Gray businesses, nonprofits and other groups gathered for the town’s third annual Community Day on Sunday, May 18.

According to organizer Lacy Antonson, the idea started when she and fellow organizer Lisa Lehne-Gilmore served on the Comprehensive Plan Committee around 2020. Antonson explained that they were following up with groups in town to see how they were doing, and a common thread was that every committee, nonprofit and group needed more volunteers. In 2023, the first Community Day was organized as a way for these groups to tell people what they are doing, and to get residents, both longtime natives and newcomers, excited about what’s going on in their town with the hope that they will volunteer.

Concurrent to the Community Day event was a 1-mile walk in honor of Mary Sweeney Underwood, a fixture of the Gray community who died earlier this year. Gray Communications Director Kyle Hadyniak said Underwood dedicated much of her time to a variety of efforts, most notably Nordic walking, which she credited for her mental and physical strength as she was dealing with physical issues. Nicknamed “the woman who walks,” Underwood started a Nordic walking group in Gray, and traveled to other communities across Southern Maine to help spread the benefits of Nordic walking.

Hadyniak also fondly remembered his time working with her when she was on the Community Television Advisory Committee, where he would go out with her to film interesting things around town, specifically citing a time when they featured volunteer gravestone cleaners at the village cemetery. He said that, after Underwood’s death, the community wanted to do something to honor her. On May 18, several dozen people took part in a 1.1-mile loop, visiting places where Underwood could reliably be seen. While the walk was free, there was the option to donate toward the creation of a permanent memorial for Underwood.

“The thing we knew we had to do (for Underwood) was go on a walk,” said Recreation Director Anthony Dahms, who recalled how Underwood raised $1,000 to buy 40 pairs of Nordic walking poles by painting and selling bird houses.

The other main highlight of Community Day was a chili cook-off. This year, eight contestants participated, up from four in 2023, and guests could taste the chilis and vote on them. The winner of the cook-off was Michael Mills with his Meat Monster chili. Mills, who was competing in the Community Day cook-off for the second time, said that he served a “Maine version” of the chili recipe he used to make when he was living in California, explaining that the “Maine” part of the recipe meant that it used less peppers.