Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
VASSALBORO – For nineteen years members of the Vassalboro United Methodist Church (VUMC) have prepared and delivered a community calendar on which birthdays, anniversaries and memorials can be listed at no cost. A church member updates those listings and three others secure ads from local businesses to cover the printing costs. This year there were thirty-four sponsors.
In late September 2,200 calendars were delivered to VUMC. John McLean of Vassalboro has spearheaded the project for about ten years. He was one of ten volunteers who soon after gathered in the church fellowship hall to place each one in a bag along with a letter of introduction and a donation remittance envelope.
“The next and final step is to deliver them door to door to every home and business in Vassalboro,” said McLean. That takes a lot of time and a lot of volunteers. We can always use more of those – they don’t have to be members of the church. We’ve got a few residents who help us out every year.” Each volunteer gets a list of the roads where he or she is to deliver. “It works the best when there are two or three people to a vehicle – one to drive and one or two to deliver,” he explained. McLean delivered about 1,400 himself last year, with help from his grandson. “I’ve had some medical problems lately so I can’t deliver as many or do it alone like I used to.”
The town population was 4,520 in 2020 and there are 137 roads and streets in Vassalboro according to geographic.org. Many are camp roads or dead-end roads according to Vassalboro resident, Jim Webb who helps VUMC make the deliveries on the south end of town. “I hear positive comments about the calendar. Some people meet me at the door to say thank you and tell me they’ve been waiting for it.” Webb has been helping distribute them since soon after he moved to Vassalboro in 2015 and says he has gotten to know the town a lot better because of it.
Cindy Shorey, VUMC trustee and retired medical assistant said, “The community calendar is probably our biggest undertaking every year. It does bring in donations, but we also consider it part of our mission because it gives us a chance to spread the word about VUMC. We get to introduce ourselves to many people while we are delivering, and the letter insert tells them more about our church and what we offer too. Sometimes we come across people who need help of some kind, and we direct them to appropriate services.”
Calendars will be delivered through October and November as time allows. FMI about sponsoring or helping make deliveries contact John McLean or Cindy Shorey at VUMC (207) 873-5564 or info.vumc@gmail.com.
