An earlier MUUF minister popped out of the pages of NEWSDAY on Sunday morning, 14 Oct 01; on page A45, there was the Rev. Capt. Christopher J. McMahon smiling out at us!  Chris served us ca. 1955, was part-time minister out at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Water Mill, and is now Consulting Minister at the UU Fellowship of Bellport, while serving full-time at his Alma Mater, the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, as head of the Global Maritime and Transportation School (GMATS).  The article was occasioned by his appointment as Special Assistant to Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta for Maritime Security.  Can't think of a better man for the job!   (09 Nov 07)

  Guest Interfaith Minister Rev. Mary Willams introduced "Enter In Silence, Leave in Joy" on October 29 and Nov. 4, 2006; there was a meditation period prior to the Fellowship service, beginning at 10:15.  Parishioners were asked to enter in silence and join us then.  Those who preferred to join the group at 10:30, were requested to keep socializing and conversations outside and to enter as quietly as possible.   (04 Mar 07)

SCHEDULE of Upcoming SERVICES and EVENTS

SUNDAY SERVICES - 10:30 A.M.

The Main Event

Summer services are usually lay-led^#.

June 2008

01 Jun - Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
08 Jun - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
    (preceded by Board meeting - all are welcome)
Upcoming Sunday:
15 Jun - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (Affiliate Minister at UU Cong. at Shelter Rock)
    (with Evensong)
22 Jun - Debra Goyenaⁿ (lay speaker)
29 Jun - {tba}

May 2008

04 May - Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
11 May - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
18 May - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (Affiliate Minister at UU Cong. at Shelter Rock)
    (with Evensong)
25 May - S. (Sam) Berliner, III^#

April 2008

06 Apr - Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
13 Apr - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
20 Apr - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (Affiliate Minister at UU Cong. at Shelter Rock)
    (with Evensong)
27 Apr - Rev. Greg Geiger^*

March 2008

02 Mar - Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
09 Mar - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ (preceded by Board meeting)
16 Mar - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (Affiliate Minister at UU Cong. at Shelter Rock)
    (with Evensong)
23 Mar - Norman Roscoe^* (Humanist, member - UU Fell. of Bellport)
30 Mar - Rev. Greg Geiger^*

February 2008

03 Feb - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
10 Feb - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
17 Feb - Debra Goyenaⁿ (lay speaker)
24 Feb - Rev. Greg Geiger^*

January 2008

06 Jan - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (Affiliate Minister at UU Cong. at Shelter Rock)
    (with Evensong)
13 Jan - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
20 Jan - Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
27 Jan - Lissa Gundlach* (UU Ministerial Student)

December 2007

02 Dec - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^*
09 Dec - Rev. Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
16 Dec - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
23 Dec - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^*
30 Dec - Rev. Greg Geiger^*

November 2007

04 Nov - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
11 Nov - Rev. Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
18 Nov - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
25 Nov - no service {too many people were away}

October 2007

07 Oct - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
14 Oct - Rev. Sandra Olsenⁿ {former MUUF minister}
21 Oct - Rev. Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
28 Oct - Rev. Mary Williamsⁿ

September 2007

02 Sep - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* - Homecoming and Ingathering - please bring a small amount of water
    from your summer travels for a ceremony of the waters.
09 Sep - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
16 Sep - Rev. Hollis Huston^* (UU Chaplain)
23 Sep - Rev. Greg Geiger^*
30 Sep - Rev. Mary Williamsⁿ {back from Summer chapliancy; this will be her last visit
                as Mary has accepted a pulpit in Pennsylvania).

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The northwest front, the southwest rear, some of the grounds south of the building, the back of the sanctuary (worship room), and the "coffee" room (social hall), beyond:

 

 
(Photos by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III - 07 Nov 99)
[Thumbnail images; click on picture for large image.]

Recent Past Services
(also not necessarily current):

    * - Visiting UU Minister or Guest UU Speaker.
    n - Visiting Minister or Guest Speaker.
    # - MUUF Parishioner.

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Jul 2006

02 Jul - Church Picnic
09 Jul - S. (Sam) Berliner, III^#
16 Jul - Robert Oppenheimer^#
23 Jul - Frank Oliva^# (substituting for Sal Pappalardo^#)
30 Jul - Else Baer^#)

Jun 2006

04 Jun - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ
11 Jun - Greg Geiger^* (UU Ministerial Student)
18 Jun - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)
25 Jun - Frank Oliva^# (substituting for Sal Pappalardo^#)

May 2006

07 May - Rev. Diane Berkeⁿ
14 May - Rev. Carol Schneider^* (UU Minister)
21 May - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (UU Minister)
28 May - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)

Apr 2006

02 Apr - Rev. Tony Zitoⁿ
09 Apr - Rev. Carol Schneider^* (UU Minister)
16 Apr - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
23 Apr - Elizabeth Putnam^* (UU Ministerial Student)
30 Apr - Rev. Sandra Winterⁿ

Mar 2006

05 Mar - Susan Kitchin^* (UU Ministerial Student)
12 Mar - Rev. Lilia Cuervo^* (UU Minister)
19 Mar - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
26 Mar - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)

Feb 2006

05 Feb - Greg Geiger^* (UU Ministerial Student)
12 Feb - Memorial Service for the Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ -
    POSTPONED because of blizzard;
      the service was rescheduled for Sunday, 26 Feb at 2:00 PM -
        Rev. Brenda Kennedyⁿ officiateD.
19 Feb - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
26 Feb - Elizabeth Putnam^* (UU Ministerial Student)

Jan 2006

01 Jan - (Happy New Year!) - Rev. Tony Zitoⁿ
08 Jan - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ
15 Jan - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)
22 Jan - S. (Sam) Berliner, III^# [substituting]
29 Jan - Rev. Carol Schneider^* (UU Minister)

Dec 2005

04 Dec - Rev. Carol Schneider^* (UU Minister)
11 Dec - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ
18 Dec - Susan Kitchin^* (UU Ministerial Student)
25 Dec - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ

Nov 2005

06 Nov - Elizabeth Putnam^* (UU Ministerial Student)
13 Nov - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ
20 Nov - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
27 Nov - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)

Oct 2005

02 Oct - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)
09 Oct - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ
    (preceded by Board meeting - all are welcome)
16 Oct - Rev. Diane Berkeⁿ
23 Oct - Sam Berliner, III^# - the Berry Street Address (from GA)
30 Oct - Greg Geiger^* (UU Ministerial Student)

Sep 2005

04 Sep - Rev. Tony Zitoⁿ
11 Sep - Rev. Eric Moskowitzⁿ
18 Sep - Rev. Barbara Stoutⁿ
25 Sep - Don Erickson^* (UU Graduated Student Minister)

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Previous services are listed on the MUUF Continuation Page, et seq.

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OTHER HAPPENINGS

@ - event sponsored by Muttontown UU Fellowship
 °  - outside organization using facility.

Singles Group°

In addition to the worship programs, a standing program is offered at the Fellowship; First Fridays, when a lively program is offered by Lilyan Strassman (of neighboring Shelter Rock), offering a lecture, discussion, and activities for 40+ singles, gathering at 8:00 p.m.; wine, cheese, and refreshments.  Call 516-944-4414 for information.   (10 Feb 08)

[Notes: - a) The Singles Group no longer meets on Third Fridays and b) activities led by Rev. Marcia Graceⁿ are no longer held at MUUF; call 516-433-3482.]   (10 Feb 08)

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SPIRIT OF LIFE

    Spirit of life, come unto me
    Sing in my heart all the stirrings of compassion
    Blow in the wind, rise in the sea
    Move in the hand, giving life the shape of justice
    Roots hold me close, wings set me free
    Spirit of life
    Come to me, come to me.

  (first verse of a song by Carolyn McDade, 1981, that has become,
    by popular acclaim, the UU "denominational anthem".)

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Unitarian Universalists believe in:

The worth and dignity of each human being
The freedom of religious expression
The never-ending search for truth
The motive power of love
The necessity of the democratic process
The toleration of religious ideas
The authority of reason and conscience

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The Muttontown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Metro New York District of the UUA.  While non-creedal and having complete congregational polity, we do subscribe to the Purposes and Principles of the UUA.

We are a small, friendly, tolerant, lively, intellectually- and spiritually-nurturing community.  These qualities reflect the beautiful pastoral setting of our 200 year old fellowship house, looking out on two and a half acres of fields and trees.

We have a meeting room and a coffee room, divided by back-to-back 19th century fireplaces, and enhanced by hand-hewn chestnut beams, as well as several smaller meeting rooms.  Our full kitchen serves us well for brunches, dinners, and barbeques held in the fellowship room and on our brick patio and sweeping lawns.  The facilities can be made available for Unitarian Universalist and personal functions, such as weddings, funerals, and memorial services.

    * Speakers                              * Fellowship
    * Discussions                           * Fairs
    * Workshops                             * Picnics
    * Classes                               * Barbeques
    * Concerts                              * Special Events

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*  This building, formerly the Thompson-Layton house, was built
   somewhere between 1766 and 1797, and stands on 2.9 acres; it
   is one of the oldest buildings in this part of Long Island.
*  The present structure combines three different houses, the easternmost
   of which was an original toll house for the North Hempstead Turnpike
   (Northern Boulevard/Route 25A), and was located on the north side of
   (across) the highway as of an 1873 map.  Another may have been the
   gate house and the third the pump house of the original estate.
*  Beams in the meeting room, under the white paint, are believed to be
   chestnut.  Notice the very low ceiling in this room.  Notice that they
   are hand hewn - see the marks of the adze and think of the person who
   made them - and also that two beams appear to be later replacements.
*  If you go into the basement under the meeting room (from outside and be
   sure to duck as you enter), you will see what looks like the original
   planking, over which oak floors were laid at a later date.
*  In the basement are the original walls, about 5' to 6' high (1.5 to
   1.8m - watch out for your head on the beams!).  The wall is made up of
   stones, laid one on top of another.
*  Under the coffee room floor, the foundation wall sits only a few feet
   down, on the dirt ground, and this seems to be carried through under
   the kitchen and the room off the kitchen (now the office).
*  The steep staircase going up from the kitchen indicates considerable
   antiquity as did a former original staircase from the coffee room.

*  A chimney protrudes through the roof in the kitchen area; it is now
   used to vent heat from the two wall ovens.
*  A pair of back-to-back fireplaces, facing inside both the coffee room
   and the meeting room, were the original heating system.  Both
   fireplaces are now closed off and there is an oil burner under the
   worship hall.
*  Notice the similar architecture and fence of our property compared
   with the two adjacent homes directly to the east of us.  A Mr. Riley
   lived there; he spoke to us around 1985 or so and remembered being
   with his grandfather in the Fellowship house.
*  The coffee room was reconstructed between March and August of 1983
   due to the sinking of the foundation.  A sub-basement was added plus
   new wiring, required by the town, under the floor and kitchen areas.
   At this time a steep staircase then located to the north (toward 25A)
   of the fireplace in the coffee room was removed.
*  Famed socialite Brenda Frazier and her friend "Shipwreck" Kelly lived
   here in the 40's# in the brick manor house south of our back road.
   The Calumet (previously Gamboling) Farms facility across our side road
   to the southwest was their stables.  We took title from an Albert C.
   Nolte, Jr., on April 26, 1963, having previously met at members'
   private homes, the Neighborhood House of the Glen Cove YMCA, the
   Grenville Baker Boys' Club and the Lower School of the Friends Academy,
   both in Locust Valley, and lastly at Norway Hall in Glen Head.
*  The Fellowship was founded in 1957 as the "The Unitarian Fellowship of
   Glen Cove".  We incorporated and changed our name to "The Unitarian
   Fellowship at Muttontown" in 1961.  We became "The Muttontown Unitarian
   Universalist Fellowship" in 1987, thus reflecting the inclusiveness of
   the Unitarian Universalist Association.
				    From rough notes by Roy Sanger - Oct 87
         	     {Edited by Sam Berliner, III - Oct 93; revised Dec 97,
                                         see 26 Sep 75 Oyster Bay Guardian)

# - As of 19 Jun 98, a letter from one Trixie Taylor to the Oyster Bay FREEHOLDER (in the spring 1998 issue) states that Brenda Frazier was only born in the early '20s and so could not have known Kelly until '39 or '40 and that she was very prominent in the '40s and '50s!  (Oh, 'tis true, 'tis true!)  This history was published in the Winter 1998 issue with the erroneous dating, "20's".

Incidentally, Kelly (described as "the late" in an article ca. Jun 98) was a friend of Jock Whitney, who knew him as the football hero and Wall Streeter John "Shipwreck" Kelly, described as married to "deb-of-the-century" Brenda Frazier.  Better and better - "ya gotta be a football hero" - Kelly is immortalized by the University of Kentucky's "Individual Old-Time Records (1891-1945)" for Most Yards Rushing, Game - 280 - Shipwreck Kelly vs. Maryville, 1930.  Worser and worser - "Shipwreck" Kelly (1885-1952) was famous for flagpole sitting for long periods of time; he set many flagpole-sitting records.  He sat for 49 days on one flagpole.  He once estimated that he spent a total of over 20,000 hours sitting on flagpoles.  Flagpole sitting was a craze started in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1929.  Happily, for us, it appears that this Kelly was Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly - who set the world's record (seven weeks) for pole sitting (at Atlantic City's Steel Pier).

Some ten years ago, there used to be a unique view through the eastern window in the Worship Room; the greenery outside the window, which faces the seats in normal seating, and is just to the left of the minister as we view him and the pulpit, was growing in such a way that it gave the appearance of a green tunnel going off into infinity.  It has since grown in and the tunnel has disappeared, but it was quite a sight and source of focus for meditation.  Happily, another "tunnel" vista has opened up lately (late 2004).  The south window is a picture window and gives out onto the rear lawn (see photo above) and that aspect has great trees and distance and is most beautiful but it's not the same.

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Partner Church in Transylvania

[newer image now (10 Feb 00) courtesy of the Magyarországi Unitárius Egyház
(The Hungarian Unitarian Church)]

  This emblem, the "Címer", popular in Hungarian and Transylvanian Unitarian churches and the device of the Unitarian denominations in both areas, and which appears on the beautiful, hand-carved, wood plaque sent to us from Bordos, depicts a dove encircled by a serpent - "be a peaceful as the dove and as cunning as the serpent", and often bears, or is accompanied by, the motto

Egy az Isten

(Edge uzh Ih'shtayn)

God is One

Our Partner Church, Bordos, sent us this hand-carved wood plaque depicting the "Címer" when their then-minister visited the States ca. 1994; for some reason, even after image-processing, I can not bring out the richness of the blond wood.  Carvings like this are commonplace in the small villages of Erdéley (Transylvania).  Ours is mounted in a place of honor on the wall near the pulpit.

(photo 24 Nov 99 by and © 1999 S. Berliner, III - All Rights Reserved)

The UUA has a Partner Church Program with the Magyar(Hungarian)-speaking Unitarian churches in Transylvania (Erdély in Magyar or Siebenbürgen in German) in Romania; Muttontown is partnered with Bordos, a tiny church in a tiny mountain community.  You may also find more on Bordos and the other Erdélyi churches on SB,III's Partner Church page.

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EMERGENCY!  One of our parishioners pointed out that, while we all acknowledge the "Interdependent Web of all Existence", nowhere do we give its URL!

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[² - If you remember us but are looking here for our neighbor, the Hunter's Hook Farm (formerly Calumet Horse Farm, Ltd)., with which we share the entry gate, they are at 6080 North Hempstead Turnpike in Muttontown, New York, but have a mailing address in East Norwich, New York  11732-1601; phone:  516-624-3499.]   (21 Jul 07)

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(Page continued on MUUF Continuation Page)

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If you enjoy history, especially that of Long Island, visit:
The Oyster Bay Historical Society site.

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Front of Fellowship House

Rear of Fellowship House

These views were made ca. 1980 by member Will Farrington.

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THUMBS UP!

THUMBS UP!  -  Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!

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S. Berliner, III

Consultant in Ultrasonic Processing
"changing materials with high-intensity sound"
Technical and Historical Writer, Oral Historian
Popularizer of Science and Technology
Rail, Auto, Air, Ordnance, and Model Enthusiast
Light-weight Linguist, Lay Minister, and Putative Philosopher

To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.

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© Copyright S. Berliner, III - 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 - All rights reserved.

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