How much are we like the name we’re born to? Maybe if you’re Melissa Hunnibell, you’re born with an optimism that believes everyone is good. And maybe it helped that she grew up in Berkeley, CA among different kinds of people, where love and respect were basic values. Independence was, too, with a mother that raised her and her three siblings alone. Melissa, also, is not afraid of hard work, and she does not depend on anyone. After working as a cook (she eschews the title “chef”), she entered RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), graduating with a degree in industrial design. Some lives are fluid. Twenty years ago, while visiting Maine, Melissa met a fiddle player, fell in love and stayed. Even though they went their separate ways, Melissa settled here. Besides, she was near where her ancestors had lived. Melissa makes a lot of different kinds of art, and lately it’s been print-making. All summer she also works welcoming visitors to Moody’s Cabins. And she volunteers at the Bookshop as well as at The Waldo. In fact, she’ll be on stage there, on June 13th, as part of the lineup for Second Chances: A Community Storytelling Event. But, at the end of the season, when the days grow short, Melissa will follow the sunlight to the Yucatan, Mexico and do much the same she does here. It works for her.
I see people at the motel who always asking me what there is to do that they wouldn’t know about?
So, I tell them about the guy who sells oysters at the end of his driveway in Friendship, and the woman who sells eggs from the thrift store across from Moody’s, and the art galleries, and the cool places to walk, or where I would jump in if I wanted to swimming. And then I draw them a map…
The thing I’ve learned that is that if they’re not from Maine, they believe that they need to go to Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor. And Waldoboro is where they stop before heading there. And I try to convince them to stay longer. Because we have everything they’re looking for!
So, it made me think, maybe with a map, they’ll linger. And explore, because we really do have everything they’re looking for. And we have so much beauty. We have so many things that they don’t have in their state. I think it’s just, when you’re traveling somewhere, you look at Maine, and Maine tourism recommends Acadia.
But tourism in Maine is changing. I think of myself as the Alternative Chamber of Commerce. At Moody’s I’m seeing people in their 40s or younger who are active and who are looking for an experience, instead of places that they can check off a list. I see it from the questions they ask me. The most common one is, “Where can we go around here?” So, I tell them about Odd Alewives, and they go, and they’re blown away.
But for so many places, they don’t know how to navigate getting there. And they are in a place that they don’t know. If they’re coming from a more populated area, some people are uncomfortable, even uneasy. It’s new to them to drive down a country road. They tell me, “I don’t see any stop signs, there’s no streetlights, and I drive for miles without seeing where I am. There’s nowhere to get gas, and I can’t connect with my internet, so my Google map doesn’t work.”
And I get it. It can be scary, especially if you’re used to having access to information all the time. Especially if it’s important to know where you are.
But on the other hand, they’re looking to be a part of something, to do something they haven’t done, and see things they haven’t seen. They’re looking an experience. That’s why I want visitors and newcomers to feel what it’s like here. It’s so peaceful. Everyone is so nice here. They’re helpful. It blows their mind is that we are open and that we want to share information, that we’re ready to help strangers. That is what we can pay attention to in Waldoboro.
This is why I came up with the idea of making what I call A Back Roads Map. It’s to help visitors but it’s also to help the people, the makers and the little farms who are like me, independent and under the radar because they don’t market themselves.
Well, I told someone about this idea, and he suggested I present the idea before the Economic Development Committee. That petrified me. Who are these people? I didn’t know them, and I was convinced they wouldn’t be anything like me. And I thought I’d sound like an idiot.
But I did it. I wrote the most cohesive-sounding letter I could outlining my proposal, I contacted who I thought was the right person, and I emailed it to him ahead of the meeting.
I was too scared to go to the meeting in person, so I attended on Zoom in case they needed me to make a comment. I sat and watched. Then, they brought it up and explained the idea as it was described in the letter I’d emailed. At the end, they asked for my comments. I opened my mouth and said things, and they were very kind. And that really surprised me.
The people in that meeting changed my mind about how I feel being here. They made me feel that, “Yes, I can do this. Yes, I can wedge myself into a community that doesn’t know me, and they will listen.”
And they liked the idea and encouraged me to move forward. They helped me feel that I’m welcome to do my ideas here.
I found that just opening the door a tiny crack and saying, “I’ll start here” can blow open a whole community of people I now feel welcomed by.
I also feel that sense of community at The Waldo. It’s a place where volunteers and staff put an unreasonable amount of time to make it work. And they do it because they want other people to experience what they feel – that it’s healthy to engage in the arts, mentally and educationally and socially, and you come away having learned more about yourself, too.
It’s so easy to get involved there! You can be an usher and see free shows. When they were talking about having a volunteer art show, I stuck my neck out and said, “Oooooh, can I put my art there?” And they said yes.
That was scary for me. But I sold two pieces, and I have only sold three other pieces my whole life. And this Friday I’ll be on stage telling a story. I think people should do what they’re afraid of, because it’s going to be okay.
I have a lot of fears. But I like being involved. I volunteer at the bookstore, too, and they blew me away. I mean, here I am, coming from a big metropolis, inserting myself into their community, and they, without knowing me, even without a resume or recommendation from someone — they opened the door! They trusted me! It’s incredible to have doors open when you knock.
In Waldoboro, all you need to do is knock. The door will open. And someone will say, “Come in.” That is something very special.
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