Upcoming Events follow this Member Meeting Announcement
2026 ANNUAL MEETING & ELECTION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dear Member,
It is time for our RBH Annual Membership Meeting and we hope you will be able to attend. The meeting will take just a few minutes at the beginning of our next Forum on Sunday, April 12, 2026. Although it will be a very brief meeting, it is important that as many of you attend as possible. We need a quorum of members to conduct our business, which is simply to elect Board Members to those Board seats with expiring terms.
IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THE MEETING, PLEASE SEND IN YOUR VOTE VIA EMAIL at rbhpresident@gmail.com. Please respond by April 7th. Your email should just say “I approve of:”, and list the names that you approve.
The Nominating Committee has renominated the following RBH members for 2 year terms starting in May 2026.
~ Chris Marczak
~ Ron Flannery
Following this letter are the statements of interest from our nominees. The Nominating Committee will also accept applications from any Member who wishes to run for election to the Board. Nomination applications must be received in writing (email to rbhpresident@gmail.com) by April 7, 2026. This written nomination must also include a statement of purpose/goals from the nominated member, similar to the nomination statements that follow.
The Election: As our Bylaws state, “If the number of nominees does not exceed the number of vacancies, the nominees may be elected by acclamation”. Otherwise, we will actually have to count the votes! If this happens, it will still take only a few minutes. Immediately following our Annual Meeting, we will proceed with our April Forum.
Very truly yours,
Eric Seldner
President, Red Bank Humanists
2026 RBH Board Candidate Statements
CHRIS MARCZAK
My academic background began in chemistry and later evolved into Food Technology at the Academy of Life Sciences in Wrocław, Poland. As historical circumstances changed rapidly during my lifetime, I adapted by pursuing several professional paths, including business, insurance advising, and ultimately commodity investment management as a Commodity Trading Advisor, which became my primary full-time professional activity for twelve years.
Having grown up under a communist regime, I developed a strong appreciation for Humanist values and intellectual freedom. I came to the United States in the late 1980s, eligible at that time for political asylum. During my early years, I worked in New York before later relocating to New Jersey.
After nearly twenty years of personal and professional transitions, I returned to Poland and spent time in other parts of Europe. While in Poland, my experiences drew the attention of rationalist and atheist communities, and I began writing for Racjonalista.tv, a Polish website promoting rationalism and atheism. During this period, I worked in the financial sector, lectured at a business school, and served as a consultant to several organizations, including Rzeczpospolita, one of the country’s major newspapers. I returned to the United States in 2015.
Why humanism? In today’s world, we encounter a vast marketplace of ideas, making it easy to become confused or misled. I have witnessed firsthand how Humanist values can be questioned or rejected, and I know this challenge is real. Because we do not possess an absolute formula for truth, our best approach is to continually refine the tools we use to seek and verify it. This, to me, is the strength of humanism.
Taking all of this into account, I believe that RBH has an important role to play, and I am honored to join the Board of this organization. I will do my best to support its mission and contribute to its continued growth.
RON FLANNERY
Profession/Experience:
I am retired from working in the technology world for over 40 years. I worked in encrypted voice
communications in the army during the Vietnam war, tested, repaired, taught, and engineered
computer hardware. I wrote and taught systems software, and consulted in datacenter design,
disaster recovery and storage for several major corporations.
Current avocations:
· I continue my involvement in computer science, and have extended it into the realms of artificial intelligence, brain science, and other related interests
· I play guitar, ukulele, flute, and recorder pretty well, and a few other instruments very poorly.
· I grow vegetables, houseplants and flowers
· I am a sailor, without a boat
Statement:
I have been married to my wife, Laurie, for almost 55 years, and have two grown sons, and a
Golden Doodle. I have worked in technology for almost my entire working life, though I have
also spent some time playing rock and roll and doing social work for the state of New Jersey.
I was raised Catholic, and attended Catholic schools from kindergarten to high school. From my
earliest recollection, I was skeptical of the indoctrination I was receiving. Although I rejected
Catholicism, I remained a spiritual person up through college when I slid into agnosticism.
Sometime in the last thirty years, I became an atheist, though I kept it a secret from work associates
and casual acquaintances due to the stigma.
Since childhood, I have been an avid reader of books about all manner of science. I tend to lean
toward the study of physics, anthropology, and brain science, since I want to understand as well
as I can the nature of reality.
Since joining RBH, I have served on the board for several terms, and helped maintain our web
presence: redbankhumanists.org. I have presented many times from "Bioethics and Evolution in
the 21st Century" at the 2016 Darwin Day Forum, to “What is Life” at the
2026 Darwin Day Forum.
I feel that the world of humans and other species is at a critical point, rapidly moving in
directions that are potentially, scientifically, and socialy both extremely positive and extremely negative. I believe we are
responsible for our actions and inactions. If I have the ability to help in some small way to
improve our joint future, I believe it is my duty to do so. I am hoping that, together with RBH, I
might have that opportunity.
Upcoming Events:
RBH April Forum and Brief Member Meeting
Sunday, April 12, 10:30 am - noon
Shrewsbury Historical Society
419 Sycamore Avenue, Shrewsbury, NJ 07702
Humanism in the Revolution
Presented by Eric Seldner
• What were the Founders thinking?
• How were they influenced by Humanist Ideals?
• Why is it ridiculous to claim the US was founded as a Christian Nation?
RBH Book Club
Thursday, April 16 (date changed), 7:30 pm
Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr
Contact: Linda Montgomery:
montbaar@comcast.net
RBH Discussion over Drinks
Thursday, April 23, 8 - 10 pm
Informal Discussion
in-person at The Oyster Point Hotel
meet in the lobby behind the elevators
bar service available on site
no obligation to order a drink.
RBH May Forum
Sunday, May 10, 10:30 am - noon
Shrewsbury Historical Society
419 Sycamore Avenue, Shrewsbury, NJ 07702
RBH Book Club
Thursday, May 21, 7:30 pm
The Arrogant Ape – Christine Webb
Contact: Linda Montgomery:
montbaar@comcast.net.
More events:
https://njhn.org/eventscalendar/
https://secularstudents.org/webinars/
https://americanhumanist.org/get-involved/events-and-conferences/
Do you have news or an upcoming event that you would like to share in eNews?
Do you have a suggestion for a forum speaker or topic?
Call or Text Eric on 732 996 9670 one week prior to the beginning of the month to get your item into eNews or at any time for suggestions and feedback or to volunteer.