Well, it’s Columbus Day weekend, so a tad more than a hundred of us, all members of the First Unitarian Society in Newton are in Orchard Beach, Maine, at the Ferry Beach Camp and Conference Center, a Unitarian Universalist retreat site. No one is precisely sure, at least as I surveyed the gang over breakfast, but it looks like the congregation has been coming here over this weekend for the past forty years, at least.
It is a tradition that if you don’t go, you take the weekend off. So, our visiting preacher at the church, my friend the Reverend David Heald who graciously volunteered to fill the pulpit in my absence probably had two dozen folk in that large old sanctuary.
For those of us who have come to Maine, its a weekend of good company, food made by others, bad jokes, silly games, long walks on the beach, visits to local sites of interest, apple picking and lighthouse gawking. The Fall colors haven’t really set in, so only the hint of Autumn is in the air. For Jan and me it has a bit of the bitter sweet about it, of course, as my departure is announced for the end of this church year and so this will be my last Ferry Beach weekend as minister of the congregation. So many good people. So many lovely people. More than a little sadness tinging the happiness, for me.
Last night we had the “talent” show. It ended with a “Stella Calling” contest and just about all the men went for it. (I was a little surprised none of the women lined up. This is a UU congregation, after all…) When the dust settled the judges announced the winning Stanley Kowalski, who exhibited “steaming sensuality” in his call, was…
Me.
(Some claimed the judging was rigged, others that I got the pity vote. Just jealous, of course…)
Ah, memory…
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