HUSBAY is a community of secular Humanists and freethinkers, dedicated to improving the human condition through rational inquiry, critical thinking, and appropriate action.
1. Notice of dues shall be sent in December by Treasurer.
2. Priority will be given to topics for the lecture series that are relevant to humanism. When speakers for those are not available, other subjects of probable interest may be scheduled.
3. Attendance in HUSBAY special interest groups will be restricted to members of HUSBAY unless the leader of the SIG approves attendance by guests who are restricted to one visit.
4. The membership list shall remain confidential and only distributed to Board members and other leaders of events and activities. HUSBAY mailing and email lists are restricted to HUSBAY business.
5. Speakers will be offered an honorarium of $100 with the exception of member speakers. (Passed at the Annual Meeting, April, 2016.) Out of town speakers will have travel reimbursed. Dinner will also be offered to speakers at HUSBAY expense and attended by Board members at their expense and can include spouse, partner, or friend.
6. The Board via meetings will express condolences, concerns and remembrances to members but only after consulting with the member(s).
The President will send emails of concern, condolences and get well wishes on behalf of the Board. No broadcast to the membership shall be made without the consent of the member(s) affected.
7. The Board will maintain communication regularly via email and other media about lectures, weekly news about luncheons and topics, and other news of interest to our members.
8. HUSBAY shall maintain a website to disseminate information about HUSBAY’s activities, events and members. The webmaster shall be appointed by the President and approved by the Board. The Board will periodically review the website and make recommendations as necessary.
The webmaster will make a report to the members at the annual meeting.
Karen Koenig: When we moved here from Boston, knowing no one, Husbay saved the day. It gave us a strong sense of community with like-minded people who enjoy intellectual stimulation as well as having fun. We’d be lost without Husbay.
Barry Zack: My wife Joanne and I were members of a Humanist group in New Jersey. We were quite pleased to learn that a group expressing similar values would be here for us to join. And are we glad we did.
Click here to read the bylaws that were approved by our board in April 2016. Please note: The bylaws are currently being reviewed by the Board and any suggested revisions will be presented to the membership at the Annual Meeting of members.
President Emeritus: Noel Smith (now deceased - see below)
President: David Helgager
Treasurer: Holly Downing
VP and Webmaster: Barry Zack
Newsletter:
Robert Lasalle
Secretary: Sandra Zellick
Agenda:
1. Call to order
2. Secretary’s Report
3. Treasurer's Report
4. BUDGET FOR 2023
5. MEMBERSHIP REPORT
6. GENERAL REPORTS (luncheons, newsletter, website, film group, Darwin
Day)
7. Old Business—Scholarship
8. New Business—Fund raisers
9. Election of Board Members (David Helgager, Robert LaSalle,
Barry Zack,
and Sandra Zellick are up for three year terms.)
Agenda:
1. Call To OrderWhen: Wednesday, April 20th (1:30pm.) *Note the date change
Where: In front of your computer or your smart device.
Agenda:
1. Call To OrderWhen: Monday, April 1st - Gathering at 6:30pm. Meeting began at 7:00pm.
Where: Center for Arts and Humanity (same location as the lectures) 1226 N. Tamiami Trail.
1. Call to order, President's Comments and Thanks to Volunteers
2. Secretary's Report
3. Treasurer's Report & Budget 2019-2020
4. Presentation of revisions to bylaws, discussion and vote
(Revisions proposed to follow)
5. Election of Board Members
6. Comments and Suggestions from Members
7. Adjournment
Among the many items on the agenda was the award presented to HUSBAY's founder, Noel Smith. This included free life-time membership. It was the least we could do for all the work Noel has done for HUSBAY. The meeting minutes can be read here.
Board members elected at the annual meeting: Dave Helgager, President and Don Slate and Gale Midwood, at large members. We had no secretary at the time of the election. Later Sandie Zellick agreed to serve again and was approved by the Board for another term. Your Board for 2017-18 is Dave Helgager, President, Barry Zack, VP, Chuck Smith Treasurer, Sandie Zellick, Secretary, Don Slate and Gale Midwood, at large members. Zack, Smith and Barb Kavanaugh are completing their two year terms and were not up for election.
Missing from the photo is our newest board member,
Gale Midwood. - Someone had to take the picture.
Minutes to be posted.
Board members present:
Chuck Smith, Baerbel Kavanaugh, Don Slate, David Callahan,
Sandra Zellick, plus 35 members and one guest.
To read the minutes for the 2016 annual membership meeting, please click on this link.
HUSBAY annually awards the Klein Foundation Scholarship, for $2000, to a deserving student, who follows the tenets of secular Humanism and is enrolled in an institution of higher learning. The initial selections are made by the Secular Student Alliance who then sends them to the HUSBAY Board for selection. The scholarship program and its process has been approved by the membership at an annual meeting.
Our most recent award went to Neil Dervis, whose bio appears below:
November 10, 2020
Special Board and Membership meeting to present Neil Dervis his award winning scholarship certificate and cash. Present were Neil's mother Jocelyn Williamson, Ingrid Cardozo, Betty Comora, Dan Dana, Holly Downing, Barry Zack, Bob LaSalle, Sandie Zellick.
Bud and Judy Klein attended and generously donated the $3000.00 scholarship award.
Attending members were invited to talk about their pre-retirement careers.
Neil Dervis attended the Zoom meeting and thanked HUSBAY for the scholarship and certificate. He described his future plans to attend college followed by graduate school in medicine specializing in psychiatry. His goal is to serve human needs and solve problems.
Neil has been active in the Central Florida Freethought community.
Neil intends to use the award money to help with room and board when he attends college.
Respectfully submitted, Sandra Z. Zellick, Secretary
Below is a photo, of board members and the preivious recipient, taken at the award luncheon:
Teresa MacBain, former Executive Director of Humanists of Florida, recently met with the Board during a luncheon held in late June. Teresa updated the Board on the progress HFA is making in improving its membership and also the status of the annual conference slated for 2014. She also discussed the many issues affecting humanism in Florida.
Pictured are Judy and David Helgager (HUSBAY President) and Hemant Mehta who attended the Freethought Cruise.
Hemant spoke on the subjects of why young people are leaving religion and what we can learn from it. He is the author of the book I Sold My Soul. Find out more about him on Wikipedia
American Atheist Association
American Humanist Association
Center for Inquiry
Council for Secular Humanism
Humanists of Florida
Secular Coalition
Tampa Bay Coalition of Reason
This entry was submitted by Trudi Pearl
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
"nullifidian" PRONOUNCIATION: (nuhl-uh-FID-ee-uhn)
MEANING: noun: An atheist: a person who has no religious faith or belief in god(s). adjective: Having no faith or belief. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin nullus (no) + fides (faith). Earliest documented use: 1564. USAGE: “Riding a backlash against centuries of Puritanism and uptight strictures, we’ve turned nullifidian.” James Royson; On Casino Question, Let the People Decide; Toronto Star (Canada); Apr 23, 2013. “This [the Internet] is where like-minded folk of a nullifidian bent come together, as demonstrated by the extraordinary success of a campaign to raise money for Britain’s first atheist advertisements.” Jemima Lewis; Thank Heaven for a British Faith in Bet-Hedging; The Sunday Telegraph (London, UK); Oct 26, 2008.
Our thanks to Sue Tschesnok and Darwin Soder for their unselfish
work in the picnic's preparation. Carl Sagan would be proud.
Barry reveals how the |
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As you know, HUSBAY has a weekly Wednesday lunch group at New Dynasty Restaurant in Sarasota. After many years of meeting there, we have come to think of staff as friends and sometimes even family. It is therefore, with sadness, that I must tell you of the death of the manager with the engaging smile, Andrew Tian, usually the first face we see at the entrance.
On a Sunday evening in July, he chased three men who fled the restaurant without paying and was attacked and beaten. He was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he lingered in critical condition until he died on following Friday. New Dynasty staff as well as customers like us and the community have been grieving his loss. We have sent cards with member messages to the hospital and to New Dynasty staff. Many in HUSBAY wanted to memorialize Andrew. The board had set up a memorial fund, to go towards his son's education. Thanks to those members who have contributed.
Link to the story as covered by mysuncoast news.
Andrew, as we knew him, was a kind, generous and caring man with a ready smile and a warm greeting for all.
For many years, he graciously hosted the lunch bunch at HUSBAY with joy and love. He knew each of us by name ... gave many of us hugs, asked about our lives and our children, and was always willing to change the setting for another meeting. We shall always remember him with a smile in our heart.
With apologies to John Donne, the English poet of the 16th century:
No Man is an Island entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main,
Any man’s death diminishes us, because we are involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know
For whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee, Andrew ... we shall miss you.
To paraphrase Bilbo Baggins –
"Today is my 92nd birthday. Alas, 92 is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable people.
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve. But I regret to announce — this is my Final Exit
"I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye."
I have had a full, happy life filled with interesting activities and friendly accomplished people. Thank you for the part you have played in making my life so good. HAVE FUN.
Jim died peacefully at home with his family nearby on his 92nd birthday, March 5, 2018.
A private memorial service will be held in Colorado this June.
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President Addresses the Crowd |
Musical Entertainment |
Meigs G. and Dave H. |
Original Member, Bob Phillipoff |
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New Member Dan Dana speaks |
Dave H. and Judith Collier |
Trudy, Ursula |
Karin G, Rhea, Jay and Mary C |
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Jack O, Penny, Ernie (hiding), Jack K |
Joanne, Barry, Meigs, Chuck and Joyce |
Mary, Bob and Barbara |
A HUSBAY Just Dessert |
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L-R: Penny, Jack O, Ernie, Jack K, Lois and Trudy |
Donna, David and Bob P |
Barbara, Susan and Dan |
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Dave, Judy and Sandie |
L-R: Susan, Dan, Chuck, Rhea, Mary, Bob & Barbara |
Ellie, Karen & Kieth |
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L-R: Rhea, Mary M, Bob M & Barbara |
Sandie, Roy & Judy W |
Len, Francis, Lou and Ellie |
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Judy W, Meigs, Ingrid and Judith C |
Harbor View from Marina Jacks |
Sittin' on the dock of the bay |
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Introducing our |
Joyce P |
Ingrid & Judy H |
Trudy's dog asks, |
View of the Bay |
Click here for a brief history of HUSBAY as read by founder Noel Smith at the event.