The Rev. Charles McCarron, canon of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, is the featured speaker at Union Chapel in the Grove for Shelter Island Yacht Club Memorial Sunday.
In Union Chapel’s new commemorative book, “All Are Welcome: 150 Years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel in the Grove,” author Carrie Cooperider notes the enduring connection between the chapel and the Shelter Island Yacht Club.
SIYC appointed an Episcopal minister, the Rev. A.J. Aspinwall, as Fleet Chaplain in 1907. He was one of the club’s 11 original trustees.
“He began the custom of having a ‘dress’ service in the chapel that continues to this day,” Cooperider says in the book. “Though women eventually began to be included in the ranks of the Yacht Club, little else has changed since this description from ‘Brooklyn Life’ in 1909:
There was a decided nautical air about the Prospect House early Sunday morning and tanned men, looking very trim in dress uniform of the Shelter Island Yacht Club, began assembling on the west piazza of the hotel. At a quarter of eleven, they marched in a body to the Union Chapel, where the Rev. John A. Aspinwall, chaplain of the organization, preached the annual sermon … In the chancel were displayed the club burgee, yacht ensign, and the American flag.“
Those vintage burgees still hang from the rafters of Union Chapel for Shelter Island Yacht Club Memorial Sunday, on July 10 at 10:30 AM. Yacht Club member Nelson Bogart is the guest musician.
Jay Sterling, SIYC Fleet Chaplain and Union Chapel chairman will lead the service in which flag officers and trustees will participate. As the antique Chapel bell tolls, SIYC Commodore Lisa Reich will read the names of club members who passed away in the last year: Elizabeth Crandall, Robert Moderelli, Maurice Pinto, James Rich, Judy Sutton, Pamela Ward, and Lynn Weiner.
About Charles McCarron
Perhaps it’s fitting that another Episcopal minister, like Aspinwall, will speak on July 10. Charles McCarron — known as Father Charlie — was born and raised in the Bronx and ordained in 1986.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree at Fordham University, a Master of Divinity at Maryknoll School of Theology, and another master’s degree at the Franciscan Institute of St. Bonaventure University.
After graduating from the CUNY School of Law, he received a Master of Sacred Theology from the General Theological Seminary. He completed the program at The Living School of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque.
After working to help people with AIDS on Long Island and chairing a national AIDS conference, McCarron created parish-based immigration services and is currently involved with local agricultural workers.
As a member of the Anglican Third Order of the Society of St. Francis, he serves as the Assistant Provincial of the 550-member American Province.
About Nelson Bogart
Musician Nelson Bogart is a summer resident and has performed at many Union Chapel services. Bogart, who plays trumpet and guitar, describes himself as a full-time composer in his fourth career.
He was also a studio musician, lawyer, and professor. He and his wife, Ellen, have been members of the Yacht Club since 1994.
Next week: Union Chapel celebrates Quinipet Camp & Retreat.
“All Are Welcome:150 years of Shelter Island’s Union Chapel in the Grove” by Carrie Cooperider is available immediately after the service, or at Finley’s Fiction.
JoAnn Kirkland assists the trustees of Union Chapel in the Grove. To learn more about the historic chapel, visit unionchapelinthegrove.org/.
