Worcester - The near-tragedy struck early one Spring morning, when, after months of closed doors the exterior door to the church was propped open and a fresh, warm breeze blew throughout the building.  Little did they know that with open doors often come visitors.  In this case, little four-legged ones.  First spotted scurrying down the hallway and rounding the corner into the sanctuary, the chipmunk seemed to know where it was heading because despite the Sexton's best efforts it wasn't found, that is, until the next morning. 

"The little guy looked like he'd been paddling all night." Said Steve McNally, Sexton of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, when he found the furry little creature going under, for what would have been his last time, if it hadn't been for the custodian's kindness.

"We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of all beings" said Rev. Aaron Payson, commenting on the efforts of his staff.  "The little tyke survived by the grace of the Spirit of Life and we are so happy for that!"

Dianne Mann, who chairs the Accessibility Taskforce for the Church, wrote a day later pondering if there was something we should do in order to prevent a repeat event.  "Our group is concerned with making certain that everyone is able to participate fully in our community.  We just wanted to make certain that we did all we could do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again".  That's when the Direct of Religious Education, Robin Caracciolo, who has been described by many in the community as "crafty" came up with a brilliant solution.

Modeled after the window safety-ladders in many homes, Ms. Caracciolo fashioned a mini-ladder out pieces of scrap metal left in her office by someone cleaning out their attic.  "We hang one of these in each of our 6 toilets for safety purposes and we'll never have to face the possibility of another near drowning."  She presented her proposal to the Board the next week and with tremendous accolades, the project was approved and funds were sought to fashion 5 more toilet mini-ladder prototypes.  "We have the safest commodes ever!" Boasted Larry Raymond, President of the Board.

Hailed as a genius concept by the head of the US Patent Office, the "Commode Safety Rungs" or CSR's as they're referred to informally, are scheduled for mass production in the Fall of 2016 and are thought to be the monetary windfall the congregation was looking for in order to meet its current budget needs.

"We needed this boost in revenue badly" commented Cris Heffernan, one of the Captains of this year's congregational Stewardship Drive.  "We're still waiting for more than 100 pledge cards to be returned in the next few days.  We have our fingers crossed.  It would be grand if we completely funded our budget with pledges and could then use the income from the CSR's.  A lot of people could be helped in our community with that kind of income!"  After all, it is April 1st and we only have 4 more days until the pledges are due.

Please bring a healthy, nut free snack to share with your friends in fellowship hall after the service. 

HosT (Hospitality Task Force) will provide the fair trade coffee, tea, water and juice.  HosT depends on coffee hour donations to keep supplies in stock....your donations during any coffee hour are gladly accepted!

Thanks Everyone!

Robin Caracciolo