Gravy, Giggles, and Gratitude Fill Pemetic’s Gym

Carrie Jones

Nov 21, 2025

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The 1932 Criterion Theatre.

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR—In the Pemetic Elementary School gym Emma Damon Johnson watches everything with a mother’s nurturing eye, the kids, the staff, the tables, who needs apple pie, who needs something gluten free.

She and other volunteers and Pemetic Elementary School hustle and move, smiling, serving, connecting with students and each other.

There is joy in the air, she says.

There is.

There’s also a really good smell of gravy and rolls and if laughter had a smell, you would be able to smell that, too.

It’s the Pemetic PTO Thanksgiving Buddy Lunch, and if you’ve never been to it? It’s a really big deal.

Colwyn is in first grade and he’s super excited about the dinner.

First off, he’s sitting in the gym and not the cafeteria. Second, he’s sitting with almost “absolutely everyone” in the school. Third, Coast Guard personnel are serving food at the buffet line, police officers are mingling, and reporters are taking pictures with giant cameras. Plus, there are buddies—older students and community members and staff—everywhere.

“So excited,” he whispers from her perch at the end of one of the long tables covered with bright yellow plastic table clothes, leaves and crayons.

Down the table, one of the students in an older grade, one of those buddies, giggles with another student.

“They have water bottles!” she enthuses. “There are so many!”

“This is even better than last year,” her companion agrees.

Lucy, who is in sixth grade, agrees it’s pretty great. A school board member sits in the middle of a table surrounded by kids, laughing, drawing, telling stories. Nearby, a police officer gets called over by a boy who wants a sideways hug. Parents and volunteers work with the custodial and food service staff as dinner after dinner is served.

All the food comes out of the Pemetic kitchen. It’s a lot of food. And when all the students are served people come around asking, “Have you eaten? Do you want anything? Grab yourself a plate.”

“It’s my favorite day of the year,” one staff member says with a happy sigh.

Pemetic Technology Integrator Mike Brzezowski says it is really all about how the community of the school interacts with each other. When older students role model for younger students, they mentor those students but also they are also mentoring themselves.

“They told me I was going to the cool school.” Gregory Dow, head of custodians, smiles, looking over the rows of students and staff and guests. “They were right.”

As each table heads to the buffet line, Acting Interim Principal Carolyn Todd skillfully weaves from one table to another, microphone ready, looking for upraised hands as students and visitors gifted each other with what they are thankful for.

“I’m thankful for my lovely sister.”

“I’m thankful for Pemetic.”

“I’m thankful for my community.”

““I’m thankful for our police department keeping us safe.”

“I’m thankful for my family.”

“I’m thankful for my dog Rosie.”

“I’m thankful for everything I get.”

“I’m thankful for my little sister Gigi.”

“I’m thankful for toilet paper.”

The gym erupts in giggles. That’s pretty common. Those giggles and the conversation rarely stops during the mid-day event. The only pauses are for chewing.

The thank yous are a litany of gratitude and also of hope, organized by the parent-teacher-organization and full of cheer and hugs and food.

“I’m thankful for being given the opportunity this year to be your acting principal,” Principal Todd says. “I love this. You guys rock.”

“Bringing the whole school together to sit down and enjoy a meal with one another, share what we are thankful for, and take a moment to physically feel the community around us was really powerful,” Johnson said afterward.

There is a lot of love going around and students and friends draw on napkins, play giant tic-tac-toe on tablecloths and swap stories.

“Carrots…Carrots…Carrots…” one girl sings as she balances her plate while walking out of the cafeteria and back to the gym.

“Wow,” says the teacher at the end of the cafeteria, smiling, “you like carrots.”

“Carrots!” She giggles, plate wobbling in her hands, but she doesn’t spill any of the carrots or the tiny bit of potatoes she put on there too.

The teacher stands ready to help catch any wayward carrots, but the girl manages on her own, just barely, but she does.

“Whew,” he says after she’s gone by.

The Thanksgiving buddy meal is organized by the PTO, but it creates community, linking gratitude and hope among all who eat and all who help.

“The world of volunteering has been a struggle; the post COVID world has changed how people interact. I, myself, thought someone else would step up and do it,” Johnson said of the event.

But she did. It wasn’t super easy.

“In many ways I didn’t want to step out of my perceived comfort zone and get involved (sometimes I still think I’m just a kid myself and everyone else are the real grownups! lol!),” she said.

She’s the PTO president and she joined the PTO last year. When she did, she joined a community.

“I met a group of women who have been holding down the fort, keeping this little engine that could moving along. It’s a slog and I can see how burnt out they were. I was glad to show up and help in the ways that I could,” she said. “This year we continue to chug along, a few new faces have been welcomed and needed and we sadly said goodbye to a few, so we are always in need of more parents and teachers to get involved! Days before the event we only had four people that could help us—and thanks to some folks in the school, they really banned together a group to show up and help. This event highlights why we do what we do. The kids love it…and so do we!”

Johnson also wants to encourage people to get involved in their community.

“I for one have felt a lack of community, but I haven’t been an active participant either in the past,” she said. “I’ve realized more than ever that in order to feel community, you need to participate in community. It takes some effort, yes, but it doesn’t have to be as scary as it can feel when we are tucked away in our homes, creatures of comfort, unwilling to break out of our routines. I really hope by sharing this event we can encourage people to get involved. The PTO has lots of dreams to bring to the community, but we need the involvement from our parents to make them happen.”

“Raising your hand to be a volunteer doesn’t mean you need to commit to being an active participant of the PTO day in and day out. We are a small, but mighty, group of parents who meet once a month for an hour to pull off some fundraising opportunities and events for the kids and teachers,” Johnson said.

Kindness and community comes from stepping outside your comfort zone sometimes. Sometimes it comes from stepping up to help out. Sometimes it just comes from noticing what others are doing. That might be noticing when someone needs a plate of food or a sideways hug. That might be from volunteering for a PTO or serving turkey dinner. That might be if you’re part of the kitchen or custodial staff that says, “Yes, we can do that.” And that might be from when you notice a staff member turn interim principal.

“She’s doing so well,” one woman says about Todd.

“She’s a natural,” says the woman sitting next to her.

“You can get involved by simply volunteering for one hour a year and it will be impactful, I promise. If you don’t care to be the brains behind the operation but willing to be the brawn, it’s welcomed!” Johnson said. “Whether people volunteer with the Pemetic PTO, their schools PTO or just in their communities in general, I hope everyone sees this as a resurgence of community and we can all be there to enjoy each other once again! We certainly could all use a little more community love. Things will never be the same as they used to be, but if we all get a little more involved, we can create something new, better and even more wholesome than before. I’m proud to be setting an example my my son to see what it means to show up. I know the other PTO members kiddos see them and are excited for their parents’ involvement, too.”

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SO MANY THANKS

When it comes to creating the event, it does take a community and a lot of people to thank.

Johnson said, “We would love to thank Hannaford, Southwest Harbor Foodmart and Salt Shop for donating food and supplies! St. John’s Church for extra tables so everyone could sit together all at once. US Coast Guard and Southwest Harbor Police Department for helping to set up and serve food. Candace DaCosta for supplying the gluten-free options. Elizabeth Cata-Holmes, Diane Daigle, and Jennifer Dunbar (PTO members) for their planning and execution of the event over the last month. And of course, our incredible team in the kitchen at Pemetic—Katie and Tiffany. We absolutely couldn’t have done it without them!”

Katherine Lawson and Tiffany Wullen, she said are two main reasons the event can happen.

“This event has morphed over the years and we are working hard to make it sustainable for years to come,” Johnson said. “Their involvement and support has absolutely created anchors for us to do just that! They donated so many hours of their time to ensure we were ready for today! And of course all of the PTO. My technical title is president, but I’m really just another parent hoping to bring some core memories to the kiddos through community building events just like this.”

And that’s the thing. Everyone there thinks that they are just another parent, just another staff member, just another kid. They are all focused on shining lights on everyone else who helps. And everyone is more than “just another.”

Maybe, just maybe, that’s what community and holidays and learning are really all about: gratitude, connection, celebration, community and buddies to help you through.

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

We have so many more photos that we couldn’t fit here. You can check them out on Facebook.

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