Westport Quakers

Westport Meeting News: 

BLM Sign Vandalized Again: As most Friends know by now, our large Black Lives Matter Sign was was hit again with black spray paint during the overnight hours of Dec 6, 2022. This time vandals pulled the plexiglass covering away from the surface of the sign and painted over the first letter “B” on both sides of the sign. Monthly meeting for business, on Dec 18, approved leaving the damaged sign as is for now, and affixing a large diagonal “strip” sign across both sides that read, “HATE HAS NO PLACE HERE.” The matter was reported to the police, and recently, the Shorelines newspaper did an article on the most recent damage. Friends can read a photographed copy of the article HERE.

NEEDED: MEN’S HATS AND WOMEN’S/MEN’S GLOVES AND MITTENS: The Pilgrim Church Home urgently needs men’s hats and women’s/men’s gloves and mittens to make available to patrons at their morning breakfast program. Please bring these items to the Westport Friends meetinghouse and leave in the meetinghouse foyer. Barbara Sullivan will deliver them to the Pilgrim Church Home in downtown New Bedford. Questions? Contact Barbara at 774-454-1498.

Ministry and Counsel Committee wishes to express its appreciation to John Wojtowicz for managing the Zoom program during worship on Christmas Day so that Friends in the meetinghouse were able to connect with Friends worshiping online via Zoom. Thank you, John!

Ministry and Counsel Committee is also grateful to siblings Jeff Hodge, and Christina Hodge, and to their mom, Jan Hodge for once again for sharing their music during the prelude to our annual Christmas Eve Service, and to Gretchen Baker-Smith at the keyboard for making sure that we were somewhere close to singing “on key” during our sung hymns and Christmas Carols! Thanks also to Marion Athearn, Rebecca Lee Hudson, Buddy Baker Smith, and Pamela Drouin for their readings, to Amy Lee Vieira for serving as “mic runner,” and to Jay Vieira for managing the necessary tech wizardry during the Christmas Eve Service for the folks online. This year’s Christmas Eve printed program is credited to the work of Gretchen who selected the music to be sung, and Betty Ann Lee, who created this year’s annual Christmas Eve Service Program. Thank you, Friends, one and all!!

Westport Writes Program: Westport resident and member of Allen’s Neck Meeting, Midori Evans, creator of the Westport Writes program, announces the following: “The winter prompt is here!  The winter season of Westport Writes runs from December through January, with a Writers Gathering on Jan. 14th at 1 pm in the Macomber Friends Community House and a Library Reading on Thursday, Jan. 26th at 6:30 pm. We’re also looking forward to displaying some of the  middle school student work at the library during the month of January.”  For an update on the Fall season, click HERE.

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Approved previous minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business may be read HERE.