Yacht Club Sunday at Shelter Island’s Union Chapel: Memorial program July 14

Vintage burgees will bedeck the Union Chapel rafters for Yacht Club Memorial Sunday on July 14 when the antique Chapel bell will toll for Shelter Island Yacht Club members who have passed away since last July.

Rev. Jill Vogt, Co-Pastor of the Moravian Church of Herrnhut, Germany, will preach about “Lessons From the Deep.” Jean Hendrickson will be the guest musician, playing flute, and Nelson Bogart will return to play his haunting rendition of “Taps” on his trumpet.

Jay Sterling, SIYC Fleet Chaplain, will lead the service and offer remembrances. As the bell tolls, SIYC Commodore John Sommi will read the names of the deceased:

Frank DeBernardis, Mary Snowden Helme, Elizabeth Snowden Ely Helme, Jay R. Inglis, J. Paul Martin, Andrea Fagan Rowsom, Doris Ann Schultz, Doris W. Sliker, Richard Webley and Clara Yuranich-Martini.

Although Rev. Vogt lives in Germany with her family, she tries to spend part of the summer on the Island. “She has Shelter Island in her blood,” according to Jay Sterling.

She was raised in Longmeadow, Mass., and spent her summers at the family cottage on Summerfield Place, which was one of the original camp meeting houses. Both Jill and her brother were avid sailors and spent much of their time on the water with the Yacht Club’s Junior Sailing Program.

While on Shelter Island, Rev. Vogt said her favorite thing to do is to “sit on my front porch reading a good book and keeping an eye on the ferries.” She also swims at least once a day and takes walks in Mashomack, Sylvester Manor, or on Shell or Hay beaches. The rest of her time here, she said “is spent on upkeep of our old house that has been in the family for over 110 years.”

Rev. Vogt and her husband Peter Vogt serve as co-pastors of the Moravian Church in Herrnhut, Germany, birthplace of the Moravian Church. Rev. Vogt mentioned that the Moravian Church in Herrnhut, together with Moravian communities Grace Hill in Northern Ireland and Bethlehem, Penn., are part of a transnational nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site called “Moravian Church Settlements.”

This marks the “uniqueness of Moravian settlements worldwide as well as their sense of connection and distinctive architecture, which is an expression of faith,” she said.

Jean Hendrickson teaches ESL at Stony Brook University, studied at Oberlin College and at the French flute school. She performed with Basically Baroque at Union Chapel’s opening service, Homecoming/Heights Memorial Sunday, in June.

Nelson Bogart plays trumpet and guitar and is a full-time composer. He was also a studio musician, lawyer and professor. He and his wife, Ellen, have been members of the Yacht Club since 1994.

Join us for Yacht Club Memorial Sunday on July 14 at 10:30 a.m. A reception after the service will be hosted by the Yacht Club in our shady grove.

Next week: Community Sunday honoring the Shelter Island Food Pantry. Rev. Stephen Adkison of Shelter Island Presbyterian Church will preach; music by baritone Thomas Milton.