The military landed in Boothbay the night of November 7 and a celebration broke out.

Nearly 50 veterans (men and women) representing five of the most well-known branches of the U.S. military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard) were guests of the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club at its eighth annual Veterans Night held at the American Legion hall.

As the spacious hall began to fill up, many of the special guests could be seen talking to each other, sharing stories of their military days.

There was no Rotary business done, though the club's traditional songfest was held. It is usually held before dinner is served. A competition was held among the various branches of the military as each branch's song or hymn was played by veteran Tom Churchill on piano and sung by the veterans of each branch.

Current Rotary president Jennifer Page Osman welcomed all in attendance. Among the guests were Carolyn Johnson, District Governor of Rotary District 7780 and her husband, Peter Johnson, a Past District Governor and a military veteran. Peter Johnson gave the evening's invocation.

Following a delicious baked haddock dinner prepared by chef Kim Mills, the festivities started with the presentation by Lt. Col. Tyler Blake of Boothbay, a 21-year veteran of the Air National Guard. He gave the club an American flag that had flown aboard an aircraft he had piloted during a mission over Afghanistan. The presentation also included a photograph of the aircraft and an explanation of it significance. President Osman thanked Blake and said the items will be proudly displayed in the Rotary's “soon to built” new clubhouse.

As event coordinator Marty Helman (along with her husband, Frank) handed around the microphone, each veteran was given a chance to introduce themselves and speak briefly about their years of military service, whether it was World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq, Afghanistan or stateside. Two active duty Coast Guard officers from the Boothbay Harbor station were also in attendance.

The evening concluded with guest speaker, Reverend Bob Zimmerli of East Boothbay, speaking about his days in the U.S. Navy (1943-1946) as a sonar technician aboard a World War II minesweeper. He talked about his unit's work along the east and west coasts of the United States, near Hawaii and in the Pacific Ocean.