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The Point
Newsletter of the Universalist Unitarian Church
Rev. Severn Towl. Minister |
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The Point
Newsletter of the Universalist Unitarian Church
Rev. Severn Towl. Minister |
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June
3rd Al Benford
June
10th Bucky Rogers
June 17th
Steve Pecukonis
July 1st
Linda Woods President’s Message As my term as President comes to an end, I want to thank you for your wisdom and support, and, more importantly, for all that you have done and will do for our church and our community. From my first visit to the UU Church in Waterville, I have felt the wonderful, positive energy of our church community. The music at that service (Martin Luther King Sunday) was extremely emotive, and I recognized many of you from other organizations and community activities, so I knew right away that this was a great group of people! You have continued to demonstrate your spiritual commitment through action -- to one another in many personal ways, and to others through political action, community action, and your work on behalf of our church. This is not a "farewell" message, as I plan to be active in the church in other ways, and I look forward to working with you. As I said at the annual meeting, I can't thank you enough for your commitment to our church. Sue June 3rd Second Hour Lay service speaker Al Benford will conduct a Second Hour following the service on June 3rd at which time he will respond to questions and comments. He also will have a 12 minute VHS video provided by Equal Exchange that illustrates the principles of Fair Trade. Al will bring coffee products, chocolate bars and hot cocoa mix to sell. In his congregation, these products are sold after services on one Sunday a month, and the profit is used to provide Equal Exchange coffee for church events or to support the youth program. About our Lay Service Speakers June 3rd - Al Benford: Al Benford was the 2003 recipient of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) Social Action Leadership Award and was its representative in the Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee delegation to Nicaragua in 2003 and Guatemala in 2006. June 10th – Bucky Rogers Bucky grew up in the Waterville UU church. A graduate of Lawrence High School, he was one of the original members of the Civil Rights Team Project. This spring he graduated from Brown University where - as an undergraduate - he had the opportunity to travel to countries he would not have otherwise visited. Bucky will be working at the Friends Camp this summer; next fall he leaves for Ankara, Turkey to teach English at Bilkent University. June 17th - Steve Pecukonis Steve is principal consultant with HRD Associates, a human resource develop-ment training and consulting firm he founded in 1985. In this capacity, he provides training and consulting services to client organizations in the fields of business and industry, government, education, healthcare, and social services. Steve was also a long-time regular attendee of this church, along with his wife Tyrell Hunter. Religious Education Schedule RE wraps up the year with just two last RE classes scheduled for May 27th and June 3rd. Following a summer respite, RE classes will resume in the fall. Summer Nursery Adults scheduled to support our babysitter in the nursery during the month of June are:
June 3 - Kristin Majeska Please note that there is no nursery babysitting during July and August. We typically start again the second or third Sunday of September. Thanks to all who have volunteered to take a turn during this past year. First Annual Crafts and Collectibles Show On Saturday, July 28th our church will be holding a Crafts and Collectibles Show on the Point. This is a fund-raising event in which we make money on the rental of booth space for Central Maine crafters and antique dealers. We will also be running a food booth and a craft booth. We plan to have the Church's craft booth in the dome. This booth will sell donations of craft items and collectible items from church members; proceeds from these sales will go to the church. The show is being held on the same day as Downtown Waterville's Sidewalk Art Festival. Shannon Haines, the director of that event, is happy to have us hold our show on the same day to give crafters who cannot be in the "art" show a venue. She will be directing those folks to us. We expect plenty of traffic since anyone coming from the south will have to drive right by us to get to the art show. We have mapped out 30 to 35 ten feet by ten feet spaces on the Point and are already renting them. If you know anyone who might be interested in booth space, please make sure they are aware of the show. They can get information on our website or by contacting MaryAnn or Steve Anderson at 634-2221 or manderson@wildblue.net We need volunteers for the day of the craft sale to help set up the site, to help folks unload and load, shuttle dealers to and from parking, act as go-fers, police the area for litter, etc., and to run the Church's craft booth. We already have volunteers for the food booth. Anyone interested in helping out, please contact MaryAnn or Steve at the above number/email address or at church. Goods and Volunteers Needed for Lawn Sale! Mark your calendars!! The Annual Lawn Sale, a major fund-raiser for the church, will be held on Saturday, July 7th. As usual, Rachel and Bill will be there with their Zone 4 perennials, so keep that in mind as you plan your gardening. As you clean out your closets and attics and garages and basements, please consider what you can donate to the sale. Are you putting away any winter clothes (no stains or holes, PLEASE) that you didn't actually wear all winter? Fill a bag and bring it to church. Need to get rid of old books to make room on your shelves for new ones? Fill a box and bring it to church. Same with dishes, furniture, linens, toys, hardware, fabric, tools, sports equipment, pet supplies, garden tools, holiday decorations, craft supplies, and one-of-a-kind treasures. The only things we don't take are tires and mattresses (unless they're part of a whole bed set). The end of June would be the ideal time to start bringing things in and leaving them on the stage downstairs in Averill Parlors. But if you need to get rid of something right away, let us know and we'll see what can be done. We'll also need lots of volunteers on the day of the sale, as well as some during the week leading up to it: sales people, sorters, people with trucks to pick up furniture, people to set up early on the 7th and others to clean up that afternoon. If you can help, even for a couple of hours, please contact Claire Prontnicki at 873-5894 (h) or 859-5106 (w) or cprontni@colby.edu ; or Sarah Seder at 877-7621. Thanks! Welcome to Evan Thomas As of May 27th, our own Evan Thomas, Waterville High School sophomore, takes over as our regular pianist-organist. Hooray! As a neighboring church organist observed to Nancy Brooks, “you are the church that grooms and launches young men!” Evan has been taking lessons from music teacher Muriel Desrosiers since he was six years old. During the summer after 6th grade, Evan went to John Phillips-Sandy’s Jazz Camp, learned theory, became fired up and really started to play. Since then, he’s spent a couple of years at UMA taking a Jazz Ensemble course as well as music lessons from Russ Lombardi. Evan plays the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar; he also plays violin in his school’s orchestra and anticipates becoming the accompanist for the WHS chorus. When asked about his favorite music, he says-- “the compositions of Debussey. “When I was younger, I liked Handel. Now I like the later Romantic composers – Schubert, Schumann, Beethoven.” Evan enjoys the pianist Bill Evans; the Grateful Dead and Eric Clapton are among his favorite musicians. After high school, he plans to spend a couple of years at UMA, “then go on to a higher tier school for more rigorous instruction.” Oberlin and Juilliard have indicated an interest. Evan says he is not very involved in the planning and building of the family house now under construction but “there will be a soundproof piano room… my parents’ idea.” Auction The Auction this year was much fun and a wonderful success! We raised over $3600 for the church. If you were not at the auction, you are undoubtedly unaware that Gale Davidson has offered the church a 6% “seller’s fee” for help in selling her 2 bedroom (930 sq ft) ranch on the Garland Road in Winslow. She will likewise donate 6% of the selling cost to the church if it is bought by a church member. For more specific information see the “House for Sale by Owner” (posted at the end of this issue) or call Gale at 872-7944. Many thanks to everyone for their generous donations and hard work in making this year’s auction happen. Emily Wheeler & Jay Rogers New Email Addresses In emailing you throughout the year, I’ve noticed that some email addresses have come back because they have been incorrectly listed and/or have changed. It is important to notify church secretary, Janet Ayotte when you change internet provider or if you discover your email address has been incorrectly listed – very easy to do! The following addresses have, in fact, changed this year; please make note of them in your Church directory AND be sure to delete the old addresses in your computer address book. Connie The Winships: rayandconnie@roadrunner.com The Andersons: eidilon@wildblue.net Linda Davis: linandrol1@verizon.net The Eastons: everston@verizon.net
Hilary Ervin:
doctore@gwi.net Sally Harwood: sharwood@prexar.com
Welcoming Congregation One possibility is the single-day workshop -- as in a Second Hour or movie/discussion in the afternoon or evening, or dinner-discussion group format (similar to UUDDs). These types of workshops would focus upon a pre-determined topic (as in Marriage Equality or Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell), or gay-themed movie, TV show or book. Two-day workshops, another alternative, could be arranged on a weekend (Friday evening/Saturday morning & afternoon). These would cover G/L/B/T topics in more depth. A third possibility is a four-week series of classes (as in every Tuesday or Wednesday for a month). These evening meetings would follow broad-based topics and activities suggested by the Living the Welcoming Congregation handbook Forms indicating your interest in each of these workshop options will be sent via email and included in the September Point. 2007 Pride Parade Southern Maine - Portland Pride Parade is on June 16th. Parade begins at 12:00 from Monument Square.
Donation Sunday
April Habitat $383.00 The Ministers’ Discretionary Fund was created to enable the minister to help those in need as they periodically call or stop by the church. The minister uses his or her discretion in the spending of these funds. Cash is not handed out. For example, if someone were to stop by and ask for diapers, the minister would go buy the diapers and have the person return for them later. To date, heating fuel assistance has been the most frequent request. Another common example is rent assistance. Individuals will call several of the local churches and get perhaps $25 from each to pay their rent. Over the years we have also helped people with eyeglasses, baby formula and clothing. Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the health and well being of girls and women. Their vision is that all girls and women experience equality, independence and safety in their every-day lives. To that end, their mission is to create opportunities, develop programs and provide services that empower them. ESP (the Evening Sandwich Program) serves the community of Waterville with a free-to-all-no-questions-asked supper program. In the calendar year of 2005, it served 19,242 meals (6,358 adults and 272 children). The Universalist Unitarian Church runs the program with volunteers coming from the First Congregational Church, Saint Marks Episcopal Church, Colby College and members of the community. It occasionally has volunteers doing community service. It is funded by contributions and grants from individuals, local organizations and businesses, as well as by the government. Most food is donated by individuals and the Department of Agriculture and whatever else is needed is purchased locally. Home For Sale By Owner
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