joined by, from left, her son Charles Gilbert, granddaughter Eva Gilbert, Scott Campbell, Eric Marden and Brett Leeman on Nov. 28 in displaying four ships decorated with Christmas lights on the Boothbay Common. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Three ships decorated with Christmas lights re-emerge on the Boothbay Common on Nov. 28. After nearly a decade absence, the display returns as part of the Boothbay Festival of Lights. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
A fourth ship joined the Christmas display on the Boothbay Common this year. On Nov. 28, volunteers assembled this ship along with three others as part of the Boothbay Festival of Lights. BILL PEARSON/Boothbay Register
Four ships will light up the Boothbay Common this holiday season. Boothbay resident Dawn Gilbert has enlisted a volunteer crew to decorate four ships with Christmas lights. The display is part of the Joint Economic Development Committee’s Boothbay Festival of Lights.
The display is similar to the one she and her husband, Shannon Gilbert, displayed on the Common several years ago in conjunction with the Boothbay Civic Association. The previous display had three ships inspired by the Christmas carol, “I Saw Three Ships.” The display is being resurrected after being dormant for a nearly a decade.
In recent years, community members asked the Gilberts about bringing the ships back during the Christmas season. This year is the inaugural Boothbay Festival of Lights so Dawn Gilbert, a Joint Economic Development Committee member, asked her husband about bringing back the ships as part of the festival. He agreed to lend his expertise in setting up the display if he had help.
Dawn Gilbert expects the ships’ return to be well-received within the community. The display features the three original ships along with a new, larger ship in a separate location. According to Dawn Gilbert, the fourth ship has no special significance. “There’s no special reason for it. I just thought it would look nice with a fourth ship.”
Unfortunately, Shannon Gilbert was not part of the crew on Nov. 28 assembling the display. He died unexpectedly on Nov. 7. This resulted in Dawn Gilbert putting a new crew together to finish the project. The new crew includes her son Charles Gilbert, Scott Campbell, Eric Marden and Brett Leeman. Dawn Gilbert asked the men for their assistance during her husband’s funeral.
Marden, a general contractor, was happy to volunteer his services to the project.“I’m self-employed so I have the time,” he said. “Usually if somebody asks me to do something for the community, I say yes.”
The volunteers finished assembling the display on Tuesday morning and the town of Boothbay illuminated the ships shortly afterwards. The Boothbay Festival of Lights began on Nov. 18 and ends on Dec. 31.
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