Tuesday, August 21, 2018

School Supplies Donation 2018

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.

306 Single subject notebooks
240 Pencils
336 Erasers
120 Glue sticks
108 Pencil sharpeners
50 Folders
40 Boxes of crayons
30 Sets of colored pencils
20 Scissors
20 Composition notebooks
17 Book bags
18 Boxes of jumbo crayons
20 Kindergarten tablets
10 Hand sanitizers
10 Clipboards
20 Packets of loose leaf paper
20 One inch binders
1 Electric pencil sharpener




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.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Herb Silverman visits MASH

Julie, Michael, Paul, Herb and Sharon
MASH President Brenda Germain and her husband Paul were honored to host Herb Silverman, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, Founder of the Secular Coalition for America and founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC., in their home last night. MASH members enjoyed a delightful presentation by Mr. Silverman about his two books; Candidate Wthout a Prayer and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land. Humorous and insightful, Herb's talk was well worth attending.


It was wonderful to meet Herb's lovely wife Sharon. The
Brenda, Herb and Sharon
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.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Herb Silverman



MASH Speaker for September 20, 2017    6:30 pm


Location:    Germain Residence
                       110 Ashley Dr., Aberdeen, NC


Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston, Herb Silverman is Founder of the Secular Coalition for America and founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry in Charleston, SC.

His book,Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt”, 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 “Does American Religion Undermine American Values?” On YouTube!

Most recently he received a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Humanist Association.

Herb will speak about his book, "Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt", 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, “An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land” which is a compendium of some of his best writing for the Washington Post, HuffPost, The Humanist, and other magazines and blogs.

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 rock star of our atheist community—a man who has been fighting the good fight for decades, and never hesitates to speak out on our behalf!

MASH will provide refreshments. Attendees are encourage to bring whatever they’d like to eat, drink, and/or share.


Monday, August 14, 2017

2017 Ferguson Easley School Supplies


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!

Here's what we were able to donate to them:

12 Pencil Sharpeners
498 #2 pencils
312 Pencil erasers
76 Glue sticks
24 Bookbags
27 Clipboards
33 Dividers
5 Sharpies
12 High-lighters
24 Handwriting tablets
16 boxes of Lg Crayons
80 boxes of regular Crayons
25 Dry erase markers
88 pkgs of Loose leaf notebook paper
234 One subject notebooks
59 Black & White Composition Books

75 Pocket folders, 2 prong
28 One inch Binders

20 pairs of Scissors
Ziploc Bags: sandwich - 300 quart - 72 gallon - 120
10 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer
4 Clorox wipes
12 bottles of hand soap and 7 refills
44 sets of Colored pencils
41 ball point pens
1 Box of asst office supplies

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

2017 Dogwood Festival

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!

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.

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!

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Merry Solstice!

Brenda, Paul & Kat
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.



Food Drive donations next to the Tree of Knowledge.
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. It was decided to apply for a table at 2017 Dogwood Festival, so our application was sent in. A day filled with lively conversation, laughter and camaraderie.

Monday, September 5, 2016

MASH Summer Events

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!

REASON RALLY 2016


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, Michael & Stef, Paul & Brenda and John. Most of us were able to take in some sightseeing at the Smithsonian and 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, Lawrence Krauss, John DeLancie and Bill Nye were fabulous. Mike & Brenda were even able to get their pictures taken with Lawrence Krauss!

3rd ANNUAL FERGUSON-EASLEY SCHOOL SUPPLIES DRIVE


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-Easley, with our donation for 2016. We were able to donate over $450 worth of new school supplies and another over $100 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.

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.

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!