Where else on the peninsula would you see in a church five young foreigners laughing and speaking in Turkish with a 96-year-old parishioner, exchanging contacts and making plans to visit again?

With love, the Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor welcomed over 186 workers from away who traveled from other countries and around the USA to work in our community on June 27. This long tradition continues to “welcome strangers” and give them community support information to make their stay safer and more enjoyable.

Thirty-seven (37) of those 186 were able to get to the church to enjoy a “lunch and learn.” The remaining received gift bags from the church which were hand delivered to 149 workers by the Mission Committee.

At the “lunch meet” this shy and reticent group of 37 soon turned into an upbeat and hopeful number of workers who got to know each other and make plans to socialize together. We, the Mission Committee, learned a lot, too, about each of their homes of origin, their aspirations and fears.

There were workers from Russia, Serbia, Romania, India, Moldova, Albania, Croatia, Turkey and Montenegro as well as Texas, Maine, Washington, D.C., Silver Spring, Maryland and Kansas.

With a delicious takeaway lunch on site, they heard from our pastor, police department; Rotary and our town’s resources. They appreciated learning how to feel safe here and how to utilize our local services. Included in this event were Rotary bikes for loan with a $100 deposit.

For those who could not attend, we distributed gifts to the participating businesses’ 145 workers with gifts of information and fun food. Nearly every business that hires these folks participated and voiced their appreciation of the event.

The workers were interested in fun together in their free time and agreed to share their contact information with each other. They asked for us to arrange for a second event in September so that they might learn from each others’ experiences. One medical student asked to participate in a local community project and will be a guest at our upcoming Mission Committee meeting.

We offer a special thanks to all of the businesses which chose to participate and especially to Hannaford which donated a great deal of food.