Nature’s finest
New England’s weather also cooperated for the group’s windjammer trip from nearby Camden, Maine, the next day. Aboard the 86-foot Schooner  Appledore and beneath blue skies, the group set out on Penobscot Bay for a leisurely ride.

“Here the water is so important to people; it’s different,” says Joan Overgaard, who lived in Illinois for many years before moving to Brooksby. “It’s just part of their life,” she says during the ride.

Along the way, Brooksby’s Joan Pappalardo and Inge Liias took turns helping crew members raise the sails. But that was the extent of work assigned; for the remainder of the trip passengers relaxed, spotting ospreys and chatting with one another and the crew.

Nature dotted the agenda throughout the trip, with a brief ascent of Mount Battie, part of Camden Hills State Park, and stays in Point Lookout’s elegant wooded cabins.

“I sat on the porch and just took in the quiet,” says Mary “Chi Chi” McKenna, who lives at Brooksby, of her stay. “It’s beauty at its best.”

Show on the road
But it wasn’t all quiet. Whether in the spontaneous rendition of “Show Me the Way to Go Home” on the way back to the cabins, or in the hearty laughter from jokes along the way, the travelers’ insatiable hunger for music and fun made every occasion a joyous one.

On the second and last night of the trip, dancers from the Brooksby Follies Joanne Averay, Phyllis Bartol, Jean Bedrosian, and Jim and Jackie Kusch joined three outside dancers to perform a number of tap routines, with accompaniment from crowd-pleaser Ronnie Chase, also the Follies’ musical director, who hails from New Hampshire.

At the show’s end, the group sang “Happy Birthday,” for the second time that trip—the first night marked Brian Gross’ birthday—to Phyllis Bartol and  Mickey Ratte, who danced the night away, both on stage and off.

Young at heart
While those who live at Brooksby have long shown their affinity for fun, there were also plenty of “firsts” for the group members, aside from their being  pioneers at Point Lookout.

Just as Makson celebrated her first trip to Maine, McKenna tried her hand at big-ball bowling in the resort’s recreation center, which features eight bowling lanes, an arcade, and an elaborate fitness center and gymnasium.

“I loved it because I felt like a kid,” says McKenna, who plans to return for a visit with her sister. “I was doing something completely different.”

Community travel
As they shared experiences of their new destination, the travelers brought with them their sense of community. When one traveler needed a pillow on the bus,  a fellow passenger found a package of toilet paper rolls. When encouragement or a hand was needed, travelers didn’t have to look further than one another.

“I see the way you help one another,” Frew said on the ride home. “I see you all doing it, all the time.”

That sense of community  raveled with them to Maine and back to Brooksby, where cheers erupted as the bus turned a corner into the place the travelers call home, whether they have lived there eight years or eight months.

Says Murphy: “Every day we get up and say, ‘Thank you, God, we’re at Brooksby Village.’”