News from UUCNWT

Stop by the book table and pick out something that interests you--meditation, philosophy, religion--you name it. The books are published by UUA's Beacon Press, and all proceeds go to help buy music for the choir. Want to hear the choir sing something new? Well, buy a book! Books will be for sale on March 6, March 27, April 3, April 24, May 8, and May 15.

Immigration as a Moral Issue

6 members of our congregation attended the first session of "Immigration as a Moral Issue," a 6-session class offered by the UU Church of Tucson, Thursday, Feb. 24. It is being taught by UUCT member Leila Pine. There was so much interest in the class that a second section had to be established, meeting on Saturdays. The class will include a field trip to the local federal court and another one to Nogales, Sonora.

Luncheon a Success

A BIG thank you to all of you who brought delicious food for our Italian luncheon on Sunday, February 20. We received many compliments on how great the food was. Good times were had by all who stayed, ate and visited with their UU friends. It is great to see the fellowship in our UUCNWT Community!!

Thank you to everyone who came and ate, those of you who brought food and everyone who helped with set-up and clean-up. It is very much appreciated by us and by the children and youth who want to go to PSWD Camp de Benneville Pines!!

Sybelle and Lara

Landscape Project

Thanks to all those who donated to the landscape project. We are still accepting donations of native plants and/or cash. Look for plantings soon in the plot adjacent to the west side of the sanctuary.

Josh Gormally

Sunday, March 6, 2011

The 8th Annual

Jewish-Muslim PeaceWalk

All faiths or traditions are welcome to join all or part of this timely event.

1:15 pm - gathering & refreshments at Congregation Or Chadash, 3939 N. Alvernon Way
2 mile walk with rest stops, activities & conversations
4:30 pm - arrive at Al Huda Islamic School, 2800 E. River Rd. - activities for all ages
6:00 pm - multi-faith prayers and evening meal
for additional info check PeaceWalk Tucson on Facebook, or www.peacewalktucs

Free Media Workshops

Open to all who are interested, beginners, intermediate, or advanced.

Saturday, March 19, 10:00 am - noon

Facebook

Let the kids teach the adults what they know.

Saturday, March 26, 10:00 am - noon

Videography

John Fleming will introduce basic concepts of videography in preparation for a documentary film project on immigration.

Saturday, April 2, 10:00 - noon

Corel Draw

Desktop publishing. Learn how to design and lay out flyers, newsletters, brochures, business cards-whatever you need.

For more information, contact John Fleming at 888-7059 or elfuturo@earthlink.net

TIHAN Orientation

TIHAN (Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network) volunteer orientation will be March 26 from 9 am to 1 pm. RSVP 299-6647 or www.tihan.org. Other TIHAN questions, contact Pat Desai, 577-9642.

Sale Dates

Get out your personal and home calendars and mark these dates.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

7 am to 1 pm - UU Yard, Barn, Parking lot, etc. Sale. This is our annual de-clutter your house and donate stuff to the church sale.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

9 am to 1 pm - UU Book Sale, open to the public before, during, and after church.

Drop off your donations at the church on Sundays. We will need volunteer help to sort, set up, sell and take down. Call Catalina, 572-1881.

Yard Sale and Book Sale Pricing Parties at the barn will be Mondays and Wednesdays, 1 - 3 pm, until the Yard Sale on April 2 and the Book Sale on April 10.

Chalice Lighters

The Chalice lighters program of the Pacific Southwest District exists to help fund the growth of PSWD member congregations through the pooling of individual donations from UUs across Arizona, Southern California, and Nevada. The PSWD Chalice Lighters Team is happy to provide you the chance to support this congregational growth initiative.

Chalice Lighters now accepts contributions on line wither with a credit card or by electronic funds transfer (EFT). Visit the Chalice Lighters page on the PSWD website (www.pswduua.org) and you'll find a link and instructions. For more information, contact Don Gunther, 744-1629 or bdgun@comcast.net

Interim Minister's Column

Words of Joy

You may recall a special feeling of celebration this past December when eight people were introduced and ceremonially welcomed into membership of this congregation during the Sunday service. They all came with their unique gifts and talents, and their joining has enriched us all.

Rev. Joy

Membership in a Unitarian Universalist congregation is a choice, a conscious commitment to become part of the collective journey of faith that we Unitarian Universalists are embarked upon. It is not a journey to one specific destination, but a multifaceted path with fellow travelers, that is a joyous end in itself-the journey is the destination!

We Unitarian Universalists uphold individual freedom of religious belief, and yet we form a community. This sometimes perplexes those outside the fold: "How can you be a religion, a faith community," they may ask, "when you all believe different things?" But we would not have it any other way; we have affirmed and celebrated our religious diversity throughout our long history.

There are many people in this community who are "unchurched," many of them happily so. But perhaps some of these individuals would be pleasantly surprised to learn that there is a religious community that does not require of them uniformity of belief. Maybe you know some of these religious individualists. If you do, you might consider inviting them to UUCNWT some Sunday. Over the years, I've heard many of our newer Unitarian Universalists come to the doors of one of our congregations wondering, sometimes with a hint of vexation, "why have I never heard that there is a free faith like this one before?" Such folks would clearly have benefited from a community like ours much sooner in their lives, if they had only known about us. Let's not continue to be such a well-kept secret! Let your like-minded friends know about us, about the many activities and projects we are involved in, about the friendship, celebration and fun that takes place in a community like this one.

As the 19^th century philosopher William James said, "Without the spark of the individual, the community stagnates; without the support of the community, the individual withers." When we welcome new members to UUCNWT, we are adding the spark of their individuality and uniqueness to this special community, and we are in turn offering them the gift of our support as they join the journey with us. If you yourself have been considering becoming a member, please speak with me or with a member of our newly re-gathered Membership Committee, chaired by Jane Paul. We would be very pleased to welcome you.

Fondly, Joy

"Imagining the Future of Our Mountain Vista Campus"

March 6: 12:30-2

Please plan to come to a Board of Trustees-sponsored discussion to share your ideas on the future of our beautiful Mountain Vista Campus. The "Imagining Our Future" session will be held in the sanctuary soon after our regular March 6th service and coffee time. Please plan to bring a snack or a brown bag lunch. A few very short welcoming and information presentations by Conrad Paul, Rev. Joy Atkinson, Bill Casey, John Fleming, Anne Tatum, Marge Fleming, and Tom Bunch will precede our open discussion. Chuck Tatum will facilitate the session.

Contact person: Chuck Tatum @ 742-4007

Love Can Make over 75 Differences!

What does this headline mean? As a follow-up to the UUA campaign to make Valentine's Day "National Standing of the Side of Love Day," Chairman Dan Furmansky reports that over 75 media outlets picked up Unitarian Universalists' stories about love and acceptance of all people. Newspapers and other outlets included the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Foxnews.com, and Forbes, to name a few.

To quote one article: "'UU churches across the country [held] events on Sunday and Monday promoting civil political discourse, gay rights, humane integration reform, and ending what it calls 'the demonization of American Muslims.'"

Furmansky presented Courageous Love Awards to the two UU churches in Knoxville, TN, for their resilience and efforts to bring forth love in their community in the face of the violent act by a gunman that resulted in loss of lives and injuries at a UU church event.

Enthusiastically, Furmansky closes like this: "Can you feel it? Our movement for love, justice, and inclusion is already changing the world!" Plans are already underway for February 14, 2012.

P.S. Special thanks to Rev. Joy for her Love Sermon and kudos to Christiane Heyde for her "love letter."
Debbie Gessaman

Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice Update

Our congregation submitted its response to the UUA's Ethical Eating draft Statement of Conscience by the February 1 deadline with comments and suggestions. We agreed that the draft Statement of Conscience was weak, and we expect major changes will be made when delegates vote on it at General Assembly this summer.

One of our suggestions came under a section entitled "Congregational Actions." To that we added the following: "List all ingredients in dishes brought to communal meals." This is something we already do at many gatherings, and it is a simple way for us to live our 1^stprinciple and honor the "inherent worth and dignity of every person." It is a visible recognition that while we may differ in our dietary requirements, whether through allergy, disease, personal choice, or ethical choice, each of us has the right to know what is in the food before us at congregational events. When we face a table full of food with cards in front of each dish listing ingredients, we know that others honor our differences and that we will be able to choose our food based upon our needs and preferences. We would encourage our congregation to follow this suggestion at all of our communal meals.

R.E. Landscaping Project

On Sunday, Feb. 20, the R.E. kids were presented with a check for $50 from an anonymous donor. It had originally been proposed as a contest prize. The contest was for the best landscape design for the area just adjacent to the west side of the sanctuary building. Josh Gormally, a landscape architect, worked with the kids to help them with their designs. But the kids voted to cooperate on the design, rather than compete. That way they can spend the prize money for a party or an outing or whatever they vote to do. The final design, a combination of several submissions, was put together by Josh and can be viewed by clicking here.

Donations of native plants and/or cash will be accepted for this project. See the list on the drawing. (You can zoom in to see it better.) To see Josh's website, which has not only the drawing, but also explanations and descriptions, click here. There will be pots available at church on Sunday that you can take home for your plant donations. If you have native plants not on the list, they can also be donated.

This design is for a sustainable water harvesting garden to be built at the Mountain Vista Church. The design includes a meditation/meeting circle for church classes and group gatherings as well as shaded seating for visitors. It is our hope that the planting design is to be sustained solely on harvested rainwater. Although there are some exotic plant species specified on the rendered plan, the new design intent is to use only plants native to the region.

Activities and Events

Hike, Friday, March 4

Our next hike/walk will be at the Coventry Sanctuary located near the Continental reserve.

We will meet at 9:30 am on Friday, March 4 at the Fry's parking lot located at Cortaro Farms Road and Silverbell. I will be in my Silver Truck in the north east corner of the parking lot. We will caravan to the trail head.

We will have a hike up to a bluff that provides a great view of the Twin Peaks area. This is a rough trail with insecure footing on loose rocks, so good hiking shoes and a hiking stick are needed. For those who want a less demanding walk there is a very nice lower walking trail which includes a labyrinth, a chapel and some inspirational signs.

After the walk/hike those interested can join me at In and Out Burgers for lunch.

Please wear weather appropriate clothing, bring water and a snack. If you have questions email me or call me at 253-857-5171

Hobie Denny

Movie Night, Friday, March 18

"Get Low," 7 pm, at Ron and Betty Meikle's, 3053 N. Camino de Oeste.

Robert Duvall plays a Depression-era hermit who decides to throw a funeral party-his own. Look for a poster, review, directions and a signup at Mountain Vista. We are limited to 12 persons by space considerations. Please bring a snack to share. john.wilcox2008@comcast.net

RE News

Tigers: (pre-school -4th grade) Thank you to the wonderful 2nd Semester teachers, Peter Becskehazy, Margaret Fleming, Gwen Goodman, and Anne Tatum for their tireless and kind dedication in the classroom. Thank you to Alberta Gunther for her behind-the-scenes classroom support.

TAMS: (The Awesome Middle Schoolers) A HUGE Thank you to Lara Brennan, Romy Fouad, Jim Gessaman, Clinton Ponder-Gilby and Morgan Riddle!!!! We put out the word that we needed teachers for the 2nd semester, and these wonderful people answered our call for help. The semester kicked-off on January 16th, and will continue through May. Teachers will be using a brand new curriculum guide from the UUA, "Heeding the Call: Qualities of a Justice Maker".

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. Many,many thanks to the sweet and dedicated facilitators: Dori Klass, Niki Davis and Sanjay Desai.

Substitute Teachers: We occasionally need substitute teachers in our RE classes. It is a fun and valuable way to contribute your time and knowledge to the children of our congregation. No experience is necessary. If you would like to be added to the Substitute Roster, please see Donna. A special thank you to Robert Brewer, Betty Meikle, Valerie Power and Robert Speirs for their recent assistance in the TAMS class.

Story for All Ages: On the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, the RE Students will start off in the sanctuary and be present for the first part of the service, including a Story for All Ages. Following the story, students will file out and convene in their classrooms in the Goldblatt Building.

Connection Sundays: The 2nd Sunday of each month is Connection Sunday. The RE Students will have a chance to connect with the congregation, the community and nature through a variety of activities, field trips and guest speakers.

Upcoming events:

March 13: Tohono Chul Park - special guided tour (field trip)

April 10: Tucson Wildlife Center (guest speaker)

May 8: Withers Sheep, Llama and Goat Ranch (field trip)

RE Landscaping Project: Planting will begin in the Spring. Coming soon: a wish-list of plants. Thank you, Josh Gormally, for your continued support of this project.

RE Committee Meeting: Tuesday, March 1st, 7:00-8:30 PM in the Goldblatt Building. Everyone is welcome.

Wish List: We need snacks (Goldfish, Wheat Thins, Ritz crackers, Pretzels,etc). All donations greatly appreciated!

Thank you: A big thanks to Peggy Zeramby and Dorothy Fausey for donating snacks and Bonnie Grant-Baird for donating scissors. And thank you, too, to all the others who somehow sneak in their donations! The RE Department really appreciates your help!

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

Gateway Report

computer disk We now have high-speed Internet in the Goldblatt Building, and a corner of the large R.E. room will be set up as the Youth Media Center. When all the equipment is installed and operational, we plan to offer classes--with both adult and youth teachers--on videography, editing, Facebook, Twitter, and other technological subjects.

One plan is to produce a documentary on a social action topic such as immigration. This is in process now. To get involved, contact me at 888-7059 or elfuturo@earthlink.net

I am in the process of applying for two more grants to keep the program going and to establish an R.E. media outreach project.

In a recent call to the UU Funding Program in Boston, I was informed that we still have $5,000 matching funds available to us, to develop our media center, our outreach delivery through electronic and print newsletters, and our educational program. We can get this money in $500 increments. So far we have been able to raise $47.67 through our "Small Change for Big Change" effort. We still need $452.33.

I met recently with Diane Dowgiert, minister of the 22^nd St. church. She was enthusiastic about the UU Gateway outreach program and invited me to make a presentation to her empowerment team, which I did. They seemed to be very much interested in connecting with our chain of churches. I'll keep you informed.

John Fleming

Basics of Genealogy

Join us on Tuesday afternoons, as we continue to explore the fascinating process of researching our Family Histories with Karen Hahn, long-time genealogy researcher, and a member of our Congregation.

We will meet on Tuesday afternoons, from 4:00 - 5:30 PM, in the large RE room in the Goldblatt Building on the following dates:

March 15^th Research Basics. Where to find information and how to use it: 1. Home Sources: How to use information you already have in starting your research.

March 22^nd Where to find information and how to use it: 2. Census and Vital Records, as well as touching on Probate records, Wills,

March 29^thResearch Basics: Where to find information and how to use it. 3. Tax records and other forms of original documents.

April 5^thUsing the Internet in Genealogical Research.

April 12^thThe last class will wrap it all up: a summary of what we have learned.

Those interested in continuing will have the opportunity to do so.

This class is an activity of the W3 (the Way We Were) Archiving Project that started last fall, designed to focus on our individual and collective memories in order to organize the records and pictures that tell our individual and collective stories.

If you have questions, contact Meg Kidwell (mgkaz@comcast.net) or Karen Hahn (Kayelache@aol.com).

Garden Info for Mountain Vista Community Garden

Members and friends of UUCNWT helped create Mountain Vista Community Garden with the help of Community Gardens of Tucson, Mother Earth and the Mystery of Life.

The Mountain Vista UU Community Garden is open for gardeners, thinkers, doers, seeds, transplants and learning, meditation, picnics and other activities for all ages. If you are thinking of getting a plot, there is room. If you want to come to the garden, chill out and watch the fish swim, there is room. If you want to watch the sunset or sunrise, there is room. If you want to be very still and see how many desert animals you can discover, there is room. If you would like to help prepare even more plots for gardeners, there is room.

We welcomed three neighbors to MVUU garden plots on Opening Day (February 12) and our own TAMS and Tigers share one plot that has onions and collard greens in it. But, there is lots more room. They will be planting seeds and transplanting more vegetables, herbs and flowers into the plot soon. Any of you Moms or Dads who want to know more about growing healthy food or who wish to participate more in your children's gardening activities, please talk with Donna Pratt or call Betty Meikle, 990-4663, to see how to become involved.

Other Ideas

Soon we hope to have a picnic table in the shade. Someday we might even have a fruit tree or two. How about a program that matches the wisdom of older members/friends with the energy of youth and create Garden Buddies? What are your dreams for our north campus garden?

Gardening workshops for various skill levels are available to help you succeed with your plot. Erik Shapiro is our Garden Master and will be at our garden on the 3^rd Saturday of every month at 9am - 10am to answer questions and give advice about what to plant, which pests to watch for, how to handle other garden celebrations and dilemmas. You can meet him on March 19^th at the MVUU Community Garden. Other classes and workshops in March include:

^Date	^What	^When	^Where	^Who	^Cost
^{Wednesday March 2}	^{Chicken Raising Basics}	^1-3pm	^{Community Food Bank Garden[i]}	^{Shanti Seliz, Youth Garden Coordinator}	^{Free, donations accepted}
Saturday March 5	Spring Gardening Fair and Plant Sale	10:30am -3:30pm	St. Mark's Presbyterian Church[ii]	Tucson Organic Gardeners - large gathering of gardening related people, local organizations and plants	Attendance is free - activities for children and young at heart
Saturday March 5	Planting a Healthy Garden	9-11am	Community Food Bank Garden ⁱ	Community Food Bank	Free, donations accepted
Friday, March 11	Advanced Composting (in Spanish)[iii]	9-11am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Jaime de Zubeldia, Marana Farm Compost Coordinator	Free, donations accepted
Saturday March 12	Beginning Gardening	12:00 - 2:00 pm	St. Mark's Presbyterian Churchⁱⁱ	Tucson Organic Gardeners - Erik Shapiro	Free
Monday March 14	History and Care of Regional Fruit Trees (in Spanish)ⁱⁱⁱ	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Jesus Garcia, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Education Specialist	Free, donations accepted
Tuesday, March 15	Gardening in Small Spaces and Self Watering Containers	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Zotero Citialcoatl, School Garden Coordinator	Free, donations accepted
Friday, March 18	Simple and Seasonal Cooking	2:00-4:00 pm	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Tiffany Rose Wood, Integrative Nutritionist	Free, donations accepted
Saturday, March 19	All About Soil	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Don Brekenfeld, Soil Scientist	Free, donations accepted
Saturday March 19	Garden Master	9-10am	Mountain Vista UU Community Garden	Erik Shapiro	Free to MVUU-gardeners
Monday, March 21	Wild Food Preparation from the Sonoran Desert	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	John Slattery, Herbalist	Free, donations accepted
Thursday March 24	Rainwater Harvesting	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Dan Dorsey from Sonoran Permaculture Guild	Free, donations accepted
Friday March 25	Composting with Worms	1-3 pm	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Chris Mazzarella, Marana Farm Worm Caretaker	Free, donations accepted
Saturday March 26	Simple and Seasonal Cooking	10-12 am	Marana Heritage Farm	Tiffany Rose Wood, Integrative Nutritionist	Free, donations accepted
Wednesday March 30	Growing Fruit Trees	9-11 am	Community Food Bank Gardenⁱ	Phil Wade, Master Gardener	Free, donations accepted

[i] Advance Registration is required. Call to sign up! Contact Melissa Mundt at the Community Food Bank mmundt@communityfoodbank.com. 622-0525 x263

Please not different locations and contact Melissa with questions or for directions:

Community Food Bank Garden, 3003 S. Country Club (between Ajo and 36^th St.), garden next to playground.

Marana Heritage Farm, 12375 N. Heritage Park Drive (off Tangerine west of I-10)

[ii] Held at St. Mark's Presbyterian Church, 3809 East 2^nd Street, southwest of the Speedway/Alvernon intersection off 2^nd Street. Garden is on the west end of the campus.

[iii] Interpretation is available with advance notice to English or Spanish. If you have special needs, such as child care, the Food Bank will endeavor to make arrangements with advanced notice.

What to Plant When

here are a couple more months for cool weather plants. Our average last frost date is March 15. For now here's what to plant.

Plant Outside		Start Seeds Inside in Sunny Area
Artichoke/Cardoon transplants	All month of March transplant	Cucumber
Beans, Bush	2^nd half of March plant seeds	Eggplant
Beets	All month of March plant seeds	Jerusalem Artichoke
Carrots	All month of March plant seeds	Melons
Corn	All month of March plant early corn	Okra
Jerusalem Artichoke	All month of March transplant	Peppers
Pumpkins	2^nd half of March seed or transplant	Summer Squash
Radish	All month of March plant seeds	Sweet Potato
Rutabaga	All month of March plant seeds	Tomato
Summer Squash	2^nd half of March seed or transplant	Winter Squash
Winter Squash	2^nd half of March seed or transplant	Basil
Swiss Chard	All month of March seed or transplant	Plant seeds as directed in small containers in starter mix or ½ sand (not sterile play sand) and ½ worm castings. Put in sunny window. Keep damp until sprouts appear. Reduce water. Do not dry out. Plants should be ready to transplant into your garden in mid to late April. Help Mother Nature keep our earth green and blue.
Tomato	All month of March transplant
Turnip	All month of March plant seeds

Herb starts (mint oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon, or thyme) can be transplanted outdoors during March. If you didn't start these plants earlier, do so now because they can all be transplanted within the next 2 months as well.

Sunday Services for March

March 6, 2011

"Coming of Age"

Clarissa Ballesteros, Steven Ballesteros, Ali Brennan, Ashlen Brennan, Skylar Gautier, Lucius Goodman-Eberlein, Desiree Hatunen, Rachel Kreger, Bibiana Van der Heiden

Today's service, planned and presented by the youth in the Coming of Age program, marks the culmination of the program they have been involved in for the past 3 months. The service will include the credos of all the young people in the program, as they have developed them to date, realizing that this is an ongoing process. The program will also recognize the adult mentors who have given their support to the youth. Rev. Joy will perform a confirmation ritual. Steven Ballesteros and Lincoln Statler are Worship Associates.

March 13, 2011, Canvass Sunday

"Someone with Skin"

Rev. Joy Atkinson, the Pledge Drive Team and a host of others

What do we want to receive from being in a religious community like Mountain Vista UU? What are we prepared to offer one another to make sure that this congregation survives and thrives, and lives into its promising future? This canvass kick-off service will be a unique event, as we break bread together within the service and renew our commitment to supporting and sustaining this special religious community. Join us, and come with an appetite! The choir will sing. Christiane Heyde is Worship Associate.

March 20, 2011

"Spring Equinox"

Eb Eberlein and Lincoln Statler

Equinoxes and solstices have been celebrated through the ages by earth-centered religions. The spring equinox is associated with growth and awakening, new life and spiritual awareness. Our own pagan UUs Eb and Lincoln will lead us in celebrating it in this service. Eb's band will provide the music.

March 27, 2011

"The Rainbow Struggle through the Ages"

Christiane Heyde

Christiane will share a sermon on the history of the gay and lesbian struggle, and how it impacts us today. She offered a sermon topic at the UU fundraising auction last fall, and this is the result. Come and join us for a unique view of the GLBT movement through the ages, and see how we as UUs stand on the side of love and accept, support, and empower minorities today. The choir will sing. Romy Fouad is Worship Associate.