A new non-profit organization called Community Plate (website, facebook, instagram) seeks to create community in Maine through shared meals and the sharing of stories. Community Plate was launched earlier this year by Karl Schatz and Margaret Hathaway.
The fall/winter series of Story Sharing Potluck Suppers are getting started with a supper on October 18th in Waterville.
These free public events bring people together in a traditional potluck supper with a twist: each attendee brings a dish, a recipe, and a story to share about what they brought. Over the course of the meal, led by an MC, and structured around story prompts, participants are encouraged to share stories and make connections. During coffee and dessert, practiced storytellers entertain guests with tales they’ve prepared in advance. In the weeks following the meal, each attendee receives a mini cookbook filled with recipes and stories for the dishes that were brought to the event.
Additional suppers are scheduled to take place in Freeport on November 16th and in Bowdoinham on February 3rd with additional events still in planning to take place in Cumberland, Orono, Brunswick, and Camden this winter. For more information on the suppers, storytelling workshops and other initiatives of Community Plate visit communityplate.me.
Hathaway and Schatz were editors of the Maine Community Cookbooks, authored several books including The Year of the Goat, and operate Ten Apple Farm in Gray.