Saturday evening fell on a clear and cold night, with a gentle west breeze blowing over Penobscot Bay. The bonfire, densely built and tall, covered in pine boughs, stood at the high tide line, waiting to be lit. By the time the propane torch pushed deep in the pile was turned on, the beach was already filling up with the young and old, bundled tight against the cold.

As the flames reached high, the people began to sing, led by Morgan Keating, son-in-law of Lincolnville resident and Christmas Tree farmer Don French, accompanied by a high school choir member or two.

The Beach Fire — Lincolnville’s haphazard answer to Christmas By the Sea. No disrespect to the Hallmark-Movie-Worthy festivities of Camden and Rockport, but something about Lincolnville’s tradition just hits deeper. A blazing fire set against the cold, locals huddled shoulder to shoulder, singing, just singing.

The Lincolnville Business Group had set up a pop-up tent with refreshments, and luminaries lit the path up the hill from the Beach, where the Lincolnville Historical Society’s Schoolhouse Museum was putting on an open house and Christmas party. 

And at 4:30 p.m. exactly, Fire Engine 1, driven by Ben Hazen, pulled into the Beach parking lot, delivering Santa and a couple of his finest elves.

I overheard Andy Young, earlier in the afternoon, explaining to a group of young early arrivals that when Santa flies overhead, on his test flight the first Saturday in December, he always wants to visit the happy people at the Beach, but doesn’t dare set the reindeer down on the soft sand. He finds a safer spot to land his sleigh, and a member of the Lincolnville Volunteer Fire Department is always there to chauffeur him to the festivities.

Needless to say, Santa and his elves were greeted like the celebrities that they are, as little ones swarmed the big guy in the red suit, offering hugs and high fives and their Christmas wishes. “All the Beyblades in the world.” “A stuffed animal.” “A lizard.” One tall and thickly bearded child wondered where the pony he asked for so long ago is.

After greeting the young and old at the Beach, Santa and his elves made their way to the Schoolhouse Museum, where the volunteers of the Lincolnville Historical Society had set out quite a spread of delights among the historical artifacts of this little town. My foggy memory remembers the tradition of a party at the Schoolhouse as predating the fire, though the two events have been simultaneous for decades.

I know it is probably just a dream, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a sidewalk from the Beach to the Schoolhouse? I guess I just like sidewalks.

I returned to a house full of teenagers, my own and the plus ones that just seem to show up, so I volunteered to give Andy Young a reprieve from his position watching the bonfire embers — to thaw out and bid his grandson goodnight. 

Sitting there on the Beach, as near to the remaining fire as I dared, watching the stars shine over Penobscot Bay, as the have for untold eons, I felt an incredible sense of contentment.

There is trouble in this world of ours, but there is also joy. There are Christmas wishes that Santa cannot grant, but sometimes it can help just to speak those wishes aloud.

Isn’t this season about wishes and hope? That the sun will return and the world will once again be green? That a child born to poor refugees in a manger will grow to spread the word that maybe we should just love each other? That the oil will hold out for eight nights? 

Wishes and hope, and people coming together. When we gather we can do so much good. When we help our friends, our neighbors, the strangers, we truly make this world a better place. A more hopeful place.

As Santa greeted the crowd gathered around Fire Engine 1, I overheard someone ask what Santa wanted for Christmas. The old elf answered “Santa just wants people to be kind, to look out for each other.”

Thank you to all who made this tradition happen, and particularly the Selectboard, the Fire Department, Andy Young, Troop 200, and the Lincolnville Historical Society. Thank you to the people of Lincolnville, those with roots going back hundreds of years and those who have only newly settled in this little place.

I write this as snow falls softly over Sleepy Hollow. It is beautiful, but it is also cold, and hard. Look out for each other, and welcome the stranger. As always, I can be reached at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

Municipal Calendar

Monday, December 9

Recreation Committee, 4 p.m., Town Office

Select Board, 6 p.m., Town Office

Tuesday, December 10

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Heart and Soul Team, 12 p.m. Lincolnville Community Library

Wednesday, December 11

Library open 2-5 p.m. 

Planning Board, 6 p.m., Town Office

Thursday, December 12

Conversation Committee, 4 p.m., Town Office

Friday, December 13

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Saturday, December 14

Library open 9-12, 208 Main Street

Sunday, December 15

United Christian Church, 9:30 a.m. Worship, 18 Searsmont Road

Bayshore Baptist Church, 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 11:00 worship, 2648 Atlantic Highway