Speak up, Ellsworth, says the announcement. “It’s about a healthy future for our community.” The city’s residents will meet 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 18, in the middle school (the old Ellsworth High School) to help chart a course for a healthier future.

The plan is to divide participants into six age groups so people can speak with their equals about their likes and dislikes and their hopes for the future. The field for discussion is wide open. It can include not only health but also job opportunities, housing, recreation, traffic and transportation, cultural facilities, police protection and even matters like mail service and shopping.

Each group is expected to start off by considering what they like about the community as it is now. Then will come talk of any perceived community needs and shortcomings. Finally will come consideration of possible solutions. If that sounds like a hard day’s work, there will be a break for a free lunch provided by the Riverside Cafe and a chance to win one of the door prizes. People may sign up in advance with Helena Peterson, the Coastal Hancock Healthy Communities director, at 667-6117, extension 232, or by e-mail at healthy@downeast.net.

The idea is to come up with some proposals that can be formulated by September into Ellsworth’s comprehensive plan. Saturday’s meeting is part of a five-year, statewide effort funded by the tobacco lawsuit settlement and the resultant Healthy Maine Partnerships, which have $211,000 a year to spend. To help finance projects in the Union River watershed, the Maine Community Foundation has added a $6,100 grant.

Ellsworth already has one of the partnership projects under way, a community garden back of Woodlawn, the Black House, on Surry Road. Twenty plots are available for people who need a place to dig, plant and weed, with seeds and tools provided. Other projects in Hancock County include a 200-child literacy program in Deer Isle and a housing and transportation effort in Bucksport involving 10 committees and 150 volunteers. This example of community democracy grew out of a movement that started in Europe in the 1930s and has spread to 4,000 communities worldwide. Here’s a chance to see what it can do for Ellsworth.