Mayor Ruthanne Fuller hosted the 51^st annual Theodore D. Mann Mayor’s Breakfast recently at the UMass Mt. Ida Campus, with keynote speaker Boston Globe sportswriter Dan Shaughnesy.

The annual breakfast helps raise money for the Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony (known as The Harmony Foundation, for short).

The breakfast had a floral theme to it, apt for the Garden City.

“Today, we pause to remember that the strength of any community lies not in uniformity but in the beauty of our differences,” Harmony Foundation board member Rev. Devlin Scott, emcee for the breakfast, said to start the morning off. “As this theme for this year reminds us, a garden’s beauty never lies in one flower.”

Fuller marveled at the high attendance at the breakfast, for her last time as host. Fuller spoke to the ideals instilled in the Harmony Foundation more than half a century ago and how important they are today.

“I wonder if Mayor Teddy Mann and the Harmony Foundation 51 years ago understood how critically important, 51 years, later this gathering and these values would be,” Fuller said. “Because what they set up to do is to reach across our 13 villages, across political ideologies and faith traditions, across union and management, schools and city, race and ethnicities, and to be able to sit together, break bread together, talk together and build our community together.”

Another theme was youth and the hope for future generations to thrive. Maggie Bodian, who graduated from UMass two weeks ago with a bachelor’s degree in education, spoke after the mayor about how her generation is preparing for tomorrow.

“As the commonwealth’s leading public research university, UMass is the largest contributor to the state’s workforce,” Bodian said. “Through the Mt. Ida campus, UMass students are building strong connections with employers across the greater Boston area, gaining hands-on experience that will better contribute to your businesses, your nonprofits, your schools and your health care centers.”

And Newton has played homebase throughout that journey for many.

Sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy speaks at the 51st annual Theodore Mann Mayor’s Breakfast. Photo by Howard Sholkin

“None of this would be possible without the incredible support of our host community here in Newton,” Dodian continued. “On behalf of more than a thousand UMass Amherst students who call Newton home, we thank Mayor Fuller, her dedicated staff, the City Council, the Newton legislative delegation, and all of the organizations in Newton who support this campus and support UMass students.”

Newton North High School student Bryce Campbell spoke next, about the indigenous tribes who have called the land home before there was a Newton.

“We respect and recognize that it is a privilege to be living on these lands as guests,” Campbell said. “We acknowledge the trauma experienced over centuries by indigenous people who have lived on these lands and continue to face injustice. We honor with gratitude those who have stewarded this land through generations and their ongoing contributions to this region. We also acknowledge that these lands are sacred to generations yet to be born.”

Shaughnessy spoke with humor about the current state of New England sports.

“It’s going to be a no-Red Sox zone today—things aren’t going really swell for the local nine right now, so we’re ignoring them right now,” Shaughnessy quipped. “And I was worried about the scheduling of this, because I was going to be at the Celtics playoffs games—in Cleveland and Indianapolis, and I had all these plane tickets—and that didn’t happen.”

There were awards, musical performance, and U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss spoke as well.

You can watch the entire 51^st annual Theodore D. Mann Mayor’s Breakfast online.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Rev. Devlin Scott is the husband of Newton Beacon Board of Directors member Katie Scott.