Westport Quakers

Westport Meeting News: 

Betty Ann Lee, Clerk of Meeting, reminds us that Monthly Meeting for Business will be held this Sunday, July 24, at 8am via Zoom only. A report on how this year’s Book Fair went will be given by our Book Fair Committee Clerk, Gretchen Baker-Smith. 

Book Fair News:

A post 2022 Book Fair Letter to our Book Fair patrons may be read HERE.

A post 2022 Book Fair Reflection by Gretchen Baker-Smith, to our members may be read HERE and below:

Westport Meeting members, attenders, and friends,

Please join me in a cheer of gratitude and teamwork! The 59th Annual Book Fair was an epic success, financially and joyfully. So many people, old and young, contributed to it. Thank you, dear Friends, for responding to calls for help throughout the year, and especially the 2 weeks around the sale. The number of people who helped was really extraordinary! From sorting and pricing throughout the year to putting up signs, carrying tables, covering books, making cookies, cashiering, and many other jobs – Friends showed up and got the jobs done with cheerfulness and enthusiasm. A special thanks to Greg Marsello who continued to guide us through every step of this sale.

The primary goal of the book sale is raising the money we need for our budget. But this year really clarified for me 3 other important openings that the sale provides. 

• It gives us a fun and challenging task to do together that requires many different skills, letting different people’s gifts be seen and well used. Our community is reconnected and energized by the effort together.
• We give the community a loved annual event. They consider the sale one of the highlights of their summer. There were sincere tears and messages of appreciation expressed again and again for “bringing the sale back” after 2 years of the pandemic.
• The level of success of the fair in recent years allows us to give financial support back to the community. Embracing this do-able goal feels like a meaningful and real opportunity for our meeting. The community brings us books to sell, generating money for us, which we can then share back with the community.

I look forward to more conversations about this. There are also many people to thank and many wonderful interactions and stories to share. I’m hoping we can gather together in late August or early September. Stay tuned for a date!

In the meantime, if you have specific reflections, suggestions or notes for next year, please don’t hesitate to share them with me at hellogretchen@gmail.com.

Thank you, Friends, again and again.

Gretchen

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Peace and Social Justice Committee: 

Property Reminder: Please be aware that our regular renter, South Coast Music Together, run by Rhonda Matson, Director, will continue to hold classes for preschoolers on Thursday and Saturday mornings, outdoors, weather permitting, behind the Community House between 9:30 AM and 12:30 PM. Meeting members can of course be on the property also, just be mindful that parents and young children may be using the bathrooms, and lots of wonderful upbeat music will be heard behind the Community House! On Monday mornings until 10:30 AM, try not to park in the front parking lot as the Westport Food Pantry workers are parking there and Food Pantry patrons use our front lot to line up for the Food Pantry held at the Grange in advance of its weekly opening at 9 AM. 

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SAVE THE DATE:

Spinner Publications will be offering a panel discussion on the life and significance contributions of our famed Meeting member, Paul Cuffe, with David Cole, local historian and author of, Paul Cuffe: His Purpose, Partners and Properties. Other panelists will be announced shortly. The event will be held in our Macomber Friends Community House on the afternoon of either Saturday, August 13, or Sunday, August 14. More details to follow. Save the date and attend!  

Midweek worship will continue to be offered each week on Wednesdays at 3:30 PM. Please note that the link for midweek worship is not the same as our regular worship on Sunday. A link for joining Midweek worship (which is the same link each week) will be emailed each week on Wednesday mornings. To insure security, we never post Zoom links on websites or portals visible to the general public. Questions? Contact Kevin Lee.