5/10/15 June Fesler  

5/17/15 Jim Gronvold

As the program year at UUCM comes to an end, and we stand at the threshold of the next season of UUCM, I reflect and this  Lawrence Ferlinghetti poem comes to mind:

Constantly Risking Absurdity (#15)

Constantly risking absurdity

                                             and death

            whenever he performs

                                        above the heads

                                                            of his audience

   the poet like an acrobat

                                 climbs on rime

                                          to a high wire of his own making

and balancing on eyebeams

                                     above a sea of faces

             paces his way

                               to the other side of day

    performing entrechats

                               and sleight-of-foot tricks

and other high theatrics

                               and all without mistaking

                     any thing

                               for what it may not be

       For he's the super realist

                                     who must perforce perceive

                   taut truth

                                 before the taking of each stance or step

in his supposed advance

                                  toward that still higher perch

where Beauty stands and waits

                                     with gravity

                                                to start her death-defying leap

      And he

             a little charleychaplin man

                                           who may or may not catch

               her fair eternal form

                                     spreadeagled in the empty air

                  of existence

Chip 

From the DRE:

We are having a great and active Spring here at UUCM in RE with both action and reflection, music, art, work party, dance and games, service work, and exploration of religious traditions. We are making a joyful noise ....

Mother's Day Dance, May 9th - Contra Dancing (6:30 pm), and a family game night (6pm). All are welcome.

Mother's Day Service, May 10th - An active and fun intergenerational service. Drummers needed for 10AM hilltop call to worship.

This work day will be bigger and includes an invite to the whole UUCM community. Lot of little repairs and Spring cleaning to do. So, everyone is welcome to pitch in. Please put it on your calendar. We will be there from 10:30-4:30. You can come for all or part.

Summer RE and Day Camp? - We are seriously looking at a couple weeks of summer day camp here at UUCM. late July through mid August. Nature education, cooking, songs, dance, arts, and UU values woven in. More info to come.

Blessed Be,

(415) 479-4131 ext. 104,   DRE@uuMarin.org 

We are reaching out for volunteers to bring a flower arrangement - or other beautiful and beloved object - for everyone's enjoyment on a Sunday morning. I am putting together a schedule for June, July and August, and hope that new folks will give it a try, as well as those who have already participated. Here is why it's a wonderful, worthwhile project: (1) It's a one-time only - though you may, of course, repeat. (2) It brings everyone pleasure (3) You may dedicate your TOB to the memory or honor of a loved one (4) It's easy -- we are ALL amateurs! (5) You'll have flowers all week. 

You may think of your own reasons to participate, but I hope you will! Please email sallyrschroeder@comcast.net with your choice of date. A second choice would be helpful in case there are multiple requests for the same date.

THANK YOU in advance! Sally

What a blessing it was on Tuesday morning to sit with you all and introduce you to the Hannah Project. While we are thrilled by the generosity of  your congregation and the gifting of the Chromebooks, we are even more excited by the prospect of working with you on Hannah programs and projects. Bettie Hodges

If you are interested in volunteering, download a volunteer application and email it to thehannahproject.marin@gmail.com 

If you have questions, please contact Rev. Chip or Rev. Lisa Wiggins.

Updated program:
On Saturday May 30 from 7-9 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) there will be another one of our fabulous chamber concerts put together by Milton Wong. We will be celebrating the works of Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), a much overlooked but more recently celebrated female composer. 

Performers:

Carol Mukhopadhyay, violin

Karen Heather, piano

Angus Davol, cello

Katy Juneau, viola

Dan Reiter, cello

Amanda Morando, soprano

Milton Wong, piano & violin

Pieces (not necessarily in the following order):

Rebecca Clarke - Piano Trio

Rebecca Clarke - Viola Sonata 

Rebecca Clarke - Lullaby and Grotesque

Fanny Mendelssohn 3 Songs 

Clara Schumann Op 13 Songs 

Rebecca Clarke - 3 Irish Country Songs 

Rebecca Clarke - "Down by the Salley Gardens" 

Advance purchase tickets: 

$20 adults

$15 students & seniors 

$10 children 13 & under 

At the door $5 more for all.

We need your help to make this concert a success! Volunteer for the setup/cleanup or cashiering. We also need a few people to bake cookies and brownies prior to the event. Contact Janette or sign up in the UUCM foyer.

Contact the Administrator for more information or questions. Print a flyer to give to your friends and neighbors.

Part of a video of the Middle School UU Group taken at the U of CA Berkeley Cal Adventures ROPES Course.

Ropes Course, videoed by Doug Chambers of the Berkeley Fellowship UU.

Due to ongoing technology changes associated with the change of my job, I need to change my email address again.  My new email address is dianneestrada11@gmail.com

Thanks,

Dianne

Joan Nelson reports that the Rotating Emergency Shelter program (operating for six months every winter for the past seven years) will probably be operating year round before long.

It's closed now, but will have a test run for 56 nights from June 8 to August 3. She will be signing up Sunday night dinner volunteers again. This time there will be no sign-up board in the UUCM foyer. Signups will be done electronically! Stay tuned.

For the May 20th book club we have chosen Pulitzer Prize winner author, Jane Smiley's new book, 2014 National Prize winner, Some Luck.

Summary: On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different children: from Frank, the handsome, willful first born, and Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him, to Claire, who earns a special place in her father's heart.

Each chapter in Some Luck covers a single year, beginning in 1920, as American soldiers like Walter return home from World War I, and going up through the early 1950s, with the country on the cusp of enormous social and economic change. Some Luck, the first of an intended trilogy, cycles through birth and death, passions and betrayals, among characters we come to know inside and out.

Join us at 7:30 for a review moderated by Sandy Steinman.

Note:  This is a new book and has a short wait.  Reserve a copy now.

We are taking a trip to Wonderland! 

Where you can bask in the sun and commune with your UUCM community at the Mountain Play enjoying their presentation of Peter Pan.

Order your tickets at  www.mountainplay.org and plan to meet at the Park and Ride at Smith Ranch Road just off US 101 at 10 am that day. We will carpool to the Manzanita Parking lot and catch a school bus to the mountain. Pack a picnic, wear a hat, bring a blanket or cushions to sit on, your best pirate swagger and don't forget your sunscreen. Please email thomas.ervin@comcast.net if you have questions and to let me know that you are coming.

Best,

Thomas