From scarecrows throughout town in late fall, to a First Night with fireworks and ice dancing on the town rink, or maybe a Riverfest, the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce’s board, and a few other people, raised fresh ideas Nov. 10.

A signature event for Wiscasset, like Pumpkinfest is to Damariscotta, could attract more families and businesses to town, Chairman Sherri Dunbar said. She and other participants in the potluck supper-brainstorming session at Morris Farm said any event’s success will take the public’s help, low overhead and probably time to grow.

Pumpkinfest grew organically over years, Wiscasset business owner and Art Walk co-organizer Lucia Droby said. A Wiscasset event could also, and could help people realize the town is more than a place to stop to eat on the way to somewhere else, she said.

Droby urged cautioned when setting expectations for new events.

“Nothing’s more discouraging than starting something and then stopping it after a year or two,” Droby said.

Dunbar cited Wings Over Wiscasset as a big event that had to be cancelled this year, when donations of planes’ appearances ended and costs rose.  With enough local interest, an event that is low on costs, and not weather-dependent, could make it, she said. “Seriously.”

Dunbar led the session, with Town Planner Jamel Torres nearby taking notes on large paper for all to see. Dunbar asked attendees to name Wiscasset’s assets, as potential building blocks for an event.

Participants cited Wiscasset Community Center, the Sheepscot River and the waterfront, Wiscasset Municipal Airport, trails, the town’s history, Route 1, Morris Farm and unspecified other farms, restaurants, art galleries, antique shops, the town playground, Edgecomb as a neighbor, Wiscasset Yacht Club, Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna, and Wiscasset’s status as the seat of Lincoln County government.

Jill  Hugger, co-owner of Cod Cove Inn in Edgecomb, recommended counting lobster as an asset. People coming to Maine think of lobster, she said.

Hugger also shared her innkeeper insight on another front: People plan their trips six to eight months ahead; when they ask what to put on their itinerary, they want to know what they can plan on, not what might happen. So if the chamber gets a new event going, it should schedule it that far out, she said.

The First Night idea would allow a full year of planning, Hugger said.

Other ideas included a block party with a possible street closure; Lee Street used to get shut down so people could slide down Tucker Hill, participants said.

Several attendees liked the idea of a townwide scarecrow festival; Monique McRae recalled seeing a woman, man and child stopping to take a photo with the scarecrows on the municipal building lawn. The scarecrows came from the Wiscasset Parks and Recreation Department’s annual scarecrow festival, held on the lawn.

Describing the picture-taking scene she observed, McRae said, “We could have that all through town.”

Scarecrows around town, including ones people could make for their own homes and businesses, could be a variation on the theme of decorated pumpkins around Damariscotta during Pumpkinfest, participants said. Pumpkinfest came up a number of times as speakers cited its size and success.

Pumpkinfest has something going for it that a Wiscasset event might also need to reach that magnitude, Les Fossel of Alna said: A couple donates to groups whose members volunteer for Pumpkinfest, he said.

“I’m sorry, but money counts.” Wiscasset isn’t as rich as Damariscotta, Fossel said. “But ... if you have a good event and someone decides to take it under their wing, you have a good thing.”

Tourism grants can help with costs, Droby said.

For event ideas, she said, “My gut is telling me it’s something about the river.” She suggested a Riverfest. Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission’s economic and community development director, Mary Ellen Barnes, said kayaks could be involved; Patricia Stauble suggested a boat parade.

Talk also turned to publicity, free and paid.

An event’s advertising dollars should be spent all in-state, because the midcoast attracts more in-state visitors than out-of-state ones, Barnes said.

The town needs the free publicity it once got from coverage in major publications, Stauble said. “I would like  to make the New York Times aware that there is more here than Red’s Eats.”

Red’s Eats brings more people into Wiscasset than anything else does, Al Cohen said. He gets asked every day where Water Street is.

Dunbar and Hugger stressed the continuing need for volunteers outside the chamber’s board to help plan and carry out chamber events. Most of the talk’s attendees were either board members or their spouses, Dunbar noted.

Said Hugger, “This town, they don’t want to make the effort, and I have so much passion for this, but if we can’t get other people to be on the bandwagon with us, it doesn’t work.”

After the brainstorming, the group impaneled task forces to start to explore the scarecrow, waterfront and New Year’s ideas and report back at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 10 at Morris Farm. The scarecrow task force garnered the most volunteers.

In an interview afterward, Dunbar said she was feeling encouraged about the prospects for a new event. There was a lot of good energy in the room, she said.