The Minutes were referenced to the written report in the Annual Report. It was moved by Sally Scott and seconded by Peter Kent to accept the 2025 Annual Meeting’s Minutes. The vote to accept was unanimous.

IV. Minister’s Report was referenced to the written report in the Annual Report. Gordie Corzine moved to accept/Sally Scott second, passed unanimously.

V. President’s Report was referenced to the written report in the annual report. Camille Motta moved to accept/Carolyn Corzine second, passed unanimously.

VI - VIII. Treasurer’s Report was referenced to the written report in the Annual Report. Marti Thompson moved to accept/Carolyn Corzine second, passed unanimously.

Auditor’s Report was referenced to the written report in the Annual Report. Marti Thompson moved to accept/Carolyn Corzine second, passed unanimously

Proposed Budget 2025-2026 was delayed until after the proprosed amendments were discussed since those amendments would possibly effect the budget.

IX - XII. Presentation of Awards:

Ministry Award: Bill Smalley presented the Award to Jay Morrisson and Dorothy Stephens [posthumously]

Social Justice Award: not awarded this year

President’s Award: Alisa Manning presented the Award to Marti Thompson and Tricia Sullivan

XIII - XIV. Election of Officers & Nominating Committee

The Chair of the Nominating Committee, Jay Morrison, presented the slate of officers for the 2025-2026 Church year.

Bill Smalley – President, one year term

Sheila Donovan – Vice President, one year term

Alisa Manning - Past President, one year term

Holly Aloha Jaynes – Secretary, two year term

Gordie Corzine - Treasurer – to complete his second year as Treasurer

Jane Cassler - Assistant Treasurer, two year term

Marti Thompson, Patricia Sullivan, to complete their second year as Trustees

Meg O’Hare – Trustee, two year term

Margaret Clark, Ellen Gariepy – Auditors, one year terms

Paul Tremblay - Silver Trustee, one year term

Lynn Biddle, Peter Kent, Naushad Variam - Bartlett Fund Trustees

Linda Weltner, Jean Hamburg, Andre Womble – Nominating Committee

There were no nominations from the floor.

Marti Thompson moved to accept/Carolyn Corzine second, passed unanimously

XV. Installation Ceremony

The Ceremony was conducted by Rev Edmund Robinson.

XVI. New Business:

XVII - The following motion was presented by the Board of Trustees

Motion #1

The Board of Trustees do hereby propose the following motion to be introduced and voted upon by the congregation at the Annual Meeting to be held June 8, 2025 as was directed by the congregation at a special meeting held October 27, 2024.

It is so moved that in order to streamline, effectively manage and utilize the existing funds available for use by the UU Church of Marblehead.

The ten shares of Story Fund National Grand Bank stock be sold.

The five shares of UUCM National Grand Bank stock remain held by UUCM:

The John Bartlett Endowment Trust be revoked according to Article VII of the Declaration of Trust from May 7, 2009:

All Story Fund monies, UUCM stock sales proceeds and Bartlett Funds, currently held and potentially donated to in the future, are accounted for as the General Fund and held at First Financial Trust.

And the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead are to be revised as follows:

ARTICLE VIII – NOMINATIONS

In paragraph two, 4th row down, delete “the Bartlett Trust”

Article IX – BOARD OF TRUSTEES, section 2

Insert at end of section; The operating budget may include as monthly income 2-4% (annualized) of the General Fund account value at the time in next year’s budget is being prepared. Whenever a budget projects a deficit greater than 10% of the General Fund balance, the budget must be approved by two congregational meetings where the votes are held at least 30 days apart, and 2/3rds approval of the budget are required at both meetings.

Section 12:

Replace the first sentence: “John Bartlett Endowment Trust (the Bartlett Endowment Trust)” with “General Fund” and replace the last three words of this section “Bartlett Endowment Trust” with “General Fund”. ADD SENTENCE: The General Fund is defined as monies which either had been or will be donated to the previously named Bartlett Trust, The Story Fund, the previously owned National Grand Bank shares and it consists of all liquid, unrestricted financial assets of the church.

Add new section:

13: STORY FUND

The Story Fund is a sacred resource for the charitable purpose of relieving, through confidential grants, the poor of the parish, understood to be persons of the UUCM community. The interpretation of “the poor” and “parish” is left to the judgement of the Story Fund Trustees, namely the President, the Secretary and the Treasurer, with the church’s trust in their accountability. The Story Fund balance is reset by the Treasurer to $60,000 each Fiscal Year from the General Fund.

Respectfully Submitted,

Board of Trustees.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Motions to Amend the afore-presented motion:

Amendment No 1 – made by Mark Wilhelm and seconded by Roxanne Campbell

To delete the sentence that is crossed out at the end of the paragraph

Article IX – Board of Trustees

Insert at end of section: The operating budget may include as monthly income 2 to 4% (annualized) of the General Fund account value at the time the next years’ budget is being prepared. Whenever a budget projects a deficit greater than 10% of the General Fund balance, the budget must be approved by two congregational meetings where votes are held at least 30 days apart, and two thirds approval of the budget are required at both meetings.

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>>Vote on the Amendment above – Not Passed – 6 Yeas, 31 Nays, 2 Abstain

Amendment #2 – made by Bill Smalley and seconded by Peter Kent

This Amendment is edited as follows in the Board’s original Motion – the Motion is copied, the deletions are the struck out words and for additions, the words are underscored in the original motion. The unstruck words and the non-underscored words have been left alone.

It is so moved that in order to streamline, eﬀectively manage and utilize the existing funds available for use by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead:

The 10 shares of Story Fund National Grand Bank stock be sold,

The 5 shares of UUCM National Grand Bank stock remain held by UUCM,

That The John Bartlett Endowment Trust NOT be revoked according to ARTICLE VII of the Declaration of Trust from May 7, 2009.

And that all the Story Fund monies including the proceeds from the sale of the Fund’s NGB stock, UUCM NGB’s stock sale proceeds and Bartlett funds, currently held and potentially donated to in the future, and that are referred to in Motion #1 as are accounted for as the General Fund and held at First Financial Trust, be incorporated into The John Bartlett

Endowment Trust. Those funds would continue to be held at the First Financial Trust or another equally reputable Investment Trust.

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>> Vote on the Amendment above – Not Passed

Continuing...

and the bylaws of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Marblehead are to be revised as follows:

2a. Amend the following changes to the By-Laws and make the following deletions [crossed out words] and the following insertions [underscored words] to Motion #1:

ARTICLE IX- BOARD OF TRUSTEES, section 2

Insert at end of section: The operating budget may include as monthly income 2 to 4% (annualized) of the General Fund account value at the time the next years’ budget is being prepared. Whenever a budget of the Annual Operating Account projects a deficit greater than 10% 6% of the General Fund The John Bartlett Endowment Trust balance as of the nearest month end date to the preparation of the Annual Operating Account’s budget, the such budget must be approved by two congregational meetings where votes are held at least 30 days apart, and two thirds approval of the budget are required at both meetings.

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>> Vote on the Amendment above – Not Passed – 13 Yeas, 18 Nays, 1 Abstain

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>> Vote on the Amendment above – Not Passed – 8 Yeas, 17 Nays, 2 Abstain

Continuing...

Add a New section to ARTICLE IX- BOARD OF TRUSTEES:

13: STORY FUND

The Story Fund will be established as a separate Restricted Fund, called The Story Fund and it is a sacred resource for the charitable purpose of relieving, through confidential grants, the poor of the parish, understood to be persons who are part of the UUCM community. The interpretation of “the poor” and “parish” is left to the judgement of the Story Fund Trustees, namely the President, the Secretary and the Treasurer, and with the Church’s trust in their accountability. The Story Fund balance is will be reset by the Treasurer at the direction of the Board of Trustees to $60,000 each Fiscal Year from the General Fund The John Bartlett Endowment Trust.

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>> Vote on the Amendment above – Not Passed – 13 Yeas, 17 Nays, 0 Abstain

Amendment #3 made by Mark Wilhelm and seconded by Deb Ketola was withdrawn by Mark Wilhelm and Deb Ketola after disussion that it was no longer applicable.

The original motion of the Board of Trustees was Called, read and voted on.

>> Vote on the Original Motion – Passed – 21 Yeas, 5 Nays, 1 Abstain

XVIII PROPOSED BUDGET 2025-26 was referenced to the written report in the Annual Report and explained by Gordie Corzine. Marti Thompson moved to discuss/Carolyn Corzine seconded.

Budget was presented by Gordie Corzine and discussed.

XIX. There was an Amendment to the Proposed Budget of FY 2025-26 made by the Long Range Planning Committee – Marti Thompson, Patricia Sullivan and Sheila Donovan

Amend the Article X as follows:

Article X - COMMITTEES

Add a new paragraph after 1st paragraph:

Any expenditure planned by any committee or Trustees that exceeds $10,000, excluding those that have already been approved in such year's Operating Account’s Annual Budget, is required to be approved by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees before commencing.

Motion made by Marti Thompson and seconded by Craig Gariepy.

Amendment discussed and the Question was called and then voted on.

>> Vote on the Amendment above – Passed – 26 Yeas, 1 Nays, 2 Abstain

XIX. There was a Motion made to adjourn and was passed unanimously.

Adjournment: 3:30pm

Respectively submitted by

Holly Aloha Jaynes, Secretary

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Minister’s Report - 2026

WORSHIP SERVICES and SERMONS 2025-26

Sept. 7, 2025. Ingathering and Water Ceremony

Sept. 14, 2025. Jennifer Whitten, guest

Sept. 21, 2025. Checks and Balances in nature and politics

Sept. 28, 2025 Republic of Lies How can a government exist when it is based on untruth?

Oct. 5, 2025 Judge not, that ye be not judged. What is judgment and can we live without it?

Oct. 12, 2025. “We Hold These Truths” this weekend was called Columbus Day during most of my lifetime; now Trump wants to bring back Columbus Day. What does that do to our attitude towards Native Americans, let alone to descendants of slaves. What happens to the essential elements of the American Creed when we have a regime bent on erasing it from national life?

Oct. 19, 2025 “How Does Religious Naturalism Speak To Us?” UUs stand out on the present religious scene as being one of the largest and oldest denominations descended from Judaism and Christianity which do not require of their members a belief in God. People who follow a non-theistic faith within the walls of a UU church have several different labels to choose from: atheist, agnostic, humanist. Now there is a relatively new non-theistic faith flavor on the scene: Religious Naturalism. What is it and how does it differ from the other divisions of our spiritual smorgasborde?

Nov. 2, 2025 : “All Souls’ Remembrance: Who Owns the Past?” We will perform a ritual where we can each name out loud a deceased loved one. We can also think about the politics of re-erecting the statues of Confederate soldiers and officers, and restoring Confederate names to US military bases.

Nov.9, 2025: “Is Free Will an Illusion?” One of the oldest debates in philosophy still has power to vex us today as we teeter on the edge of creating a computer that exhibits something like consciousness.

Nov. 16, 2025 “Vengeance Is Mine, Sayeth the Lord” we have a

President who is spending a great deal of government time and money and attention trying to exact retribution — vengeance — on his perceived political enemies. He is making a bad situation worse. What are we supposed to do with old feuds?

Nov. 23, 2025. “The Attitude of Gratitude” what are the spiritual values of maintainiung an awareness of Thanksgiving.

Nov. 30, 2025 “A Gratitude Abecedarian,” Jennifer Whitten, guest preacher

Dec. 7, 2025 “The Birth of Christmas”

Dec. 14, 2025 “The Living Nativity.”

Dec. 21, 2025 “Don’t Let the Light Go Out: A Celebration of Hanukkah”

Dec. 21, 2025 6 pm “Come Into the Dark: a Winter Solstice Celebration.

Dec. 24, 2025 ( Wassail at 6, Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols at 7:30)

Dec. 28, 2025 Sharing Service with UU Ch of Greater Lynn (Swampscott)

January 11 2026 Bootstraps and Stilts.

The Trump administration claims the right to shoot in self-defense, but that plea is only available to a party who is without fault in bringing on the difficulty. You can’t attack another party and then claim that your actions were all in self-defense.

January 18 2026 Can social change take place without violence? Certainly, but only when the conditions are right. The theory of nonviolence was articulated by Rev. Aiden Ballou, a Universalist Minister of the mid nineteenth century, and Ballou was read by Leo Tolstoy who was read by Mahatma Gandhi who was read by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 25, 2026 Why Do the Wicked Prosper? Because the world is unjust, but more particularly because the system of rewards and punishments does to deliver either just societal outcomes nor morality on the individual level.

February 1, 2026 Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope. This features a recent book about the American Civil Rights movement, which the author thinks is most clearly viewed as a tragedy, rather than a romantic lens or an ironic one.

February 8, 2026 Guest preacher Ken Reaves on ownership.

February 15, 2026 Radical Universalism Beyond Identity. A recent book proposes that a sort of secular universalism is what is needed to keep Enlightenment Values alive in this age when the right is so ascendant.

February 22, 2026 The Banjo in Black History

March 1, 2026. The Promised Land: A Historical Essay on the Palestinian-Isaraeli Hostilities

March 8, 2026 Purpose and the Great Worm In the Sky. Does the universe show any signs of moving in one overall direction. Reflections on a great poem by Stanley Kunitz.

March 15, 2026 Outrage from Left and right. The United States has started a war which has no purpose that anyone can articulate.

March 22, 2026 Has Assassination Become a Technique of Military Strategy?

April 5, 2026 Easter Sunday Practice Resurrection

April12, 2026 National Poetry Month, Poet Erica Funkhouser, pulpit gues

April 19, 2026 The meaning of “Spirit of Life” to a Transgender Woman, with Lindsey Marie Straus.

April 26, 2026 Happy (B)earth Day, Henry David Thoreau. What would the Great Naturalist think of such issues as Climate Change and air/water/earth pollution?

May 3, 2026 Membership Sunday in which we welcome new members to this church.

May 10, 2026 Motherhood Isn’t All Apple Pie. A critical look at present-day motherhood for Mothers’ Day.

May 17, 2026 Glimmers Mac Perkins-High

Overview The great shift of this past year was hiring Mac Perkins-High into the dual positions of Coordinator of Congregational Life and of Religious Exploration. We have all enjoyed his enthusiastic presence and approach to our common journey.

Blessings on us all!

Edmund

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2026 Reports

Report From the President (2026)

I want to say that it has been a privilege to serve as your President this year. And also to serve with this year’s Board of Trustees. We accomplished a lot, but as always, lots more to get done…

Community Life – Religious Exploration

We started the year off with a jolt – John Newhall, our Community Life and Coordinator of Religious Exploration decided in August to continue his work at another church. Sheila Donovan and I worked with John to have a good transition and we wished him well on his new journey.

We were fortunate to hire Mac Perkins-High through the diligence of the Search Committee under the leadership of Alisa Manning with the help of Lindsey Passaic Frank, Tricia Sullivan and Edmund Robinson. Mac started with us in the first of the year and has helped us in those areas greatly. We look forward to more from Mac in the coming months supervising the Summer Services and planning more Community Life and Religious Exploration activities in the fall.

To help Mac, we formed a committee that absorbed Membership, Hospitality, Sunday Morning Greeters and Religious Exploration. The initial committee members were – Mac, Alisa, Chair, Edmund and current chairs Carolyn Corzine, Roxanne Campbell, and also Christine Krom.

Board Retreat

In October, we had our Board Retreat with UUAs North East Region’s facilitator wren bellavance-grace. We came away from this very positive day with these priorities to do this year:

a. Greeters – bolster and train Greeters to build support

b. Story Fund and its mission – disclose information to members better

c. Transportation to UUCM – point person to handle those needing transportation; parking

d. Info/in-service – where outside people can find things all UUCM – use the internet more: sermons, eBlast, etc.

e. Staff Question – staff status on contracts – Minister, Administrator

f. Strengthen bonds with UU Church Neighbors – Bill meets monthly with the Presidents of Swampscott and Salem which is being expanded to Beverly and hopefully Danvers. Very positive. We are publicizing each others events, planning joint events, and learning from each other.

g. Strengthen Meeting House Series – we put money in the budget for speaker fees

More action will happen in these areas as we go into next year.

One thing that this Board has ‘assigned’ to the next Board is to review the benefits of the employees to possibly make them more equatable and to formalize their employment records.

Rehire Rev Edmund Robinson

In February we decided to rehire Edmund Robinson for another year through July 2027, as an Annual Contract Minister. He will guide us with his Interim Ministry experience in finding a Contract to Call Minister. Such ministers are contracted on a yearly basis and if we and they agree that we want to continue the Ministry on a permanent settled basis, we can do that. If we both find out that the Ministry is not working, then we part company amically.

Room Use

The Board agreed to allow Tricia Sullivan to use a room for exercise and wellness counseling. Any money collected will go to Casa Maraposa. We also rented out one of the rooms upstairs to Holly Aloha Jaynes for her art studio. We will be collecting that rent. We also agreed that Holly could start a Sunday Evening Meditation Group. It is doing very well and will continute during the summer and longer.

We rented out our space to the Mugford Street Players for their three one-act plays – Confessions of Love under the direction of John Fogle. We encourage such activities - beside the long-standing Me&Thee Music, which has been so successful over these many decades.

It was brought up to rent out some of our rooms during the week to a ‘nursery school’. The thought was that it would bring in revenue and possibly some new young members. It was decided not to explore this idea because of the wear and tear on the new renovations, probability of new building codes and the fact that such activity doesn’t necessarily bring in new members.

Second Collections

We agreed to have two second collections – one for Family Promise, who we had use our space many years ago for sleeping for homeless people and one for Casa Maraposa and an Episcopal church in Salem for the food benefit of needed people. Both were very generous collections, showing our realization of the need in our area. We matched the latter collection from our Annual Budget – Community Activities. Also our Marblehead Food Bank basket is almost full every Sunday. Thanks to Tricia Sullivan for bringing the food to the “Bank”.

Kudos

We have continued the practice to recognize people monthly who have done ‘above and beyond…’ It is a way of thanking people with a note from Holly, our Secretary.

But the BIGGEST KUDO goes to Teresa Coelho – our Administrator. Without her .. who knows where we would be… Thanks Teresa!!!

… and there is probably more that I can say that we as a Board and as a Church accomplished this year – so I will just say a general – Thanks for all you do for Our Community and the Larger Community. It has been a pleasure being the President of your Board of Trustees.

Bill Smalley

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Report from the Treasurer 2025-2026

My four years as your Treasurer have been ones of great change. Using the same software tools as I inherited, two major objectives have been accomplished. Firstly, we now have complete, accurate and transparent reporting. This is no small achievement given the complexity of a church like UUCM. And, at least as significant, we have succeeded in investing our funds properly and making them available to meet the Church’s needs in a responsible way, growing instead of shrinking with inflation.

In recent years, we’ve departed from ‘balanced’ budgets. We’ve found we can budget with expected deficits, and results usually end up better than the budget. In particular, the fiscal year just completed resulted in a loss significantly less than the budgeted deficit ($45,720).

A minor mistake was made a year ago. A pledge payment of $1,800 was made in May but intended for this fiscal year (after June 1). Unfortunately, the money was included in last year’s results. The Finance Committee agreed that we would leave the published results rather than restate them.

A more complete picture includes over $75,000 in unexpected gifts and $146,000 that is the General Fund’s share of $178,000 in investment value increase (not including the Silver Trust). The General Fund (aka Retained Earnings) includes investment gains, operating deficits and surpluses. It can be considered as our savings. Its value is increasing year on year, despite operating deficits.

A correct analysis of these investment returns shows that we had an annual return rate of 20.4% over the last 12 months, in the First Fidelity Trust account. While we do not expect to enjoy such investment returns in the future, we feel that the FY2027 budget deficit ($53,607) is reasonable.

When we chose First Fidelity Trust, two years ago, we accepted the typical terms that they would receive 1% of the portfolio value each year. But we declined their offer to track our restricted funds separately for us and have tried to be an easy, reasonable customer. Whatever the reason, they’ve never taken any money in two years for their excellent work. Some questions are better left unasked.

The Silver Trust account is also professionally managed, by Trillium (not First Financial). The governing trust only allows us to receive half of the income—interest and dividends. Without access to capital gains, we only earned 11% on the much larger amount invested there. This arrangement is conservative and difficult to change, but I feel it is appropriate for our church’s endowment funds and recommend leaving it alone.

In the past, donors often felt they wanted to limit how their gift could be used. For example, one person, now deceased, loved organ music. But the restricted giving, which became the Hamlin Turner Fund was never adequate to make the old tracker pipe organ a regular part of the music program. So the money can only sit like the organ, unusable.

Another class (fund) is a better example and illustrates our flexibility. Some time ago, there was a plea to get us to continue limited support of Lifebridge. Donations at the time were more than enough for one year. So, I created the Lifebridge class to hold the excess ‘second donation’ giving for their continued support, until it ran out. As planned, it ran out this this year, and support continues as part of the annual budget process. So, expect to see the now empty Lifebridge class disappear.

Finally, we can all be proud of our balance sheet, i.e. Statement of Financial Position. Most significantly, the Church has no debt, not even to itself.

I believe that the very large unrestricted gift we received this year demonstrates that our members are satisfied that UUCM is healthy, financially well and responsibly managed. Moreover, going forward, the membership can be trusted to decide when, where and how much can be used to make the church realize its great potential. What better use for charitable giving, including making the church an estate beneficiary.

Respectfully,

Gordon Corzine

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Religious Exploration & Congregational Life (2026)

I started on in the positions of Congregational Life and Lifespan Religious Exploration in mid-February. Thank you all for being so welcoming since then. I’ve divided this report into a few different sections, with the hopes of making it a little easier to parse:

Sundays:

My typical Sunday has started with attending the morning seminars, which has been a lovely piece of community to be part of. By the time of annual meeting, I will have told a dozen-odd stories during service, as well as three different sermons. From 12-1pm, I have attended our monthly Social Action Committee meetings, and also helped Rev. Edmund run a pastoral discussion on the war in Gaza.

Events:

Over the last few months, I have been organizing small group dinners, with the hopes of getting to meet people more truly than we are able to do during coffee hour; and of providing a time to connect for those who know each other less well. We have had five of these so far, they have been great, and I am looking forward to doing more.

I also worked on planning the retreat at Ferry Beach. I learned a lot from this event, and have some thoughts on how to make a retreat more successful next year should the congregation decide that they’re interested in having one.

I have also organized a number of smaller events, including a boardgame night, song circle, and easter egg hunt.

Behind-the-Scenes:

There is also some work that will have been less obvious to most of you. One of the things that I am most proud of is pulling together a local cohort of UU Religious Educators. We have been meeting every other week since the end of February, both for collegial support and to work on planning some joint curricula and events. Along these lines, I have also been attending retreats/meetings of both LREDA (the liberal religious educator’s association) and the UUMA (the UU minister’s association) when I am able to do so.

The other big behind-the-scenes effort has been pulling together the Congregational Life Committee. This was the vision of my search committee, and became a reality in March by vote of the Board. One goal of the committee was to consolidate a number of smaller committees, so that volunteers would be less stretched-thin and have to do less work in isolation. Another goal is to discern the congregation’s hopes/needs, and another is to support volunteers as they host community events. It is a new committee, but our meetings have been wonderful so far, and I am hopeful that it will be able to provide some meaningful support to our congregants, and make volunteering less of a heavy load.

Future Plans:

Over the summer, I am going to be continuing to organize the small-group dinners, as well as perhaps sprinkling in some small-group lunches into the mix. So far, we’ve had about a quarter of the congregation at one of these dinners, and it is my hope to get to spend time with those who I haven’t yet had the chance to meet.

I will also be coordinating our summer services, which will start on 6/21 and end in September. As usual, I will be taking one Sunday off each month. Otherwise, I look forward to being at each of them and seeing what folks want to contribute. If you are interested in leading a service, please reach out!

Also in the early summer I will be attending LREDA professional days, which is a collegial and development time for our religious educator’s association.

In the fall, we will be running OWL, our faith’s comprehensive sexuality curriculum, in conjunction with a few local partners: the UU churches of Salem, Beverly, and Greater Lynn, as well as Old North Church in Marblehead. Between us, we will be providing OWL for three different age cohorts: K-1, 8th-9th grade, and 11th-12th grade.

I will also be taking on a larger role in coordinating our joint high school youth group, as my Sunday afternoons will be far more open after I finish up some volunteer work that I’ve been doing. I look forward to getting to spend more time with our older kids!

Plans are still up in the air for the spring, but two things I am considering are running the Coming-of-Age program, and coordinating OWL for adults, should there be interest in either of those activities.

On the community life front, I am thinking about helping establish what are variously called “covenant groups” or “small group ministries” — regardless of their name, a place for the same group of people to come together over time, get to know each other, and focus on a particular topic or topics. I am also excited to work on other small events and ways for folks to get to know each other.

I am looking forward to continued collaboration with the Congregational Life Committee, and am excited for what the year will bring!

In faith,

Mac Perkins-High

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Report from the Spring Gala 2026 (A.K.A. Auction Committee) (2026)

The Spring Patriot Independence gala served 50-60 folks with an excellent buffet dinner, appetizers and desserts. The Band " Harmony Rocks" was completely donated. Everything was donated except the Bartender " Happy Juice" found via Substack. Cash and Checks from the Door and Bar totaled $1290, Silent Auction was $2610 proceeds- Less Cost of $350 ( Bartender)- The Gala was a gross $3550. The Budget was $3000 so the overage was $550. With the skits and dancing at the end, we cleared out about 9:30p.m. " Everyone said " The evening was a hit"

Craig Gariepy- Self Appointed Auction Chair.

Quality Team includes Ellen, Carol, John/Christine, Bill, Andre, Paul, Paul, Patricia, Naushad plus loads of donations from many members.

Chair, Craig Gariepy back to the table of contents

Report from the Silver Trust (2025 - 2026)

The principal of the Silver Trust as of May 31, 2025, the start of our fiscal year, was $2,257,467. As of May 12, 2026, the principal totaled $2,506,868. Therefore, the gain in the Silver Trust principal over the past year, with two weeks not accounted for, was $249,401. (By comparison, the comparable gain in 2024-25 was $36,719.) The growth in the trust represents the reinvestment of one-half of the quarterly earnings from dividends and interest earned, and from any increase in the market value of the trust. There are no outside additions to the Trust in any given year.

The remaining one-half of the quarterly earnings from dividends and interest earned was deposited into the church’s operating fund. The Treasurer’s Report will document how much income the church received in this past fiscal year.

Paul R. Tremblay, co-trustee

Report from the auditors (2025 - 2026)

For the 2025-26 year, an audit was done on paper documents, invoices and limited payroll records at the UUCM office in April. Teresa Cohelo was extremely helpful in explaining the records and answered all questions satisfactorily.

Over the course of financial year, periodic spot checks in Quickbook, First Financial Trust and Breeze on line audits verified accuracy of reported transactions and accounts. Any questions were resolved satisfactorily.

In discussion with the Finance Committee members, it is suggested that additional process documentation be done for the Silver Trust check writing requirements involving the check register. Gordie has created and updated an comprehensive guide regarding UUCM finances, and this document will continue to evolve.

Ellen Gariepy and Margaret Clark, auditors

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Report from Building & Grounds (2025-2026)

During the year our seasonal tasks were addressed. Summer: we installed the air conditioners in the DRE room and Minister’s study. Fall: AC’s were removed and stored, outside clean up days, change out the furnace filters, gutters cleaned, put sand, salt and shovels etc. on the Stetson porch. Winter: brought the Christmas tree down, assistance with set up/clean up of Red Bow Fair, put up the wreaths in the Sanctuary for advent (then take down and return to storage), and coordinated with the snow removal contractor in the heavy snow this year – including removal of the snow on the roof!!! Spring: coordinated with the Irrigation and Landscaper contractors, repaired and put in the screens.

It is worth mentioning our November work day was very successful. Raked, mowed, hauled leaves and trimmings from all the hedges and lawn to the dump [20plus bags], replaced batteries, checked exit lights, replaced worn chair and table pads to protect our new floor, glued loose table legs, and worked on lavatory ‘problems’.

We – and really you, the members - returned in the Springtime and did the whole yard work all over again - We would like to thank everyone who turned out for work days, your help is very much appreciated… and saves us some landscaping money.

It should be noted that we are always trying to be aware of the smaller things that need attention such as battery changes, sticky doors, corner guards, burned out lights, wax around the Candle Table, stains on the Nichols Library carpet. So please let us know – what needs to be done.

And of course some ‘big’ things as well - supervising the weekly cleaning company, having plumbers in to clean out and fix old fixtures and pipes, fire alarm and extinguishers checked and replaced, and having the electrician and us fill out the insurance electrical and historic forms, and more.

We ordered 10 new bridge tables to replace the 1940s tables that we have been using all these years… and decades… we shared the cost with the PCAs. We also ordered an air purifier for Teresa’s office. And we made Mac’s office livable and got Holly’s rental in the upstairs “RE” room ready for her art studio. We are coordinating with the Me&Thee, the upgrade and changes with the technical equipment and cables.

There are also some larger projects that are ongoing. We have investigated the proper process of maintaining our sensitive administrative and financial records. How long do we need to keep them, which should be under lock and key, which should be shredded after review and how is it best to accomplish this. This project will be on-going over the year and into the future years.

Also we are planning to have the church exterior painted this summer [looking for good painters – know any???], install new exterior lighting and replace security cameras, and we are looking at replacing or cutting the ‘overgrown’ bushes in the front of the church building.

B&G currently has a To Do list of approximately 20 items, some more important than others, when we clear a few there always seems to be a few more that are added on.

We are pleased with all the positive comments that we received from the Kitchen Refresh that happened over last summer… glad you all liked it.

We want to especially thank John Butler – AGAIN - for weekly taking out and replacing all the trash bins Sunday and Monday, so that the town will pick up our trash. Thanks John… Bet you can’t wait for the extra large new trash bins…:-)

B&G would like to thank you all for your assistance and suggestions as we try to keep our wonderful building open and welcoming.

B&G Committee

Hilary Doliber, Susie LaBrie, Bill Smalley, and Mark Wilhelm

Memorial Garden 2025-2026

There were no interments between June1st, 2025 and May, 31st, 2026.

Christine van Gemert

Book Stall Report 2025-2026

The bookstall continues with modest sale results, $25 the most recent amount collected.

Christine van Gemert

Report from the Financial Stewardship (2025-2026)

Thank you to all who stepped up to pledge. We received a total of 52 member pledges and 2 non-member pledges totaling $164,370. New members have been added to the rolls and for various reasons four others did not renew.

Respectfully submitted

Matt Frank and Sheila Donovan,

co-chairs

Respectfully submitted by Sheila Donovan and Matt Frank, Co-chairs

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Report from the me&thee Music (June, 2026)

Our church’s Me&Thee Music series completed it’s 56th season after presenting 12 performances from September 5, 2025 to May 15, 2026. The season was shortened when severe snow this past winter led to a show’s cancellation on February 20th and extremely slow ticket sales led to a mutual agreement with the performer to cancel a second show on April 17.

Overall, because of fewer shows, the rough winter weather, the economy, the lack of any sold-out performances and other factors, attendance during this season was off by 35% compared to our 2024-2025 season. Nevertheless, because of good volunteer management and dedication, the Me&Thee continued to operate without a financial loss.

Since we re-opened following the pandemic in March, 2022, the Me&Thee has welcomed more than 6500 people to our shows and the future continues to look bright.

The season began in August with our Annual Volunteer Party, moved this year to UUCM, where we talked about the organization, enlisted new volunteers, and current volunteers signed on to take new responsibilities. Current Talent and Booking Coordinator Robin Miller continues to do a stellar job in negotiating with our touring acts who travel from all over the world to come to the Me&Thee, which has a positive international reputation.

This season, The Honey Badgers from the mid-Atlantic premiered on our stage, The Tannahill Weavers traveled here directly from Scotland, Ellis Paul traveled here from the midwest, Garnet Rogers came here from Canada, Eric Anderson and Lucy Kaplansky came to Marblehead from New York City. Others are well-known New England talents including Sally Rogers, Claudia Schmidt, Seth Glier, Antje Duvekot, Guy Van Duser and Billy Novick. One special performer - Terese Inês - traveled to our Me&Thee stage from the UUCM Church Office presenting her Brazilian jazz to a deeply appreciative audience!

Under the leadership of Board Member Doug Moon, and working with the Church, the Me&Thee Board voted to continue to design, fabricate and install some major technical improvements to benefit both the music series and UUCM for audio and video enhancements. These improvements have been financed through the Me&Thee budget.

The Me&Thee Board renewed its membership in the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, Discover Marblehead and SESAC Music Licensing which covers performance rights for all music at UUCM including on Sunday mornings. We continued to collect donations for the Marblehead Food Pantry at every Me&Thee performance.

Even with the downturn in attendance and presenting fewer shows, at the end of 2025, the Me&Thee contributed $2,000 to UUCM as part of our agreement with the BOT. In addition, at the end of May, the Me&Thee contributed an additional $4914.78 to UUCM for a total contribution during this season of $6,914.78.

In May, Gordie Corzine retired as Treasurer of the Me&Thee, a post he has held for decades. We extend a heartfelt thank you for his years of work and dedication! Bill Gleason, who with his wife Carol, were longtime staff members in the 1980’s and ’90’s, is rejoining the Me&Thee Board as our new Treasurer. Bill has owned his own technology company for decades.

As stated clearly in our Memorandum of Understanding with UUCM, signed April 1, 2010: The Me&Thee “is explicitly not a fund-raising function for UUCM” but has “a mission to provide high-quality, live entertainment, principally music, for the community at large.” The Me&Thee’s stated mission is “Music. Friends. Community.”

Every volunteer of the Me&Thee recognizes that this 57 year tradition has been a labor of love to support musicians from all over the world while bringing first class performers to our beautiful Sanctuary within a caring community. We also recognize that it is only through the support of UUCM to sponsor the Me&Thee that we can continue to operate what is the longest running, all-volunteer acoustic music venue in the country! Thank you for your continued support.

The Board of Me&Thee Music

Gordie and Carolyn Corzine, Cliff Garber, Bill Gleason

Robin Miller, Doug Moon, Marlaine Potter, Anthony Silva, Paul Travis, Katherine Zuccala.

June, 2026

Membership (2026)

The responsibilities of the Membership Committee are to Greet people as they enter the Sanctuary Sunday morning and provide them with an Order of Service, and if they are new, offer them a name tag.

They are also responsible for Taking the Offering.

Greeters/Ushers are also expected to recognize and visit with new or recent attendees; inviting them to Coffee Hour, answering questions and getting to know people as bit, and facilitating their getting on the mailing list for the eBlast etc..

Everyone not just Greeters are expected to make people welcome, and we have a reputation for being a welcoming and friendly congregation

Once a year we Welcome new people into Membership, and it is up to the members of the Membership Committee to explore with people their interest in joining the church and to facilitate the process if they are interested.

This year Carolyn tried to expand the Committee, and recruit new Usher/Greeters who would take a monthly rotation in the role. Christine Krom, Charlotte Travis, and Carol Thompson agreed to do so, and it worked smoothly. Now this Committee is being absorbed into the Congregational Life Committee.

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Report from the Music Director (2026)

The great Ella Fitzgerald said, “The only thing better than singing is more singing.” Truer words have never been spoken and we have had a wonderful year of choral and congregational singing. While the choir is small it is mighty in spirit and action. I am so grateful for the choir’s dedication (and tolerance!) as we have worked throughout the year.

Endless thanks to the tech team. They make us look and sound good in multi-platform worship. We began to explore the UUA’s “Virtual Hymnal” this year, and I look forward to seeing what develops for the platform in year 2 and how we might bring more of its contemporary UU voices into our worship. It’s been great to get to know our newest staff addition Mac Perkins-High and to work on a couple of services together.

An update on our lovely piano which is now in its mid-forties. As we all know, maintenance is the secret to good aging, and our piano technician has shared that the piano needs a pinblock replacement. Simply put a compromised pinblock degrades the tuning process and if not addressed will make tuning impossible. This is a complex job, and I will be speaking with piano rebuilders to be recommended by our tech to determine next steps. More to follow.

And if we haven’t mentioned it lately, the choir rehearses most Thursday nights, and all are welcome to join our merry band. Studies confirm that singing is good for your health and wellbeing so check us out!

Karen Gahagan, Music Director

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Report from the Nominating Committee (2026)

The Nominating Committee respectfully submits the following slate of nominees for election at the 2026 Annual Meeting for the next calendar year.

Position

Term

2026-2027 nominee

2025-2026 Nominee

President

1 year

Bill Smalley

Vice President

1 year

Jess Callado-Aleman

Sheila Donovan

Past President

1 year

Marti Thompson

Alisa Manning

Secretary

2 years (1 year left)

Holly Aloha Jaynes

Treasurer

2 years

Alisa Manning

Gordon Corzine

Assistant Treasurer

2 years

Jane Casler

Trustee

2 years

Janet Winocour

Marti Thompson

Trustee

2 years

Cathy Kashner

Trish Sullivan

Trustee

2 years (1 year left)

Merideth [Meg]O'Hare

Auditor

1 year

Gordie Corzine

Ellen Gariepy

Auditor

1 year

Andre Womble

Margaret Clark

Silver Trustee

1 year

Paul Tremblay

Nominating Committee

1 year left of a three year term

Andre Womble

Nominating Committee

2 years left of a three year term

Jean Hamburg

Nominating Committee

3 years left of a three year term

TBD

Linda Weltner

Long Range Planning Committee

1 year

Vice President

VP: Sheila Donovan

Respectfully submitted,

Andre Womble, Jean Hamburg, Linda Weltner

Report from the Over 60 Gang (2026)

Submitted by Bill Smalley

The Over 60 Gang met in the Nichols Room from 9:30 to 11:30 on the second Saturday of every month during 2025-2026. We met both in person and on Zoom. We don’t admit it, but Zoom is somewhat of a god-send to us as we get older and like to ‘sleep late’…. But it also allows those who have moved away – Hugh Stewart, Mary Gardner ~ one has to stay up late, while the other has to get up early ~ to ‘come back’ via zoom – a real plus! And also it is good to have Judy Whipple Leef join us as well – tho she moved away a long time ago and lives in our time zone in Virginia.

Our meetings begin with an Opening Reading, then a check-in that sometimes leads to a topic for discussion. It also allows us to know what is happening in each other’s lives, and provides an opportunity to offer support, sympathy, or congratulations. Close friendships that have developed as a result continue to deepen. Our meetings end with a Closing Reading.

Interesting and informative topics we discussed this past year were those of interest to people our age, as we confront the reality of getting older. Some of those discussions and topics covered our daily needs of maintaining our personal homesteads and yards, downsize to a smaller residence or go into Senior Housing – and all that goes into that decision and ‘clean out’ of years of our ‘valuable possessions’ - , the absolute joy of our daily care-taking of our beloved dogs, [and the dangerous Marblehead sidewalks, ugggg], the beauty of taking care of our gardens and all of their wonder, and the limited traveling that we do manage.

And of course about the ‘weather and our latest aches and pains…’. All good discussions...

New members who have celebrated their 60th birthdays are always welcome.

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Report from the Pastoral Care Associates (2026)

2026 was a busy year for the PCAs. We met each month to discuss Persons in Need of services (PINS), we hosted monthly community potlucks that had 30-40 members and community people, provided food, transportation, cards, flowers and companionship to members, helped establish Caring for the Caregivers group, and led the Memorial Day Service.

Next year we would like to add another member to our group.

Submitted Tricia Sullivan and John Butler co-chairs

Nancy DeMuth Secretary, Judy Dunlop, Sheila Donovan, Sheila Cran-Barry, Holly Aloha Jaynes, Sally Scott

Report from the Shared ministry (2026)

Rev. Edmund Robinson Minister

Susie La Brie, Chairperson,

Members Christine VanGemert,Jay Morrison and Hazel Grenham

The Committee and Minister Rev. Edmund Robinson met on the third Tuesday of each month. We used Zoom during winter months and we met in person at UUCM Spring,Summer and Fall. After check in,we address areas of interest and concern.

The purpose of the committee is to provide congregation feedback and support for and to the minister. We are the bridge of communication and resolution delivering with care and kindness. Monthly meeting notes are sent to the UUCM Board of Trustees. Edmund shares his proposed topics for sermons, and suggests changes in the Order of service. While Committee members provide feedback regarding congregation responses, suggestions to engage and welcome new and old. His sermon delivery is mesmerizing as he artfully connects historic religious sources with current world events.

A string musician, Rev. Edmund integrates a variety of instruments and songs to enhance his sermons. UUCM has been most fortunate to have Edmund share his depth of spirituality, intelligence, experience and creativity in guiding us toward the next chapter in UUCM’s spiritual development and growth.

Rev. Edmund has shared a most authentic presence, is easily approachable and genuinely caring, evident in his attendance at most all events within our community and beyond. He has a strong interest and support for Social Justice aligned with our congregation. Edmund listens keenly and makes a sincere effort to acknowledge requests or suggestions. It has been our pleasure to serve with Edmund Robinson as members of the UUCM CoSM.

Submitted by Hazel Grenham for the Committee

Report from the Red Bow Committee (2025-2026)

On December 6, 2025 UUCM held its Annual Red Bow Fair during Marblehead’s Christmas Walk.

We started a bit late – suggest we plan out the whole year’s events during the summer – get the dates on the calendar and the chairs of the events in place – but we came through OK – we raised about $3,700 for the church vs a budget of $3,000.

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We took one of the suggestions of the prior year – to have a ‘theme’ – we choose Chocolate. We gave out free Hot Cocoa and had some chocolate tasting and fudge tasting tables that did all right. We weren’t able to entice anyone to buy raffle tickets for a Hersey Chocolate [Gingerbreadd] House, so the Clark children got the best of that deal.

We introduced the Baskets again – but we planned it on a very small scale – which grew bigger every day – and it sold 99% of the Baskets – so maybe ‘they are back…’ but we suggest to go easy…

The Bake table had a lot of chocolate on it as well as the standard offers – so that did well. The Cafe also offered some chocolate desserts which also made a hit. So maybe a food theme might work out in future years also – a theme is a positive PR asset.

The Gift table made a good showing because of a few ‘high’ priced items along with their usually good standard gifts.

The Greens and Floral items sold very well, but the cost of the items always affects their net. But it is the Holiday Times.

And of course – the White Elephant came through with the usual sales that kept that at the top of the money list.

Rounding out the other tables – there was the Olive Oil from Palestine, Books in the Nichols room, Spin the Wheel. and Ornaments for the Holiday Tree – they all added to the total.

Recommendations for next year – start early, have a theme, advertise, advertise, advertise [though we had good newspaper PR], we had some great storytelling but to an audience of only a few people. We visited Old North’s who has their Fair before Thanksgiving and the only real difference was that they had a Silent Auction – vacation homes, sailing trips, etc – which we think made them a lot of money – so that is something to think about.

All in all – a lot of work which helped unite the Community and fill the coffers. A Big Thanks goes out to all whole helped make it a successful day.

Bill Smalley

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Report from the Social Action Committee (2025-2026)

The Social Action Committee (SAC) meets in the Nichols Room the 3rd Sunday of every Month. Meetings are very well attended with 10 to 16 people attending. We maintain a bulletin board in the hallway to highlight the social justice concerns supported by members.

During the past year members have been most concerned with the Trump administration’s attacks on immigrant communities, especially sending ICE into cities and states that oppose him. In collaboration with other groups, many members of the Committee and the church at large have participated in No Kings rallies, and weekly local protests; and showed up to protest at ICE headquarters in Burlington.

In addition the Committee has put on a Meetinghouse Series Event showing the Media Ed film Digital Disconnect about the subversion of the supposedly democratizing internet by monopolistic corporations. Prof. Rebecca Haines from Salem State College led the follow-up discussion.

We also discussed the possibility of holding a Series event about Transgender identity, but decided instead to support the national UUA version of the program, held at the UU church in Essex, which several of us attended. We were most engaged by the testimonies of transgender folks about their experiences, and may consider producing such a program in the future.

At present we are planning a Fall Event on Christian Nationalism and exploring formats and speakers.

As a Committee we support the justice work of the Essex County Community Organization, and the feeding program of Life Bridge. To support the families whose bread winners have been taken into custody by ICE, we have raised money for gift cards from Market Basket to be distributed in Lynn by Jean Hamburg and Salem by Father Michael of the St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The Board of Trustees voted to double the amount collected from the congregation.

Carolyn Corzine, Chair of the SAC

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Welcoming Congregation – 2025-2026

Affirming the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual + Community [LGBTQIA+] or as Mac would say “the Queer Community...”

In order to continue our desire to be a Welcoming Congregation, we are continuing many of the programs that we have had for several years.

On-Going Education

We have been aware and have reacted, probably not enough, to the continuing Federal Government’s reaction to the GBLT community, and especially the Trans Community. Throughout the year, we continued to educate the Church Community about current events concerning the LGBTQIA+ Community and our responsibilities towards the acceptance of Diversity in our Nation.

While our comments are very positive and heading in the right direction for the recognition and respect of people as they are and choose to be, we have to also remember that not everyone in this country, and every other country, is treated with ‘the inherent worth and dignity’ that they deserve. There is still a lot of work to do. And this is getting more and more true for Trans people – of all ages.

Current Events and Updates

Pride Celebration in Marblehead

In June 2018, through the hard work of Sherry Gagne, Holly Aloha Jaynes and the North Shore Pride Group, they were able to have a rainbow flag raised during the month of June at Abbot Hall. Wendy von Coulter dedicated the first raising and Jenna Crawford dedicated the raising in 2024. It has been raised every year since. This year Marblehead’s pride flag rising is June 14, 11am at Abbot Hall. It will be followed by the second family-friendly pride party at Shubie’s 12-3pm. [for more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/p/Marblehead-Pride-100094006961900/]

Marblehead to mark Juneteenth with music, food and history

The town of Marblehead, in partnership with the North Shore Juneteenth Association, hosted an expanded community Juneteenth celebration June 12 on the Abbot Hall lawn, bringing together residents for an afternoon of music, food, culture and reflection. The free event took place and honored the history, culture and significance of Juneteenth through performances, education and community connection. The celebration featured a Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony, an ROTC color guard presentation, African dance and drumming performances, poetry readings, soul food from Taste of Mae and ice cream.

Pride Marches

Boston

Every year since 1999, our church has gone into Boston to celebrate Boston Pride. The 2026 Pride Parade happened on Saturday, June 6th along with the Pride Worship Service at Arlington Street Church. Mac Perkins-High and Paul Travis made it into Boston. We saw them on zoom that we had set up in Nichols – it was as always a great, fun, honored service.

Salem

Meanwhile, as was noted above – we want to be very active in Marblehead and the North Shore. There will once again be a NS Pride Salem March on Saturday June 27th at 12noon… Rain or Shine.. starting from Shetland Park. Check it out at northshorepride.org/. Come join the fun activities. After the parade there will be activities on the Salem Common until 4pm. We are planning to share a booth with the UUs of Salem and Swampscott.

Pride Celebration at UUCM – Sunday, June 7, 2026

We had a wonderful, spiritual, moving and joyous Pride Sunday on June 7th. There were remembrances, poems, personal stories, songs, history lessons, slides, banners, dancing, laughter, and LOTS of PRIDE at UUCM. Thanks to Holly Aloha Jaynes and Jess Callado-Aleman who shared some personal stories, and of course Mac Perkins-High, Linda Weltner and Karen Gahagan and the choir. We ended dancing to Gloria Gaynor singing on the screens “I Am What I Am”.

Thanks to all… we ARE Family…

Welcoming Congregation Programs at UUA.org

There are a number of programs sponsored by the UUA from which we could continue to benefit. If anyone would be interested in organizing such programs or other events now or in the fall – please see Holly or Bill. In these times, it is essential that we keep our doors open and Welcome everyone into our wonderful community.

Happy Pride to all…

For the Welcoming Congregation

Holly Aloha Jaynes and Bill Smalley

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Long Range Planning Committee (2026)

The Long range Planning group met regularly throughout the year to review productive ways forward. As of the end of May the following items were showing as unfinished business:

Community pancake breakfasts
Greeter training to enhance visitor experience
Have a hot dog stand on parade days
Institute a silent reading group
Explore replacing shrubs in front of the church
Piano tuning more frequently and a different tuner
Start raising funds for a new/rebuilt piano

Respectfully submitted

Marti Thompson

Tricia Sullivan

Sheila Donovan

Report from the Stetson Art Gallery (2025-2026)

September thru January

The gallery has been light on artists exhibiting in the fall of 2025, with only one show.

In January 2026 church member Linda Weltner showed her colorful acrylic paintings.

In February and March church member Robin Crosbie exhibited her wonderful landscapes.

In April Holly Aloha Jaynes stepped down as Stetson Curator after many years. Robin Crosbie graciously has taken this position for Stetson Gallery.

In May (you have this info from Robin)

For the first three weeks of June, church member and Board Secretary,

Holly Aloha Jaynes, exhibited an extensive show of her varied art from over the past 30 years, in Stetson and Holyoke. She showed oil paintings, watercolor, encaustic, collage, assemblage and beaded jewelry.

Submitted by Holly Aloha Jaynes

February and March – Watercolors by Robin Crosbie.

In April, Robin Crosbie agreed to assume responsibility for management of Stetson Gallery. She updated the Guidelines and created an application form, and those are now available on the website. Exhibit photos were also added to website. Photos had not been updated since 2019. There was no exhibit in April, due to the transition.

In May, Diane Fawley exhibited her luminous pastels in May.

Donations to the Stetson Gallery from sold work during February, March and May totaled $150.00

Submitted by Robin Crosbie

Report from Sunday Seminar (2025-2026)

This year the seminar was entirely virtual. Meetings were usually about 25 folk, and most of the talks were by members of the UUCM. Here is a list of our talks for this year:

September 14 `Living in Japan Hugh Stewart

September 21 ` Favorite Books and Films Group

September 28 Introduction to Family Policing Lucy Sprague

October 5 1619 Chapters 11 and 12 Jay Morrison and Lucy Sprague

October 12 Jack Weltner on Spirituality Jay Morrison

October 19 Trauma Carolyn Corzine

October 26 Visions of America Elaine McGrath

November 2 1619 Chapters 13 and 14 Susan Morrison and Rev Edmund

November 9 Afghan Girls’ School Bob McNulty

November 16 Did consciousness come before life? Frank Kashner

November 23 BRICS Frank Kashner

November 30 No Meeting —----------------

December 7 1619 Chapters 15 and 16 Ellen Gariepy and Elaine McGrath

December 14 Saving Clayton Lucy Sprague

December 21 Planning Group

January 4, 2026 Last two chapters of the book 1619 Carolyn Corzine

January 11 Save Clayton Lucy Sprague

January 18 UU 101 Rev. Edmund Robinson

January 25 Why Greenland? Linda Weltner

February 1 Chapters 1&2 of the book Homo Deus Jay Morrison

February 8 Bitcoin Frank Kashner

February 15 Science of Entanglement Gordie Corzine

February 22 The State of the Union. What state are we in? Elaine McGrath

March 1 Psychic abilities Teri-E Belf

March 8 The Ancient Wisdom of the 7 Principles Teri-E Belf

March 15 Unknown Unknown

March 22 The Marblehead Housing Authority Elaine McGrath

March 29 Awareness of Things Teri-E Belf

“Unusual” and “Unbelievable”

April 5 “Homo Deus”, Chapter 3 review Linda Weltner

April 12 Poetry From Within Teri-E Belf

April 19 South American Travels Ellen Gariepy

April 26 Signs of Awareness Teri-E Belf

May 3 Book “Homo Deus” Linda Weltner

May 10 Hospice Lewis Hays

May 17 Unknown Unknown

May 24 South America Craig Gariepy

May 31 South America Craig Gariepy

June 7 Book “Homo Deus” Michael Winocour

June 14 Last Seminar: Planning Group

Respectfully, submitted by Jay Morrison & Janet Winocour

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