Note: Sandy Branam, a member of Savannah Monthly Meeting of Southeastern Yearly Meeting, created a painted journal of the 2013 AFSC Corporation Meeting including her trip to Philadelphia and back via the train. She passsed it along to me saying that we could publish it here. I had a real sense of a gathered meeting as Friends participated in staff presentations, engaged in meeting for business, and came together to learn how AFSC and Friends can partner in Spirit-guided action, and these images capture that spirit. - Lucy
Text: Amtrak Station, Savannah. We began our journey to Philadelphia for AFSC on the "Palmetto" leaving at 8 AM 2/28/13. The waiting room at 7:30 am... sleepy and quiet.
Text: "Palmetto," train # 90. The little girl slept curled up like a puppy all the way to Baltimore from Savannah. She had an older brother, a young sister, and her mother [with her]. On the train you learn snipppets of stories... giving you greater understanding of where and why the 14 hour trip is good.
Text: Charles & Mary Foulkes returning home to Richmond, VA from Charleston, SC. Charles is a cement contractor. He was happy to be able to work on the train. For many the train meant going to-from a funeral or moving to a new start. Glad to share stories. Many asked, "What is AFSC?"
Text: The first AFSC [business] session at Friends Center 3/1/2013. At least 1/3 of Corporation & Board Members used some form of modern tech[nology] to take notes. It was apparent even more in 2013 than in 2012. What a sharp contrast we are to the Quakers who sat on these benches a hundred years ago!
Text: AFSC Friday evening: From the Maine Passamoquoddy tribe, one survivor of the Maine foster care system speaks out. Denise Altvater tells her compelling personal story of how she and her sisters were dragged from their home & put into a foster home, where they were no longer able to take part in their tribal customs, speak in their native tongue & underwent unspeakable horrors.
Text: Saturday, March 2, 2013. Linda Garrison gave a semi-programmed worship that made everyone smile & think. After a break, the report from Acting Treasurer Joe Franko gave such an excellent financial report with clear visuals that even easily confused Quakers like myself understood it! It was good news & fascinating.
Text: Mary Dyer watches over Friends Center, a place for AFSC & other Quakers to gather, plus a monthly meeting and yearly meeting. A place for quiet among the ever-expanding high-rise hotels & businesses. Here is still an old brick building & cherry trees beloved of Quakers, all at the corner of Cherry & 15th streets. March 4, 2013.
Text: The angel holding the dying soldier alway[s] reminds me of the AFSC ambulance drivers in WW1 & WW2. 30th Street Station, Philadelphia. The conductors kept us on track with a smile & a helping hand. 2 am: "Savannah in 10 minutes! Collect all your belong[ing]s, Savannah's end of line." March 5th, return was a 16 hr. journey. Sandy Branam