What has become a highly anticipated biennial visit from the youth and adults in the All Souls Congregational Church's Assist-JC group from Bangor is once again in full swing, as participants help Eastport area residents and organizations make their buildings safer.
     "We are so grateful to the community for letting us come," stresses the Rev. Renee Garrett, who founded the All Souls Students in Service to Jesus Christ mission group 14 years ago and made the first mission trip to Eastport in 2002. "We've never felt like we're coming to do good deeds," she adds. "We feel like we're joining the community."
     "When we first started coming to Eastport it was a mission for the kids, but they basically invited the adults to be a part of it, and the adults slowly got on board," says Garrett. "It's a great way to get to know one another and leaves a long-lasting impact on their lives."
     "This year we received 30 requests for assistance, which is probably double our highest number in the past," she points out. "We were stunned. We couldn't do them all, but we make a decision on what repair or painting is needed for a safety factor, how high something is and whether our inexperienced crew can do it in a week."
     Among the 35 adults and 37 youngsters who arrived for a week on Sunday, June 19, two of the adults are first-time Assist-JC volunteers who were also making their first visit to Eastport. Phil Andrews is with the crew fixing a deck and chimney on a home at Pleasant Point, and Margie Dickens is with the group improving the Dennys River Historical Society's Academy/Vestry building in Dennysville. "My daughter and I wanted to do the mission together," says Andrews, while Dickens points out, "This is a lot more enjoyable than working on the Christmas bazaar. It's fun assisting people and getting to know each other."
     "It's a great opportunity to learn how to do something and feel good about ourselves," adds Dickens.
     One of the teenagers on the 2016 Eastport mission is Wes and Heather Turner's son Christian, who has deep Eastport roots and was "pointing out where all of his relatives live," chuckles Garrett.
      "When we first started coming, we used to sleep in the St. Joseph Parish Hall, but they sold it, so now we're sleeping in sleeping bags in the Eastport Elementary School gym, and the Christ Church parish has given us the use of their hall," says Garrett. "It's like a two-way street with us. If we can sweep or do something else helpful while we're here, we'll do it."
     Two days into this year's mission, Garrett says a combination of great weather, low tide and the generosity of a property owner led to "something we've never done in all the years we've been coming. We had a bonfire on the beach. It was perfect, with a full moon and no wind. Some of us were laughing to ourselves, 'The new ones think we do this every year.'"