We are pleased that Ann Arbor Friend Paul Tinkerhess will perform a concert in Toledo on Saturday, May 3, 2025, in commemoration of Broadmead Meeting’s 50th anniversary. Paul is a talented performer who sings songs of peace, justice and hope. He and his wife Claire were co-clerks of the 2018 FGC Gathering in Toledo.
The free concert starts at 7 pm at Victory Center, 3166 Republic Blvd N, Toledo 43615. A free-will offering will be accepted to go to the AFSC’s Gaza emergency response fund.
Broadmead Monthly Meeting was accepted into Lake Erie Yearly Meeting in June 1974, making 2024 our 50th year. There had been groups of Quakers off and on in Toledo and northwest Ohio since the 1940’s or earlier but 1974 was the beginning of our current configuration.
We are celebrating our 50th with two different events. The first was a special Meeting last November, when current and former members and attenders joined together for worship and sharing of memories and memorabilia. That gathering was well attended and enjoyed by all who were there. Our second event will be the concert on May 3, 2025.
In her message below, Friend Linda Szilagye talks about the cancer-care work of the Victory Center where Broadmead Friends meet. Check out the photo of Linda rappelling down a 16-story building to support the Victory Center!
For over ten years, Broadmead Quakers have been meeting at The Victory Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing non-medical services to cancer patients, cancer survivors, and their caregivers. The Victory Center is completely privately funded. All programs and services are available free of charge to men, women, and children in Northwest Ohio, and Southeast Michigan, who have been diagnosed with cancer. Therapies and services include massage therapy, facials, short-term counseling, cancer support groups, caregiver meetings, a wig bank, gentle exercise classes, a nutrition class, and creative arts.
My name is Linda Szilagye. I’m both a Quaker who attends Quaker meeting at The Victory Center, and a massage therapist who works part time at the center. I’ve seen how the participants of The Victory Center benefit from the services provided. They are appreciative of the services, the classes, the wig bank, and most of all, connecting with others who have, or have had, cancer.
One of The Victory Center’s fundraisers is “Over the Edge for Victory” where people rappel down a 16-story building to raise money for the center. In 2024, I was one of those rappelers. If it wasn’t for a good cause, I would not have done it! It was terrifying! I’m thankful for how The Victory Center assists their participants and am thankful that we Quakers are allowed to use their building for our meetings. We are grateful for this warm, welcoming space to gather on Sundays.
The Christmas Eve, 2023, edition of the Toledo Blade includes an article about Broadmead Friends.
“For Quakers, Christmas is, in a way, just another day of the year. In the same way non-religious people observe secular traditions — putting up a tree, hosting family dinners, and exchanging gifts — the group, which has Christian roots, doesn’t tie religious traditions to the holiday. “Historically, Quakers wouldn’t celebrate holidays much because they believe every day is sacred,” said Sally Weaver Sommer, who serves as clerk, or administrator, of Broadmead Friends, a group of Quakers that meets in Toledo and Bluffton.”
