FFS COMMUNITY-WIDE MEETUP: A WEEKEND OF RENEWAL
An unofficial FFS gathering over Easter Weekend - April 6-9, 2023 in Tampa, Florida
The Tampa Meetup is back!
A weekend built for, by, and about community.
This meetup is about community: building it, feeling it, playing in it, loving it.
We are thrilled to create a weekend where current Fit For Service members and alumni are invited to come together, bring their partners and children, and strengthen the fabric of our community.
This year, we dedicate our gathering in loving memory to our beloved brother, Parker Sherry.
What’s going down over the weekend?
This meetup will happen over the sacred portal of Easter Weekend and we will use that portal to guide our time together.
On Thursday afternoon, we will kick off our time together with our Day of Reunion. We’ll meet each other, have a beautiful opening ceremony, and enjoy a welcome dinner under the stars.
Good Friday will be our Day of Letting Go which will start with a breathwork ceremony, move into beloved women’s and men’s circles, and end with a community grief ritual where we will all be invited to leave one grief we are carrying on our altar. We’ll offer special kid’s programming all throughout the day. And, we will have a special moment to honor the memory of our brother Parker Sherry.
Saturday will be our Day of Play and Prayer at a private beach on Longboat Key. We’ll enjoy a day in the sun, offer a Ritual for a More Beautiful World at sunset, and rejoice in our prayers with an ecstatic silent disco on the beach.
Easter Sunday is our Day of Renewal. Our kids will open the day with an Easter Egg Hunt before our Easter Brunch and Garden Party. We’ll end our closing ceremony with open mic performances.
Throughout the weekend, we’ll be hosting…
Healing Salon
We know that so many FFS members offer amazing healing services. Members can sign up to offer their healing services at specific times throughout the weekend. Submit your interest here or contact Sara Fererri.
Kids Programming
To make this meetup as family friendly as possible, we are organizing several programs throughout the weekend for the kids in attendance! If you would like to join the team that is supporting kids, please contact Jen Thomas or Jess Forte.
Altar
We will prepare an altar to make the space of this weekend sacred. Please bring with you sacred items that are special to you to place on the altar during the weekend. The altar will be a central part of the grief ritual. You can take them home at the conclusion of the weekend.
Community Artisan Bazaar
Who doesn’t love shopping? Jewelry, amulets, crystals, mala prayer beads or any sacred art you want to share with the community! You will have dedicated time to showcase your creations! Submit your interest here or contact Fiddymike.
How this came to be
In 2022, a team of FFS members joined forces to create an opportunity for FFS members and alumni to come together with their families and dream into creating intentional communities. In March 2022, we hosted an unofficial meetup in Tampa at an intentional community built by Sarah Sullivan’s family called Winthrop. We never could have anticipated what a profoundly meaningful experience that weekend would turn out to be. We also never could have imagined that Parker Sherry, a leader of last year’s meetup, would be gone so soon.
So, the team of volunteers behind last year’s meetup is joining forces again to create a beautiful experience for our community in 2023. Our values are family, affordability, and service. Our dream is to create an affordable, meaningful way for FFS members and their families to experience the transformative power of community together, and to include a moment to honor our brother Parker. We hope you will join us!