Can an order of fish and chips be worth a million bucks? You bet it can.

At Bet’s Fish Fry on Route 27 in Boothbay on Tuesday, Sept. 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., owner Bet Finocchiaro is donating her proceeds to the Boothbay Civic Association. The fundraiser is to help put the BCA over the million dollar mark in funding projects beneficial to Boothbay since the nonprofit began.

Chetley Rittall was the first president after incorporation in 1987. The BCA was his idea and began in his living room with a small group of enthusiastic residents sitting around, brainstorming about what they could do to help the town. According to current president Dawn Gilbert, one of the first things they did was to raise the money to buy the land and a garage from Elbridge Giles for the town hall.

The 20 to 25 people who make up the BCA have done a lot since then, driven by Rittall's vision.

Former president Estelle Appel reminisced about a comment that was made during a Windjammer Festival Committee meeting a few years ago. Someone suggested asking the BCA for help and got the response that “they are just a bunch of old ladies.” Boothbay resident Frank Fassett fired back, “But they get the job done.”

They do. Through the years, they have raised $13,200 for lighting the town hall parking lot; $18,000 for curbing, paving and landscaping at town hall; $16,000 for the town hall’s cupola and clock; $7,600 for the children's pavilion at Clifford Park; $16,400 to buy Memorial Park near town hall; a $35,000 contribution toward buying Shipbuilders Park in East Boothbay; and $86,675 for the boat shed and pavilion at Barrett's Park.

Since its inception, the BCA has raised close to $900,000 for projects. The current goal is to raise about $20,000 to paint town hall. The BCA also intends to bring back the cherished Fourth of July celebration on the Common, an event that has not been held the past two years.

Why is Finocchiaro dedicating a day of sales to the BCA? “I love this town and will do anything for it.”

If you don’t feel like eating your fish and chips there, you can get it to go. And if you miss the fish fry altogether, your donation will still count by popping a check in the mail to: BCA, Box 81, Boothbay, ME 04537. Write "Go Fish" on the subject line.