In Maine, many traditions don’t come with ceremony. Some are learned in the woods, in the quiet between footsteps, passed down not with instructions but with time. Grouse hunting is one of those traditions. You walk familiar ground. You pay attention. You return season after season knowing that success isn’t guaranteed, but that the act of showing up matters. It’s a practice rooted in patience, stewardship, and respect for the land, and it’s often shared across generations between parents and children. This mindset translates seamlessly to how strong communities are built. 

Like a healthy Maine forest, a community thrives when it’s tended consistently and with care. It depends on people who know the terrain, who are invested for the long haul, and who understand that what you nurture today shapes what will be here tomorrow. For over four decades, Tindal & Callahan Real Estate has embodied that philosophy in Boothbay Harbor. 

Their long-standing partnership with the Boothbay Region YMCA reflects those same values. As a major sponsor for many years, Tindal & Callahan has helped ensure the Y remains a place where families gather, children grow, and connections are strengthened. Their support goes beyond generosity; theirs is an expression of stewardship and an understanding that community, like tradition, is something that they choose to carry forward. 

For Jonathan Tindal, the president of Tindal & Callahan Real Estate, that sense of stewardship isn’t abstract, it’sactually very personal. A Boothbay native, Jonathan left home for a time, only to find his way back, returning with a deeper appreciation for the place that shaped him and a clearer understanding of what it means to be responsible for its future. 

An avid outdoorsman, Jonathan has long loved grouse hunting, a tradition he learned from his father and has shared with friends, walking the same Northern Maine woods year after year. More recently, he has begun bringing his two daughters along, introducing them to the rhythms of the land, the animals that live there, and the lessons and sometimes the cold that come with it. It’s not about the hunt itself so much as what it represents: patience, presence, and the importance of passing something meaningful on to the next generation. 

Those values are similar to how Jonathan leads Tindal & Callahan Real Estate. Having taken over the business from his father, Bruce, Jonathan continues a legacy built on relationships, trust, and deep knowledge of the Boothbay region. His wife, Jessica, serves as the company’s marketing director, reinforcing that it’s a family endeavor, guided by family values. 

As Jonathan often says, “After growing up here and now raising my family here, it is so important for us to invest in the places and people that mean so much to us and our community. The YMCA does that every day for families in this region, and being part of that work has always felt like a responsibility and a privilege for me.” 

That sense of continuity extends well beyond Jonathan himself and into the culture of Tindal & Callahan as a whole. The company is known not just for its longevity, but for the people who make it what it is. Everyone at Tindal & Callahan has been with the firm for a long time, with a collective tenure that adds up to over 250 years of experience. Every member of the team lives in the Boothbay Region, and their work directly supports the Boothbay Region economy, schools, organizations, and neighbors they see every day. 

In addition to being a Major Sponsor of the Y for many years, Tindal & Callahan’s leadership has been deeply involved in shaping the YMCA’s future. Jonathan served on the Board of Trustees and was Board President of the Boothbay Region YMCA during the start of the A Greater Impact Campaign, and helped raise millions of dollars towards the renovation of the main facility. He was a calm and steady presence during COVID and his guidance enabled the Y to work through the pandemic while remaining open to the community. In fact, under Jonathan’s leadership, the Y served as the first COVID vaccination site in the State of Maine, helping over 30,000 people during an unprecedented time. More recently, Jonathan helped reshape the Y’s Business Partners program, guiding the Y to invite more local businesses to collaborate with the Y for mutual benefit. 

The family connections run even deeper. Jonathan’s mother, Nancy, served on the Y board from 1987 to 1993 and can still be seen often at the Y, playing tennis or picking up one of her four grandchildren who are frequent program participants. Jonathan’s sister, Alexandra, has served as Director of the YMCA’s Harbor Montessori School program for the past ten years, shaping early learning experiences for countless local children. She is married to Tim Pinkham, son of the late I.J. Pinkham, a familiar name to many in the region, and Peggy Pinkham, who currently serves as treasurer on the Y’s Board of Trustees. 

We know these overlapping relationships aren’t unusual in our community, and our businesses, families, schools, and nonprofits exist in a shared ecosystem, each strengthening each other. Tindal & Callahan’s generosity as sponsors and volunteers to the Y and to many other local organizations reflects an understanding that our community success is collective. 

As the Y expands new benefits for its Business Partners, including the opportunity to spotlight Regional Champions and Major Sponsors in this paper, it feels especially fitting to begin with Tindal & Callahan Real Estate this year. Their story is not just about real estate. It’s about legacy, stewardship, family, generosity, and showing up, year after year, for the place they call home. 

And, if you know them, as many of us do, you understand that they manage to do it all with a lot of warmth, good humor, heart, and genuine love for this community.  

To learn more about the Y’s Business Partners Program, check out the link on the Y’s website: boothbayregionymca.org/business-partner.