Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society
2010 Whenona Drive Madison WI 53711
(608) 271-8218
e-mail: prairieu@execpc.com
PRAIRIE FIRE November 18, 1998
... As the prairie stretches out until it becomes one with the sky, let us reach out to touch and be one with the natural world and with one another. From Prairie's Bond Of Union
The Prairie Fire is the newsletter of Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society and is published semi-monthly.
President Nancy Schraufnagel (608) 273-3195
Editor : Kate Heiber-Cobb 250-6512 prairieu@execpc.com
PRAIRIE CALENDAR
Saturday, November 21
5-7pm; A Healthy Vegetarian Dinner, to benefit the Central American Flood Victims. Wilmar Center.
Sunday, November 22
10am; "Religion and Art: a Buddhist Perspective". Guest speaker the Venerable Ngawang Chojor, a Tibetan Buddhist monk.
Guest at Your Table program celebration.
5pm-?; Celebration of the first Ten plus Schuler Years at First U. U. Society. 5pm a Vegetarian Dinner ($7 Adults, Children 12 & under $2). 6:30pm a program (free) will be presented to continue the celebration. For further info call Marilyn Wilson at 231-2277 or Krista Roys at 244-7342.
Wednesday, November 25
7:30pm; First Unitarian Society Thanksgiving Eve Worship Service. Sermon by Max Gaebler. Music. Liturgy and refreshments done jointly by First Unitarian, Prairie, James Reeb and Free Congregation of Sauk City. A "food pantry" item is requested and cookies to share.
Sunday, November 29
10am; Thanksgiving Intergenerational Service led by Randy Converse.
Tuesday, December 1
World AIDS Day.
Saturday, December 5
7pm; Panel Lecture and Discussion about the humanitarian crisis in Iraq . See the article under "Our Society" for all the guest speakers involved. State Historical Society, 816 State Street.
Sunday, December 6
10am; "Death and Dying", presented by Gary Giorgi and Cindy Haq.
Social Action Committees’ Holiday Bake Sale
Monday, December 7
7:30pm; Prairie Board Meeting at Prairie.
Wednesday, December 9
7pm; Social Action Committee Meeting at Prairie.
Sunday, December 13
10am; "Prairie as a Welcoming Congregation", led by Mary Mullen, Deb Phelps, Pat Watkins and Nancy Schraufnagel.
Thursday, December 17
6:30pm; Spanish Speakers’ Potluck, at Bill Schaffer’s home at 3718 Gregory St., 233-8266.
6-8:30pm; Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh Holiday Wish List Celebration at Good Shepherd.
Sunday December 20
10am; "Intergenerational Winter Solstice Service".
Sunday, January 17
Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh service: Getting to Know You.
Saturday, February 13
Prairie "Habitat for Humanity Workday", at Harmony Park
Don’t forget to take a hand-out in the lobby on where and how you can help the people in Central America so devastated by Hurricane Mitch and the resultant flooding.
OUR SOCIETY
R.E. Corner
Pre-school: Thanks to the PYG’S (Prairie Youth Group) the pre-schoolers have a newly painted room! Much fun has been had doing dramatic play and picnicing.
K-1-2: Jewish and Christian celebrations are the foundations for the K-1-2 work this year. So far they have learned about 1) Simhat Torah through making individual Torahs and flags, 2) Sukkot by having a snack in a Sukkot, 3) All Saints’ Day (a day to honor heroes and heroines) by doing "all about me" posters (we can all be heroes or heroines) and talking about such UU figures as Samuel May, Elizabeth Blackwell, Whitney Young and Amos Seaman.
3-4-5: The 3-4-5 "crew" have rocketed themselves back in time each week using a Time Machine they have created themselves. They have visited the beginnings of several world religions: Assyria/Babylonia, Confucianism, Taoism and Hinduism. For the religion of Assyria/Babylonia they read a short version of the epic of Gilgamesh and a story about the Babylonian flood. To make Taoism come alive each student played the part of Lao-Tze, the founder of Taoism and imparted a basic tenet of Taoism for all to contemplate. Confucianism began in China so the class celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival by creating all sorts of moon cakes from cookie dough. They were baked and devoured.
6-7-8: The 6-7-8 grade class is doing "Church Across the Street" this year. They have visited one church already (the High Point Church) and have done many fun activities to learn about the basics of Christianity and Judaism: discussions, quiz shows, seed planting, blessing grape juice, singing Jewish songs, and viewing postcards from the Holocaust Museum.
High School: The High-Schoolers (about 10 in number!) have engaged in very lively discussions about paths to "God", belief systems, and how belief systems develop. The first religion they looked at in terms of God and belief systems was Hinduism.
Many thanks to the wonderful group of children and adults who together had a great time at the recent Fall Frolic, the first of the Religious Education program’s seasonal parties. This Frolic had light as it’s theme and included a candle procession, shadow pictures, glitter art and flash light tag. Thanks to the adults who spent the night" Rachel Long, Martin Arnold, Randy Converse and Kay Frazier. Also, thanks to Dean Schroeder for cooking breakfast in the morning.
Other thanks go to members of PYGs for repainting the pre-school room! The walls were in sorry need of a fresh coat of paint and now look much better. The wonderfully responsible parties are: Heidi Bosch, Tara Converse, Jean Fahrenbach, Alison Owens, Eleanor Owens, Rick Owens, Ian Park, Anne Pryor, Katrina Schroeder and Erin Pryor Ackerman, Alana Pryor Ackerman and Erica Skog who helped us get started. Also, Amy Wilcox and crew came during the week to put all the furniture back in the room. Thank you to them!
One other set of great volunteers were Bob Park and Ian Park who joined Robin Carre, Anne Pryor and Beth Potter is some very needed cleaning of the RE space before classes began again. Thank you very much to them also.
Start thinking about Nifty Gifty!
Please start thinking about Nifty Gifty. If you’d like to share coordinating of ideas for projects or help us supervise the projects on December 13th please let Randy Converse know!
Guest at Your Table
On Sunday, November 22 we will celebrate the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s Guest at Your Table program. This year’s Guest program commemorates the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948. The work of the Service Committee is guided by the declaration and it’s principles to promote a just equitable society. You may read the declaration in it’s entirety on the Social Action Committee bulletin board.
The UUSC has been working to bring about change in Mexico, the United States, Haiti, Burma, Guatamala and other nations. When you or your family takes a box home next week, remember that you will be contributing to a program that does much needed work without much publicity. The Guest at Your Table program is one way in which you can truly participate in changing the world.
Social Action Update
Hurricane Mitch Relief: Many of us will be writing checks and donating supplies to help the residents of the areas devastated by Hurricane Mitch. Full information about where to send checks and suggestions as to what to donate is posted on the Social Action bulletin board. If you wish to send a check to the Red Cross, their address is: American Red Cross International Relief Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013.
Allied Drive-Dunn’s Marsh Volunteer Opportunities: Homework Club (tutors needed for middle and high school students);ESL class help, am and pm; secretarial support; Holiday Wish List- helping with Dec. 17 celebration; After School Program; School Readiness Project (adult mentors wanted); Girl Power (volunteers needed to lead a course for middle school girls). Call the commun-ity center at 274-7006 or contact Paula Pachciarz at 273-4806. We will have a chance to get to know better some of the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh programs and needs at the January 17 service.
Holiday Wish List: Next Sunday we will have names of kids living in the Allied-Dunn’s Marsh area who are requesting holiday gifts that their families can probably not afford. If you would like to participate in the Wish List program, be ready to pick a name. The children will receive their gifts at a celebration on Thursday, December 17.
A Note From the Treasurer
Thanks again to all who are helping me in doing my job as treasurer. Please send checks to me: Daisy Peterson, 5502 Kroncke Dr., Madison, WI 53711. My number is 273-1821. You can also drop off your checks at Prairie. It helps if you write on the memo line what the check is for, including the pledge year. I also want to take the opportunity to thank the people who contributed to the Wetherby Fund. Please contact me if you would like a receipt for your Wetherby contributions.
Play Guitar?
We’re thinking of having a guitar "orchestra" to accompany congregational singing for our Welcoming Congregation service December 13th. Let Mary Mullen know at 238-7904 if you will join us. Hopefully, we will schedule one practice. Even if you can’t practice, feel free to bring your guitar on the 13th.
Humanitarian Crisis in Iraq
On Saturday, December 5, at 7pm at the State Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State Street, there will be a panel lecture and discussion about the humanitarian crisis in Iraq by Denis Halliday (recently resigned U.N. oil-for-food coordinator in Iraq); Rania Masri (Coordinator of Iraq Action Coalition, UN Representative of the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association, National Board Member of Peace Action), Erik Gustafson (Education for Peace in Iraq Center, Washington, D.C.) and Sam Day (Nuke Watch and various peace and social justice organizations). Sam Day will be the moderator. For more information, call Rae or Lea at the phone numbers below. Sponsored by the USON coalition.
Nudge to Generosity
Your Prairie Society’s blood donor recruitor cut this (much longer) letter from Ann Lander’s column:
Dear Ann: I am writing this as I start my 10th and final day of chemotherapy as I battle leukemia. During the next several weeks of hospitalization, I will be playing a waiting game, hoping I don’t get any infections due to a weakened immune system.
My reason for writing is to thank the real heroes who are making my recovery possible. These are the men and women who take time out of their busy lives to donate blood and the Red Cross volunteers who man the blood drives and make them work.
It is the goodness in these peoples’ hearts that has helped keep me alive these last 14 days. I have already received four whole-blood and nine platelet transfusions and will most likely need more in the next several weeks. I have been informed that it takes six to ten individual blood donations to make up just one unit of platelets.
To anyone who has ever donated blood, I want to say thank you. It may be my life you are helping to save. To those who may be thinking about donating blood, please go for it. You are truly doing some-thing generous and heroic beyond measure.
R.D., Coventry, Conn.
Inclusive Language Solstice Carol Songbook
"Songs for Winter Solstice: Renewing Old Traditions", by James Gibson and Robert Barzan is available now. The authors have reclaimed the ancient spirit of the winter holidays in this delightful collection of songs celebrating the rebirth of the sun, the longest night, and the spirit of love and goodness among all people.
Using familiar/traditional holiday melodies, they have written new wording that is inclusive and comfortable for everyone to sing.
Songs for Winter Solstice is illustrated with antique wood cuts depicting medieval revelers in their caroling costumes. Also, there is an informative introduction discussing the history of caroling. The print is large for easy reading in low light, making it an excellent book for use while caroling the streets. It is inexpensively prices so a set can be purchased for group singing.
To order your copies, send check or money order for $3.95 ea. plus 50 cents postage to: White Crane Press, PO Box 170152, San Francisco, CA 94117.
Sympathies to Pat Watkins
As I was putting together the Prairie Fire I received the news of Pat Watkin’s mother’s death. Our sympathies go out to Pat. The memorial service will be taking place at Prairie sometime the weekend of the 28th/29th. I’m sure the particulars will be announced at the service Sunday.
Where are the Round Tablecloths?
It was a delicious potluck - but where are the round tablecloths? Please return.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Volunteer Schedules
Hospitality Helpers:
Nov. 22: Greeting Visitors: Lisa Glueck
Coffee Set-up: Paula Pachciarz
Coffee Clean-up: Al Nettleton/Rick Ruecking
Nov. 29: Greeting Visitors: Marilyn Ruecking
Coffee Set-up: Need Volunteer
Coffee Clean-up: Need Volunteers
Dec. 6: Greeting Visitors: Aileen Nettleton
Coffee Set-up: Kay Frazier
Coffee Clean-up: Amy Voorhis/Blake Ferris
Program Tapiing:
Nov. 22: Linda Sheehy
Nov. 29: ????? Need Volunteer??
Dec. 6: Karen Gross
Once Again Folks…..Snow Removal:
Nov. 22-Nov. 29: Need Volunteer
Nov. 30- Dec. 5: Need Volunteer
Dec. 6-Dec. 12: Al Nettleton
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Sunday, November 22
"Religion and Art: a Buddhist Perspective", presented by Anne Pryor. In this four part lay ministry about the interplay between religious traditions and aesthetics, a series of guest artists will lead the service at Prairie. The first of the series,, the Venerable Ngawang Chojor, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, will speak about Tibetan Buddhist art forms such as sand mandalas and chanting, and demonstrate some of the techniques involved.
Sunday, November 29
"Thanksgiving Intergenerational Service", led by Randy Converse.
Sunday, December 6
"Death and Dyiing", presented by Cindy Haq and Gary Giorgi. This is the third session in their series dealing with concepts of health. It will deal with nurturing and healing the end of life.
Sunday, December 13
"Prairie as a Welcoming Congregation", led by Mary Mullen, Deb Phelps, Pat Watkins and Nancy Schraufnagel.
Sunday, December 20
"Winter Solstice Intergenerational Service"
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." Mother Teresa
From the Administrator's Desk
PRAIRIE FIRE DEADLINE IS December 6th
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Prairie Fire 11/18/98
PRAIRIE CALENDAR
OUR SOCIETY
Volunteer Schedules