At the heart of every Community Plate Story Sharing Supper is a simple idea: come hungry, bring a dish, share a story. Held in libraries, churches, farms, and fairgrounds across Maine, these potluck gatherings have quietly become one of the state’s most heartfelt community movements. Rooted in ritual and shared humanity, they invite us to slow down, pull up a chair, and nourish body and soul.
The concept was born not at a supper table, but in the pages of the Maine Community Cookbooks. As Community Plate founders, writers, farmers, and wife-and-husband team Margaret Hathaway and Karl Schatz collected recipes and food memories for the bicentennial project, they witnessed the deep power of food stories to transcend division. “People sent us everything,” Karl recalls. “Wedding programs with cookie recipes, handwritten notes from barns, memoirs from rural Maine. These were heirlooms, and people felt connected through them.”
In 2023, Karl and Margaret brought that same sense of connection to the table. They hosted a test run at their farm in Gray. The result was magic. “It was amazing,” Margaret says. “An evening of food and connection.” Story Sharing Suppers were born.
They’ve since hosted 35 suppers in 13 Maine counties and plan to reach all 16. Each event is free, potluck-style, and planned in partnership with a local community group.
From the moment guests arrive, there’s a feeling of welcome. People linger over homemade dishes, swap stories, and connect with strangers who don’t stay strangers for long. “When people sit down and eat together, they soften,” Margaret says. “They open up.”
Tables are set with care: mismatched china, cloth napkins, flowers, and printed prompts to spark conversation. “The stories don’t just happen on stage; they happen at the table, too,” Karl says.
After dinner, community members share stories shaped by the theme — topics like Sappily Ever After or Don’t Judge a Dish by Its Cover. “There’s this moment when people begin to see themselves in someone else’s story,” Karl says. “That’s when connection happens.”
“We’ve learned that everyone has something of value to bring — a story, a dish, a moment of connection,” Karl says. “And we believe there should be no economic barrier to community.”
Karl and Margaret’s dream? Simply that this keeps going. “A shared meal and a shared story are small gestures that make a big difference.”
“When people sit down and eat together, they soften. They open up.”