Dear Editor:

Today (August 29) is my birthday and what a wonderful gift I received from the merchants and citizens of Boothbay Harbor!

Yesterday, my 14-year-old son, Andrew asked me to take him to Boothbay in order to buy a present for me. He has been working at the Five Islands Lobster Company during the past month and was looking forward to making his own purchase. We spent a lovely afternoon doing the shops with our dogs. I was waiting on a bench when he ran out of Sherman's with a panicked look on his face, saying that his wallet was missing.

We ran to our boat to check there first and then made the rounds, retracing our steps from store to store. The merchants, parking lot attendant, and police could not have been kinder, all taking Andrew's name and phone number. Unfortunately, we left Boothbay Harbor dejected. He had $90 and two paychecks in his wallet.

This morning Andrew went to talk to his boss only to learn that someone from the Artisans' Gallery had called the Five Islands Lobster Company to report that Andrew's wallet had been found and turned in to them. We immediately jumped in our boat and headed back to Boothbay Harbor.

After being cautioned that his cash might be missing, Andrew retrieved his wallet from the police station and found that everything was in it. We were both overjoyed! We spent the next hour visiting our new friends to report the great news. No one was surprised, saying, "This is Maine!" Citizens and merchants, you live and work in a wonderful town!

Holly O'Neil Turley
Georgetown