Saturday, December 20, 2014

Post 59

Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Brainerd/Pine River MN 12/20/14

Greetings! and happy holidays...
     The planning meeting took place yesterday, to formulate the schedule for the next few months. This is all tentative at this writing, subject to change. We will still be meeting at the Timberjack on 371, unless there is a special reason to meet at another location, which would be announced.

Jan 11 - Dave Jurgenson on o"Questioning Our Paradigms", discussion of how media spin information and how we can respond.
Jan 25 - What are you reading? open discussion.
Feb 8 - A UU Sermon
Feb 22 - The New Jim Crow, a UUA common read on race and social justice
Mar 8 - Spring Break; no service
Mar 22 - Women's History Month
Apr 12 - Speaker, Gary Dietrich tentatively, life coach in Bemidji
Apr 26 - Book Discussion, possibly Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
May 10 - Flower Service
May 24 - Annual meeting, place and time TBA

As you can see, this is fluid and these are the basic outlines.

The rest of the planning meeting was devoted to

Post 60

To continue where I got cut off...

The rest of the planning meeting was devoted to  the Strategic Plan Review, following up from the initial meeting on February 7. We found we have made progress in nearly all areas, and that our move to a Sunday service was probably a good one. The addition of a musical dimension was very welcome, and the fact that we are able to order lunch onsite, if we pleased or not, was also helpful. New Songbooks were a product of a lot of work; website work ably handled by our webmaster, Melissa (also the music provider). We are thinking of once again partnering with Happy Dancing Turtle on food programs; also of holding an open house during the summer to enhance our presence in the community. In addition we have requested an Intern from Minnesota UU Social Justice Alliance to help gear up on the Renaming of Columbus Day efforts. More on this as plans develop.


Questions? contact us on the website, mnnuuf.org!

Respectfully submitted, Mary DeYoung, news director 218-587-2543

Saturday, December 13, 2014

POST 57

Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Brainerd/Pine River, MN 12/13/14

Greetings! it has been a month or so since the last report. Waiting out the elections, postponements of meetings, and other delays have slowed things down.
  • Renaming Columbus Day. Elections have changed some members of the MN legislature around the state. We are thinking of revamping the schedule of activities to forward the goal of changing the October 12 date to one including Indigenous People's Day, probably starting in March 2015. Our request to Governor Dayton for a proclamation for this year went unanswered; so this will be tried again. We are asking help from MUUSJA's intern to work on the Minneapolis connections at NACDI who intend to go statewide with this effort. (Native American Community Development Institute)...The request to supporters is to get the names of their legislators, contact them for their thoughts on this subject, and depending on responses, ask for support and action in bringing this to the legislative bodies for action.
  • Planning meetings have been delayed again and again, so definitive schedules need to be developed at this late date, for future programming. On December 19, a planning meeting to discuss progress toward meeting the goals set at the Strategy Meeting last spring. will be held at Mary's house at 12:30.
  • The November Thanksgiving dinner was a huge success, with many attending to celebrate the season and fellowship. Next time we have have to find a hall! 
  • Truth and Reconciliation: On December 3, NUUF members traveled to Bemidji to participate in the initial gathering on T&R held at the American Indian Resource Center on the BSU campus. About 70 people came, including many native people, to discuss ways to improve conditions between the local cultures, Native and White. The next meeting will be on February 11.
Additions and corrections, please contact me. Respectfully submitted, Mary DeYoung, news director NUUF  218-587-2543