by Fritz Weiss
The summer meeting of Falmouth Quarter is usually a time for connection and community celebration. There has not typically been a formal program or any business conducted.
The last time the quarter met in person was in October 2019! It had been a long time since we have been together.
Nineteen Friends from three of the monthly meetings in Falmouth Quarter and from one meeting in Dover Quarter gathered together – IN PERSON (!) – on Saturday August 7th ,2021.
Friends gathered at the Portland Friends Meetinghouse at 1837 Forest Avenue in Portland Maine from about 9:30 am – 3:30 pm. Together as a quarter we participated virtually in the opening celebration of the 2021 New England Yearly Meeting (NEYM) sessions, had a brown bag lunch outdoors with some shared fruit and cookies, attended virtually the NEYM plenary with Shirley Hager and gkisedtanamoogk (Mashpee Wampanoag) and concluded with some worship sharing. Our meeting closed when the landscapers arrived and started mowing the lawns. We did not tire of each other’s presence.
During the period of sharing and catching up with each other, I was struck by how much catching up there was to do; in the past 18 months our meetings have been discovering new ways of being in communion, and we have changed. There have been milestones in our lives – weddings, moves, new children born. It was good to see each other again.
A special thank you is due to Chris Fitze who was our technical support person. The connection with the Yearly Meeting events was smooth. Both Martin Eller-Fitze and Leslie Manning were able to give their reports to the yearly meeting during the opening celebration easily.
Falmouth Quarter will gather again on October 23, 2021 to conduct essential business. Unless the usual plans change our schedule for the coming year will be to meet on the fourth Saturday of October, January, April and July.
The quarter needs a second co-convener. Sara Sprogell has laid this service down. I’ve asked a number of Friends but have not yet found the person led to this work. Please consider it. It is a light service with rich rewards.
