Memorial Day Cookout

Our 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!

Gary Guillen
March 19, 1951 - April 10, 2014

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.

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 contact us.

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!

FFRF Convention in Raleigh NC          

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:  

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.  

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. Openly Secular is seeking stories from atheists who have faced discrimination for their non-theism.  

Mandisa Thomas, founder and president of Black Nonbelievers, Inc., based in Atlanta. She encouraged more blacks to come out and stand strong as nonbelievers.  

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.  

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 Rational Resources and redesigned website MASH Ft. Bragg.

Dogwood Festival

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!

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.

Thank you to all our members who volunteered their time to "man" the booth!

Ferguson-Easley Fundraiser (Ongoing)

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!

How you can contribute:

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 Ferguson-Easley Elementary School, Fayetteville, NC.

MASH President Featured in Freethought Today

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. Read the full interview.