Union Chapel in the Grove will host Garden Club Memorial Sunday on August 8 at 10:30 am. This is the 85th annual Union Chapel service for the Garden Club of Shelter Island, a tradition that began in 1936.
The Rev. Peter DeSanctis of Our Lady of the Isle Catholic Church will preach about “Recharging in the Faith.” Guest musician and Chapel Trustee Christopher Herman will play cello.
Garden Club member Barbara Hayes will chair the interfaith service that honors the work of the club. Garden Club officers, family and friends of the deceased will present a rose and remembrances for Beverly Cahill and Joan Russo, Garden Club members who passed away in the last year. Co-president Suzanne Louer will read from scripture. Flowers will be arranged by co-president Joan Buonocore.
The club is a chapter of Federated Garden Clubs, a national organization the promotes interest in horticulture. The club beautifies our Island by planting flowers in public places, like the post offices, traffic circles, and on Route 114, as well as sponsoring flower shows and educational workshops. Earlier this summer, the Garden Club and the Shelter Island Historical Society presented a tour of “secret” gardens at private homes on the Island.
About Father Peter
DeSanctis, known as Father Peter, is a familiar presence around the island. He’s been associated with Our Lady of the Isle in various capacities since the 1970s and has been pastor for 10 years. He is the son of Peter and Gloria DeSanctis of Shelter Island and is related to other Islanders.
He holds two master’s degrees. He completed basic Army training at Fort Dix; served in the 8th Medical Brigade of the US Army; trained in Walson Army Hospital, the Veterans Administration and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital. He assisted the New York City Medical Examiner’s office and was appointed liaison to the New York Police Department. He also graduated from the Suffolk County Fire Academy.
DeSanctis is an attending chaplain at Southampton/Stony Brook and Eastern Long Island/Stony Brook Hospitals, and assists at Our Lady of the Hamptons Regional Catholic School.
On the Island, Father Peter is an active volunteer, working as assistant coach for the Shelter Island School’s varsity golf team, clergy consultant for the All-Faith Youth Group, and a member of the Fire Department, American Legion and Lions Club.
About the musicians
Music will be performed by Chapel Organist Linda Betjeman and on cello, guest musician and chapel trustee Christopher Herman.
Herman joined the Union Chapel board last year and has played at the Chapel for many summers. He lives in Washington, D.C. and has summered on Shelter Island since the 1960s. He is a retired a retired EPA policy analyst and studies cello with Hrant Parsamian in Washington.
Please join us outdoors in our leafy grove for Garden Club Memorial Sunday, an interfaith service on August 8 at 10:30 AM. In case of inclement weather, the service will move indoors.
Next week: Reverend Jill Vogt of the Moravian Church of Germany
JoAnn Kirkland is an assistant to the trustees of Union Chapel in the Grove in Shelter Island Heights. To learn more about the historic chapel, visit the nonprofit’s website, unionchapelinthegrove.org/.
