A favorite Sunday meeting has been our annual Winter Festival which has been an exceptionally enjoyable and moving time for our community. It’s the one Sunday each year that we meet in the late afternoon in a darkened room. Our candles and fireplace bring warmth as we sit beside one another in a large circle, our chorus sings Dona Nobis Pacem and other holiday-inspired songs, poems are read, stories are told, a “Candle Vortex” is attempted, and we have a “Box Party” where we assemble a hundred or more gift bags with hats, gloves, scarves, socks, toiletries and other items for people in need – all before enjoying a delicious holiday feast (pot luck, of course) and entertainment from our members and friends.

Last year we had our Winter Festival via Zoom and had “tag teams” cycle through the meeting house to assemble the gift bags for the Box Party. This year we are (hopefully) meeting BOTH in-person and via Zoom for the festival and the Box Party!

Here’s the plan: We meet on Sunday, December 19th at 5:00 pm Eastern Time. We’ll have electric candles for everyone who comes in person and those who are joining via Zoom can light a candle (electric ones are okay), too. Following the Winter Festival, we head to the lobby to assemble the gift bags for the Box Party, then we’ll sit down to a lovely pot-luck dinner!

We’ll need your help to prepare for the Box Party. We are collecting hats, gloves, scarves, socks, toiletries and small gifts that will become the contents of the gift bags that will be delivered to shelters for the homeless on the 20th or 21st.

You can bring your donations of new unused items to the Meeting House or you can order online with this Box Party Order Form.

On Saturday 12/18 we turn the Ethical Society lobby into a “Pop-up Warehouse” and put up tables to hold the items that will be going into the bags. We will also accept donations of new and unused items that can be dropped off at the Society lobby between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm on Saturday. 

We’ll need volunteers to set up the tables and unpack the supplies and if you can be available for that it will be a big help. Please use this sign-up form to let us know when to expect you: 2021 Box Party & Winter Festival Volunteer Form.

On the following Monday or Tuesday, volunteers will take the assembled gift bags to the Volunteers of America shelter for the homeless in Valhalla.

The Holiday Feast has been a particularly tasty and enjoyable activity in past years and we plan that it will be this year, too. This is where we really need your help if you are planning to attend in person. Let us know what you plan to bring and also indicate if there are other things you would like to share (stories, poems, songs, dances…).

Here’s a form to use to let us know your availability to help with the Box Party and/or the Winter Festival: 2021 Box Party & Winter Festival Volunteer Form.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Winter Festival!

Cheers, Bart

Join via Zoom:

JOIN BY PHONE: Dial +1 (646) 558-8656

Meeting ID: 473 702 460
Contact leader@wsfec.org for the passcode.