tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32564457836203871082024-03-06T00:34:18.441-08:00MASH Ft. BraggMASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-35077662590855757132018-08-21T11:30:00.002-07:002018-08-21T11:30:26.395-07:00School Supplies Donation 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqvW0qRO8nQydwqR6LjJAg67UH08iJnxJiK0MEpzjFRzXPYF5zxEnMexAbWsOVpELLXJhL8c_RloEZBA-Viv-HAFYyBOmbF4Jqh0cnk9f5vg9stC0tmfydGr3Trj46di22onmM_eAG0U0/s1600/SAM_1679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizqvW0qRO8nQydwqR6LjJAg67UH08iJnxJiK0MEpzjFRzXPYF5zxEnMexAbWsOVpELLXJhL8c_RloEZBA-Viv-HAFYyBOmbF4Jqh0cnk9f5vg9stC0tmfydGr3Trj46di22onmM_eAG0U0/s200/SAM_1679.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
Brenda and Paul Germain dropped off the results of our school supplies drive to a Fayetteville NC STEM school Aug 20, 2018. Thank you to all who donated, we were able to purchase $354.17 of supplies, detailed below. Donations totaled $315.00.<br />
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306 Single subject notebooks<br />
240 Pencils<br />
336 Erasers<br />
120 Glue sticks<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmdPIDYSYWk3l1khaXhMO1dcWkRXwL0HIyRiSulzyWbLrRwmduUDfv8rrL4t9h0bH7bahRxZ2tl5Q46ivPLqfGWMt9GUIFrkK_LcddLpS96tDITPd1j0C5zO_MN9vcKIQqNu6VKDBAIXF/s1600/SAM_1676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzmdPIDYSYWk3l1khaXhMO1dcWkRXwL0HIyRiSulzyWbLrRwmduUDfv8rrL4t9h0bH7bahRxZ2tl5Q46ivPLqfGWMt9GUIFrkK_LcddLpS96tDITPd1j0C5zO_MN9vcKIQqNu6VKDBAIXF/s200/SAM_1676.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
108 Pencil sharpeners<br />
50 Folders<br />
40 Boxes of crayons<br />
30 Sets of colored pencils<br />
20 Scissors<br />
20 Composition notebooks<br />
17 Book bags<br />
18 Boxes of jumbo crayons<br />
20 Kindergarten tablets<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJZeEx2Q8MLKR1eJjvs3juJxGR6FUDbW8Q1hjpPwFKBJ4VParHYbu62iWv_FroLtbagUFrGPScaiouiSKTuFFmpi8DK5_Bx7YYTFnpAbBfijf8_iskHGxJno9_T_uxTmKmlgE_5Kgsu89/s1600/SAM_1677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmJZeEx2Q8MLKR1eJjvs3juJxGR6FUDbW8Q1hjpPwFKBJ4VParHYbu62iWv_FroLtbagUFrGPScaiouiSKTuFFmpi8DK5_Bx7YYTFnpAbBfijf8_iskHGxJno9_T_uxTmKmlgE_5Kgsu89/s200/SAM_1677.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
10 Hand sanitizers<br />
10 Clipboards<br />
20 Packets of loose leaf paper<br />
20 One inch binders<br />
1 Electric pencil sharpener<br />
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While they were happy to receive our donation, there was an issue this year. If you notice, there are no school employees in the pictures. Apparently, they have had some blow-back from the community about previous years' pictures in the local newspapers. In fact, we were specifically asked not to even mention the name of the school in our news releases. When pressed, we were told that some of the blow-back had come from school administration. To say we were disappointed is an understatement.MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-81557095214045148992017-09-21T11:45:00.000-07:002017-09-22T07:59:48.946-07:00Herb Silverman visits MASH<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0e-9ExrLsB_LEHMb23SvuGK-Nuf-2PdcU9c-SqZfm-1-ri3udO5kFMNESWfeE5kOW2xQw4wJrFpkUhdrdOgv_xBbVaw4KOKNgLkTnKH19HDU6AHqIj2uB_iq-Trxiq2M8dIOevAuBWWB/s1600/julie-michael-paul-herb-sharon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH0e-9ExrLsB_LEHMb23SvuGK-Nuf-2PdcU9c-SqZfm-1-ri3udO5kFMNESWfeE5kOW2xQw4wJrFpkUhdrdOgv_xBbVaw4KOKNgLkTnKH19HDU6AHqIj2uB_iq-Trxiq2M8dIOevAuBWWB/s320/julie-michael-paul-herb-sharon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" height="35" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Julie, Michael, Paul, Herb and Sharon</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">MASH President Brenda Germain and her husband Paul were honored to host Herb Silverman, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, </span><span style="color: #0d0d0d;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Founder of the Secular Coalition for America and founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC</span>.</span></span>, in their home last night. MASH members enjoyed a delightful presentation by Mr. Silverman about his two books; <i>Candidate Wthout a Prayer</i> and <i>An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land</i>. Humorous and insightful, Herb's talk was well
worth attending.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It was wonderful to meet Herb's lovely wife Sharon. The <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOcTmOOwVHojovzCY8Ayeu1PgQsuGznEYV6hyphenhyphenRPOIixBbaalMfQPtLQcjCvbXAHc4QDKBhVzweeEIv1t3JIPBvOIzQQ-wqq5vRNrlItDCu2Rs_J3G_XrBQ9IVuEA8DUe7LoIaq2Fg5OrV/s1600/brenda-herb-sharon.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOcTmOOwVHojovzCY8Ayeu1PgQsuGznEYV6hyphenhyphenRPOIixBbaalMfQPtLQcjCvbXAHc4QDKBhVzweeEIv1t3JIPBvOIzQQ-wqq5vRNrlItDCu2Rs_J3G_XrBQ9IVuEA8DUe7LoIaq2Fg5OrV/s200/brenda-herb-sharon.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;">Brenda, Herb and Sharon</span></td></tr>
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intimate gathering allowed for all of us to talk one on one with Herb and his wife. Afterward, Herb kindly signed and notarized copies of his books for us. The refreshments were varied; a meat and cheese tray for sliders, multiple vegan salads, Michael's couscous salad, Julie's deviled eggs and a wide variety of cheese & crackers and drinks. Good food
and good times had by all.</span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-60647234431411115332017-09-15T13:12:00.000-07:002017-09-21T11:46:00.285-07:00Herb Silverman<!--[if !mso]>
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<b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "arial";">MASH Speaker for September 20,
2017<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>6:30 pm</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"><b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 20.0pt;">Herb
Silverman: A Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt!</span></b></a></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "arial";">Location:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Germain Residence</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "arial";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>110
Ashley Dr., Aberdeen, NC</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Distinguished
Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, Herb Silverman<span style="color: #0d0d0d;"> is<b> </b>Founder of the Secular Coalition for America
and founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "arial";">His book,</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"> “<i>Candidate
Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt”,</i>
describes his challenge to the South Carolina Constitution and his Supreme
Court victory, nullifying the anti-atheist clause in the South Carolina
Constitution. He has appeared in numerous debates, some of which can be found
on YouTube. One of his notable appearances was in a debate at Oxford, England
debates on the topic “<i>Does American Religion Undermine American Values?</i>”
On YouTube!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial";">Most
recently he received a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Humanist
Association.<span style="color: #0d0d0d;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Herb will speak about his book, "<i>Candidate
Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt</i>",
which describes his journey from Orthodox Judaism growing up in Philadelphia,
to apathetic atheist, to accidental activist atheist when he moved to South
Carolina. Herb describes his encounters with Billy Graham, Jimmy Carter, and
others when he ran for Governor of South Carolina. He will also discuss his
latest book, “<i>An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land</i>” which is
a compendium of some of his best writing for the Washington Post, HuffPost, The
Humanist, and other magazines and blogs. </span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Herb is an excellent and eloquent speaker with
a great sense of humor, and he is very popular at conferences and on the
lecture circuit! Come and meet the much-loved </span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "impact"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">rock star</span><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> of our atheist community—a man who has been fighting the good fight for
decades, and never hesitates to speak out on our behalf! </span></div>
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<a href="http://www.herbsilverman.com/"><span style="font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">http://www.herbsilverman.com</span></a><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: "arial"; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">MASH will provide refreshments. Attendees are encourage to bring
whatever they’d like to eat, drink, and/or share. </span></div>
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MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-15941639075003302212017-08-14T13:36:00.000-07:002017-08-14T13:38:33.357-07:002017 Ferguson Easley School Supplies<br />
MASH Ft. Bragg President Brenda Germain and her husband Paul dropped off $450 worth of school supplies and $50 worth of office supplies to Ferguson-Easley Elementary School in Fayetteville, NC today. A big thank you to everyone who contributed!<br />
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Here's what we were able to donate to them:<br />
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<b>12</b> Pencil Sharpeners<br />
<b>498 </b>#2 pencils<br />
<b>312 </b>Pencil erasers<br />
<b>76 </b>Glue sticks<br />
<b>24 </b>Bookbags<br />
<b>27 </b>Clipboards<br />
<b>33 </b>Dividers<br />
<b>5 </b>Sharpies<br />
<b>12 </b>High-lighters <br />
<b>24 </b>Handwriting tablets<br />
<b>16 </b>boxes of Lg Crayons<br />
<b>80 </b>boxes of regular Crayons<br />
<b>25 </b>Dry erase markers<br />
<b>88 </b>pkgs of Loose leaf notebook paper<br />
<b>234 </b>One subject notebooks<br />
<b>59 </b>Black & White Composition Books<br />
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<b>75 </b>Pocket folders, 2 prong<br />
<b>28 </b>One inch Binders<br />
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<b>20 </b>pairs of Scissors<br />
Ziploc Bags: sandwich - <b>300 </b>quart - <b>72 </b>gallon - <b>120</b><br />
<b>10 </b>Bottles of Hand Sanitizer<br />
<b>4 </b>Clorox wipes<br />
<b>12 </b>bottles of hand soap and <b>7 </b>refills<br />
<b>44 </b>sets of Colored pencils<br />
<b>41 </b>ball point pens<br />
<b>1 </b>Box of asst office suppliesMASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-6219646369215464352017-05-10T09:16:00.003-07:002017-05-10T09:17:38.871-07:002017 Dogwood Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa0l0PbNooMmMbvVZUp7rnMSSmm5Uj1xIhrV06Xw51mEtwjesO3UMPJZaKII5V1y53Y_F0rVhpTm408EXY_LiRKHgmcsqfFEJ0mqgYxZ8Ee3votiF8FmXtCfCf74_KrnxVhDGxcRblhx_/s1600/SAM_1182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa0l0PbNooMmMbvVZUp7rnMSSmm5Uj1xIhrV06Xw51mEtwjesO3UMPJZaKII5V1y53Y_F0rVhpTm408EXY_LiRKHgmcsqfFEJ0mqgYxZ8Ee3votiF8FmXtCfCf74_KrnxVhDGxcRblhx_/s200/SAM_1182.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
We had a great time at this year's Dogwood Festival, surviving the unseasonably hot temperatures. The people running the check-in at the festival were wonderfully kind in finding us a shady spot rather than our assigned slot which would have been in the sun all day. I do think they prevented me from a trip to the hospital. So a great big thank you to them!<br />
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The crowds seemed larger this year than in past years. We were able to sign up eight new members, who we hope to see at this year's Memorial Day cookout at the end of the month.<br />
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We also experienced less rancor from passing religious folks, though as always, there were those who just couldn't help themselves and had to make comments. It was very encouraging to hear from those who thanked us for being there and appreciated our presence. We look forward to having a table at next year's festival and continuing our outreach!MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-8353341568211643322016-12-22T11:08:00.000-08:002016-12-22T11:08:05.794-08:00Merry Solstice!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPuY5fjDxQ4TberxH6kANFhBJ03AWeKqBjpqal1QURkBQyqQuGv-hADovPl_F57gc2yEwApvbZ67YyxkBl4uRjoqcXJVWyYiaq5IZdzQ4YO2zrQJJLZidDZtFIrTq_F0Hm9bGaUze3zBE/s1600/foodDrive2016B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTPuY5fjDxQ4TberxH6kANFhBJ03AWeKqBjpqal1QURkBQyqQuGv-hADovPl_F57gc2yEwApvbZ67YyxkBl4uRjoqcXJVWyYiaq5IZdzQ4YO2zrQJJLZidDZtFIrTq_F0Hm9bGaUze3zBE/s200/foodDrive2016B.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brenda, Paul & Kat</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The day after Winter Solstice, Kat, Paul & Brenda Germain dropped off our annual Food Drive donation to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC. We exceeded last year's donation by 27 pounds! This year we donated $175 worth of food. That's 134 pounds, enough for 112 meals. Thank you to everyone who donated time, money or food! Atheists doing good because it is the HUMAN thing to do.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhzEsI9MrbKx7yePmdGXRE2l0GVXaSLqCoC296tnilKXum0X_HYl5Uj-ORU9518_sGzg1AE5shw7reBIJfZaYBr-K8dRmeAbzCucrLWRfQMrK3WUMObR9FnDD7wBoJ7wJyPAlYGIpUKb8/s1600/Tree-Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhzEsI9MrbKx7yePmdGXRE2l0GVXaSLqCoC296tnilKXum0X_HYl5Uj-ORU9518_sGzg1AE5shw7reBIJfZaYBr-K8dRmeAbzCucrLWRfQMrK3WUMObR9FnDD7wBoJ7wJyPAlYGIpUKb8/s200/Tree-Food.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Food Drive donations next to the Tree of Knowledge.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">On December 18th we held our annual Solstice Celebration at the Germain residence. Our celebration was an intimate Pastafarian repast complete with homemade spaghetti and garlic bread. This year's Tree of Knowledge featured forbidden fruit for the picking (apple ornaments filled with tasty candy.) Goody bags filled with MASH Ft. Bragg calendars, notepads and more were handed out to everyone and this year's door prizes were MASH mugs and a MASH insulated lunch bag. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It was decided to apply for a table at 2017 Dogwood Festival, so our application was sent in. </span>A day filled with lively conversation, laughter and camaraderie.</span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-77139807868606267332016-09-05T08:19:00.000-07:002016-09-05T08:20:15.265-07:00MASH Summer Events<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65WW1PgTzfbvY_uqxko583f9-4fXhHUyuwHbXPycVuPntlk-EIog6vIqXSfXdmJ-prbWmWZB0ShdQpiG9vFlie-WPqSb_OHTiNZfr_bBTUGf-Ak3opjMTgqP1e3hK1LnA4pp7jdKY3eaW/s1600/DinnerRush.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65WW1PgTzfbvY_uqxko583f9-4fXhHUyuwHbXPycVuPntlk-EIog6vIqXSfXdmJ-prbWmWZB0ShdQpiG9vFlie-WPqSb_OHTiNZfr_bBTUGf-Ak3opjMTgqP1e3hK1LnA4pp7jdKY3eaW/s200/DinnerRush.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">MASH had a busy summer this year. We started the summer off with our annual Memorial Day cookout at the Germain residence. There was a great turnout; Mike, Lance, Roxanne, Kevin, Annee, Mike & Stef, Vicki, Paul & Brenda and John who brought some delicious marinated chicken! <br /><br /><b>REASON RALLY 2016</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mvt5ilDnWERu6M9E5rXFsI0D21_Txk9nMWiNNgCyZP63BSArEDkC9Ooi2DEeeSfyIBqHl3tA1O9_U5Masq7pCq1DHZi8EHoKJCY5QtWev4sNQh-T83pavK8mBzWISaIHAVJcTIHBuIQI/s1600/SAM_0922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mvt5ilDnWERu6M9E5rXFsI0D21_Txk9nMWiNNgCyZP63BSArEDkC9Ooi2DEeeSfyIBqHl3tA1O9_U5Masq7pCq1DHZi8EHoKJCY5QtWev4sNQh-T83pavK8mBzWISaIHAVJcTIHBuIQI/s200/SAM_0922.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nine of us from MASH Ft. Bragg were able to make it to the Reason Rally in Washington, DC this year; Mike & Wendy, Cheryl & Baily, Mi<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">chael & Stef<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Paul & Brenda and John. Most of us were able to take<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in some sightseeing at the Smithsonian and </span></span></span>other national museums on the mall. Brenda was finally able to visit the Air & Space Museum! The Reason Rally was a great experience and the weather was stunning. The speakers, including Penn Jillette, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lawrence Krauss, </span>John DeLancie<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span>Bill Nye were fabulous. Mike & Brenda were even able to get their pictures taken with Lawrence Krauss!<br /><br /><b>3rd ANNUA<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L </span>F<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ERGUSON-EASLEY SCHOOL SUPPLIES<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> DRIVE</span></span></b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXo0j2SKzNqYK0d9F_O_RxExrzIXduCN1GGyV1lmxvfuG3DXJSqNaCENVHD8X2JfdHS_PWgo8tSyfQzZE-qmwMeNHR05cvMRbZ_Acqb8H3nmILQkgwqF6By0Fkpu-ywhFXHxZ8NTIIBEp/s1600/SAM_1060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTXo0j2SKzNqYK0d9F_O_RxExrzIXduCN1GGyV1lmxvfuG3DXJSqNaCENVHD8X2JfdHS_PWgo8tSyfQzZE-qmwMeNHR05cvMRbZ_Acqb8H3nmILQkgwqF6By0Fkpu-ywhFXHxZ8NTIIBEp/s320/SAM_1060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our 3rd annual School Supplies Drive for Ferguson-Easley Elementary was a great success! On August 23rd, Paul Germain, Michael Berntsen, Brenda Germain and Stef presented Dr. Mary Hales, the principal at Ferguson<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-</span>Easley, with our donation for 2016. We were able to donate over $450 worth of new school supplies and another over $<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">10</span>0 worth of used bookcases, FAX machine, new toner and assorted office supplies. Dr. Hales was thrilled with what we were able to amass this year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our donation was especially need this year as Ferguson-Easley had to pay to repair their A/C unit which had been robbed of it's copper just days before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A big thank-you to all of our members who gave generously to this worthy cause, educating children in the rational and critical thinking required in science, technology, math, engineering and life. Ferguson-Easley is a STEM school in an economically challenged area, giving their students the discipline and education to improve their futures and ours!</span><br />
<br />MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-35881997350203048382015-12-30T08:34:00.003-08:002015-12-30T08:43:48.622-08:002015 Solstice Food Drive<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eKuBv2d8bxTova09StV18WEuXwdN6uR-VzeUYT_NMbp2K349B3_wO7AWrfhC68F1A2t3lEnYKUn3n6s-ndz4lPJVVk1zyf_FbDGbTK3ugNuGZvxJHRV5dmpLTP1iPbtAvJ38FUpUlwQS/s1600/SAM_0687.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1eKuBv2d8bxTova09StV18WEuXwdN6uR-VzeUYT_NMbp2K349B3_wO7AWrfhC68F1A2t3lEnYKUn3n6s-ndz4lPJVVk1zyf_FbDGbTK3ugNuGZvxJHRV5dmpLTP1iPbtAvJ38FUpUlwQS/s200/SAM_0687.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Food collected</span></span></span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Our Solstice
Food Drive managed to collect an overflowing table full of food for
donation. We'd like to thank all of our members who contributed to the
Food Drive! Our totals are as follows; dollar amount was $121.33, 107
pounds of food which provides 91 meals for hungry families in our area!
We tried to get the most bang for the buck and ended up with plenty of
protein sources, beans, peanut butter and canned meats this year.</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN-m1GfH7J_NgkC1wVZKGeg55NYDTfJW6jtIyML8336JQ_0eJFHKhGvLK70Y923u8WWXPakNRRKTjlyAqvMtsRQi_KrYbn-l2f3FBrwxzjrEIqBur44o2r0cINDvKIazKk1Ge-OMFg-w_/s1600/SAM_0692.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFN-m1GfH7J_NgkC1wVZKGeg55NYDTfJW6jtIyML8336JQ_0eJFHKhGvLK70Y923u8WWXPakNRRKTjlyAqvMtsRQi_KrYbn-l2f3FBrwxzjrEIqBur44o2r0cINDvKIazKk1Ge-OMFg-w_/s200/SAM_0692.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Paul & Brenda deliver the donation</span></span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We
added another $50 worth of cash donations collected at our Annual
Solstice Party on Dec 19th. Paul and Brenda then delivered our donation
to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC on Dec 21st.</span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-38089284075341855022015-08-18T17:19:00.001-07:002015-08-18T17:19:11.518-07:002015 Ferguson Easley School Supplies Donation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oka0Ymwn-nrUrJn-epIQ5r0UytRqTt8JeemdKsqdBsbJ2cEhPuqCyaa2PUiIVewczrKsSanBHwwGIirD_u1Hsc2txO_DNC2SN5uEXLyzeMG-jnzhkR-hK6fYDKMR8XfH8k42aTyBS6I5/s1600/2016SchoolSupplies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oka0Ymwn-nrUrJn-epIQ5r0UytRqTt8JeemdKsqdBsbJ2cEhPuqCyaa2PUiIVewczrKsSanBHwwGIirD_u1Hsc2txO_DNC2SN5uEXLyzeMG-jnzhkR-hK6fYDKMR8XfH8k42aTyBS6I5/s320/2016SchoolSupplies.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Beth Malsby, Paul Germain, Dr. Hales, Charlie Miller & Brenda Germain</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Charlie, Brenda & Paul delivered this year's school supplies donations to Ferguson Easley Elementary School on Aug 17th to the delight of Principal Dr. Hales and her staff. Congratulations to all our members who were able to contribute this year, we couldn't have done it without your generous support. Our total was just over $350 worth of supplies. Here's what we were able to donate:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">54 Dry Erase Markers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">128 Spiral Notebooks</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">32 Composition Notebooks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">30 Binders</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">29 Book Bags</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">14 Bottles Hand Sanitizer (10 ounce or larger)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9 Boxes of Tissues</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">172 Pencils</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">96 Boxes of Band-aids (Thanks to Cheryl, Steve & Bailey)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">45 Glue Sticks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4 Bottles of Glue</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5 Packs of 40 Erasers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">over 1,000 round magnets for craft projects</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Again, our thanks and appreciation to all our members for their generosity! </span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-59934177796346022192015-05-26T12:03:00.001-07:002015-05-26T12:03:27.988-07:00Memorial Day Cookout 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWPuflwkxOC9nysE9763JCLPYzukSnBSjzDAHVCT2uiFy3Inly0J2YSdwf_uIhpTAvQbrmgmG3o9GB0TPkxgOj8u2H1UAsxX6r97JnLP7dAH3edUrQC3YqGlB9VQqgmfEhl8KJPk74jpU/s1600/SAM_0433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWPuflwkxOC9nysE9763JCLPYzukSnBSjzDAHVCT2uiFy3Inly0J2YSdwf_uIhpTAvQbrmgmG3o9GB0TPkxgOj8u2H1UAsxX6r97JnLP7dAH3edUrQC3YqGlB9VQqgmfEhl8KJPk74jpU/s200/SAM_0433.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
14 heathens joined Paul and I out at our house in the boonies for our annual Memorial Day cookout. The amount of food was amazing! Leigh Anne made a spicy homemade guacamole, Chase brought some deliciously savory roasted potatoes, Charlie brought corn-on-the-cob and his ever popular potato salad, and I made a fruit salad baby for our dining pleasure. There were pies, cookies, chips and dips of every sort and a macaroni-shrimp salad. To say that everyone was stuffed afterwards would be an understatement!<br />
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Spirited discussions of various topics went on inside and outside. From politics, to vaccinations and of course, religious intrusion into government. Our group enjoys discussions, no matter what the subject is! We had a kiddie pool set up, but alas, there were no children this year. There were games to play, and a table of free atheist books and magazines for our members to take home and enjoy. As the afternoon wound down, there was a drawing for door prizes. We had enough that everybody won something!<br />
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We also discussed our summer school supply fund-raiser for Ferguson-Easley Elementary school. Due to the changes in the Coke Rewards program that request the school's financial info and the school being understandably reluctant to provide that info to Coke's 3rd party, we have discontinued the Coke Rewards collection. We are still collecting Box-Tops for education, I send those to the school on a regular basis. Starting with our next meetup. Anyone who would like to donate is encouraged to donate to the pot that will be used to purchase school supplies for Ferguson-Easley in August (when all the supplies go on sale really cheap, so we get the most bang for our buck!) Last year we were able to amass a notebook and pencil for every child in the school and then some!<br />
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One of our members brought a bunch of phoney money she had found in a book at the library. After she found the first one, she made a treasure hunt of it to see how many she could find. She ended up with 4 total. Know what the phoney money really was? Proselytizing religious tracts. Congrats to our member for removing them!<br />
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There must have been something in the air of late, this same member also found a 4 page printout of bible verses that indicate that "all are saved" stuffed in her newspaper box. She wasn't sure if she was targeted or not, but she didn't see other newspaper boxes similarly stuffed. I suspect we'll see more of this sort of activity after the recent polls showing religion and especially Xtianity declining. You can see our mascots wanted to check out these oddities.<br />
<br />
We had a great time with interesting heathens and look forward to all the meetups the rest of the year offers. I hope we'll see you there! <br />
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<br />MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-63820788492290479032015-02-13T14:04:00.000-08:002015-02-13T14:04:39.757-08:00Darwin Day Surprise!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuu8SAOWsthUyoT0vBLjkpW-wMF4rOj-LkxMmHVemPt50H8I7E4o4YzBq7c4IQ3fJwoynr4Otosna0yTUUnKCM6tHly8ktHIy7vJu5eVIxocaLWN1A1iUDRjtZJJ0KkhcnQjNd2H03Fri/s1600/michael-darwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUuu8SAOWsthUyoT0vBLjkpW-wMF4rOj-LkxMmHVemPt50H8I7E4o4YzBq7c4IQ3fJwoynr4Otosna0yTUUnKCM6tHly8ktHIy7vJu5eVIxocaLWN1A1iUDRjtZJJ0KkhcnQjNd2H03Fri/s1600/michael-darwin.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>Our group got together for our monthly Secular Supper on Feb 12, 2015 in honor of Charles Darwin's Birthday. We had a great turnout, 17 members were able to attend. It was to be a night of surprises. The fun began with one of our new members, Michael of the UNC at Pembroke's Secular Student Alliance, made a dramatic entrance arriving in full Darwin beard & hair. Everyone loved and appreciated his effort to set the mood!<br />
<br />
Cory brought a huge bunch of Coke Rewards to add to our running donation to Ferguson Easley Elementary school, a local STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) school we at MASH Ft. Bragg support. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXPvjjDkJxJn02HomJY0r0VIqhddUB0tRilRl0iQvEHjiak6rCcWWw4LNrUMHMFoAfebVUy4BJoCocslzB-puTlLRAv2ygE0GX_J5Mo-KYUsk0Bm6JMnTwq_IjbYXPIJYC3hyzVXOmuJd/s1600/award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcXPvjjDkJxJn02HomJY0r0VIqhddUB0tRilRl0iQvEHjiak6rCcWWw4LNrUMHMFoAfebVUy4BJoCocslzB-puTlLRAv2ygE0GX_J5Mo-KYUsk0Bm6JMnTwq_IjbYXPIJYC3hyzVXOmuJd/s1600/award.jpg" height="200" width="136" /></a>Everyone ordered their dinners and conversations were in full swing when Mike Banks got up and announced that he had some awards to present. Mike began reading a <a href="http://www.mashfortbragg.org/PDFs/award.pdf" target="_blank">letter from Rosalind Eaton of MAAF</a>. For those of you who don't know me, I have Lupus and I'm a little slower on the uptake than I used to be. So, I'm sitting there listening to what Mike is reading, interested in what he was saying, but completely confused. Who is this award for and, as the president of MASH Ft. Bragg, why didn't I know anything about it? As I was slowly processing these thoughts, Mike finally announced that the awards were for me, Brenda Germain! To say I was stunned would be an understatement. More like a deer caught in the headlights!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaBA2eKH1QXZYp8A_BH2ddqBegCKxwEPRqYoGHh7fz0TfAuv3X_sOE3i_gzSnUuPPrsQO7VfNuLH4FGvi0rsJVux5ppMyAngWdS2PF83-B7zan_AS4jkxPVVqSQ2bxNnGhzlTBlbaUiJP/s1600/mike-bg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaBA2eKH1QXZYp8A_BH2ddqBegCKxwEPRqYoGHh7fz0TfAuv3X_sOE3i_gzSnUuPPrsQO7VfNuLH4FGvi0rsJVux5ppMyAngWdS2PF83-B7zan_AS4jkxPVVqSQ2bxNnGhzlTBlbaUiJP/s1600/mike-bg.jpg" height="158" width="200" /></a>They got me good, catching me completely by surprise. The first award was the President's Volunteer Service Award - Silver level for my attaining 445 volunteer hours for MASH during 2014 which came with a cool coin. Wow, I had no idea it had added up to so many hours. Time flies when you're having fun!<br />
<br />
<br />
The second award was the MAAF All Star Award for Exceptional Community Service for the charitable work our group has been involved with over the last year. Mike told me to get up and say something. The lupus fog was in overdrive! About the best I could manage was to thank everyone, because my Swiss-cheese brain was still trying to process this unexpected turn of events. I must have started dithering, because I vaguely remember hearing a voice say "sit down." Not loudly, but just loud enough to break through my mental fog and confusion. Turns out, it was Paul, my husband. Thank you honey for preventing me from looking too foolish!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDd9VrDjoeW4RY81_8oDiBs0e9CEmHGvs0-MbFPf69z0XAGBjGFIQPnBbzI69pTBTCabkx_dvjk8qkGHBdeu7rHRTtWtBf8MonIcaF45uFHpTkl1gVMGvaYbi8q3hTPpGuFSItxRGdEnT/s1600/awards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDd9VrDjoeW4RY81_8oDiBs0e9CEmHGvs0-MbFPf69z0XAGBjGFIQPnBbzI69pTBTCabkx_dvjk8qkGHBdeu7rHRTtWtBf8MonIcaF45uFHpTkl1gVMGvaYbi8q3hTPpGuFSItxRGdEnT/s1600/awards.jpg" height="101" width="200" /></a></div>
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I'd like to thank Mike and Wendy Banks (sneaky little stinkers!) for presenting and coordinating this surprise with Jason Torpy and Rosalind Eaton of MAAF. Of course these honors would not have been possible without the great group of people who make up MASH Ft. Bragg and I thank all of them for helping build our interNOfaith community!<br />
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<br />MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-455228405409765172014-12-22T12:21:00.000-08:002014-12-22T12:21:57.158-08:00Solstice is the Reason for the Season!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kwBYX_pV4Q2BijuWsM86SU9MxlBH95jX3y96nqbzHTsApW0sNlFadGjfCWCP3jRWF5x7zfnGCT4uRyMMYHs0NKRLF1rJUokO8_wtPJ_YG0unvBvgddAjgiYJlSbQUP7_cExNNZlWfvDD/s1600/WhiteTree-night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8kwBYX_pV4Q2BijuWsM86SU9MxlBH95jX3y96nqbzHTsApW0sNlFadGjfCWCP3jRWF5x7zfnGCT4uRyMMYHs0NKRLF1rJUokO8_wtPJ_YG0unvBvgddAjgiYJlSbQUP7_cExNNZlWfvDD/s1600/WhiteTree-night.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Knowledge Tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The annual MASH Ft. Bragg Solstice Celebration was a great success. 17 heathens enjoyed a pastafarian dinner of spaghetti, garlic bread, cookies, fudge and, of course, wine! We had fun decorating our Tree of Knowledge with ornaments of quotes from science rock stars like Carl Sagan, Charles Darwin, Einstein and Bill Nye. Other ornaments included pictures of Marie Curie and Galileo all capped off with a Cosmos tree topper. We'd like to thank Leigh-Anne, Jasmyn and Brenda for making the unique ornaments. Wendy brought a very cool Santaur ornament and 2 atheist themed stockings to hang on the Star Trek display with care! Lively discussion and good cheer abounded.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4X51uqeZ6WuYIvFe9h7gUGZN0Fie3zfT4Dk1trgdKoMjG9WF03M1R_fFWypcBiUDeBqjIB-X1q6dJY_4PN6ik8eSH4i5hLtjERN_JiicIHMQaUaZmjsR8NGRKlx4OkTytdZ65j6VO7g0/s1600/MechAbot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy4X51uqeZ6WuYIvFe9h7gUGZN0Fie3zfT4Dk1trgdKoMjG9WF03M1R_fFWypcBiUDeBqjIB-X1q6dJY_4PN6ik8eSH4i5hLtjERN_JiicIHMQaUaZmjsR8NGRKlx4OkTytdZ65j6VO7g0/s1600/MechAbot.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MechAbot greets our guests</td></tr>
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MechAbot welcomed all to the Cookie decoarting station where folks were able to make their own unique designs on sugar cookies and gingerbread heathens. <br />
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We were very happy to welcome back one of our members, Charlie, who had recently suffered a heart attack followed by a successful triple bypass operation. He was looking good and rapidly on the mend!<br />
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Merry Solstice to all and to all a Joyous New Year in Reason!</div>
MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-34771608490926017022014-12-22T12:03:00.000-08:002014-12-22T12:22:11.943-08:00Food Drive Donation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpexGq-X2vxvTHEMe40IPUM4CUlAqT7V_kcJppT6zyJq6ITAxOMatyAA1Jp_DaTWd-jVv2MNB0R9Ub-DVJac1tGV602HgFr-rcTqTY-b1v_sGaRbbEPRf6Tz0uOG-BjEYBaUhfRp1xF2BS/s1600/MASHFoodDrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpexGq-X2vxvTHEMe40IPUM4CUlAqT7V_kcJppT6zyJq6ITAxOMatyAA1Jp_DaTWd-jVv2MNB0R9Ub-DVJac1tGV602HgFr-rcTqTY-b1v_sGaRbbEPRf6Tz0uOG-BjEYBaUhfRp1xF2BS/s1600/MASHFoodDrive.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brenda Germain, Paul Germain and Michael Cotten</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
MASH Ft.Bragg Food Drive ended Dec 19th when Brenda and Paul Germain dropped off the accumulated donations to Michael Cotten of the Southern Pines branch of the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC. We were able to donate 124 pounds (which was approx $150 worth of food) and a check for $150. Thank you to all the MASH members who participated, you helped brighten Winter Solstice for the needy!!MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-75882017777374128322014-09-02T11:21:00.000-07:002014-09-02T11:24:06.748-07:00MASH Solstice Food DriveMASH Ft. Bragg is kicking off it's fall fund-raiser, A Solstice Food Drive for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. From now until our Solstice dinner on Dec 21st, we're asking our members to either bring food donations or cash donations to any of our events.<br />
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<b>If you are not close to Ft. Bragg, you can make cash donations through our <a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7S37ANKMGFERG" target="_blank">Paypal account</a> </b><br />
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<b>Please help us support the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and make the Solstice season a cheerful one for the less fortunate!</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">The Food Bank welcomes non-perishable products, sealed beverages,
refrigerated or frozen items, or produce as well as non-food essentials
such as hygiene items, cleaning items or paper products. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our most needed items include:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Canned Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, and Soup <i>(Pop-top cans and low sodium a plus!)</i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Whole Grain Pasta, Brown Rice, Dried Beans, and Cereal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Peanut Butter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">For Infants: Formula, Infant Cereal, Diapers, and Wipes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">For Kids: Fruit Cups, Juice Boxes, Granola Bars, Crackers, Popcorn and Sugar-Free Pudding Cups </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Non-Food Essentials: Hygiene Items, Household Items, and Paper Products</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span><span style="font-size: x-small;">
*Please - No loose glass and plastic jars of baby food as they will have to be discarded due to health regulations
</span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-22288300392306420922014-08-02T11:17:00.001-07:002014-08-02T11:17:29.959-07:00Ferguson Easley School Supply donation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWjpGoZKXMTzVukuVmZO7hfslaS410DqIOxxyiXQ4VKEKygpm3rSTTHIAl24WwLulc4f7f959rxDgBwEklJCvwYgiu4hhMO56lj8vmFPgNSrVptpNhBc8VBfwg6DUbByNZhoI70QZ_iDk/s1600/Paul-DrHales-Brenda-Charlie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfWjpGoZKXMTzVukuVmZO7hfslaS410DqIOxxyiXQ4VKEKygpm3rSTTHIAl24WwLulc4f7f959rxDgBwEklJCvwYgiu4hhMO56lj8vmFPgNSrVptpNhBc8VBfwg6DUbByNZhoI70QZ_iDk/s1600/Paul-DrHales-Brenda-Charlie.jpg" height="155" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Paul, Dr. Hales, Brenda & Charlie</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Dr. Hales and the staff at Ferguson-Easley Elementary school are very happy with the school supplies donation MASH made to them on July 30th. Taking advantage of some awesome sales, Leigh-Anne, Charlie, Paul, and Brenda went shopping and then dropped off notebooks, pencils, crayons, rulers, glue sticks and colored pencils. This was in addition to the 144 pencils and 32 crayon packs provided through our ongoing Coke Rewards fundraiser. We were able to provide a notebook and pencil for EVERY child in this school! Total dollar amount was over $260.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdN22lHmqt3Ez-oOyaIbLj-db7uM7gXCgcjL4DGXvyhWokkkFPrLJdSMvdbZuYpTMKHnWiqb6hVYZdADzwVM_p86DoC4wU5uqFeLZljBGtqKsinvLpz61uRpG8KT9jXEY8fdTVV42VoWqw/s1600/DonatedSupplies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdN22lHmqt3Ez-oOyaIbLj-db7uM7gXCgcjL4DGXvyhWokkkFPrLJdSMvdbZuYpTMKHnWiqb6hVYZdADzwVM_p86DoC4wU5uqFeLZljBGtqKsinvLpz61uRpG8KT9jXEY8fdTVV42VoWqw/s1600/DonatedSupplies.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: blue;">Schools supplies donation</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Our final total donation tally:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 412 notebooks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 118 crayons (24 pack)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 480 pencils</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 42 rulers</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 8 glue sticks</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 5 colored pencil set (12 pencils per)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">10 reams of multiuse paper</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> 50 packs of construction paper (2500 sheets, to be delivered next week from supplier)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ferguson-Easley Elementary is the only STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) school in Fayetteville. In a poor neighborhood and predominately African-American, they treasure and truly need every donation. MASH supports this school because with the STEM curriculum, students learn valuable critical thinking skills crucial to producing rational and scientifically literate students.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> Something this area and the whole country can benefit from!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And who knows, perhaps they will produce the next Neil DeGrasse Tyson!</span></span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-52365926964831428492014-08-01T11:32:00.000-07:002014-08-01T11:32:50.260-07:00Farewell to Ian & Robyn and July 4thWe've been busy since Memorial Day. There were 2 parties to bid Ian and Robyn farewell, a dinner at Robyn's favorite Indian Restaurant and then Critical Drinking at her house. We'll miss both of them, but hope they will visit often!<br /><br />July 4th, we celebrated in the boonies (my house) with sandwich makings, veggie tray, mac & cheese, chips-dips and fruit tray, and plans to watch the new Cosmos series. We watched some of Cosmos, but spent most of the time in various spirited discussions about the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision. We seem to do that a lot, get into interesting discussions and end forgoing the movie.MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-73778193142380417712014-06-01T13:20:00.000-07:002014-06-01T13:20:36.345-07:00Memorial Day CookoutOur Memorial Day Cookout was a great success, with 11 people showing up to enjoy good food, good times and great discussions. Burgers, brats, hot dogs, beans, salads, mashed potatoes and desserts were enjoyed by all!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVgIN8wXomDtkNTD9sOaStdAZ9q2sWKjcPjJt_naZFiOdm9_esSJ2OnK8ULbp6ZFZuwx5RPtXUq4c9FRQn-E5MRozEBnCCO-pyTRJd1r9p2ajO4lOsuno4o4eGHaSwXvdZ8-nmsQhyphenhyphencfV/s1600/Gary-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMVgIN8wXomDtkNTD9sOaStdAZ9q2sWKjcPjJt_naZFiOdm9_esSJ2OnK8ULbp6ZFZuwx5RPtXUq4c9FRQn-E5MRozEBnCCO-pyTRJd1r9p2ajO4lOsuno4o4eGHaSwXvdZ8-nmsQhyphenhyphencfV/s1600/Gary-001.jpg" height="200" width="96" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gary Guillen<br />March 19, 1951 - April 10, 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We took a few minutes to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country and to mourn the recent death of one of our members, Gary Guillen. Gary was a Vietnam Army veteran, who came to a number of our meetups over the last year. He was born March 19, 1951 and died April 10, 2014 at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. We are saddened by the loss of this MASH and FFRF member. Gary was a very nice, soft-spoken gentleman who added to our discussions with his unique viewpoint. He will be dearly missed by the members of our group.<br />
<br />
For some odd reason, there was no obituary for Gary in our local paper or anywhere else for that matter,
so members of MASH are working on getting more about Gary's life so we
can have a proper obituary on our website. We are a bit short of pictures of Gary and information about his life, so if anyone has more info and/or pictures, please <a href="http://www.mashfortbragg.org/contact.php" target="_blank">contact us</a>. <br />
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Charlie brought some Boxtops for Education and Coca-Cola tops for our Ferguson Easley Elementary School fundraiser. Thanks Charlie! We now have over 2000 Coke Rewards points, but can always use more!MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-89078496812487586262014-05-08T09:34:00.001-07:002014-05-08T09:50:58.009-07:00<b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">FFRF Convention in Raleigh NC </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">MASH Fort Bragg was represented at the Freedom From Religion Foundation's (FFRF) first mini convention in Raleigh, NC on May 2nd & 3rd by Brenda and Paul Germain. Close to 200 people were there from all over the US, one Irishman and one person who came all the way from France! Speakers included: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Michael Nugent, founder and chair of Atheist Ireland. Michael flew in from Dublin giving an international flavor to the conference and talked about the growing number of blasphemy prosecutions around the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Todd Stiefel, a Raleigh local, FFRF Lifetime Member and head of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation. Todd’s speech was the importance of living Openly Secular. <a href="http://secular.org/stories" target="_blank">Openly Secular</a> is seeking stories from atheists who have faced discrimination for their non-theism. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of <a href="http://blacknonbelievers.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Black Nonbelievers, Inc.</a>, based in Atlanta. She encouraged more blacks to come out and stand strong as nonbelievers. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />We enjoyed Scott Burdick's latest documentary "Sophie Goes to Good News Club." This documentary is must see viewing for parents of children 4 to 14. What they are teaching children is horrific. Both received awards from the conference. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Paul & I were able to enjoy a great deal of networking with other atheists and made connects for more resources for our membership. Check out our <a href="http://www.mashfortbragg.org/resources.php" target="_blank">Rational Resources</a> and redesigned website <a href="http://www.mashfortbragg.org/index.php" target="_blank">MASH Ft. Bragg</a>.</span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-79271969561645778442014-05-07T09:17:00.001-07:002014-05-07T09:17:07.985-07:00<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Dogwood Festival </b><br /><br />MASH Ft. Bragg along with our parent organization, Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers (MAAF), had our first ever informational booth at the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival on April 26 - 27, 2014. Our special guest, MAAF President Jason Torpy helped man our booth both Saturday and Sunday! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We had a great time interacting with all the people who stopped by our booth for more information and had a few chuckles at the reactions of some of the crowd. The overwhelming response to our booth was positive! There were a few "pickle pusses" and a couple of people who picked up our literature, then dropped it like they'd been stung by a bee when they realized we were atheists.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thank you to all our members who volunteered their time to "man" the booth</span>!MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-68827666813031257922014-05-07T09:02:00.003-07:002014-05-07T09:02:25.393-07:00<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>Ferguson-Easley Fundraiser (Ongoing)</b><br /><br />MASH has an ongoing fundraiser via My Coke Rewards and Boxtops for Education for Ferguson-Easley Elementary School, a Science and Math public charter school in Fayetteville, NC. Help MASH Ft Bragg support early science education to encourage rational thinking in the next generation!<br /><br />How you can contribute:<br /><br />Bring Coke Rewards numbers (caps, wrappers and/or boxtops) and/or Boxtops for Education cut outs to any MASH Ft Bragg function and we will enter the codes for you. Coke Rewards can be donated directly from your Coke Rewards account to <a href="http://www.mycokerewards.com/schoolDetails.do?id=1056688270&x=66&y=13" target="_blank">Ferguson-Easley Elementary School, Fayetteville, NC</a>.</span><br />MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3256445783620387108.post-53226652994716372142014-05-07T08:39:00.000-07:002014-05-07T08:39:34.317-07:00<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b>MASH President Featured in Freethought Today</b><br /><br />Our president, Brenda Germain, was featured in the Freedom From Religion Foundation's June/July 2013 issue of Freethought Today in the Meet a Member section. <a href="http://www.mashfortbragg.org/PDFs/p10.pdf" target="_blank">Read the full interview</a>.</span></span>MASH Ft. Bragghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10770574300845474143noreply@blogger.com0