USH-Enews June 10, 2010 Print Only Edition

Peony

USH-Enews is a weekly email newsletter produced for members and friends of the Unitarian Society of Hartford. The USH web address is: http://www.ushartford.com/ Check at the end of this USH-Enews for information on submissions, subscriptions and escape from the mailing list or to find past issues of the weekly USH-Enews click here.

Worshipping Together Since 1830
One Service 10:30 AM

Sunday - 13 June - Our Traditional Flower Festival. - Bring a rose or a whole branch of something blooming as we reenact this ritual first experienced in what would become the largest Unitarian congregation that has ever existed located in Prague! More

Music - As we move into the summer, the anthem for Flower Sunday, (the 2nd Sunday), will be the choir's last for this season: "As a Branch in May" by Gwyneth Walker, a charming and deceptively simple piece for two-part choir. Aubrie Nelson plans to offer a solo.

REflections on Children's Programming
Multigenerational Service
This Sunday, we will be having a multigenerational Flower Festival service for the entire congregation. Bring a flower from your garden, your greenhouse or your grocery to share in community.

There will be no individual classes this week, but childcare for children under three will be offered in the nursery. Babies are also welcome to attend the service.

Summer Program
Next week, June 20th will be the beginning of our summer program. Our first week will be a reprise of our Harry Potter program from last year, back by popular demand. The remaining summer weeks will be dedicated to Green Crafting: Protect the Environment while Having Fun!

- Gail M. Syring, DRE

From the Editor: Suggestions for Contributors.

This Week’s Feature Articles

Bring a Flower this Sunday
Everything from Balloons to Churches
Cedric Woods, President Elect
A Picture is worth a Thousand Numbers
Alliance Picnic Planned
Charter Oak Pass Available

Flower Festival - On Sunday we celebrate a religious ritual that is uniquely UU, that is, we did not borrow and adapt it from any other religion! It was created in 1923 by Dr. Norbert Capek, who called it a “Flower Festival.” Please bring a flower or two to be placed in a common vase as a symbol of our uniqueness and our unity. Flowers may be placed in a vase on the Chancel before the start of the service. To learn more about Rev. Capek, follow this link

USH Unitarians are Remarkable People - From time to time, as many of you know, we look at ourselves, examples in many different ways of most remarkable people. We continue that effort now with a few words about some of our recently elected leaders

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Cedric Woods (President Elect) has been a member of the USH for five years and has served on the Committee on Ministry for three years. Cedric and his wife, Meredith, reside in Salem, CT. He enjoys reading, fishing, bird watching, visiting museums, and various cultural activities. Cedric is a citizen of the Lumbee Indian Tribe of North Carolina.

In his professional life, he currently serves as the Interim Director for the Institute for New England Native American Studies at the University of MA-Boston. The purpose of the Institute is to connect Native New England with university research, innovation, and education. Currently, he is working on projects with tribes in the areas of tribal government, capacity building and addressing disparities in education, economic development, and health.

Prior to arriving at the University of MA-Boston, Cedric completed a study on the evolution of tribal government among the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. While pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut Cedric serve in a variety of capacities for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. These positions include Director of Career Development, Research Analyst, Tribal Government Spokesman, and Deputy Chief Operating Officer.

He has also served as a contractor for the National Museum of the American Indian, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. At present he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Plymouth Plantation, a bicultural living history museum in Plymouth MA. (Mostly quoted from the Annual Report) - David Newton
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Everything from Balloons to Churches - Last Sunday our DRE, Gail M. Syring summarized recent history as greater tolerance spreads across our churches, our nation and, hopefully, our world.

Beginning with a reading from Rev. Kendyll Gibbons, There Comes A Time, she set the tone for the service -

There comes a time - to break the silence.
There comes a time - to move beyond the fear.
There comes a time - to speak one’s truth, even if it will not be welcome.
There comes a time - to call into question what has gone before;

There comes a time - to resist the weight of the past.
There comes a time - for the singing of a new song,
There comes a time - for a different way of being,
There comes a time - for the claiming of power.

There comes a time - when the truth shall at last make us free.
One day, blessedly, the practiced lie dies on our lips,
And the truth becomes more precious than the same, and the pretending ends.
There comes a time - when somehow courage finds us, or we find courage,

And we dare to know who we are, and what we love.
There comes a time - when friends are there,
Holding us so gently in their love
That all at once the impossible is possible,

And we cross over to the other side of whatever bondage held us.
There comes a time - when the truth at last makes us free,
And in that moment is the salvation of the world.
May love be the truth that makes us free.
May this be our time.

She continued with A Litany of Voices, written by the Members of the Interweave Sub-Council -

No one comes to this house who is not changed. I meet no one here who does not change me. This Meeting House is a place of pride and progress, of welcome and activism. Today we lift up the moments in our lives when we are celebrated for whoever we are, and whomever we love. Listen to the music of our members' voices raised with pride.

..tracing the efforts that culminated in placing the rainbow symbol our our Bloomfiled Ave. sign and website while referencing external history from the first Gay Pride Parade one year after the Stonewall Riots, through events at the University of Hartford in response to bigoted external challenges.

The most moving words spoken were the simple phrase: I belong here, I belong here, I belong here.

The sermon is available on our website. - David Newton

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Numbers! - Remember those membership stats reported recently? Here they are.

Here are three charts clarifying membership data for the past four years gathered by the Minister’s Outreach Team this Spring. You’ll find in Technicolor bars such information as:

Reasons for Member Loss: how many people moved and died and departed USH for other reasons
Membership Changes: how many actual members came onto and went off of the membership roll
Pledge Changes Affecting Membership: how many members ‘crossed the $250 annual pledge line’ (either upward or downward) thus shifting between ‘supporting’ and ‘sustaining’ membership - Rev. BJ

Charter Oak Pass Available - (Life Use) The Charter Oak Pass provides access to the State Parks and Forests and is available free to Connecticut residents, 65 years of age or older.

The pass is accepted at all day use areas where a parking fee applies. Presenting it allows free access for the entering vehicle and passengers. The pass holder does not have to be the vehicle driver. Free admittance is also provided for the Charter Oak pass holder when visiting Gillette Castle, Dinosaur or Fort Trumbull State Parks, or fishing at the Quinebaug Valley Hatchery. All other visitors, however, will be required to pay the appropriate fee.

Please note that each pass is issued to a specific person and can only be used when presented by that individual. The passes are non-transferable. They are not valid for camping or special events having separate admission charges and may not be used for commercial purposes. A Charter Oak Pass may be obtained in person at the following locations: (Proof of age and residency required):


DEP State Parks Division
79 Elm Street, Hartford
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 424-3200   DEP Eastern District H.Q.
209 Hebron Road, Marlborough
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 295-9523
  DEP Western District H.Q.
230 Plymouth Road, Harwinton
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 485-0226   DEP Office of Boating
333 Ferry Road, Old Lyme
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 434-8638
   Dinosaur State Park
West Street, Rocky Hill
  9:00 am - 4:30 pm - closed Mondays
(860) 529-5816
   Quinebaug Valley Hatchery
Cady Lane, Central Village 06332
Monday - Friday / 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 564-7542
  Kellogg Environmental Center
Office of Communications and Education
500 Hawthorne Avenue, Derby
Tuesday - Saturday / 9:00 am - 4:30 pm
(203) 734-2513   Fort Griswold Battlefield St. Park
Park Avenue, Groton
(Memorial Day through Labor Day)
Daily: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
(860) 445-1729
  Sherwood Island State Park
Exit 18 off I-95, Westport
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(203) 226-6983   Fort Trumbull State Park
90 Walbach Street, New London
(Memorial Day through Columbus Day)
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 444-7591
  Sleeping Giant State Park
200 Mt. Carmel Avenue, Hamden
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(203) 789-7498   Harkness Memorial State Park
275 Great Neck Road, Waterford
Monday - Friday / 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
(860) 443-5725
To obtain a Charter Oak Pass by mail: Send a LEGIBLE photocopy of your current CT drivers license or other legal proof of age and residency to: DEP Charter Oak Pass, State Parks Division, 79 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106-5127. (Phone 860-424-3200)

What Else is Happening

Joseph Evans Arborio - As you will have noted in our special edition concerning the death of Joseph Evans Arborio, he attended services from time to time. We have subsequently learned the "Aborio Chimes" are part of the Meeting House Organ. The family is believed to have donated them in memory of Joseph's brother. The chimes are a splendid enhancement of our organ.

REMINDER - This Sunday, June 13, is the last day to sign up for the Kemble Tribute. Look for the easel in the lower lobby to add your name.
On June 20, the activities begin with a coffee hour reception after the morning service. Those who have signed up will then enjoy a cold pot luck lunch followed by a special thank you to Joan and Tom for their many years of service. Dessert will be provided so bring your favorite salad; pasta, chicken, potato, vegetable, greens, fruit, etc. $1.00 per person will be collected to cover our expenses. Hope to see you there. -Louise Schmoll

Guided Mediations - Six Essential Practices, Saturday, June 19 (More)

Art News - The Diana Lemcoff exhibit currently hanging in the Ambulatory will be extended through this Sunday. Diane will be available after the service in the Ambulatory to answer questions about her creative process - Sarah Sturges

Antiques Fair Looking for Objects - JoAnne McClurg has made an excellent suggestion to promote everyone's participation in our Antiques Fair. Anyone who can is asked to contribute an item that you may have been dusting for many years (a true antique is over 100 years old), and now feel it is time to part with it. We will create our own USH booth to sell these pieces after having them valued by dealers. You may declare a charitable donation to the church.

There will be a table at coffee hour to receive these and they will be securely stored until the Fair on September 25.

Choose carefully, but don't worry that the item may not sell. If you've ever watched the Antiques Road Show, you have seen that often the oddest, most unusual items are in demand. (You aren't limited to one!) Items that sell well include linens, crystal, jewelry, quilts, silver, small simple furniture, unusual pitchers or platters, and good antique prints.

Good news - Our own Kathie Ferguson has decided to take a booth herself to sell her antiques. Anyone know any other dealers we can entice? Call Jean Groothuis at 860-678-1030.

The USH Men's Luncheon Group meets at noon on the third Tuesday of the month, at Carmen Anthony's Restaurant, located on Route 44 in Avon.

The speaker for the meeting on Tuesday, June 15 will be Tom Kemble whose topic is "Capitalism and Socialism Side by Side"

Adult Programs - About next Fall's Programs More

WOMEN'S PICNIC Reminder WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16 - All women of USH are warmly invited to the annual photo

Women's Alliance picnic on Wednesday, June 16. Thanks to Linda Erickson-Ebel, member of the Wood Pond Association, for graciously arranging this event.

The picnic will be from 11 AM to 2 PM. Please bring your own picnic, with something to share - snacks, dessert, your choice. Beach rules specify no glass nor breakable containers, so please pack paper and plastic. And we must carry out all which we carry in.

Swimming is available at the sandy beach, and you can change at Linda's house. Warning ~ the water might be cold!

You may sign-up on the Alliance standing bulletin board, outside Fellowship Hall or by calling Linda at 860-561-0399. Questions? Ask Linda.

Here's looking forward to sharing fellowship, fun, and food in a pleasant lakeside setting. Hope to see you there! - Nita

Social Justice Journeys (From the UUA) And from USH

Caring Network - Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clarke- If you know of any member experiencing some difficulty, please contact Diana Heymann, Chair of the Caring Network heydiana(at symbol) comcast.net 860.461.0908 or call the office so we can provide some assistance.- before 10:30 on Sunday. A wide range of community services is also available to those in need by calling InfoLine at 211. Please contact Diana if you are able to volunteer your services.

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Green Topics - Did You Know? -Connecticut Farmers’ Markets

Various locations throughout the state

Did you know that Connecticut has over 100 Farmers’ Markets? Support local farmers, eat fresh food and prevent pollution. For locations and schedules, visit www.ct.gov/doag (type Farmers Markets in
search box).

Further Down The Road (About 30 Days)

Looking for volunteers for Habitat for Humanity in July More IASC

On the Calendar - Please notify Brian Mullen of all additions or changes to the calendar. Follow this link to all our scheduled events

A Matter of Opinion

External Events and Educational Notes

ALS Walk Saturday 25th September More