FELLOWSHIP NEWS
AND REPORTS FOR AUGUST 2026
COMING UP THIS WEEK
August 11-17, 2026
Sunday, August 16:
• Service at 10:30 a.m. in person and on Zoom. Rev. Fred L Hammond delivers a homily titled “Black History Matters.”
• Special Collection for Turning Points bringing help and hope for men, women and children who are at risk of homelessness or who are homeless. Please make checks payable to Turning Points and bring or mail to
Manatee UU Fellowship, 322 15th St. W, Bradenton, FL 34205.
Tuesday, August 18:
• Connections: A Sharing Hour has its weekly meeting at 11 a.m. Facilitated by Alia Starkweather. All are welcome.
• Earth Spirit Group meets today 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. and continues on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. Ancient pagan/Goddess and Earth-centric myths and spirituality are explored. Participants share in research and presentation. Contact Peggy Dickson for more info.
Wednesday, August 19:
• Worship Team weekly meeting at noon on Zoom.
• Board of Directors monthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. with Zoom option.
Thursday, August 20:
• Joyful Jammers meets every Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. Anyone who plays an instrument or sings is welcome to join in the fun! Contact Peggy Dickson for more info.
Saturday, August 21:
ONGOING
• Menstrual Supplies Drive: We are collecting these for Kim’s Krew clients. See wicker hamper near fireplace in Social Room. A sign lists what is needed. Gift cards and cash welcome; please deposit in little black container there. Thank you!
NOTE: All activities are in person at the Fellowship unless otherwise indicated.
Schedule updated as of August 10, 2026.
SOCIAL EVENTS FIRST WEDNESDAY, THIRD FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH
Join us for our next ‘happy hour’ at Pier 22 (1200 1st Ave. W, Bradenton) on Wednesday, July 1, at 4:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join this informal gathering featuring friendship, food, drink , and conversation. Go to pier22.com for directions and menu information. Our Pier 22 outing is held the first Wednesday of each month.
Our monthly Share a Dish potluck is on summer vacation! Please join us when this popular third-Friday-of-the-month activity resumes on Friday, September 18, at 6 p.m.
OUR TINY LIBRARY IS A SUCCESS!
In November 2024, we dedicated our Tiny Library. Since then, we have given away over 500 books focused on Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and UU Values, as well as banned books. We also included books in other languages that are spoken in our neighborhood. In the political atmosphere we are living in, it’s a way we can stand up to the censorship and be a voice for the marginalized. Our Tiny Library has been embraced in other ways by our community. I often find books that have been placed in the cabinet. I remove them and review them for content and condition and usually put our bookplate and bookmark in them, catalog them, and put them back out to be circulated to the public.
The Warmington Freedom Tiny Library should be a source of pride for our community. It’s funded by a special account set up by the late Carl Warmington in honor of his wife Ruth. I belong to a Tiny Library Facebook group and I read complaints that no books are being taken, all the books being taken, and even vandalism. So far none of that has happened to us. Our cabinet has recently weathered 3 hurricanes thanks to the sturdy construction from our former custodian Bernie Salzinger and it has a motion sensor light inside installed by Denise Solomon our office assistant and custodian. It was decorated by Chris MacCormack who painted the books on the side. I’m excited about how successful our Tiny Library is.
Donations of books are welcome from the membership if you’d like to support the cause. Planned enhancements are; a bench next to it and a literature tube that we can put a brochure about our Fellowship in it for the public to take to learn about us. The Tiny Library is an outreach to the neighborhood, a symbol of our principles, and a way we can try to make a difference by spreading a message.
— Becky Smith
ABOUT THE PROGRESS PRIDE FLAG
The original pride flag was created in the 1970s by gay activist Gilbert Baker, friend of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. Baker used eight colors and corresponding meanings: hot pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.
The new Progress Pride Flag includes new colors and a new design that are meant to represent people of color, as well as people who are transgender, intersex, or nonbinary.
The colors black and brown were added to the Progress Pride Flag to represent unrepresented black and brown people.
With the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, culture at large began to shift in a much-needed way towards acknowledging the vital roles that people of color have had in our society. The pride movement background is one of many areas where people of color did not receive the recognition they deserved historically. Adding colors to represent them on the flag is one way to change that.
The word “progress” in the new flag isn’t only about adding the new colors to it. It’s also because of the shape, which differs from the original design of horizontal stripes only. The Progress Pride Flag shows the white, pink, baby blue, black, and brown stripes in a triangle shape, with the old six-color rainbow stacked next to them.
The color placement and new shape was done intentionally to convey the separation in meaning and shift focus to how important the issues represented on the left are.
The placement of the new colors in an arrow shape is meant to convey the progress still needed.
— Mariano Vera
[As a Welcoming Congregation accredited by the Unitarian Universalist Association, Manatee UU Fellowship flies the Progress Pride Flag in front of our building each Sunday morning. It also appears on our permanent building sign.]
RENEWING OUR LEGACY CIRCLE
Anyone can join our Legacy Circle and make meaningful gifts to Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in their will. Regardless of the amount, your bequest is a statement of faith that our UU movement and our voices for compassionate justice, democracy, and religious freedom are heard long after we are gone. When you demonstrate that you care enough about this fellowship to support its future, others will follow your generous example.
No matter what your age, you can designate Manatee UU Fellowship as the beneficiary of all or a percentage of your IRA and it will pass to us tax-free after your lifetime. It’s simple, just requiring that you contact your IRA administrator for a change-of-beneficiary form or download a form from your provider’s website.
Join the Legacy Circle at our fellowship by stating your gift plan on your personal intentions form available in our office. Your name(s) will be placed on the Legacy Circle plaque in the sanctuary. Because most popular retirement plan administrators assume no obligation to notify charities of their client’s designations, the intentions form is an important document to us and will be held in a confidential file.
A GIFT FOR US ALL
For our 2021 auction, Peg Green offered to create a flaming chalice fabric wall hanging “to hang in your home or give as a gift.” The winner would get to choose the flaming chalice design and color scheme. and then Peg would create the piece.
During the live auction held in February 2021, Bill Hayes kept raising his bid and finally outbid everyone. Over that summer he generously gifted the lovely quilt to our fellowship. It is bold and beautiful, and can be seen in our Sanctuary on Zoom as well as in-person during our Sunday services.
Peg’s artwork can be viewed on her website www.peacepeg.com and one of her works is on the cover of the UUA Pocket Guide for new members.
Thank you, Peg and Bill, for being so generous!
Unitarian Universalist Association
