Ready or not, December is here and that seems to have many of us juggling wayyyyy too much between regular work, shopping, Christmas concerts, office parties, mailing cards, sending presents and maintaining our holly-jollyness. First, I will tell you to breathe. It’s a lot to handle, but you’re doing great. Secondly, accept that you can’t do it all and take pleasure in the things you can do, rather than berating yourself for not being able to do it all.

This week, I want to share 10 random observations as I’m wont to do every six weeks or so in these columns. Here are 10 unrelated nuggets all in 100 words or less, and in no particular order:

Downtowns lit up!

Let’s give a little love to the volunteers and town employees who have made our downtowns and other parts of the area look festive. I know Main Street Bath and the Brunswick Downtown Association have specific programming for decorating their regions, but I also know Rotary Clubs, municipal staff and other groups help decorate poles, hang wreaths and make the area look so good. Say “thank you” to those braving the cold to make everything a little bit brighter, and thank you to the merchants taking the time to decorate windows and get in the spirit. You never know how much these effects can help those needing a holiday pick-me-up.

Old Fashioned Christmas dates to know

Speaking of downtowns, Main Street Bath is amidst its five-week holiday celebration known as Old Fashioned Christmas, and this year’s theme is Woodland Wonderland. If you haven’t tried the Squirrel Scavenger Hunt, you should definitely go to visitbath.com to get the details. The upcoming dates to remember are: Downtown Day, this Saturday Dec. 14, and Paul Revere Bell Ringing on Dec. 31. Also, don’t forget the trolley caroling on the 13th and 14th, 20th and 21st.

Topsham Fair Mall booming with traffic

This is purely anecdotal from my observations, but I’m thrilled to see many locals shopping local in Topsham, as my last few trips to the Topsham Fair Mall have been traffic-heavy. Some people make trips to Augusta or South Portland for that “outlet and mall shopping experience,” but we have many great member businesses to shop in and eat at right in our own region. Also, there are new businesses opening soon, as there appears to be no vacancies in the mall, which says a ton about the retail strength of our region.

Drinks with Neighbors, Dec. 16

Join us from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, in Lisbon at Olive Pit Brewing for a night of networking. Who is the “us” in this case? It’s member businesses of both the L/A Metro Chamber and the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber. Once per year, the Lisbon Economic Development office brings the two constituencies together so their Lisbon business leaders can meet leaders from both neighboring chambers. If you’re looking to extend your company’s reach to the neighboring communities, this is an awesome event to attend.

BBRC’s Annual Meeting of the Membership, Jan. 29

Our chamber’s next Chamber After Hours is in the fifth week of next month from 5-7 p.m. on Jan. 29, sponsored by the Bath Area YMCA, but — don’t miss this part — the event is being hosted at their sister location at the Brunswick Landing Y in Brunswick. The January After Hours is always well-attended because during it we have our bylaw-required Annual Meeting of the Membership at 6 p.m. where we vote on the nominated Board of Directors for 2025 and we announce some of our 2025 plans. Mark your calendars to join us or RSVP at midcoastmaine.com.

Annual awards announcements

The BBRC Annual Awards Dinner will be held March 14, 2025, but nominations for awards closed this week. Our Awards and Recognition Committee is meeting in the coming days. We traditionally announce the winners at the January After Hours, but we may release them earlier in January to get a jump on ticket sales for those who want to attend to support our winners.

A dinosaur-themed tree from the Midcoast Tree Festival, the winner of which gifted it to another family in her neighborhood. Courtesy of Cory King

A dino tree story

One of the Midcoast Tree Festival trees was dinosaur-heavy, and when I called the winner, she was overwhelmed, and when she told me this story, I was overwhelmed, too. In their neighborhood, one family in the region had faced a very recent hardship (it’s not my story to tell, though they told me about the hardship, just trust it is a significant hardship). One of the younger family members identified this tree as a favorite. Unbeknownst to the family, all of the neighbors made repeated trips to the tree festival, in an attempt to win this tree in order to give it to this family. And lo and behold, that’s exactly what they plan to do.

Workforce programs continue in 2025

Running out of space, so I will hurriedly say the BBRC has two to three new programs to unveil through ChamberWorks 2030 in the year ahead. Look for details in an upcoming column.

Cornerstone Members thank-you

In 2024, we have had 14 incredible businesses support us at one of the three Cornerstone Member levels. Thank you. Your support helps all of our programs exist. Thank you to:

• Priority Real Estate Group (our Cornerstone Commercial Real Estate Member).
• MaineHealth Midcoast Hospital (our Cornerstone Healthcare Member).
• Darling’s Brunswick Ford (our Cornerstone Automotive Dealership Member).
• Bath Savings Institution (our Cornerstone Banking Member).
• Chamber Partners: RE/MAX Riverside, Cook’s Lobster & Ale House, Molnlycke, Riley Insurance and Brickyard Hollow.
• Chamber Supporters: Sitelines, P.A., Lajoie Brothers, The Holy Donut and Harpswell Auto Sales.

MTF recap next week

Finally, look for a recap of the Midcoast Tree Festival’s best year in next week’s column. Here’s a little teaser, though: We had 307 gift cards at the MTF, which represented 144 different businesses — which means, the ripple effects of this event will be felt in this region for months to come.

Cory King is executive director of the Bath-Brunswick Regional Chamber of Commerce.