Guest  at Your Table

Where Is the Electric Car Headed?

Tucson is set to become a hotbed of electric vehicle technology with the release of the Nissan Leaf all electric car, Ford's plug-in hybrid Focus, and the advent of a major public charging infrastructure project.  How did we finally get here, and where will the electric car take us? 

Michael Brian Schiffer is a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona and author of "Taking Charge: The Electric Automobile in America." On January 23 at 12:30 he will speak on early American electric cars with an eye to the future.

http://uanews.org/click/35603/1

Adult Religious Education

Student Minister Karla Brockie is offering a Unitarian Universalist History and Polity series of classes, guaranteed to be fun for adults and teens.  We will cover about 2000 years, using the stories of religious leaders and heretics.  It is an interactive course and there will be prizes...  Come and find out what the heck polity is, anyway.  I'd love to have someone as an assistant; let me know!

We will meet at church Sunday evenings from 4 pm to 6 pm starting January 2 and going through February 6, or perhaps a little longer if we can't bear to part.  

I will suggest a voluntary $3 donation per participant per meeting, to defray the cost of childcare for this class and others; childcare can be provided if you ask ahead of time (if we have children, we'll need to meet at church).  Please call or email Karla to sign up (269-9573;         karlabrockie@yahoo.com).  Come one, come all! 

Media Workshop

John Fleming will lead an on-line interactive media workshop on Wednesday evenings, starting on January 19, for those on the media team or interested in joining it. The workshop will include basic techniques of videography, operating the equipment, and editing videos with a user-friendly software program. If there is sufficient interest, he will offer a workshop or workshops later on advanced videography and editing.

To join, contact John at elfuturo@earthlink.net or  888-7059.

Ceramics Class

Are you interested in learning how to do ceramics? We are starting a class that will run from February 3 - March 10. It is meeting every Thursday from 11 - 12 in the Big RE Room. The cost is $3 a class plus the cost of the item you are working on. The class will be taught by Lana Mitchell, who has 40 yrs experience working with ceramics. For more information or to sign up for the class call Paula Trahan at 742-6657.

Soup and Salad Lunch January 9

The fund raising campaign for Scholarships for our youth to go to Camp de Benneville Pines (our PSWD camp) continues with another lunch. We have heard that our lunches are well received and we really appreciate everyone's donation of food. We have some amazing cooks in our community!

There will be a selection of different soups and a salad bar, rolls and desserts after the service on Sunday, January 9th.
We would appreciate any donations of a pot of soup or an item for the salad bar or dessert. When the time gets closer the youth might approach you to see if you want to donate a food item.

Thanks from the youth who really want to go to camp (and their parents).

Coordinators: Sybelle UUSybelle@gmail.com and Lara larabuggy3@gmail.com (or see us at church).

Activities and Events

Hike on January 7

Our next UU hike will be on January 7.  We will walk the Linda Vista trail. The trail head is located on Linda Vista Blvd. just east of Oracle. There is limited parking available so we encourage car pooling. We will meet for car pool at the UU parking lot at 9 am. Those who need to go directly to the trail head turn east off Oracle Rd., go about one block; the parking lot is on the right. We will meet at the trail head at 9:30 am 

This is a lovely walk in an outstanding saguaro forest.  There is moderate gain with many steps. Please wear weather-appropriate clothes and good walking shoes; bring a walking stick, water, and a snack.

We will hike in for one hour, have a half hour snack time, then return to the trail head.

Hobie Denny

Movie January 17

Lunch and a movie, "Enchanted April," at noon, Monday, January 17 (Martin Luther King  holiday) at Hobie Denny's, 12419 W. Mile Wide Rd. We are limited to 10 persons by space considerations. Hobie is making vegetable soup. Please contact John Wilcox to discuss what you can bring to accompany the soup and for carpooling. See a poster, a review, and directions at UUCNWT. jgwilcox@comcast.net  531-1413

Bookaholics Unanimous January 26

RE News

RE Landscaping Contest:  On Sunday, January 12th, church member Josh Gormally will be meeting with all interested RE students from 10:30-11:30.  He is a landscape designer and will teach the students about xeriscape landscaping, and will show them how to create grid-paper landscape designs.  It should be fun and informative.   Dorothy, the congregational administrator, has generously donated a $50.00 prize to the student who creates the winning landscape design for  the west side of  the church. 

YRUU:  (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists, for students in grades 9-12), meets the 2^nd and 4^th Sundays of the month, 10:30-11:45, in the Goldblatt Building. 

OWL: (Our Whole Lives--a series of sexuality education curricula)  If you know of a student,10th-12th grade, who might like to participate, please let Donna know as soon as possible. The student does not have to be a church member to take part. Please let your relatives, friends and neighbors know about this wonderful opportunity.

TAMS:  (The Awesome Middle Schoolers) We need your help!!!  We need an adult to help facilitate this fun and fabulous class once a month, (Sundays, 10:30-11:30). No experience necessary.  Training is provided, and you would be working with a terrific group of kids. If this sounds like a way you would like to help out the church, please see Donna.

"Goody Bags for the Homeless" :  Thank you to everyone who so generously donated small toiletries, socks, eat-on-the-run foods, candy, and a variety of cold-weather clothing items to the TAMS goody bag project.  TAMS worked together on Sunday, December 19th to assemble over 200 plastic bags filled with a variety of goodies.  The little  bags were distributed at the Giving Tree's Homeless Feeding program on Christmas Eve.

RE Committee Meeting:  Monday, January 10th, 600-7:30 pm in the Goldblatt Building.   Everyone is welcome.

Lost and Found:   In the Large RE Room, at the end of the ramp, there is a plastic box overflowing with lost and found items.  Please take a moment to sift through to see if any of the items belong to your family.

RE Snack Closet:  Thank you to everyone who has recently donated items to replenish the RE Snack Closet.  We still need small Dixie cups, please.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the RE Department, please contact Donna anytime at mklo@earthlink.net  or 867-1400

2^nd Annual Alternative Gifts Holiday Market a Success!

Even during our country's continuing financial recovery, members of the UUCNWT/MVUU congregation continued to support efforts to reach out to others in need, both around the world through Alternative Gifts International (AGI) and locally (Tu Nidito Children and Family Services).

One new activity this year brought increased participation from children, youth, and adults.  The Kick-off Potluck luncheon brought in a total of $125 from about 25 folks who stayed for lunch, $40 of which Donna Pratt, RE Director, and Marge Fleming, RE Committee Chair,  spent on behalf of our RE kids to purchase two gifts, one each for a Tu Nidito boy and girl.  In addition, a second new idea gave many RE children and youth the opportunity to design delightful tree ornaments, which congregants selected to purchase gift wishes of toys for an estimated outreach of $430 to appreciative Tu Nidito recipients.

The remaining lunch proceeds of $85 were folded into two AGI projects (newborn infant supplies and a Nigerian community micro-loan) to get holiday giving underway.  Sincere thanks to AGI project donors who, over six Sundays, gave a total of $1,130 ($136 more than in 2009!) to 23 out of 41 worthy and varied AGI projects across the world.  We're especially grateful to Janan Power and to Rachel and Robyn Pratt, who volunteered at our table the first Sunday; and to Marion Erickson, who helped Debbie and Jim Gessaman for two successive Sundays. 

Welcome Our Newest New Members

Dori Klass

Dori grew up in Presbyterian and Congregational churches near Cape Cod. She discovered Unitarian Universalism during college.  She's belonged to Emerson Unitarian in Houston, North Shore UU in Deerfield, IL (where she and Michael were married), and Palomar UU in Carlsbad, CA.

Before starting her own company, she spent more than 20 years in a multi-faceted career at Abbott Labs near Chicago.  In 2003, she launched Dori Klass & Associates to practice as a career and life coach, specializing in personal leadership development and core discovery/consciousness work.  The goal was to help people navigate important transitions.  She is now in the process of launching World Class Parenting to (in short) help parents to focus on teaching and implementing the core practices that are consistently present in successful, high functioning families and relationships.

Dori, Michael and three of their four sons came to Tucson in 2007.  The family has been attending Mountain Vista ever since.  She has already served in a number of ways by co-leading the YRUU group, providing leadership development training, and presenting three sermons to the congregation.

It's Dori's vision to help to build a thriving UU community in NW Tucson, one that is served both by its members and by the physical plant and environment that nourishes it, one that is stable, inviting, beautiful, and welcoming, that encourages growth and supports a collective vision and variety of worship modalities.

We welcome Dori and all that energy to this congregation.

Sunday Services for January

January 2, 2011
New Year Service
"Your One Wild and Precious Life"
Rev. Joy Atkinson

January 30, 2011
"Holding Tight and Letting Go"
Rev. Bets Wienecke

Transitions in life offer challenges and choices:  Do we cling to what we know or do we venture forth into uncharted territory?   This sermon will outline the process recommended by the UUA for securing the best minister for the next chapter in the life of this congregation. It also includes a story that illustrates the qualities that help us cope creatively with the challenges of change. 

Rev. Bets Wienecke is the Pacific Southwest District Ministerial Settlement Representative, who advises and consults with this district's UU congregations in the southern half of California, Nevada, and Arizona about the ministerial search process. She will answer questions following the service.

Bets served as parish minister of the Live Oak UU Congregation in Goleta from 1987 until her retirement in 2004. She has served on the UU Ministers Association Executive Committee, on the Board of Trustees of Meadville/Lombard Theological School, has been President of the PSWD UU Ministers Association chapter, and President of the Santa Barbara Clergy Association.   She was awarded the Pacific Southwest District's Distinguished Service Award in 1988.