The Newsletter       
           
Adult Enrichment: Mindful Writing

The number of "mindful writers" has grown over the last couple of months. Some people come
to listen to others' offerings, but more bring their written thoughts either about the decided-upon
topic(s) for the session or about another subject important to them. Everyone is welcome.

We have a good time, munching on snacks while we share our writing. Recent topics have been
"What Makes Us Happy, Sad, or Concerned"; "Culture" (including traditions and practices of societies, institutions, our families, and ourselves); "Interfaith"; "Connections"; "The After-Life"; and "Trauma."

For July we chose "Memory of a Place, of Youth."

Our pieces are never criticized; we simply enjoy. Nonetheless, we give each other much to think about with our insightful, mindful writing. Bring in poems, journals, prose in any form (invent a form if you like!) Meetings are third Wednesdays of each month at 6:30 pm in Fellowship Hall.

"Mindful Writing" has been a regular event for approximately two years, and it has become ever more interesting and enriching. Please contact me, Marty Keith (740-369- 1919), with questions about the group.
Calling all walkers! 
 Inspired by walking with our Coming of Age Youth in the CRIS 5k, we are beginning a weekly NUUC Walking Group.  We will meet weekly beginningTuesday, May 3rd at 9am, to walk the paved loop at Sharon Woods Metro Park.  We will rendezvous at the Maple Grove Picnic Area, at the picnic tables. Come as you can and enjoy the park and fellowship with other NUUC'ers.   Contact Allison Fagan at 614-270-8117 (call or text) or [email protected] for more information and to let us (Allison, Melinda Rosenberg, Rod Myers, and Kristen Grimshaw) know to expect your company.

Worship
NUUC Recorder Ensemble

The NUUC Recorder Ensemble has full wind in its sails once again. We would like to invite you to join our
tootling fun! For more information, contact Becca Morse at [email protected] 
(or 614-805-6680) 
or Nathan Morse at [email protected]

We rehearse together on the second and fourth Fridays of each
month at noon at Friendship Village of Columbus. If you're interested, but the rehearsal time doesn't work for you, just go for Baroque and contact us anyway: 

If enough people are interested in an alternate time, I'm sure we can work out a second rehearsal schedule. Just because a hobby blows doesn't mean it's not fun!
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Hospitality Teams

No doubt you have noticed, that since November, there have been different greeters each Sunday morning. You may have also noticed that the coffee hour host signup sheet has been filled in three month blocks. This is the result of the Leaders' Council creating four hospitality teams, each of which would serve one quarter. Each team is responsible for making sure that we have greeters and coffee hour personnel assigned for each Sunday for a period of three months. It is up to each team to decide how this is accomplished. Members of the team could rotate themselves to cover these services or they could enlist other members of the congregation to fill these responsibilities.

The rationale behind this process is twofold. It eliminates the burden of a social committee constantly trying see that someone has signed up for coffee hour host and a membership committee trying to make sure there is a greeter each Sunday. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is provides more involvement opportunities with minimal time commitment for our friends and members.

We are in the middle of our second quarter with this system. It has worked remarkably well. So far, since November, we have not been without a greeter or coffee hour host on any Sunday morning. Being on a hospitality team may sound like more of a commitment than it really is. It consists of one meeting on a Sunday after the service and serving one, two or zero times as a greeter or coffee hour host. Normally there are 12 Sundays in a quarter. If there are 12 folks on the team, each team member is responsible for one Sunday as greeter and one Sunday as a coffee hour host. Some team members may not enjoy greeting but enjoy hosting coffee hour and vice versa. In that case, team members can trade off responsibilities or someone, not on the team, who enjoys one or the other of these tasks might be asked to take a Sunday.

The first two teams were filled by asking individuals. Very few, of which declined the invitation. We have two quarters left to complete a year. Consider this your personal invitation to be included on one of these teams. It would be wonderful if we could do this without having to asked those who have already served to do it again. Although, I know that many would be willing to repeat. Anyone willing to help out with this project, please contact John Rodeheffer ([email protected]).
SOCIAL JUSTICE NEWS

ANNUAL SCHOOL SUPPLY DRIVE:   It's back to school!  In Delaware, the first day of school is August 17th.  NUUC members and friends have an opportunity to help others by participating in the annual School Supply Drive to benefit students who are served by the Delaware County Juvenile Probation Program.  The donation of school supplies is one way for the congregation to express its belief in the importance of education to a group of students who are at higher than average risk for failing and dropping out of school. This program serves approximately 150 middle school and high school students, ranging in age from 13 to 19.   A collection box for school supplies will be available at the church throughSunday, August 14th.  The needed items are things like book bags appropriate for middle school and high school boys, paper, pens, pencils and folders. Your donation of school supplies, or money to purchase supplies, will be greatly appreciated.  If you choose to donate money, please write your check to NUUC and put "School Supplies" on the memo line.This can be dropped in the offering basket or mailed to: NUUC, P.O. Box 541, Lewis Center, OH 43035.  If you have any questions, please contact Diane Mattox at 614-204-4184 or [email protected] Thank you for your continued support!
 
LOOSE CHANGE:  Our Loose Change Offering in July and August will go to the Delaware County Juvenile Probation Program School Supply Drive.

UUSC FAIR TRADE COFFEE:  Your purchase of Fair Trade products means that workers along the supply chain are provided a living wage.  The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) supports a number of worker-owned, local producers who are in danger of being replaced with multinational corporations that have little respect for workers' rights.  Making consumer choices that are aligned with our UU Principles is one way to help create a more just world communityNO FAIR TRADE SALES after church in July.  If you would like to purchase coffee, tea, or chocolate this month contact Becca Morse at 614-805-6680 or [email protected].


2016 NUUC Service Auction
Great Fun & a Great Success!

Great fun was had by all at our recent Service Auction held on Sat. afternoon Apr. 9th. The theme was Spring Faire and had a Renaissance flair. Fellowship Hall and the Sanctuary were both decorated to reflect the Renaissance period with festive colors, pictures of knights, shields, and murals lining the walls, plus colorful pennants topping off the decorations.

Beyond the decorations, there were many activities going on simultaneously. There were the Silent Auction and the Theme Basket Auction for adults. Meanwhile the children were eagerly vying for educational games, toys, and certificates for fun events in the Kids' Raffle Auction. In addition, there was a wonderful selection of Renaissance foods provided by Susan Ritchie and her food crew.

The Spring Faire theme burst forth in Fellowship Hall where large, colorful Renaissance booths provided fun activities for all. There was the much-in- demand Photo Booth where you could dress up in a Renaissance costume and then have your picture taken by pros Neil Kirby and Imri Kempker. A crowd-pleasing booth was the Magic Booth where Tony Marconi presented several captivating magic shows with the assistance of Martha Filipic. A popular booth was the Duck Pond Booth, where Marty Keith managed a herd of floating rubber duckies and gave out various prizes based on the duck you selected. Another popular booth was the Make-a-Crown & Wand Booth run by Dee, Jason, and Alex Burlison. The 5th booth was the well-attended Juggling Booth at which Nathan Morse demonstrated juggling and provided expert juggling tips.

The afternoon got more exciting when the first of 2 live auction sessions began with Nathan Morse as our quite entertaining auctioneer. Not to be left out during the live auctions, children could do face painting and Renaissance games. At the the intermission, people again enjoyed the Renaissance booths, more excellent food, and finished up the silent auctions. The 2nd live auction session then continued the excitement and was quite fun due to Nathan Morse's lively sense of humor. Throughout the afternoon, the changing of activities was marked by the trumpet fanfare of Susan Ritchie and our town criers J.B. Lawton and Bob Keith. During the afternoon, three $25 gift cards for nice restaurants were given as door prizes and at the end, we saw the children's happy reactions to winning items as the tickets were drawn for the Kids' Raffle Auction. This service auction was a truly memorable evening, and we look forward to next year's service auction.

The service auction is NUUC's biggest fund-raiser and this year's auction was a great success with impressive results. We grossed $7,886 in sales, which is a new record! We thank all the donors for their many auction items and all the bidders who bought them. This amazing community event could not have happened without each and every one of you. There were only about $479 in expenses thanks to many special donations by the service auction team members and Renaissance booths hosts, plus people's creativeness in finding low-cost ways to do the event's decorations. The service auction will further help build 
community throughout the year as people get together to fulfill the service donations.

Email receipts were sent to bidders and donors. If you didn't receive an email, but know you should have gotten one, please contact Becca Morse and she will make sure you get a receipt.

We give a big thank you to both the setup and decorations teams, who did a great job in 
transforming the church into the Spring Faire. The food team led by Susan Ritchie gets a great big thank you for providing a wide selection of tasty, Renaissance foods throughout the afternoon. A special thank you goes to our Renaissance booth hosts identified earlier in this article. Additionally, we give a hearty thank you to John Rodeheffer and Bob Keith for constructing the 5 Renaissance booths. And let's not forget a large thank you for our super auctioneer, Nathan Morse. We also give a big thank you to the cleanup team for their 
tremendous work right after the event that returned the church to its normal appearance in time for the Sunday service the following morning. Another, special large thank you goes to Becca Morse for putting together the event's catalog, handling the data inputs on auction day,
and following up with participants on their donations and purchases. Lastly, we thank the remaining people not specifically identified here, for their help in putting together this big event.

Everyone definitely can look forward to the next service auction, which will be held in the early 
spring of 2017. We're sure it will be even more exciting and surprising than this service auction.

To help people easily locate this year's service auction catalog and the catalogs of past service auctions, we will keep service auction catalogs and other information on the NUUC website at www.NUUC.org/service-auction for your reference.

Thank you!

The Service Auction Magic Makers (SAMMs) (Bob Keith - chair, Becca Morse, Marty Keith, Katrina Timson, and Dee Burlison)