Wendy Harrington (center) with Cathy Ames and Valerie Hill.
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Mission Service Program Director Wendy Harrington sends a note and news of the arrival of two ladies taking part in Down East magazine’s The Great Maine Scavenger Hunt.
“Cathy Ames and Valerie Hill were awesome helpers and wowed our diners with four homemade pies and a big pot of baked beans,” writes Wendy Harrington.
The Hunt’s purpose is to send “Down East readers out to explore all 35,385 square miles of Maine — from mountains to sea, from potato fields to city streets — in pursuit of the best Maine summer ever.”
One item on the Hunt’s list is to be at a “Community Supper in Cherryfield.” What better than our Downeast Campus’s “Table of Plenty” Community Supper?
Learn how you can attend and/or sponsor a Table of Plenty Community Supper. Click here.
Jillian shared this photo, adding “The Women’s Health Resource Library and Coordinator Briana West’s EdGE Journey group co-hosted last Sunday’s Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) public supper at the Weald Bethel Community Center.
“They all fed us in style!” said Jillian.
The Table of Plenty takes place in the Weald Bethel Community Center on the Downeast Campus every Sunday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. About 75 to 100 people attend each week. Meals are provided by volunteers who sign up in advance.
If you or your group is interested in providing a meal, please email Wendy Harrington: [email protected]
Pen Bay Pilot
Without an Agenda: Talking with the Crew of the ‘Sunbeam’ Pt 2
By Eva Murray – Tuesday, April 2, 2019
…Sunbeam steward Jillian…. [H]er domain is the galley, from where she feeds crew and visitors alike. Sometimes islanders are invited aboard for supper, but all through the day working islanders stop in for coffee break and to raid the famous cookie jar.
You don’t have to have an identified need to come aboard and be helped to feel good, and that’s largely the responsibility of the cook. The sense of community helped along by a good meal is not lost on Jillian….
“Seven years ago we started our regular community supper in Cherryfield, and for seven years every Sunday we’ve served a free meal. I just learned the value of just sitting with your neighbor and eating at a big table. People love to come together. Providing a meal for people is an honor and I love the simplicity of it.”
I said to Jillian, “Your role and the role of every steward before you has been larger than your bosses may know. You’re not just here to support the crew, but you’re here to support us all in an abstract sense. You provide the service that is the hardest to measure.”
She replied, with a grin “Not really—you cut a pie into eight pieces!”
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Two more photos from Sunbeam Steward Jillian from the ever expanding events at the Mission’s Weald Bethel Community Center. These photos are from a recent Saint Patrick’s Day Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) supper.
Jillian said, “Margery and Rock-n-Roller Paul discovered Table of Plenty shortly after moving to the area, and they often break bread with our disparate precious weekly gathering of folk. Paul occasionally sings for his supper by performing at our community meal. In addition, Paul sometimes belts out a few tunes at Wednesday Open Mic night.
Learn more about the events at Weald Bethel Community Center
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Sunbeam Steward Jillian sends this photo from a recent Downeast Table of Plenty serving table with a note: “Wow. We are like kings.” Jillian is referring, of course, to the many DETOP meals, prepared and served by volunteer hosts, that are meals fit for a king.
Agreed! DETOP is held Sundays at the Mission Downeast Campus’s Weald Bethel Community Center. People from every segment of the community attend, and music, conversation, and laughter preside. People who use the food pantry sit with people who fund the food pantry. Two-year olds sit next to ninety-year olds. Hunger and loneliness are nowhere in sight.
One item on the Hunt’s list is to be at a “Community Supper in Cherryfield.” What better than our Downeast Campus’s “Table of Plenty” Community Supper?
