Fruhlingsfest Address – On Happiness
Sunday, June 28, 2009 – 10 am
On Happiness: Can We Have It? Can We Keep It?
Note: This event is NOT held at Park Hall (see below).
What is happiness? And even if you can imagine a definition, is it possible to attain it and to keep it? How responsible are we for the happiness in our lives; is happiness something we can achieve, or is it mostly a matter of luck? Some studies report that people are happier if their lives include some kind of spirituality; why might this report be true? Join Andrew Kerr, Speaker of the Free Congregation, for our annual Frühlingsfest Celebration. Picnic potluck afterwards!
Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival) is one of the three Freethinker Holidays celebrated annually by the Free Congregation since 1853. In recent years, we’ve held Frühlingsfest at the site of the Free Congregation Andrew Roll Cemetery located on Slotty Road just south of the village of Denzer. For our program we use the small meeting hall (which may have been built in 1861) located at the front of the cemetery; we then have our potluck picnic on the adjacent lawn area. The landscaping of the site is remarkable: immense white pines surround the perimeter, and a central allee of pines leads from the road to the rear of the property. (These pines were planted by members of the congregation in 1866.)
Directions to the Free Congregation’s Andrew Roll Cemetery on Slotty Road
*From Prairie du Sac*, travel west on PF about 6 to 8 miles. Slotty Road will be a right turn AFTER you’ve passed Von Wald Road on the right and then Church Road on the left. If you come to County Hwy E, you’ve gone too far. Follow Slotty Road northwest for about 2 miles. Look for the tall white pines. The property will be on your right.
*From Baraboo*, take Hwy 12 south to County C (look for the sign for Natural Bridge State Park). Take County C west. After about 5 miles, C will dip due south, then loop back toward the northwest. Look for Zech Road to the left. Take it to Denzer Road. Turn left on Denzer, then left again onto Slotty Road. The cemetery is half a mile on your left.
*From Reedsburg* go south on 23 past Loganville to County W. Turn east on W and go to D. Turn right on D and go to the intersection with PF. Take a right (south) on PF and go to County C. Go left on C through Leland and past Natural Bridge State Park to Denzer. At Denzer turn right onto Denzer Road for about a half mile, then turn left on Slotty Road. The pines should be visible from there. Half a mile, the cemetery will be on your left.
“From Spring Green go east on Hwy 60 to County C (left turn only). Take County C to where it joins with Cty B. Turn right, then a half-mile later turn left on C. Go through Blackhawk, turn right on County O. When O meets Cty E, stay on E through Witwen. About two miles later turn right on County PF. Go two miles and turn left on Slotty Road. A little over two miles later, you’ll come to a grove of tall white pines on the right: you’ve arrived!
