A group of about 45 people gathered at McSeagull's on November 8 to discuss what would become of the Windjammer Days festival. A vote was taken, and, overwhelmingly, residents chose to keep the event under the umbrella of the Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce.

In the wake of the announcement that the Chamber would no longer sponsor Windjammer Days, business owners and residents have been concerned that the region's signature festival is now in jeopardy.

Two options were proposed on November 8: either form a separate nonprofit group to manage the festival outside of the Chamber, or demand the Chamber revert back to having a Windjammer Days committee oversee the event.

Boothbay Region YMCA director Andy Hamblett said it was a capacity problem that turned Windjammers into a staff driven event that ultimately overburdened the Chamber. But Hamblett warned that there are also risks involved with forming a nonprofit.

“To be a nonprofit you will have to have a board of directors, and you’re going to have to have bylaws and various other expenses and the minute you add that on, it adds to the burden of capacity,” Hamblett said.

Although the Chamber's handling of Windjammer Days has been criticized in the last couple years, many people said it would be safer to stay with the Chamber and reevaluate the festival's shortcomings, rather than take on the burden associated with outsourcing the event to a nonprofit.

Heather O'Brien of Boothbay Harbor recalled her days working at the Chamber of Commerce. She said Windjammer Days was mostly managed by the Windjammers Committee and the event typically made a profit of $7,000-$10,000 each year.

“Let the control go back to the committee and it could be what it was,” O'Brien said. “Keep the office staff’s role limited, because then they’re not spending the time and they can do the things that the Chamber needed to do to begin with.”

In the last three years, Windjammer Days suffered losses and a lack of volunteers. The costs to put on the event increased from advertising expenses, entertainment booking, and from donations that were once available but no longer being provided. Additionally, the Chamber staff would spend up to 6 to 9 months just planning and working on the festival, according to the Chamber's executive director Catherine Wygant Fossett.

Under new management, the Chamber hired a private event planner to put on the 50th Windjammers Anniversary in 2012, which cost nearly $60,000 and resulted in a loss of $19,992.

In 2013, the festival cost half as much to put on, and resulted in a loss of $177. While the event did not make profit, many area businesses owners feel Windjammers Days is the signature event that brings in the people and stimulates the local economy.

And now, backed by a group of reenergized residents, the plan is to send a formal request to the Chamber's board of directors to allow a Windjammers committee to regain the control over the festival, but still serve under the umbrella of the Chamber.

The Chamber's executive committee is slated to meet later this month to discuss what's next for the future of Windjammer Days.