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UU Visalia
Quick Links
Home Page:
uuvisalia.org
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Calendar November 2007
November 4: Daylight Savings Ends - Set Clocks back one hour! November 4 - 5PM - Tyler Conrad presents a program about an election system used in several jurisdictions around the world - including some in USA - called "Instant Runoff Voting." Under this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. Iff no candidate receives a majority of first choices, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated, and ballots cast for that candidate are redistributed to the surviving candidates according to the voters' indicated preference. This process is repeated until one candidate obtains a majority. Ken Elias will share his music.
November 11 -
5PM - Anna Garcia coordinates a service of remembrance. Please
bring pictures of loved ones who have died to post on our memory boards.
This is also Veteran's Day.
November 18 - 5PM - Dorothy Osak
and Lesley Dyer will help us reframe the meaning of Tolerance.
November
25 - 5PM - Marilyn Giese will lead a service of Thanksgiving. Drumming
will be a part of the program, so bring your drum or percussion instrument. Join
a Participatory Dance of Thanksgiving with sarah Ramirez. Ken Elias will
also be sharing his music with us, beginning at 4:30 PM.
After the Service, during the potluck:
A
Plant, bulb and Bake Sale
Book, CD DVD & Video Sale
A Silent Service Auction
Proceeds to go for an Electronic Piano for our Fellowship.
Turkey
will be furnished for dinners, so bring a side dish or dessert.
The 5PM Worship Service is followed by a light potluck supper at 6 PM to which all are welcome!
Please do not hesitate to come to church and join us for dinner potluck. Even if you forget to bring a dish, we always have plenty and your company is most welcome.
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Fellowship News
ONLINE BOOKSTORE
Please visit ourl online bookstore, powered by Amazon.com!
www.uuvisalia.org/bookstore/
Featured this Month:
Everyday Spiritual Practice by Scott Alexander,
as featured in our October 28 worship service.
Note: You can buy anything on our bookstore!
Anything you buy after clicking on the Powered by Amazon.com logo, whether from Amazon or third-party sellers, will provide a healthy percentage to help support our Fellowship. You can also the convenient search box at the bottom of our home page. Please consider using this feature for your holiday shopping, to help support our Fellowship!
Our Vegetarian Cookbook Project
We invite you to contribute recipes for vegan / vegetarian / dishes for our planned Vegan / Vegetarian UU Visalia Cookbook. Please submit your items to Lesley or email them to: info@uuvisalia.org.
Newsletter Deadline
Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2007 is the next newsletter deadline. All readers are invited to submit information about their favorite organizations and upcoming events to editor@uuvisalia.org.
MEETINGS AND WORKSHOPS
Board meeting on 11/5/07, Monday, 7 PM at April's.
Fellowship Retreat
Save the Date: December 8, 2007, Saturday, 9 AM - 2 PM.
Fellowship
Retreat at Seven Circles Retreat Center in Badger. Come stay Friday
night to start out fresh on Saturday morning. Retreat leaders, from PCD
Leadership School, Cat Burneo and Barb Zoellin, will help us to re-visit
the Fellowship vision and strategies from 2005 and 2006 and to set
goals for the future. Plans for the retreat will be discussed at the next Board
meeting on 11/5/07, Monday, 7PM.
RSVP to president@uuvisalia.org
ADULT EDUCATION
Building Your Own Theology course continues through January, '08. If you couldn't attend, check out the Additional Reading recommended by the author of our class curriculum on our online bookstore. For more information contact Janet: jswood@mac.com.
Save the Date!
In Ancient Times - This five-session adult religious education curriculum is an update of the popular Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum originally published in 1986. It is a course in feminine theology. Themes of the course are: "The Sacred Female, In the Name of the Mother and the Daughter, Womanpower, The First Turning-From Goddess to God, and Reclaiming Women's Heritage of Peace." The sessions will be held on Saturdays from April 5th through May 3rd, 2008 with time and place to be announced later.
Buddhist Meditation (Wednesdays, 6 PM) As well as meditation practice, these weekly sessions also frequently discuss current literature on mindfulness and meditation.
REMINDER: Recycle and Raise Funds for UU Visalia by bringing in your Used Printer Cartridges!
To find us, check out our new Directions and Map page on our website, including a printable map! go to www.uuvisalia.org
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Unitarian Universalist
Events & News
This ad appears as part of an advertorial from the UUA in the November 5, 2007, issue of Time Magazine. The Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA's) national advertising campaign has begun, and with it, our efforts to welcome many newcomers to our faith have been given new energy. Advertising in Time Magazine began with the October 15, 2007, issue and will continue over the next several months with ads and advertorials (PDF). This is our first advertising campaign in over 50 years. The ads will hit newsstands on Oct. 5, Oct.26, Nov. 23, and Dec. 21, and their Cover Dates will be Oct. 15, Nov. 5, Dec. 3, and Dec. 31 (Person of the Year Edition), respectively. Look for the ads and let's be proud to share the good news of our faith with new visitors! View our new print advertisements (PDF) which are available for our use in our local media or in our congregation. Now is a great time to share our faith with your family and friends and to help welcome newcomers to Unitarian Universalist congregations. Unitarian Universalism: Nurture Your Spirit. Help Heal Our World
Upcoming Pacific Central District Events:
Saturday, November 10, 2007
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT DAY
UU Church of Palo Alto
Saturday, January 12, 2008
A SPECIAL WORKSHOP WITH REV. LARRY PEERS!
UU Church of Berkeley (Kensington)
April 25 - 27, 2008
DISTRICT ASSEMBLY 2008!
Stay tuned for more information about this "not to miss" event! |
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Community Events for Social Justice and/or Personal Spiritual Development
Book Sale
November 3, 2007, Saturday, 10AM-2PM Friends of Tulare Library book sale, Visalia Library.
Growth in Tulare CountyNovember 7 (Wed) 7 PM - A forum of 4 panelists will discuss growth in Tulare County and how to manage the increase in population. In the lecture hall (room 350, now called the Sycamore Building) at College of the Sequoias. Free admission. Organized by TCCRG - Tulare County Citizens for Responsible Growth. Panelists are Greg Kirkpatrick, Visalia City Councilman, Jeff Steen, co-chair of TCCRG, Mike Knopf, president of the development company Quad Knopf, and Laurel Firestone, Executive Director of Community Water Center. Call Brian Newton for more info. 627-3571.
"The Art and Science of Meditation"
November 7, 2007, Wednesday or November 16,2007
Friday, 5:30-7PM at Valley Yoga, Visalia. "The Art and Science of
Meditation" with instructors Cynthia Saffell and Jackie Domanian. $40
at 1616 W Mineral King. Learn how to sit comfortably - to create energy
for concentration, how to use a mantra and visualization, and deepening meditation
through devotion.
Central Valley Energy and Air Quality Forum
November 10, 2007
11:00 - 4:00
The CVAQ Coalition Energy Committee will be holding a community forum to discuss the future of energy in the San Joaquin Valley. Over a dozen power plants are currently being proposed in the San Joaquin Valley. Come to learn more about the impacts of power plants on our air quality, health, and quality of life, as well as alternative solutions for our energy needs. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by November 3rd, 2007. Lunch will be provided, please state any special dietary needs.
Location
Irwin Street Inn
522 N Irwin Street , Hanford, CA
Time
11:00-4:00pm
RSVP
Phone: 559-486-3279
E-mail: liza@calcleanair.org
California Condor RecoveryNovember 16 (Fri) 7 PM - The November Tulare County Audubon Society program presenter will be Dr. Gary Langham, director of bird conservation for Audubon California. He will provide an update on the Condor Recovery Program, highlighting current perils and success stories. 7-9 PM at the TC Department of Education building at the southwest corner of Woodland and Burrel Avenue. Free admission, door prizes and refreshments. Call Brian Newton for more info. 627-3571. Kaweah Oaks Preserve Nature WalkNovember 17 (Sat) 9 AM - Sponsored by Sierra Club Mineral King Group. Brian Newton will lead a hike on two or three of the interpretive trails at the preserve. This should be a flat very easy hike in the Kaweah Oaks Preserve. Meet at 9 AM in the parking lot by Taco Bell in Mary's Vineyard. Call Brian for more info 627-3571. December 8 (Sat) 1-5 PM - Antique Toy Open House and Auction at "Uncle Bill's" in Porterville. Here's your chance to do all of your year-end shopping AND make a donation to the Heifer Project at the same time! These are mostly collector toys "not for children", but, hey, we played with 'em when we were kids. For info, contact: warner1@sosinet.net. |
UU Fire Relief Fund
 The devastating fires across southern California have affected Unitarian Universalists (UUs) in many communities. Huge fires burnined land and homes in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and San Diego Counties. Damage reports remain incomplete at this time.
According to the Unitarian Universalist Association's (UUA) Pacific Southwest District (PSWD) Executive Ken Brown, ninety percent of the members of our Chalice Congregation in Escondido have evacuated their homes, with several homes burned. Meanwhile, members of other UU congregations have opened their homes to the evacuees.
In response to this disaster, the Pacific Southwest District of the UUA has begun the PSWD Fire Relief Fund. A district committee will disburse all funds collected to UU congregations, UUs in need, community groups in relationship with UU congregations, and other groups supporting those most in need.
Ken Brown notes, "As we have found in the past, insurance does not cover such devastation and it can take years for those affected to recover."
Donations to the PSWD Fire Relief Fund are being accepted online.
If you wish to contribute by mail, please send funds to:
Pacific Southwest District
Fire Relief Fund
2052 Norma Street
Oxnard, CA 93036
For more information contact info @ uua.org. |
Oral History of Tulare County War Years
During the past four years, our own Judi Wood, friend of the Visalia UU Fellowship, has been working on an oral history project called Years of Valor, Years of Hope, Tulare County and the Years 1941-1946.
104 interviews on tape, transcribed and edited, are now online.
Pilot training at two airfields, USOs in Tulare and Visalia, activities in Porterville and Springville and Exeter and other smaller towns in Tulare County, Japanese Americans forced to board a train and move to an un-named place that turned out to be an internment camp in the desert near Poston, Arizona. German POW's, going to the rodeo in Visalia, sharing food, victory bonds, saving steel, and more, much more memories from people who were in, arrived, or left Tulare County during the years 1941-1946.
There are five boxes of narrations - and, for genealogists, the names of family members were included when they were mentioned in these stories. These boxes are at the Tulare County Library's Annie Mitchell History Room in Visalia, in the history room of the Porterville Library, in the archives of the Tulare Historical Museum, in the Tulare County Historic Museum in Mooney Grove, and at the Fresno Historical Society.
These inteviews are also online at www.tularecountylibrary.org/yov/ or can be found on the front page of the Tulare County Library's website.
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Three Rivers Environmental Weekend a Great Success
By Mona Selph
The first Three Rivers Environmental Weekend is over and was well
worth the effort. Although the weather on Saturday was less than
perfect for solar cooking, it was beautiful to sit and watch
the alternating sun and clouds, and for solar cooking, it was "good enough". The
Darfur Assistance Group attending from Visalia raises money to
send solar cookers to Darfur refugee camps, thus saving trees
from being cut in the native habitat, and saving the wood gatherers
from rape and murder while foraging. The five folks attending from
the project made enough to send 20 cookers to the people of Darfur,
and they and our own famous solar cooker, Bill Becker, had what was for
all intents and purposes, a cooking party. Inside the Arts Center,
there were lots of information tables, but the movie "Green is the New
Red, White, and Blue" was
the star attraction, and many wanted to know where they could
buy or borrow a copy.
The Green Home Tour on Sunday was absolutely wonderful. The sun shone pleasantly as people from Visalia and surrounding areas joined Three Rivers folks for a tour of the homes of six local residents who have taken a number of different approaches to making their homes as Earth friendly as possible. The homeowners did a fantastic job of presenting and explaining their methods and results. People asked a lot of questions and took a lot of notes. The tickets for this event raised more than $350 for the Habitat for Humanity green building fund.
The efforts of many wonderful people made the weekend a success, and most certainly, it has made people do a little more thinking about ways to help our environment.
Three Rivers Environmental Weekend grew out of a Northwest Earth Institute www.nwei.org study group on Global Warming, sponsored in Three Rivers by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visalia but including a large contingent of other local residents. Many thanks to all who participated in this environmental effort:
The Saturday Solar Cooking Event:
The Darfur Assistance Project of Visalia: Irene Morse, Janine Blessing, Daniel Croddy, Janet Hogan, Gary Benjamin, Chris Haberman, Beth Rumery, Carol Firstman. Also, special thanks to Bill Becker Solar Cooking
Carol Clum and Tulare County Citizens for Responsible Growth
Nikki Crain and Soy Candles
Pam Estrada and Family Farm Fresh
John Sturdevant and One Earth Solar
Valley Oak Credit Union
Kate McClaren Massage
Mike McCoy, Ela Camocha, and Three Rivers Mercantile
The Native Plant Society
Visalia Friends (Quakers)
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Visalia
Energy Efficient Home Tour Day:
Energy Efficient Builders of Three Rivers
Home owners: Hillary Dustin and Kay Woods, Ken Elias and Sarah Shena, Dan Brummitt and Eddie Shroeder, Bill and Anne Haxton, Pete Crandal and Family, Ginger and Robert Curtis, and Valley Oak Credit Union, supplying parking space.
The Global Warming Discussion Group and Friends:
Kathy Anderson, Bill Becker, Stephanie Dethlefs, Isabelle Elmer-Collins, Ken Elias, Denece Hartley, Bill Haxton, April Hill, Martha Kalivas, Kirk Kernan and Leslie Johnson, Steve and Elizabeth Lamar, Liz van Mantgem, Kate McClaren, David Reid, Judy Smith, Mona Fox Selph, Jim and Maxine Yates, John and Sarah Elliott and Kaweah Commonwealth, and many merchants who displayed posters.
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