Earlier this fall, more than 60 Rockland and Midcoast neighbors gathered around shared tables, shared stories, and shared hopes for our city. It was the first event of a new initiative — Fostering Community Conversations — and it exceeded every expectation. Together with the nonprofit Community Plate, we launched an effort grounded in a simple idea: Rockland is strongest when more of us are in the room, and when every voice feels welcome.

This work began last winter, during the Rockland City Council’s goal-setting meeting. One theme rose quickly and unmistakably to the top: our city needed more accessible, inclusive, and authentic ways to hear from the people who call it home. Council meetings, for many reasons, are not the right venue for everyone. Many residents cannot attend due to work, family, schedules, or transportation. Others simply do not feel comfortable speaking in that setting or face obstacles to participating in community decisions and discussions.

So, in March we convened over two dozen community partners — nonprofits, volunteers, advocates, and local leaders — who work every day on the issues shaping Rockland’s well-being.

We set an ambitious but essential goal: build a repeatable, grassroots format for community conversations held across the city, open to all, driven by residents, and focused on finding solutions. We hoped these gatherings would eventually become part of Rockland’s civic fabric, enduring long after any of us leave elected office.

Throughout the spring and summer, we brainstormed ideas. We knew each event should center on a specific issue, held in community spaces, and be facilitated by a neutral professional from outside Rockland to ensure the conversations were balanced and reflecting multiple perspectives.

But we also knew we needed a strong, welcoming first step, one that broke down the social barriers that so often keep people apart.

A turning point came when we met the founders of Community Plate, the nonprofit working in rural communities across Maine using shared meals and potlucks to combat isolation and strengthen local connections. After inviting co-founder Karl Schatz to join our planning group, inspiration struck: what if our kickoff was not a discussion of a specific topic at all, but a celebration — a chance simply to sit together, uplift community, meet new neighbors, share stories, and learn what issues the community most wants to talk about?

Attendees shared what they love about Rockland and what they want to see improved. We embraced the Community Plate model: a shared meal, storytelling, and an invitation to sit with someone you did not already know. And then we held our breath. Would people come?

They did. Quickly. The 60-person RSVP list filled in a matter of days, with a growing waitlist — clear proof that our community is hungry not just for food, but for connection.

What followed that night at the Steel House was nothing short of extraordinary. Longtime Rocklanders sat beside residents who moved here months ago. Young adults, retirees, parents, neighbors from surrounding towns, and people who had never attended a civic event all joinedin. Laughter traveled easily across the room. Stories — funny, vulnerable, deeply personal — flowed freely.

A few of those stories stayed with many of us:

•Jessie Davis, former director of the Strand Theatre and newly re-elected school board member, spoke about how community has shaped every chapter of her life—from the arts to education to her daily acts of service.

•Emily Dillon, stepping in as impromptu MC, wove humor and honesty together as she spoke about multi-generational Rockland roots, raising her children here, and using comedy to navigate a decade-long battle with chronic leukemia.

•Glenn Billington shared memories of setting up the Lobster Festival in his youth under the legendary Captain Oat, and the tough, loyal spirit of generations of workers who always “come back the next day.”

•Jessie Lucas from the Knox County Health Clinic spoke about the power of friendship and how she found not just care, but community, after moving to Rockland.

•Jan Heimlich described the kindness she received as a newcomer when strangers rallied to help her remove a discarded mattress from a marsh, an early moment that grounded her sense of belonging.

•Joseph Hufnagel reflected on The Landing Place’s journey from a dream shared nine years ago in that same building to becoming an essential hub for local youth today.

These stories were the heart of the night — reminders that community is not a slogan. It is people.

It is effort. It is the small and large ways we show up for one another, repeatedly. The message we heard, over and over, was clear: Rockland is special because Rockland takes care of its own. And people want more opportunities to build on that spirit.

Our first event also pointed us toward essential questions for the next phase of this initiative beginning in January 2026:

•How do we extend the invitation to residents we rarely hear from?

•How do we make these events more accessible to younger residents, families, and those facing logistical barriers?

•How do we keep food as a source of connection without making it a barrier?

•And where in the city can we host future gatherings as our numbers grow?

We left the evening energized, grateful, and deeply aware that this was only the beginning. Eight months ago, when we sent the first email about this idea, none of us could have predicted how powerfully the community would respond to this first convening.

To everyone who attended, cooked, shared, laughed, or told a story: thank you. To the planning team committed to continuing this work: thank you. To the Steel House for hosting us: thank you. And to Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway of Community Plate — your generosity, experience, and warmth helped spark something meaningful here in Rockland.A rising tide lifts all boats. With continued partnership, new voices, and an open invitation to every corner of our community, we can lift one another — and Rockland — higher still.

Kaitlin Callahan and Adam Lachman live in Rockland