Shelter Island Yacht Club Sunday at Union Chapel

Vintage burgees will hang from the Union Chapel rafters for Yacht Club Memorial Sunday on July 12 as the antique Chapel bell tolls for SIYC members who passed away since last July. Jay Sterling will lead the service and offer remembrances.

As the bell tolls, SIYC Commodore Benjamin Dyett will read the names of the deceased: Michael H. Coles, William T. Buice III, Franklin R. Ciaccio, Edward E. Barr, and Esther H. Hunt. Yacht Club flag officers will read the prayers and readings during the indoor service. Yacht Club member Nelson Bogart will play his haunting version of “Taps” on trumpet and throughout the service. An outdoor reception, catered by the Yacht Club, will follow the 10:30 a.m. indoor service.

Yacht Club Chaplain Rev. Galen Guengerich will preach about “The Sea-tides of the Soul,” a title taken from the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With Christopher Nolan’s new film, “The Odyssey,” set for release next week, Rev. Guengerich will explore why this ancient sea-faring tale continues to resonate today — fulfilling the epic’s invitation to hear “the old story for our modern times.”

Rev. Guengerich served All Souls Unitarian Church on the Upper East Side for more than 30 years, the last 18 as senior minister. He is the author of God Revised: How Religion Must Evolve in a Scientific Age (2013), The Way of Gratitude: A New Spirituality for Today (2020), and two volumes of Dwell in Possibility: Meditations on Conquering Life’s Challenges (2024 and 2025). 

Next week: The annual Family Service with composer, educator and banjoist Bill Gordh.