Announcing Something Totally New…

The Community Uncookout

This whole pandemic thing really put a squeeze on our annual Memorial Day Community Cookout. We explored the options to do it safely (hot dog launchers, cheeseburger delivery via drone, etc), but ultimately settled on something way better-- an "Uncookout."

Here’s the Plan

Since our cookout and even large family gatherings are out of the picture, why not use this as a chance to celebrate our community and support our local restaurants doing their best to provide takeout and curbside meals during these unique times?

We're encouraging everyone to support these local eateries over Memorial Day Weekend (May 22-25). Order a meal (or more!), snap a photo and upload it to Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with the hashtag #uncookout2020. We'll gather and share all of your photos as a way of showing we can still celebrate together and support our community and the small businesses that help make it so special.

Would You Like to Have Your Restaurant Take Part?

As we approach Memorial Day Weekend, we'll be doing plenty of posting about this event. We'd love to include your logo, contact info., etc. We'll give a little extra love to our Mt. Desert establishments, but want to include anyone from across MDI who will be offering takeout and curbside meals at some point over the weekend. If you’re a fisherman or farmer who is selling direct-to-customers, we’d also love for you to take part! You can email us with your contact info (FB page, website, etc., phone # for ordering, logo, etc.). We hope to hear from you!

Frequently Asked Questions

(not really, but we’re going to answer them anyway)

Q. What businesses can participate in the #uncookout2020?

A. Restaurants from anywhere on MDI, as well as local farmers and fishermen who sell direct-to-public are invited to take part. We’d like to include all of your info (logo, contact #, website, etc) in our future PR for this event to help promote your offerings. We’ll give a little preferential treatment to those from Mt. Desert since that’s our “home turf,” but we consider the entire island our community and hope as many as possible participate.

Q. What if state guidelines change and restaurants are open for some level of sit-down customers by Memorial Day Weekend?

A. Well in that case you’ll have a choice of either dining in or bringing your meal home to enjoy. Either way, you can still post your photo with a description and the hash-tag #uncookout2020.

Q. Can my family participate even if we’re not currently on MDI?

A. We’re not exactly sticklers for “the rules,” so YES, absolutely. Maybe you’re not on MDI over Memorial Day Weekend, but we still consider you part of our family! Support your own local food purveyors and feel free to share a photo with the hashtag #uncookout2020— we’d love to include it and we look forward to seeing you when it’s safe and practical to return “home.”

Q. I’m not on social media. Can we still share a photo?

A. First of all, congratulations on not being on social media— sometimes we wish we had that level of courage. Luckily, the answer is simple and we’d love to have you take part. Just email a photo and any details you’d like to share to us at info@theneighorhoodhouse.com. We’ll take care of the rest!