Initiation December 8, 2022; 80th Birthday December 3, 2022

Ritual Introduction: Gerry Seedyke

On Edith Good’s 90th birthday her sister-in-law gave her a cheerful tissue-paper bouquet. It stood on her counter for a couple of years as she wondered what could be done with it. In September 2021 when Greta Dershimer was having her 90th birthday celebration, Edith remembers, “It just clicked – I’ll pass it on – it’s so happy!”

Greta thought Edith was a model of active participation in the congregation and the local community. She felt very honored when Edith gave her the beautiful paper bouquet at her 90th birthday party. She thought that passing it on to other UU Elders would be a really nice congregational tradition.

Greta and Bayard Catron had both joined a new “Caring Circle of 8” in April 2021. On January 11, 2022 Greta was hosting the Circle meeting and it was Bayard’s 80th birthday. She wondered what to do to help the group celebrate, noticed the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet standing on her piano, and decided it was the perfect time to begin the tradition of passing the bouquet. She told Bayard he had to take good care of the bouquet and pass it on to a UU Elder friend who was having a decadal birthday. He pledged to do so. She gave him the bouquet, and the tradition was born.

The purpose of this tradition is to honor our Elders on their decadal birthdays, remember their contributions to the congregation, and highlight the ways our members develop friendships and build community by participating in church activities.

Recipients of the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet must be celebrating their 70th, 80th, 90th, or 100th birthday; be a participating member or friend of the congregation; and be someone who has developed a relationship with the person passing the bouquet, through mutual participation in one or more congregational activities.

Presentation of Recipient’s Eligibility: Ed Barber

Mark Day celebrated his 80th birthday on December 3rd. He and his wife, Jean Umiker-Sebeok, joined the UU Congregation of Charlottesville in 2017. They had been active members of two other UU congregations since 2003.

When they moved to Charlotttesville and joined our church, Mark and Jean quickly volunteered to be greeters at Sunday services. For new members, this was a good way to meet people in the congregation, and a good example of Mark’s intention to become an active participant in the Charlottesville congregation. He soon started attending the UU Guys group, and that was where I first met him. Mark and I shared an interest in books and publishing. In our younger days, Mark was a librarian and I was an editor in a publishing house in New York.

Mark and Jean next joined the Active Minds group, where I was a member. As Active Minds members Mark and Jean volunteered to write the Annual Report, describing the group’s goals, and listing members. They filled that role for several years. More recently, while the Active Minds group has been meeting on ZOOM, Mark has been leading the group discussions at times.

Mark and I share a common interest in local politics, and we have both regularly reported to the group on the local political news. Mark has been very active in the Democratic Party, serving as Co-Chair of the Tonsler District in Charlottesville from 2018 t0 2021. In that role he also was a member of the Cville Dems executive committee. In the recent election, as part of the national “Vote Forward” project, he wrote 500 non-partisan letters to potential voters in Virginia, Georgia, and Arizona, urging them to vote for responsible, trustworthy candidates.

Mark has been an active contributor to this congregation, and to the wider community of Charlottesville, and we are glad to welcome him as the newest Recipient of the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet.

Confirming the Relationship

Ed: Mark, I have enjoyed getting to know you during our interactions in UU Guys and Active Minds. I have especially appreciated how knowledgeable you are about a wide number of topics, and how well you share them with us. You are a very good discussion leader. What I really love about you is that you are always trying something new!
I am delighted to pass the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet on to you.

Ceremonial Charge

Ed: Will you take good care of the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet?
Mark: I will
Ed: Will you pass it on to a new appropriate recipient of your choosing at some future time?
Mark: I will.

Passing the Bouquet

Ed: Thank you for agreeing to care for the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet for the immediate future, and for promising to pass it on to a new appropriate recipient of your choosing.
It is an honor to pass this beautiful bouquet on to you on this significant birthday, as we carry on the tradition of honoring our Elders and their contributions to our congregation and wider community. I can’t hand it to you on Zoom. I’ll bring the bouquet to you at your home later.

Would you like to make a brief comment?

Mark: Thank you, Ed. Over the past nearly three years of Covid-19 restrictions, embedded in a period of political turmoil, this group of Active Minds on Zoom has been a refuge for me and a solace.
When I joined Active Minds before Covid hit, I had already become friends with Ed—sharing our love of books and of finding ways to promote and preserve knowledge in a manner that would help us humans better understand ourselves in the world and help us use this knowledge to work together for a better world.

At every level of human existence, from personal relationships to international organizations, the process of working together requires us to face the dilemma of how to organize disparate individuals — with conflicting needs, desires, beliefs and abilities — in order to achieve a common purpose. Unitarian Universalist organizations are no exception as they seek to gather the free thinkers of the world into sharing, caring communities dedicated to doing good.

Our Charlottesville Congregation does this most effectively, I would suggest, with its many small groups, of which Active Minds is one. We come here every week to share our conditions and our concerns and to challenge each other’s ideas through lively, civil discourse. I’m always inspired by these discussions and look forward to participating in many, many more. Thank you all. And thank you, Ed, for passing on this Edith Good Birthday Bouquet to me.

Conclusion

Ed: Thank you, Mark.
(To Zoom Participants) And thank you all for being here for this traditional ritual of Passing on the Edith Good Birthday Bouquet.