by maineseacoast | Nov 12, 2020 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Thank You Thursday
It’s Thank you Thursday. Today’s shout out of Mission love goes to DETOP participants Meg and Bob.
Sunbeam steward Jillian is eager to thank Downeast neighbors Meg and Bob for, over the years, always wanting to share produce with her, and at the Mission Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) community supper.
Before Covid-19, every Sunday afternoon, the Weald Bethel Community Center was alive with great food and great company of people of all walks of life, of all ages. Each Sunday meal was hosted by volunteers such Meg and Bob. We look forward to the post-Covid-19 world when we can resume our celebratory DETOP suppers.
“On my recent Sunday visit to their little homestead on the edge of the beautiful blueberry barrens,” said Jillian, “Meg sent me off with deliciously aromatic freshly dried sweet marjoram and summer savory from her garden for cooking in the Sunbeam Galley.”
This is what community looks like.
by maineseacoast | Oct 18, 2019 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Weald Bethel Community Center
Come Sunday in Cherryfield, the Maine Seacoast Mission’s Weald Bethel Community Center is alive with area residents conversing and enjoying together the afternoon meal served buffet-style. Hosts from the Downeast community take turns preparing and serving the weekly dinner. ELLSWORTH AMERICAN PHOTOS BY JOHANNA S. BILLINGS
ellsworthamerican.com
Come one, come all
October 18, 2019 by Johanna S. Billings on Arts & living, Lifestyle
CHERRYFIELD — On Sunday afternoons, the Weald Bethel Community Center has the feel of an old-fashioned family dinner.
People gather in the Maine Seacoast Mission’s community center off Route 1 to socialize, taking in the aromas coming from the kitchen. Some sit on upholstered furniture in a setting that resembles a cozy living room. Others gather around one of the round tables where they will eat. Many stand and chat.
In a large kitchen around the corner from the common area, cooks are busy preparing the meal, whose menu is not set ahead of time. No disposable dishes or utensils are used here — only everyday china and real flatware. After the Sunday buffet-style dinner, the dishes are done by hand.
The meal is a community effort known as Down East Table of Plenty, a weekly event, designed to feed both the body and the soul. There is no charge.
“It’s not a soup kitchen,” said Bonnie Johnson of Cherryfield, who came up with the idea for the community meal. “Need is as much about emotions as it is about food.”
The meal has been served every week without fail for nearly nine years.
Full story
by maineseacoast | Aug 31, 2019 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Weald Bethel Community Center
www.ellsworthamerican.com
Teens learn to grow their own food
August 15, 2019 on Education, News
HARRINGTON — Last month at Narraguagus Junior/Senior High School, seven teens, assisted by teachers and community volunteers, were hard at work building a new garden on a corner of the campus. The effort was part of Teen Ag week. The six-day program was a collaborative effort between Healthy Acadia and Narraguagus’s Future Farmers of America chapter and their Food Justice League.
Volunteers tilled 1,600 square feet of vegetable garden to create the Mary Endre Memorial Garden in memory of a teacher at the school who passed away last fall from cancer.
As part of the program…[f]ield trips to Incredible Edible Milbridge community gardens, Folklore Farm and the Maine Seacoast Mission’s food pantry as well as a visit by Maine Outdoor School rounded out the week.
The students’ final project was a community meal served to 60 people at the Downeast Table of Plenty, a weekly community meal hosted by the Maine Seacoast Mission.
For more information about Teen Ag week, contact Regina Grabrovac at 255-3741 or email regina@healthyacadia.org .
Full story
by maineseacoast | Aug 1, 2019 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Weald Bethel Community Center
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Down East Magazine buffet
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Bob
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Roberta
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Judith prepping beer can chickens
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Brian
A huge thank you to Down East Magazine editors Brian, Bob, Judith, and Roberta. We were honored the four of you would come to Cherryfield to host a Table of Plenty dinner, and we so appreciate the time and effort you put into the meal. I will never forget the toppling chickens and delicious entrees you prepared. It was a feast and lots of fun.
Some DETOP firsts: beer can chicken and more guests than our supply of plates and silverware. Down East Magazine was a big draw!
Again, thank you for including the Table of Plenty in Great Maine Scavenger Hunt. We have made many new friends through the Hunt, and had a wonderful time hosting, and getting to know, the volunteers. Their help every week has been a tremendous bonus. We have come to rely on them. Like you four, they bring new life and great energy to our community meal.
With gratitude,
Wendy Harrington
Maine Seacoast Mission Service Program Director
by maineseacoast | Jul 24, 2019 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Weald Bethel Community Center
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Judy and friends at DETOP
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Healthy Acadia teens prepare DETOP meal
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Heidi and family at DETOP
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Betty and Ted at DETOP
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David Wrinkly and Sarah M at DETOP
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Last weekend was a “big weekend” at our Downeast Community Campus for Down East magazine’s Great Maine Scavenger Hunt volunteers, said Mission Service Program Director 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.”
“We had nine participants help prepare and serve the meal on Sunday,” said Director Wendy Harrington. “Teens and staff from Healthy Acadia’s Teen Ag Summer Program harvested, prepared and served a delicious spaghetti supper with lots of delicious salads and vegetable stir fried dishes,” Harrington said.
Learn how you can attend and/or sponsor a Table of Plenty Community Supper. Click here.
by maineseacoast | Jul 14, 2019 | DETOP, Downeast Campus, Maine Seacoast Mission, News, Weald Bethel Community Center
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Photo courtesy April Norton, Wyman’s of Maine
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Photo courtesy April Norton, Wyman’s of Maine
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Photo courtesy April Norton, Wyman’s of Maine
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Photo courtesy April Norton, Wyman’s of Maine
CHERRYFIELD, ME — Last month, Wyman’s of Maine, “a family-owned company with a heritage of leadership in the growing and marketing of Wild Blueberries,” hosted a Downeast Table of Plenty (DETOP) Sunday Supper.
In a thank you note to Wyman’s Human Resources Director April Norton, Mission Director of Service Programs Wendy Harrington said Wyman’s “brings such positive energy and great food. I think the word gets out each time you do it. We have such a crowd attending your Sundays,” said Director Wendy Harrington.
“We love doing the DETOP dinner,” replied Director April Norton. “The people in our community are fantastic people and I really enjoy getting to know them more and more every time we do this.”
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.
Learn more.
