For those who speak Latin, the Welcome to Boothbay sign on Route 27 is no mystery. For those who aren’t acquainted with the ancient tongue, the three-word Latin phrase means “We fed the Pilgrims.”

Boothbay Civic Association donated the sign to welcome visitors into the town. It was built from donated mahogany wood and designed and assembled by volunteers. But the Latin phrase was all the late Chetley Rittall’s idea. Rittall had seen welcome signs in other communities and thought Boothbay should have one, too, according  to his widow Joan Rittall.

He was  also an avid reader of local history and discovered that in 1622 English fishermen in Damariscove provided fish to the Pilgrims who journeyed north searching for food. With this knowledge, Chetley Rittall persuaded the BCA to inscribe the welcome sign with “Pelegrinis cibum dedimus.”