Family Fun Day Lobster Bake | August 6, 2023

Friendly faces filled the meadows at Cider Hill Farm during the 2023 Lincoln County Democratic Committee Family Fun Day Lobster Bake, where nearly 160 Democrats hailing from Jefferson to Philadelphia and South Bristol to San Francisco gathered to show their appreciation of our elected officials’ hard work and accomplishments and to celebrate longtime activists Chris and Valarie Johnson of Somerville as our Honorary Chairs of the event.

Laura Fortman of Nobleboro delivered a heartfelt introduction to Chris and Valarie’s work on behalf of LCDC, and Chris summarized what will be at stake in the ‘24 election. The event’s emcee, LCDC Chair Kelli Whitlock Burton of Waldoboro, spoke generously about the dedicated service of our Democratic legislators Senate Majority Leader Eloise Vitelli (SD24 Arrowsic), Sen. Cameron Reny (SD13 Bristol), Rep. Holly Stover (HD48 Boothbay), and Rep. Lydia Crafts (HD46 Newcastle) who all graciously received her praise. She thanked County Commissioner Bill Blodgett (D2 Waldoboro) for his many years of work guiding the county’s future.

If you wanted “Treat-for-Two” raffle tickets for the excursion to North Haven Island, Marilyn Buhyoff of Bristol was ready to take your contribution with a smile and Mike Pander of Boothbay, our 50/50 Split-the-Pot ticket vendor, circulated throughout the afternoon, building a significant “pot” which our winner, Ole Amundsen of Damariscotta, very kindly donated back to the organization.

Kayli and Smokey McKeen, owners of The Oysteria at THE HUB in Bristol, provided Pemaquid oysters, and Paula and Billy Arsenault of Boothbay provided music for the social hour before folks savored lobsters, hot dogs, or portabella mushrooms with all the fixin’s prepared over the open fire by Jeff Hurd’s crew from The Narrows Tavern.

The afternoon was closed by Liam Kent of Boothbay, one of LCDC’s representatives to the Democratic State Committee, who issued a call to action, preparing the group for a 2024 campaign season that will be among the most consequential of our lifetimes.

Many thanks to all our volunteers who arrived promptly and helped get the event off the ground,’ particularly:

-Jim Hatch of Bristol, who delivered landscaping assistance on the Friday before the event
-Finn Kelly, our high school volunteer
-Bennett Collins of Bremen, our shucker
-The LCDC FIGs
-Sally Hamilton of South Bristol, who created the registration packets
-Thyle Shartar of Wiscasset and Carol Hartman of Newcastle, who assembled lovely floral arrangements for each table
-Valarie Johnson, who, once again, marshaled the troops and had tables and settings ready for our crowd.
-Bob Crink of Edgecomb, whose dedication to documenting LCDC’s events can be seen on almost every page of our website, including this one.

And finally, a sincere thank you to each and every person who so generously sponsored and attended this year’s Family Fun Day Lobster Bake, creating long-term fellowship and a financially successful event. Thank you all!

With warm regards,

Geoff Bates
Fundraising Leader