The Treasurer presented a financial report on our Annual Clambake.  Meeting approved a Memorial Minute for Barbara Erickson.  The Meeting approved a proposal to establish a Hospitality Committee, and turned the matter over to the Nominating Committee to find a convenor and three additional members to serve on this new committee; included in the proposal is responsibility for Sunday morning refreshments, as well as for special events and weddings and funerals as needed.  Pastor Peter Crysdale expressed his thanks for a donation of a new refrigerator at the Parsonage.  The refrigerator was donated by Bill and Heather.  Thank you letters were received from Holly and Leigh-Anne  for helping to pay for them to attend New England Yearly Meeting, and Betsy also wrote a report about her experiences at Yearly Meeting. Our First Day School has continued to flourish this summer, with more younger children participating.  The new school year will begin on September 25^th with Family Worship at 9AM, followed by a group photo at 10AM, and then a Breakfast.  All are encouraged to bring their own cameras for additional pictures.  A special invitation will be sent out before the event.  Newsletters will be handed out by the Newsletter Committee after Meeting for Worship, rather than being left in the entry hall for people to pick up before worship.

The First Day School summer program has gone extremely well, and we are so grateful to everyone who has helped make that happen. We have spent a good part of August talking to the children about simplicity, and the hidden richness held in a simple life. In a class designed by Jack, we read a story (one of his favorites) about a blackbird who heals a sick man with its song, and the children painted birdhouses to sell at Clambake. Diana organized two classes at the end of August around the concept of how spirit is around us and within us all the time, and how we can find it in places that we love like the beach, and the children made sculptures and people out of shells.

For the first few weeks of September, Bob will be leading a workshop for the children, making wooden geese.  We will begin our formal First Day School program with a Family Sunday on September 25^th.  This fall in First Day School, we are planning to introduce the children to Bible stories from the Old Testament.  In my eyes, the Old Testament stories have a certain weight, a certain power, which I feel is important for the children to experience.  At the same time, we have worked hard to find texts that tell these stories in more contemporary language and in ways that are more transformative and open-ended than some traditional tellings.  Some of the stories we are planning to do include: the creation story, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, the story of Joseph and the rainbow-colored coat, Moses in the bulrushes, Jonah and the whale.

If there is anyone who has any insights about these stories which they would like to share, either personal experiences or thoughts on how these stories relate to tenets of Quakerism, please let us know.