November 4th      To Save the Lost
November 11th    Credos and Covenants
November 18th    UU Faith in Action
November 25th    Lay Service 

From Severn
We certainly have had a prolonged late summer-early autumn this year! I’m not sure there’s a consensus among the wooly bears, trees, and wasps about the winter ahead, but let’s enjoy what we have at the moment.

The Capital Campaign committee did a great job with the kick-off celebration on Sunday, October 14^th. I know we can step up to the plate, dig deep, and reach our goal. As you are “digging”, picture a bright fresh sanctuary with replastered ceiling, new paint, new carpets, redone floors, ceiling fans and so on. And more!

This is a wonderful way in which to celebrate the 175^th anniversary of this old building, which has seen so many waves of devoted Universalists and Unitarian Universalists throughout its history.

As I say periodically, I am always open to hearing from you about topics you might like to hear me speak on. What have you been missing? What do you need? Feel free to let me know.

Message from the President
It's very exciting to see the Capital Campaign in full swing. There is so much we can and need to do to make our church a more inviting and comfortable place to worship.

I am grateful to everyone involved in the Campaign and I'm confident we will meet our goal and be able to accomplish everything on our wish list.

As we head into Thanksgiving, I'm reminded of all the things for which I am grateful. My family and friends. The changing of the seasons and surprises that nature brings. And the simple joys of everyday life.

Hoping all of you have many things to be thankful for and hoping you, your family and friends have a happy Thanksgiving. 

Diane Wheeler

Capital Campaign Launch  Success!
Sunday, October 14^th was the launch of our Capital Campaign, Honoring our Past, Strengthening Our Future. Reverend Severn lifted our spirits and set them to imagining what our sanctuary might look like if…….

Then, many of us used our complimentary tickets for tours of the bell tower, the new furnace, and the 67 Silver Street Religious Education space. Our able tour guides, Iver, Rachel and Jim showed us the up-close and sometimes uncomfortable state of our physical plant.

We were able to see some of the upgrades and improvements that have all ready been achieved. We all left dreaming of what can be. 

The five goals of the campaign were represented by Nat for the fiscal well-being of the church; by Claire for the enhanced visibility on the point; Kerry’s girls represented having a safe and healthy environment via their “Snug as a Bug in a Rug” outfits; Eric represented enhancing the physical aspects of the church to make it more attractive and welcoming; and Iver represented demonstrating our faith in action through commitment to energy conservation.

Audie and Kathy provided delectable treats. Rosemary facilitated the artwork of those who wanted to make posters and everyone had a great time! 

The commitments we’ve all ready received show that each member is truly stretching for this campaign.

 A campaign volunteer will contact you personally to talk about your commitment in the very near future.

 If you’d prefer to contact one of us before we call you, we’d like that just fine. Our numbers are in the directory.

 With hope & gratitude,
Jody Rich, Rosemary Winslow and Sue Cook 

 Elementary RE Class Schedule November.
Nov 4^th       Tina Missbach
Nov 11th    Emily Wheeler
Nov 18^th     Intergenerational Service  
                    NO  RE
Nov 25^th     Scott Price
 

Membership
Are you ready to become a member of our church? There will be a New Member Sunday soon. Let Severn or Beth Schiller know if you are interested. 

Reminders
Check the church calendar in Averill Parlors before scheduling anything, and write in your event so that there will be no conflicts.

On the first Sunday of each month, our non-pledge offering will be given to a community organization. In November, it will go to the Family Violence Project, and in December to the Minister’s Discretionary Fund.

Please be sure to speak loudly and clearly, and directly into the microphone, on Sundays for Joys and Concerns. We want to hear you!

Among Ourselves
Phyl Talyor is home again, and doing well. Cards would be appreciated.

Derek Harris is doing very well, and hopes to be transferred from Eastern Maine to Seton rehab soon. Kristie had her baby, a boy, on October 10^th. Both are doing well.

Frances Thayer’s pneumonia has cleared up.

Nancy Sanford wants folks to know that although she has e-mail, she only looks at it one to two times a week; therefore, if information is a time sensitive topic, she asks that she be called at 872-5744

Thanks to everyone who donated sweaters for Belize. I have picked them up and have mailed them. They will be appreciated!
Eva Goulette

Maili Bailey’s new email address: mailibailey@yahoo.com

Quilt Top Project
I have completed a quilt top that I would like to donate for a fundraiser. I will also donate the batting & backing. 

The pattern is a variation on Broken Dishes. It is 60" x 80" completely hand pieced and appliquéd. The sashings and borders are also hand pieced. It needs to be hand quilted now.

I do not have the time to quilt it entirely but if someone is willing to take over organizing the quilting I am willing to help. A few people have volunteered to help with the quilting but so far no one wants to take on the project. We may have a quilting frame to use. Lynne Boyd is looking for hers to let us use.  I will do the binding when quilting is done. 

 There is no time limit on when we get this done. Also, don't be concerned if you feel you can't quilt or aren't good enough, there are plenty of us who can teach you. AND, this is not necessarily only for women. Men are welcome to help, too. Please contact me at magicmomt@yahoo.com if you would like to help.
Tina S. Missbach

 Thanksgiving
At our Thanksgiving service, we do a Harvest Communion. It is the time when we bring foodstuffs for ESP. They always need big jars of jams and jellies, dried gods such as noodles, and other canned goods.

Also at this service, we hand out the UU Service Committee “Guest at Your Table” envelopes, which will be collected in early January. If you give $40, you will become a member (that’s $10/youth or student, $20/senior 65+, and $75/dual regular).

We have always been a “Banner Congregation” in our giving; let’s keep it up.

Nursery Support November
The following adults have volunteered to be in the nursery to support our regular babysitter during the month of November.  Thanks to all.

November 4^th       Kit Alexander
November 11^th     Peter Burgher
November 18^th     Terri Hibbard
November 25^th     Ray Rogers
 

Step It Up to Stop Global Warming
On November 3rd, people are rallying in hundreds of communities across the country to ask our political leaders and candidates to finally do something about bringing us into a clean energy future.

This will be one of the first big nation wide rallies against global warming -- we hope you'll join us somewhere near your home.

For information and an invitation from Bill McKibben, go to www.StepItUp2007.org

Linda Woods/Harry Vayo

November Coffee Hour Caterers
November 4^th
Melissa Evers & Jim Easton 

November 11^th
Hubert Kueter & Nancy Brooks

November 18^th
Ray and Connie Winship

November 25^th
Jan Mathieu and friends

December 2^nd
Lassandra Con Appen and Keegan Yang

If you'd like to volunteer but don't know what's involved, please see Claire Prontnicki. Help is available if you'd like to co-cater rather than doing it solo the first time.  Email at cprontni@colby.edu or call 873-5894. Thanks!
Claire Prontnicki

Green Sanctuary Program
Continued from September/October Points.

There are four program areas that fall within the Green Sanctuary Program. These elements include:

• Worship and celebration
• Religious Education
• Environmental Justice
• Sustainable Living

Each congregation is to complete at least twelve activities or projects spread over the four program elements. Some activities will be one-time events, while others will be ongoing over a period of months. 

The requirements are as follows:

1. A minimum of two activities is required in each of the first three elements, while at least four must be carried out in the category of Sustainable Living, including at least one energy conservation activity. Two additional activities can be selected from any of the four program elements.

2. One social justice project will be a major on-going activity in collaboration with another congregation or organization to address an issue of environ-mental justice in our community or in the world.

For your information, three churches in Maine have been certified as Green Sanctuaries: 

2005 UU Church of Belfast
2005 UU Church of Saco Biddeford; 2003 Allen Avenue UU Church of Portland
Ed Spear

November Greeters
Nov 4th      Peter & Justin Burgher
Nov 11^th     Bruce O'Donnell
Nov 18^th     Scott Price & Lisa Caswell
Nov 25^th     Jim & Kerri Jarosz
 

Welcoming Congregation
Welcoming Congregation committee members Ray and Connie Winship, Bruce O’Donnell and Peter Burgher will be attending a tri-state Northeast District Welcoming Congregation Conference at Ferry Beach in Saco on Friday-Sunday, November 2^nd -4^th.

Connie will be facilitating the Creating a Lay Service Workshop.

Senior Youth Group
The Senior RE group meets on the first and third Sundays of the month. Our routine has been to meet in Averill Parlors at 9:30, walk to Jorgenson's together, purchase food and discuss a subject or just visit. Occasionally we get together to hike, attend a movie etc. 

If you are interested or have any questions, please feel free to call or email us. Bill & Rachel Marsh-Sachs at 547-3101 or zone4@gwi.net

 Dinner Discussion Groups
If anyone is interested in joining a dinner discussion (UUDD), please contact me.  Rachel Marsh-Sachs at 547-3101 or zone4@gwi.net

 Spiritual Discussion Group
Anyone interested in joining a spiritual discussion group should contact Rachel Marsh-Sacks at 547-3101, or email zone4@gwi.net. The group meets on Tuesdays from 11:00-1:00

Evening Supper Program
ESP is in need of jams and jellies. We are also in need of five pound packs of hamburger. 

If you can remember to do that, bring it in on Sunday and put it in the big freezer. 

Now that woodstove season is upon us, perhaps some of you could cook beans?  We have three cases of dry beans and would love to give you however many pounds you feel you could cook for us.  Again, time the cooking to bring in on Sunday and our team can use them on Tuesday.   Maili Bailey

Worship Committee
The topic for the Nov. 25 Lay Service is Nourishing Our Souls.  The Worship Committee is seeking volunteers and contributions. 

If you have a reading, a personal reflection, music, art or anything else appropriate that you would like to share, please contact a member of the Worship Committee ASAP.

As always, if you have suggestions, concerns or compliments about anything Relating to worship, please let us know. 

 Worship Committee Chair is Edie Keller; email at kellerlikins@dialmaine.com . Other members include Gi Reed, Peter Burgher, Nancy Wynne, Bruce O'Donnell, David Vaughn and Margrit Thomas

 Shrink Your Carbon Footprint
If you are concerned about your contributions to Global Warming, come to a Second Hour program on Sunday, October 28, offered by Bill Basford, an energy engineer with over ten years experience with energy efficiency. 

This program will explain what your carbon footprint is, how to calculate it, and cost effective ways to reduce your electric energy use.

Bring a recent electric bill with you to the meeting.  Other energy efficiency topics can be addressed on later Sundays, if there is enough interest.

Sunday Buddhist Meditation
The Sunday evening Buddhist Meditation group is moving ahead one hour and will now meet at 6 P.M. in Averill Parlors. Newcomers are always welcome to join us for group meditation, followed by a tea break, and then an hour or so of dharma study and discussion.  Please contact Bill Basford if you are interested.

 A Factor of Seventeen
I was asked by the worship committee to talk about hunger, not specifically about the Evening Sandwich Program.

Let me tell you first, that when I told Meg Wickes, she instructed me Not to be depressing about HUNGER. She didn’t want to be hit over the head with HUNGER! So, there was my challenge: talk about HUNGER, but make it something that we mere mortals can deal with. Enter…Martha Stewart! Well, all right, Martha may be only part mortal… She’ll come in again at the end…

The boring parts of hunger are the facts and figures. WORLD HUNGER IS BIG. So big, I can’t really understand it. Intellectually, I can get it, that more people than I will ever know will die of hunger before the year is out. So I have to talk about ESP, to knock hunger down to a size that I can deal with…that WE can deal with. Maybe fewer hungry people is less depressing? Meg, tell me later.

Some years ago I asked Severn how one could deal with the fact that there was so much evil in the world. She came up with a reflection called “Living with the knowledge of evil.” In it she said is that we UUs tended to be optimists and that we are going to do what we can.

Back in 1990 a group of our church members saw a need in the community and simply went about meeting that need. In the first few weeks, volunteers lavishly fed small numbers of people.  In the present time, the Evening Sandwich Program feeds many many people. Four different teams for the four days we are open serve perhaps100 meals a day. We have given up the lavish part and have gone for utility.  One of these big pots can hold about fifty servings.  To serve 100, you need to put some serious ingredients into two pots. 

How do we do it?  Little steps.

One year a member of Severn’s “Spirituality” group, which meets on Tuesdays, my day to do the shopping and run my team, cooked beans for us every week during the time she had her wood stove going. Perfect! She cooked the beans one week and brought them in the next. I added seasonings and hot dog medallions - a Tuesday specialty­ - and a hearty winter meal was served that day.

Some of you have brought in onions, tomatoes, and potatoes. A doctor in Skowhegan gave me lots of cabbages on year. To tell you the truth, you can do more. We aren’t feeding the whole world, but we are feeding our world, and serious amounts need to go into these two pots.

Who are these hungry people in our community? We don’t know. Or at least, we know very little about them. We don’t ask for any information and there is no qualification process, no papers to fill out, no one to get permission from. Homeland Security tried to get us to take names back in the day, but I refused, and they backed down. 

We can read books about the working poor to get an idea of who some of them are.  David K. Shipler, my only Pulitzer Prize winning friend to date, wrote one called “The Working Poor: Invisible in America,” and Barbara Ehrenreich wrote one called “Nickel and Dimed: On not getting by in America.”

We know the working poor come in to our program. A few years ago one of my great Colby volunteers, Chris Susman, was on duty when two men in uniforms came in. They recognized each other. The men worked for one of the Colby food service programs and Chris told them how wonderful their program was. They talked a bit and then Chris had the odd exercise of feeding the men who had fed him. (I think he did some politicking on campus after that experience.)

Who are the others? Does it matter? I don’t think so. We can take our frustration about the fact that untold thousands around the world are hungry, and feed those whom are here, right here in the Greater Waterville area. We can give them one good meal a day for four days a week and feel that we had done some good.

All right. Re-enter Martha Stewart. I read you her recipe and noted that to feed one hundred you would need to use seventeen times her ingredients, with some modifications perhaps. Fresh herbs wouldn’t happen; the homemade chicken stock; rustic gruyere croutons would be out. Martha isn’t sending us sending us the funds to use the best ingredients, but WE ARE DOING OUR BEST WITH WHAT WE ARE GIVEN.

Here is where YOU COME IN. “A Factor of Seventeen?”  Seventeen of us can make a difference. Bring in jams and jellies. Bring in a five pound package of hamburger or hot dogs. Bring in chicken. Bring in cabbages and carrots. Bring in green peppers. This is not cute. This is not funny. This is serious stuff that will go into these pots. Many are called, a few will answer? Answer! Making a small regular donation to ESP will make a big difference. It will make a big difference to the program and to you.

Don’t be an arm-chair philanthropist.

You are an optimist.  You are doing what you can do.  You are feeding the world.

Maili Bailey

As Requested: Served at Capital Campaign Launch
Kathy McKay’s UU Goat Cheese Appetizer

3-5 oz. goat cheese crumbled
1/2 cup good olive oil  (I use much less olive oil)
2 cloves garlic, crushed & mixed into the olive oil. 

Pour olive oil-garlic mixture evenly over goat cheese on a deep plate.
Sprinkle on top:
1/2 cup chopped calamata olives
1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tsp. freshly ground coarse black pepper
1/4 tsp. red chili flakes
1/2 tsp. each thyme & rosemary
(use a little more rosemary if fresh)

 Let all this sit at room temperature for four hours or so. Just before serving, sprinkle on 2 tbsp. fresh basil chopped.  Serve with thinly sliced French bread or whatever you have on hand that sounds good.

 Kathy McKay