OTISFIELD — A move by a local church to help neighbors meet neighbors by hosting monthly luncheons has been so successful organizers say they want to continue the program.

The problem is the group has no place to meet in the winter.

More than 80 Otisfield residents have participated in the first two luncheons, talking about everything from gardening to the weather and where the first carnival was held in town. 

“We consider this wildly successful,” steering committee member Elaine Doble-Verrill said. There have been large turnouts and multiple generations at the dinners at the East Otisfield Community Hall on Route 121 in August and September.

The effort to continue the program through the winter is hampered because there is no heated building in town large enough to hold more than 80 people, she said.

“Everyone said they wanted to continue,” she said.

“This has been a pilot project. It was for three months and the Community Hall is not a year-round building.”

Although plans are under way by the town to make the hall year-round, it will not be accessible this winter.

The next community lunch and social will be held Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Otisfield Community Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The free lunch will include corn chowder, beef stew, minestrone soup, assorted sandwiches, desserts and beverages.

Members of the East Otisfield Free Baptist Church partnered with members of the community on the pilot project. It was a response to a church assessment, and part of the Community Missional Learning Experience through the American Baptist Churches of America.

Doble-Verrill said the group is particularly looking to help the elderly and shut-ins during the winter months when isolation can become a problem.

“It became evident that in these times of economic and social uncertainties, it would be beneficial to find a way in which we, as a community, could address the needs together,” the steering committee said in a recent email.

But the need for a cold-weather meeting location lingers.

Although the Otisfield Community School is large enough, the event is a luncheon and would be held during school time, so that building would not be usable, Doble-Verrill said.

The steering committee includes Doble-Verrill, Virginia Noble and Nancy Coombs, who have solicited volunteers to help set up and clean up for each lunch, as well as solicit food and volunteers to serve at the luncheons.

Doble-Verrill said committee member Linda Walthers also developed a popular game for the luncheon called “So You Think You Know Otisfield.”

“I never knew there was ever a carnival,” Doble-Verrill said. She said she also learned that the name of the Community Hall was “Jolly Hall” when it was used as a dance hall.

Members said the game has been a great tool to get people to talk to each other.

Members said they hope that participants at the next luncheon will talk about continuing the lunches throughout the winter and where they will meet.

Doble-Verrill will coordinate the volunteers for the lunches, taking meals to shut-ins, transportation and public relations. Anyone interested in volunteering should call Elaine at 539-4846 or email her at [email protected]. Those interested in providing food should call Virginia Noble at 539-4027. Those needing a ride should call Nancy Coombs at 627-4374.

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