The Thanksgiving week storm predictions were dire. But they came far enough in advance to encourage travelers to festivities at St. Andrews Village to journey a day earlier than they’d planned.

Indeed, there was rain: a day’s worth. But families sloshed to Boothbay Harbor from Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts, with little delay. On Wednesday, it was hard to believe (except for some icy spots in the shade) that rain had fallen.

Thanksgiving Day was sunny and breezy. Guests began to arrive at the Village for a festive lunch with friends and relatives of the residents. One family took over the Private Dining Room so that a guest could easily come from the Gregory Wing for the occasion.

From Assisted Living, longtime resident George came downstairs with his family, to enjoy the company of old friends. Our newest resident, Charlotte, joined Alice at a table in the Peggy Pinkham Dining Room. Ellen, with her daughter as guest, was able to be present.

The Dining Room filled with cheerful, thankful people for a fine turkey dinner. In at least one apartment, relatives created a late feast of not turkey, but pheasant.

Wherever people ate, there was good cheer.

In the evening, those who were most tired went to bed. Others were talking, reading or playing games, when … the lights went out.

An emergency generator kept lights in the corridors. One elevator’s power may come from that source, so the Inn was not wholly dark. Last year, after an unusual series of outages, each apartment resident was furnished with a small LED lantern, so nobody was completely without light. The outage was in Boothbay Harbor after a power pole came down.

Friday was the day the Inn’s Christmas tree was decorated by residents. Christmas music and hot chocolate added to the mellow mood.

The next weeks will be full of festivities for our next holiday season.