Volunteers ... Could as much be accomplished within communities and organizations without them? Case in point: Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days, a beloved festival that truly takes a village.

As of 2025, the event has been led by Friends of Windjammer Days, an all-volunteer group that has grown the festival to a seven-day, jam-packed happening since 2014. The group formed the previous year following Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce's announcement it would be outsourcing the festival after managing it since 1962, the year it was founded.

The Friends of Windjammer Days group has more than just kept the festival afloat. This 501c3 nonprofit has steered the festival into the future with new events and competitions, making it a mutli-faceted, region-representing trip into both the present and the past.

Friends co-founder Mark Gimbel pays attention on a regular basis to the number of people who follow the festival through its social media presence. Among those followers is former Windjammer Days Military Liasion Susan Clough, who has been a Des Moines, Iowa resident almost 15 years.

“I knew Susan had been a volunteer for a long time and worked hard for Windjammer Days," Gimbel said. "Then I found out she was celebrating a milestone birthday during Windjammer week. At a committee meeting I suggested we invite her back here, find her a place to stay, invite her to be one of the Street Parade judges, invite her to a dockside party near one of the schooners, and out to Cabbage Island. The committee thought it was a great idea.”

When Gimbel contacted her, Clough was quite surprised and happy to accept the invitation.

Recently, Clough reminisced about her decades of involvement, including how hard it was to find enough volunteers. 

It all started while she was working with her longtime friend David Thomson, who had just bought Gray's Wharf in 1988.  She recalled, “At that time, we were doing a lot of business with the Coast Guard and Navy ships that had come in (the town) for work during the winter. So I had that military kind of connection.  Cathy Barter, a Chamber director, asked if I wanted to be the Military Liaison for Windjammer Days."

In the years Clough was involved, the focus was more on the tradition of what the event’s founders, Captains David and Marion Dash’s, vision was for honoring the ships and bringing them in. Back then,  week-long cruises were popular, but today people don't want to spend an entire week sailing, Clough said. “They don't seem to have the passion for the sailing experience. It's become more of a business,” she said.

She recalled some of the key people assisting the Chamber with Windjammer Days events. “George McEvoy would always do anything. I could call him and say I didn't have a float for the fireworks and he helped. George was instrumental in getting a lot of waterfront-related things done. And, obviously the Cabbage Island Clambake was, and still is, a wonderful thing, because it is a way to welcome the Windjammers and offer the captains, their crews, and customers a great experience. The Public Works, Jody Lewis and his group, they were just phenomenal. You know, they helped us in so many ways from trash to a water problem. Harbor Master Ross Maddocks ... I haven't thought about him in years ... The police and fire departments were all instrumental in getting things done; and the Coast Guard big time. And I talked Thomson into about 1,000 things he said he never wanted to do!”

Despite all of that help, there were never enough volunteers. Clough noted, "Even back then there was some feeling WJD shouldn’t be a Chamber event, it should be a community event, but it was really hard to break tradition. I'm so glad that it got taken out of the Chamber and the Friends of Windjammer Days are doing this with innovative financing from different places and rounding up a lot of people to support the overall festival. That's a really, really great thing.”

Incorporating some of the former Fishermen’s Festival events into Windjammer Days was a great idea as well because, Clough said, "Those events also brought the overall maritime heritage of the region to the forefront. It goes back to the Dashes when they visualized what a festival honoring these wonderful, graceful, tall ships and all the history of shipbuilding that you know was around the region. I mean, some of those boats were built here.

"I think part of WJD is honoring all those centuries' worth of shipbuilding, but also the grace and beauty and simplicity of sailing. It’s history coming alive. And, yeah, there's a lot of things that stay the same, but there's a lot that has to change in order to survive,” she added. “The energy has to keep getting generated and that takes people that are really excited about where they live, what this (festival) represents and what their history is.”

Reflecting on their shared Windjammer Days committee experience, Pete Ripley remembers Clough always being organized and always getting things done. "As the Military Liaison Susan brought lots of large vessels to visit the Harbor during WJD and she was fondly known as Sgt. Sue for that role."

The 63rd Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Days Festival will be held Sunday, June 22  through Saturday, June 28. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.boothbayharborwindjammerdays.org