March 26, 2009 – Free Congregation Newsletter
Dear Members and Friends, March 26, 2009
I’ve said it before in these pages: March is going to be March and there’s not a darn thing we can do about it… short of moving to a red state or one in worse economic trouble than we’re in here. We’ve been massaged by warm temperatures, tantalized by the appearance of green shoots in our gardens and flower beds, and awakened by birdsong not heard since last September. And now we’re enduring blustery cold and rain, and there’s even talk of a little snow on the weekend. What to do? Grin and bear it and take some consolation in the fact that – good Wisconsinite that you are – you haven’t yet packed away your winter coat, gloves, and boots! Even better: dig up that poem or anecdote – or write one yourself – that gets March just right or conjures up the feeling of Spring or helps to get your sap flowing even when Spring has stalled… and bring it to the Hall this Sunday for our homegrown “Celebrate Spring and Help Send Winter Packing” short program of poems and stories and seasonal anecdotes. Then we’ll carpool as best we can and head out to the Baraboo bluffs… with whatever gear will keep us warm and dry. Michael
Fifth Sunday Short Program & Field Trip
If you’d like to share a story or poem, please sign up as you arrive at the Hall. We’ll go for 40 minutes from the time of the gong. Whoever is speaking at the 40-minute mark will be allowed to finish. (Please keep your piece to less than five minutes.) Then we’ll close things down and be on our way to Jane and David Stevens’s Nature’s Acres Organic Farm to learn about maple syruping (with David) and Jane’s homegrown herbal business, Four Elements Herbals. Pack a brown bag lunch for yourself; after we leave the sugar camp we’ll head to Jane’s capacious and comfortable (and heated) workshop, where she’s happy to spin her tale while we eat our lunch. We plan to exit the Hall by 11:15 and arrive just before noon. A map to the farm is attached. Wear good boots!
Irish Concert This Sunday at Park Hall, 4pm
Marita Kelter enthusiastically invites us to an extraordinary performance opportunity on Sunday March 29 at 4:00pm at Park Hall when John Wilmot (actor and folk dramatist) and Claire Roche (singer and harpist) take the stage for “Songs and Stories of Irish Spring.” This is one of their last stops on a US tour and comes as a result of connections that Marita and husband Bob made during a tour of Ireland with John and other U.S. friends in May, 2008. John and Claire are artists of international renown and reputation. This is not a high volume electric performance, so the Hall is the perfect venue, especially during a Spring sunset. A free will donation is requested.
You can visit Claire’s web site at: http://www.clairerorche.com or watch a video interview with her at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j54V3O5CD_c
Congregation Pledge Dinner on April 18th – We Need your RSVPs!
Help us plan for this special evening by returning, right away, the RSVP form from the invitation recently sent to FCSC members and those among you who may be considering membership; also to friends who have made or would like to make an annual financial contribution to the congregation. If you fit one of those descriptions but didn’t receive an invitation, please accept our apologies and be sure to contact Scott Raasch (767-2649; sraasch@chorus.net) or Glen Johnson (524-6369; gjohnson@rucls.net) The dinner and entertainment (square dance) are “on the house”; the warm embrace of friends and compatriots is guaranteed; Gemütlichkeit will abound; and somewhere in the course of the evening we’ll ask for your pledge! But, first, those RSVPs! Thank you!
Our Most Recent Free Thought Forum… with David Newby
We extend our thanks to David Newby for sharing his expertise and insights regarding the future of the American labor movement and the critical issue that health care reform plays in rebuilding our middle class and realizing this nation’s promise of social and economic justice. In declining his speaker’s fee, David cited the good and important work this congregation does in promoting the free exchange of ideas and opinions. We thank him for his kindness and for his four-plus decades of tireless and committed activism.
In the Q&A session following his talk, David was asked what we – who do not have the opportunity to belong to a union – can do to help support workers’ rights and health care reform. He told us about Working America: a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, Working America joins the strength of 10 million union men and women to that of millions of workers without the benefit of a workplace union. Sharing common challenges and goals, they join together in communities, states, and nationally to work for good jobs, affordable health care, world-class education, secure retirements, real homeland security, and more. (www.workingamerica.org)
Believe It or Not: We’re About to Debut Our New Website!
Brand new… except the address remains the same: www.freecongregation.org Within the next 10 days, maybe sooner, we will be moving to a “content management system” website that will allow even a cyberclod (like yours truly) to easily edit and update the contents on a regular, even daily basis. We’ll begin with some of the basics – what an inquisitive web-visitor might most like to know about us – then add new content in the weeks and months ahead, including a congregational blog and pages that are accessible only to members (for surveys, votes, etc.). Please have patience for another week, then start checking in. We are eager to make this site useful and friendly, so we’re depending on your frequent, discerning, and respectful feedback.
UUA Presidential Candidate to Speak at First Unitarian Society
This June, at the national General Assembly (GA) in Salt Lake City, UU delegates will elect a new president for the Unitarian Universalist Association. The two candidates who are running for the office of president will have a candidate’s forum at the District Assembly (DA) held this year in Waukesha the last weekend in April. Following this DA, on Sunday April 26, one of the candidates, Rev. Peter Morales, will be in Madison to visit First Unitarian Society. The other candidate, Rev. Laurel Hallman is currently not scheduled to visit FUS.
On April 26, Rev. Morales will be available during the forum time slot between the 9am and 11am services to informally meet and talk to us. After the second service, there will be a light lunch followed by a more formal presentation with time for questions. We plan to show a video provided by Rev. Hallman so that her candidacy will also be represented. All area UU congregations are invited to attend this event.
Rev. Morales is minister of Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, CO, near Denver. Before becoming a UU minister, Peter had a varied career that included being a newspaper editor and publisher. Visit his web site at www.moralesforuuapresident.org for more information.
Rev. Hallman is Senior Minister of First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX. Laurel taught piano, yoga, and elementary school before becoming a UU minister. Visit her web site at www.hallmanforuuapresident.com for more information.
For more information, contact FUS Denominational Affairs committee member Gordon Olson (olson99@tds.net, 836-1779) or FUS staff person Alice Delaquess (aliced@fusmadison.org, 233-9774).
More Dance Lessons at Park Hall! Night Club Two Step!
RuthAnn Corrao and Matt Baumgartner will continue (and conclude) their series of Sunday dance instruction with a four-week Night Club Two-Step class. Meets March 29, April 5, April 19, and April 26 at Park Hall, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. $35 per person, $65 per couple for all four classes. Free Congregation members receive a couple’s discount of $15 – RuthAnn’s way of saying Thank You! They need 16 people or 8 couples to make it work. For registration and more information, call RuthAnn at 643-3488.
Upcoming Programs, Meetings
Sunday, March 29, 10:00am – 5th Sunday Program & Field Trip – “Poetry and Short Tales of the Season” followed by a field trip to Four Elements Herbals Organic Farm in the Baraboo Bluffs. (See article, above)
Sunday, March 29, 4:00pm – Irish Music and Folk Drama Concert (See article, above)
Sunday, April 5, 10:00am – 1st Sunday Spiritual Reflection Hour – “Who Benefits from Procrastination?” This roundtable discussion will be facilitated by Reece Donihi. Everyone is welcome to share thoughts and ideas. Reece is the contact person for 1st Sundays: 643-8326; ramphoto@verizon.net.
Sunday, April 12, 10:00am – 2nd Sunday *Easter* Program – We’ll follow our UU order of service, with Andrew Kerr presiding and offering the Reflection.
Saturday, April 18, 5:30pm to ?? – Free Congregation Pledge Dinner & Dance at Park Hall! Don’t forget to RSVP.
Sauk Prairie Peace Council Comes to Park Hall on April 14th
The Free Congregation is delighted and honored to host the Sauk Prairie Peace Council’s next special event on Tuesday evening, April 14, when the guest speaker will be Joe Elder. He’ll be talking about the war in Afghanistan. Joe has been an eloquent speaker at the Free Congregation on several occasions. More info to come.
River Arts Center News
The Greatest Generation Rides Free
The River Arts Festival’s Vintage Americana program will conclude April 4th and 5th with train rides at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI.
The museum will recreate the imagery of wartime train operations with an encampment of World War II re-enactors. Guests are encouraged to talk with the soldiers in their camp and on the train to learn more about the experience of the American GI.
“The coaches people will ride in were in use during the war,” says Don Meyer, Mid-Continent’s General Manager. “When you take the 50-minute ride aboard our train you are getting a brief glimpse at what it was like for the soldier on board a troop train.”
Train departure times are 11:00am, 1:00 and 3:00pm both days. Train fares are $15 for an adult and $9 for a child (ages 3 -12). Children two and under are free, as are members of the Greatest Generation – folks 80 years of age and older – whose sacrifices helped shape the nation we have become.
