In 1995, the Fellowship began meeting at the Loffler Senior Center.  On Wednesday morning, 10 February 2010, the roof of the Loffler Center collapsed under the weight of many inches of snow. Happily, no one was in the building and no one was injured. The roof collapse triggered the sprinkler system, and in addition to the snow storm that day, several inches of water accumulated on the floor. The center has been marked off-limits because of safety concerns.

We're still waiting to hear if we'll ever be able to go back in the building and retrieve the contents of our cabinet.  We also don't know if the closet our cabinet was in still has a roof.  It's likely that there has been water damage, either from the sprinkler or the weather.

So, right now, we're replacing the essential items in our cabinet, and we'll wait a little longer to see if we need to replace everything.  Happily again, due to our renter's insurance and our "Rainy Day Fund" (better call that our "Snowy Day Fund"), this won't be a problem financially. And, since many of us were storing various Fellowship items at home, we still have many of our supplies.

The people of the Fellowship stepped right up to help with our sudden transition. Missy has been bringing a beautifully painted picture of a chalice on Sundays, since our banner is still in the cabinet. Carl has been carrying the original UUFSM chalice to worship services. Alan has been hauling the hymnals he had stored in his shed back and forth every week. On a few days' notice, Michael rearranged a service to accommodate the unexpected presences of children on Valentine's Day and to give us a chance to reflect on the sudden loss of a place where so many happy memories have been made over the last fifteen years. Our musicians have been working around the lack of a piano, and everyone has been understanding and patient while we "find our way through this wilderness."

Thanks to the diligent efforts of Steve, Jim, Alan, and Dee, we've also been extraordinarily fortunate in quickly finding a new place to meet. We looked at several options, and the board voted on February 21 to settle in at the Chesapeake Charter School on Great Mills Road, only a few miles from the Loffler Center.  The school has a cafeteria for our worship services and a kitchen for us to make coffee in, plus many child-friendly classrooms for Sunday school. Once the snow is finally gone, we'll be able to use the playground. Parking is convenient, and soon (we hope by February 28) we'll have a storage cabinet there. They're even letting us borrow their coffee urn, until we can get to the cabinet and find out if we need to buy our own or not.

We have a chalice, we have coffee, and, most importantly, we have each other.  The Fellowship is doing well!