BBUUC’s Annual Festivus Celebration (All Ages)
With Jennifer Bacmeister as Worship Leader and Presenter
Gary Smart, Accompanist
Mike and Emily Rose Ludwick, Special Music
About our service
Join BBUUC in our Annual Festivus Celebration! We will enjoy a participatory Recitation of Festivus Miracles, air our grievances, and perform the traditional Feats of Strength! BBUUC is proud to have our own Festivus pole, which will be presented and admired. We will also recognize the incoming New Year during this unique service.
For those unfamiliar with Festivus, the celebration was spawned from an episode of Seinfeld, inspired by what some may consider shenanigans in one of the writer’s childhood homes. The concept of a holiday, “a Festivus for the rest of us,” was meant to be a jovial and very tongue-in-cheek response to the overt consumerism of Christmas. Festivus is now observed worldwide and is not necessarily just a Christmas-time holiday. BBUUC celebrates Festivus as a participatory service full of fun and happiness. Festivus, for us, serves as a reminder of what the holidays are really about and reminds us to look past the trappings and find the joy.
About our presenter
Jennifer Bacmeister has been a member of BBUUC since 2001. She has served in many roles, including Worship Committee Chair, Building Task Force, Religious Education teacher, and Board Vice President. Jennifer is an accomplished Toastmaster, one of those rare birds that actually enjoy public speaking! After years of being a Worship Leader, she added writing sermons to her skill set. She has spoken at UU churches in Huntsville, Alabama, and right down the road in Palatka, as well as to our congregation. When not crafting services as a worship leader or writing sermons, Jennifer enjoys tending her backyard chickens, spoiling her grandchildren, and sewing (not always in that order!).
About our Festivus Musicians
Enamored with the music of the 1960’s, “Firepit” Mike Ludwick taught himself to play guitar as a teenager. Making music and singing have been life-affirming spiritual practices for him, which he uses to help bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice, love, and peace.
Emily Rose Ludwick is a 9th-grade public school teacher at Creekside High School who enjoys music, art, and writing. She’s a D&D nerd, obsessed with exploring characters, over-analyzing narrative themes, killing the part of her that cringes, and building community through shared storytelling. She’s been singing as long as she’s been able, but singing with her dad, Michael Ludwick, has always been her favorite. She loves indie folk, syrup-voiced crooners, and the soundtrack of Trolls 3. Her favorite groups to listen to right now are The Crane Wives and Hozier!