The smoke billowing from the chimney at Sudbury’s Wayside Inn is white.
At today’s one hundredth seventh business meeting of the Fraters of the Wayside Inn, we increased our active number to our traditional twenty-one with the election of the Reverend Frater Carolyn Patierno (all fraters are fraters – what can I say?) minister of the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation in New London, Connecticut.
Congrats Frater Patierno.
For those unfamiliar with the arcane habits of the fraters, there are no dues, but as there are expenses fraters are fined for various infractions of good order and decency.
I escaped with a ten dollar nick because my photograph in the official file seemed too dour. A similar fate was meted out to my roommate the Reverend Dr Frater Walter Wieder whose picture turned out to have been run off an inferior printer and gave his visage a decidedly devilish red cast. (Some objected that it suited. But as objecting is a finable offense this line of conversation was not pursued deeply…)
My mentor the retired minister, the Reverend Frater Scotty Meek was fined ten dollars because in his biography he claimed to “still be alive,” but furnished no proof along with the assertion.
It was by general assent agreed his check would be sufficient proof to prevent his name being stricken from the roles as deceased.
It’s a rough crowd…
Tonight is the annual banquet, which dates from when Henry Ford took an interest in our band and underwrote this event. It’s a more humble activity these days, although it features large cuts of Prime Rib much to the disgust of a number of our younger members, several of whom have lobbied for vegetarian alternatives.
They prevailed, but I fear more fines in the offing…
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In