There was no snow on the ground. Temperatures were topping out at 50 degrees. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Nice, but not looking a lot like Christmas.

But on Wednesday, Dec.16, thanks to Russell Brackett and Tom Dewey of Harbor Tech Solutions, it was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Brackett and Dewey were making like Santa, delivering coffee and flavored creams to businesses all over town.

Wednesday mornings at the Boothbay Register are usually a somewhat quiet time, with workers in the throes of getting the newspaper to the printer. On Dec. 16, Brackett showed up with a tray full of cups of coffee, and treated employees to a Christmas carol while handing them out.

“It's called Surprise and Delight,” Brackett said. “U.S. Cellular is the promoter of the program. They co-op it and we add what we can to it. It's something we've done for the past couple years. We've done other events similar to this on our own, too, but U.S. Cellular helps us sponsor this one, so it allows us to do it on a higher level than what we could do on our own.”

Along with the Boothbay Register that morning, Brackett and Dewey took coffee and cheer to Grover's Hardware, the elementary school and Hawke Motors. On Dec. 11 they went to the high school, and the Boothbay and Boothbay Harbor town offices.

“I like to go where there are a lot of people around, and people who have to be at work early,” Brackett said. “And we like to help out the people who aren't always able to get out and about.”

This is the fourth time they’ve done something like this this year, Brackett said. “We've done it at the Boothbay Harbor Circle K twice, the Wiscasset Irving and the Damariscotta Dunkin Donuts.”

When they were at the Wiscasset Irving station, a woman came in to buy a gallon of milk. “We'll take care of that for you,” Brackett told her. “She was so emotional. She probably had a couple of kids at home. We asked her if she'd like a cup of coffee, too, but she said just the milk was fine.”

At the Boothbay Harbor Circle K, Brackett said they greeted people as they were coming in the door. “We gave them a gift card and said, 'Have a coffee on us today.'” And they don't limit the hot drinks to coffee. “If kids come in we'll tell them to get a hot chocolate, and to enjoy their day.”

The program runs through the end of the year. Brackett said they might do it one more time after Christmas, when people are more likely to be a little short on cash. “It's kind of hard around here because there aren't a lot of places that have a big volume of people. I enjoyed doing what I did today. We got to Irving at six this morning, did our thing, then loaded up some trays with coffee and did some deliveries. It's fun. I love doing it.”

Brackett said Tom Dewey had a Go-Pro camera set up at Irving. “He'll have it posted all over our Facebook page. Between the two of us, we probably know 90 percent of the people around town, so we have fun. We harass them just to get some good video footage. It's all about fun.”

The impetus behind the program of paying it forward is U.S. Cellular's promotion, www.thefutureofgood.com. The website states: “Last holiday season, we recognized a lot of good. Now we’re taking things one step further by acknowledging kids who are making a difference in their communities.”

“This is part of U.S. Cellular's way of 'paying it forward,'” Dewey said. “They're having people send in selfies of children who are doing good, and their stories with those selfies. They are helping promote them.”

“It gets to the point where it's not work at all. It's just a blast,” Brackett said. “Tom and I really enjoy it. This time of year can be depressing for people. We see guys who've got to have a cup of coffee, and they really can't afford it. We give them a card. We do what we can to make people happy. Whatever it takes, we'll do it. There are no rules to this game.

“The last thing we want to do is stand there doing a sales pitch. That's not what this is about. We usually don't even say where we're from. It's just a feel-good thing. That's all it's meant to be.”