An invitation arrived in the mail inviting all members to the Yacht Club Memorial Sunday, dated August 7, 1941 from Commodore William H. Price:
“This is to remind you of the Annual Shelter Island Yacht Club Service at the Union Chapel this coming Sunday, August 10. Members will please assemble at 10:15 AM on the west porch of the New Prospect Hotel. Families and house guests please be in the Union Chapel before 10:30 AM. Your attendance is earnestly requested.”
Chairman Starr G. Cooper, Rodney C. Ward and Douglas M. Black made up the committee.
A lot has changed since then. The Yacht Club is celebrating its 135th year. The New Prospect Hotel burned to the ground on June 27, 1942, less than a year after that postcard was sent. And we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
SIYC Memorial Sunday
Fortunately, some things don’t change. Union Chapel still honors the Shelter Island Yacht Club for its Memorial Sunday, this year on August 16 at 10:30 AM.
The interfaith service will take place outside in the shady grove. Services will remain outdoors for the rest of the summer to protect the health of the congregation. Social distancing and face covering are required. Please bring a chair.
Commodore Bruce Brewer, flag officers, and trustees will participate in the memorial service. The Chapel bell will toll for members of the Yacht Club who passed away in the last year:
- Janet Gay Hawkins
- Commodore Russell P Holmes
- Elihu Inselbuch
- Patricia “Patsy” Mohlere
- Mae Osborn
- Elizabeth Essex Pedersen
- Jeff Van der Eems
- Peter W. Williamson
- William Winship
Fleet Chaplain and Chairman of Union Chapel, Jay Sterling will officiate at the service.
Rabbi Dan Geffen to speak about remembrance
The guest preacher is Rabbi Dan Geffen of Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor. In a sermon entitled “Remembrance: A Sacred Obligation,” he’ll explore the Torah’s repeated commandments to “remember” and “not to forget” and talk (briefly) about the sacred obligation — in good times and troubling times — to remember and honor those whom we have lost.
He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Manhattan in May 2014 and became the rabbi of Temple Adas Israel that summer. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he studied history, he holds master’s degrees in Hebrew Literature and Jewish Education.
Dan Geffen was born and raised in New York City, where he attended the AJ Heschel School and the Fieldston School. Before assuming his position at Temple Adas Israel, Rabbi Geffen served as the Rabbinic Intern for Woodlands Community Temple in White Plains and Jewish Home Lifecare of Manhattan. He lives in Sag Harbor with his wife Lu, who serves as the temple’s director of community engagement, their daughter, Eva, and their dog, Stuart.
Music for the service
Linda Betjeman, Chapel organist, will be joined by Yacht Club member and guest musician Nelson Bogart, who will play the trumpet. Bogart is a summer resident of Shelter Island and has played for many Union Chapel services. He plays both trumpet and guitar and is in his fourth career as a full-time composer. He was also a studio musician, lawyer, and professor.
The raindate is Sunday, August 23.
Special thanks to Trustee Kathy Dinkel and Carrie Cooperider for providing the vintage postcard from Union Chapel archives.
Visit the chapel website at unionchapelinthegrove.org. You can also follow Union Chapel on Facebook and Instagram.
JoAnn Kirkland is an assistant to the trustees of Union Chapel in the Grove.
