UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF SARASOTA, 3975 FRUITVILLE ROAD, SARASOTA FL 34232, TEL. 941-371-4974
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"Permission Granted" - It's OK to NOT be OK

2/17/2022

1 Comment

 
MIndy was a cherished guest musician at our church. She first performed for us in 2004. On some occasions she was also our featured speaker. 

Ron Hertenstein of the Unitarian Universalists of Lakewood Ranch, wrote the following:

"Mindy was a major part of the Lakewood Ranch experience.  Since 2017, she was the featured musician nearly 35% of the time, including one service where she was both musician and speaker.  She was our last musician prior to the coronavirus quarantine in March 2020 and our first musician at our recent re- gathering  on December 19, 2021, just two months ago.  More importantly, she was our friend.  Many of us have attended Mindy’s performances at other venues, and she was always joyful in recognizing our support.  We will miss her so much because she was, indeed, the musical heart and soul of our Lakewood Ranch fellowship."

Luckily, we have videos of three of Mindy's performances, taken from our August 1, 2021 service. In light of her passing, the songs she chose and the theme of the service seem especially poignant. The guest speaker is our former Ministerial Intern, Katie Culbert. She and Mindy worked together a number of times during Katie's internship. 

Feel free to leave a comment by clicking on the Comments link below. 

First, the three songs she performed, then the whole service is shown.
Picture
During his farewell address on February 6, our minister of 9 years, Roger Fritts, recognized Mindy. After mentioning church staff by name, he said, "I want also to mention Mindy Simmons, who was our guest musician many Sundays over the years. I only reasoned that you have to choose good people, trust them, respect them, and encourage their loyalty to the church. It seemed to work. I owe them more than I could ever express."

These remarks are at 43:29 in the video below:

A simple recording of Mindy's January 27, 2022, performance is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/1326186039/videos/250073397275197/

Mindy performed at our church since January 25, 2004. In addition to Sunday services, she held a number of her concerts in our sanctuary. 

Her CaringBridge site is at 
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mindysimmons/journal​

Mindy's website is at http://www.mindysimmons.com/

Many of her songs are available
at 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6PWQKFLyIOkZUwo0Mtt8Cw/featured


1 Comment
Klaus Obermeit
2/18/2022 09:44:52 am

It was Christmas Eve, 2001 or 2002, and I was looking for a place to celebrate the holiday. I checked online at a couple of likely places, but none posted their Chrismas Eve service times. Somehow I ended up at the Community Center on Tuttle Circle, that marvelous meeting hall with two walls of pure glass, overlooking the tranquil waters of Phillippi Creek.

Mindy Simmons was the musician, and she performed that crazy little song, "What'll We Do With Mary?" It explores the dilemma Mary put her family in by getting pregnant as a single girl. "It must have been that new guy Joseph."

It's been my favorite Christmas song ever since, and whenever she performed at church in December, I insisted she include that in her repertoire. You can hear it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyJPl8AwVFs&list=OLAK5uy_kwb6iasURVEsf_oKKHS_oR4zXKABehkFg&index=3

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Mindy Simmons

    Mindy was a frequent guest musician of ours since January, 2004. She died February 18 at the age of 63.

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