Prairie UU Society, 2010 Whenona Drive, Madison WI 53711–4843 (608) 271-8218 admin@uuprairie.com Located off the south frontage road (West Beltline Hwy Rd.) near the Seminole Hwy exit. PRAIRIE FIRE "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." January 25, 2008 Prairie Fire is the semi-monthly newsletter of Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society. View past issues at www.uuprairie.org. President: Rachel Long, ra_a_l@tds.net; 608-328-4899 Editor: Dan Proud, admin@uuprairie.org; 661–0776 PRAIRIE CALENDAR Saturday, January 26 *7:00 p.m., Playreaders meet at the Hagstroms' Saturday-Sunday, January 26-27 *Wild Wintering RE event Sunday, January 27 9:00 a.m. Choir rehearsal *10:00 a.m. "The Transient and the Permanent Through Generational Eyes" led by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski 11:45 a.m. Meditation Group Sunday, January 27–Sunday, February 3 Interfaith Hospitality Network volunteer week Thursday, January 31 *7:00 p.m. Prairie Movie Group views The Remains of the Day Sunday, February 3 9:00 a.m. Choir rehearsal *10:00 a.m. “Another Option for Preserving Land: Conservation Cemeteries Trust for Natural Legacies” presented by Allison Eyring-Green *12:00 p.m. Humanist Union potluck and talk by John Eligenti Saturday, February 9 *9:00 a.m. Wild Outstanding Women (WOW) meets at home of Susan Herr-Hoyman, 503 S. Prospect Sunday, February 10 9:00 a.m. Choir rehearsal *10:00 a.m. "Cultural Diversity in a Spiritual Community" presented by Gladis Benavides Anot *11:45 a.m. Prairie Book Club discusses Murder in Amsterdam Monday, February 11 *6:30 p.m. Spanish Speakers meets at the home of Dave and Marcia Johnson, 305 S. Segoe Rd Tuesday, February 12 *7:00 p.m. Building Your Own Theology class Saturday, February 23 *9:00 a.m. Congregational Planning Session Sunday, February 24 11:30 a.m. Potluck and Annual Prairie Auction, Orange Schroeder, auctioneer. Saturday, March 15 Fundraising Trip to Chicago Art Institute for Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper exhibits (* = Details follow in this issue.) NEXT INPUT DEADLINE SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 DETAILS OF COMING PROGRAMS Sunday, January 27 Rev. Ralph will be exploring how our generational identity shapes our values, our perceptions of events, and affects the way we choose to define the meanings that connect us to the deepest levels of our experience as we journey through life. Today's generation of iPod users and Internet travelers, Wikipedia wonks, experience their world in vastly different ways from those who spent their teens in the 30's, 40's and 50's (GI generations); or those who are labeled Gen Xer's and spent their teens in the 60's 70's and 80's (the "consumer" generations). Some of the values that will be discussed may be those that will be affecting our conversations that we, as Prairie members, will be having in all-parish meetings on long range planning, the first now scheduled for Saturday, February 16. Sunday, February 3 Another Option for Preserving Land: Conservation Cemeteries Trust for Natural Legacies presented by Allison Eyring-Green. Come to learn about Trust for Natural Legacies, Inc. (TNL) and the work they have been doing in and around Madison. TNL is a non-profit land trust that preserves and restores natural areas by owning, operating and promoting nature preserves throughout the Midwest. TNL is committed to offering ecologically-sensitive programs on our nature preserves that provide public opportunities for recreation, education, scientific research and limited natural burial. TNL has been working to educate the public about natural burial, what that entails, and its potential as a mechanism to preserve land. Allison Eyring-Green is the secretary of the Trust for Natural Legacies and is on the board because of her interest in land conservation. Her background is landscape architecture and her niche is native landscaping. Sunday, February 10 "Cultural Diversity in a Spiritual Community" will be presented by Gladis Benavides, founder and President of Benavides Enterpises, Inc. Her office is located in Madison, Wisconsin. Gladis has over thirty years of experience assisting individuals and groups to enhance their relationships and communication and successfully bridge their cultural differences and meet individual and collective challenges. She is a student and an expert in organizational culture and people’s interrelationships and the process that leads them to create successful and achievable results. She has been identified as somebody that possesses the Rosetta stone for unraveling and interpreting individuals’ perspectives, beliefs and positions and guiding them to reach consensus and closure in a respectful and ethical manner. She has established a solid reputation among professionals in fields such as law, education, labor, community-building and others. People are confident in seeking her expertise based on her ethics, professionalism, and knowledge. She has been widely recognized and has received multiple awards at regional, state, and local level, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Award and Hispanic Woman of the Year. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION WILD WINTERING—YEAH! This weekend is our annual Wild Wintering event. With all the cold weather we've been having Karen Deaton and I thought it would be fun for our students to warm up by bowling at Badger Bowl. We will leave Prairie at 5:45 to drive to the bowling alley for two games of bowling and dinner. At 8:00 we will leave Badger Bowl and head back to Prairie for free time. Games, music and movies will be there to entertain our students. Without volunteers we would not be able to have these events at Prairie. I would like to thank the following people for spending their valuable time with us: Erin Bosch, Karen Deaton, John Eligenti, Kris Long, Ian Park and Patty Stockdale. Last Sunday our high school students, along with Rick Ruecking, visited the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin, in Pewaukee. They were given a tour of the temple along with a presentation on Hinduism. Luckily for them, another church group cancelled so our students were able to get a tour and presentation at the adjacent Jain temple! After their tour they returned to the Hindu temple for a nice Indian lunch. The high school class will finish up Hinduism in a couple of weeks and start Judaism, which will be taught by Orange Schroeder. Grades 1-3 have been busy studying Judaism and Christianity. Marcia Johnson recently joined Robin Proud to teach on Sundays. Thanks to Robin for teaching the class by herself the past 4 months. Her dedication to our RE program is greatly appreciated by all of us. Our RE chair, Karen Deaton, has been teaching grades 4-6 by herself for the past 5 months. We are in desperate need for a co-teacher. Please let us know if you can help Karen out. We need teachers in order for our program to continue! Our students learn a lot from adults and I guarantee that if you spend time with them in the classroom, you'll learn a lot from them, too. Rebecca Malke (YREC) youthcoordinator(at)uuprairie.org JANUARY-FEBRUARY RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS 25—Conversion of Saint Paul (Christian) 2—Candlemas, Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Christian) 2—Imbolc (Wicca, Northern Hemisphere) 2—Lughnassad (Wicca, Southern Hemisphere) 3—Four Chaplains Sunday (Interfaith) 3—Transfiguration Sunday (Christian) 5—Shrove Tuesday (Christian) 6—Ash Wednesday and Lent begins (Christian) 7—Chinese New Year (Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist) BABYSITTER SEEKS WORK Maya Urbanski, a Prairie 6th grader, recently earned a Red Cross babysitting certificate. She would like to sit for children ages 1-7. She is available Friday and Saturday evenings and during the day on Saturday and Sunday in Madison or nearby suburbs. Contact Maya at 608-221-4053. OUR SOCIETY GUEST AT YOUR TABLE IS HERE On Sunday, January 20 we started our annual Guest at Your Table tradition. This UU tradition celebrates the worth and dignity of all people and helps put our values into action. Become part of the tradition. Place a Guest at Your Table box on your family's table. Share your family’s blessings with your guest each day. Colorful boxes are available in the front lobby that represent Stories of Hope help put a human face on the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s work to advance human rights and social justice in the U.S. around the world. In addition there will be donation envelopes if you prefer to use them rather than the boxes. If you have children in RE, they may have already brought home a box. Please return boxes or donations by April 27. And your Guest gift can do even more good in the world! All individual and family unrestricted contributions of $100 are eligible to be matched dollar for dollar by the UU Congregation at Shelter Rock, Manhasset, N.Y. Additional information sheets will be available with the boxes for you to take home. If you don't get a copy additional copies are available. Contact Kathy Converse at conversekrtm(at)msn.com. PRAIRIE PLAYREADERS JANUARY 26 Everyone is invited to come to Prairie Playreaders on Saturday, January 26 at 7:00 p.m. We will be reading The Belles Strategem by Hannah Cowley, a play that American Players Theater will be performing this summer. A brief description in the Capital Times calls it "an enchanting comedy of manners" with the plot: "Letitia Hardy schemes to win the heart of her betrothed, Doricourt, while he conspires to have the engagement annulled. Meanwhile, jealousy threatens another couple as Lady Touchwood is introduced to London society much to her husband's dismay. A witty look at marriage and the roles men and woman play." Playreaders meets at the Hagstrom residence, 916 Shorewood Blvd, Madison, WI 53705. Any questions call Susan Hagstrom, SusanTanyaAmI(at)aol.com, 238-4970, or Rosemary Dorney (co-host), at 238-4382. Hope you can make it! Susan Hagstrom MOVIE GROUP WILL MEET JANUARY 31 The Movie Group will meet at Prairie, 7:00 p.m., Thursday, January 31, to view The Remains of the Day. This 1993 Merchant-Ivory production, based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, was nominated for eight Oscars. Anthony Hopkins, James Fox, Christopher Reeve, and Emma Thompson take us through nooks and crannies in an upstairs/downstairs view of a lordly country house in the final days of the British Empire. The film starts at 7:00. Bring snacks to share. HUMANIST UNION TO HEAR ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA When John Eligenti [Eligandi], husband of Prairie's Youth Religious Education Coordinator Rebecca, read the November article about Dalits, Humanism and Human Sacrifice in the International Humanist News (on the Web at http://www.iheu.org/node/2852), he had more than a passing interest. He personally knew some of the people mentioned in the article from his own work in India. The Humanist Union will hear about some of that work on Sunday, February 3, when he joins us for our noon potluck and talks to us, about 12:20 p.m., on The Dalits' Struggle for Human Rights. All are welcome to join us. WOW MEETS FEBRUARY 9 To all the wild outstanding women and friends of Prairie: Please note that our next meeting is at the home of Susan Herr-Hoyman on Saturday, February 9. Her address is 503 S. Prospect, Madison. We will continue with our discussions of what brings passion into our lives. Mary Mullen is our featured speaker. This is a breakfast potluck, so bring something to share. Any questions call Mary Somers 276-8397 or Susan Herr-Hoyman at 250-0559. BOOK CLUB WINTER SCHEDULE The Prairie Book Club meets after the Sunday service on the specified dates, usually starting about 11:45 a.m. Participants bring food to share. We meet in the “couch room” downstairs. Anyone is welcome, whether you have completed the book or not. For more information, contact Mary Mullen, 298-0843, or mmullen(at)chorus.net. Upcoming Prairie Book Club selections: February 10 —Murder in Amsterdam by Ian Buruma is about the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh and also delves into how Islam treats women (suggested by Donna Murdoch who, I believe, has read the book. Read some background on Van Gogh and a review of the book at http://www.salon.com/books/ review/2006/09/27/buruma/index_np.html. March 9 —Arthur Miller's autobiography, Timebends, will be discussed. ¿HABLA ESPANIOL? Spanish Speakers will meet for potluck and conversation on Monday, February 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the home of Dave and Marcia Johnson, 305 S. Segoe Rd. Everyone is welcome. Their phone number is 441-0271. For general questions or rides, call Rosemary Dorney, 238-4382. ADULT CONTINUING EDUCATION BEGINS IN FEBRUARY Mark your calendars! Prairie is joining with FUS to offer “Building Your Own Theology.” This Discussion Course will be held at Prairie, beginning on Tuesday, February 12, 7:00-9:00 p.m. and continuing on succeeding Tuesdays for eight sessions. The course concludes on April 1. The course will have as co-leaders Nick Schweitzer from FUS and Ralph Tyksinski from Prairie. Nick has been teaching this course at FUS for several years and Ralph has used some of the course materials in programs he has conducted in other settings. “Building Your Own Theology” is not an academic exercise; it has to do with the very stuff of our lives. This course invites you to develop your personal credo: your fundamental religious beliefs, values, and convictions that inform and direct the living of your life. As UUs, we directly or indirectly say to our younger learners: “You are only at the beginning of your journey; religious and spiritual growth is a life-long process.” This course is designed to foster that very search. You will be guided in coming to terms with questions about human nature, ultimate reality, history, ethics, and religious meaning. To register, call Ralph at 608-873-6041, or email him at revralph341(at) yahoo.com. SAVE THE DATE Save the date of Sunday, February 24 for the annual Prairie auction. See Page 8. CALL FOR LAY MINISTER AND LAY MINISTRY TOPICS One of the remarkable things about Prairie is that we lay people can take the podium – or pulpit, if you please – for a series of services, not just once a year as was true in my home United Methodist Church on Lay Sunday. Which is a lead in to a call for Prairie people who may want to do a lay ministry of 3 to 6 services or may have suggestions for a lay ministry series. Of course, the Program Committee always welcomes ideas and volunteers for single or pairs of services as well. Please express your ideas to the chair of the Program Committee, Susan Herr-Hoyman, herrs(at)danenet.org, or any other Program Committee member: Mary Mullen, Dorothy Krause, Ann Lundin, Rose Smith, or Galen Smith. Or if your ideas are already quite fully formed, put them in writing. The Program Committee selects the lay ministers. Recent lay ministries have been on the topics of Evolution (Kathy Converse), World Religions: Meet Your Neighbor (Rachel Long), Ways of Seeing (Rick Ruecking), Propaganda (Andy Somers), and This I Believe (Anne Lundin). Each potential lay minister will be asked to provide a one-page written description of their proposed lay ministry to the Program Committee including the lay ministry title, a general description of the topic to be covered, and the titles and a paragraph description of each service they would propose. Outside speakers can be invited to do one or more services in a lay ministry, and any proposed outside speakers should be noted for particular services. Prairie pays each outside speaker $75. Prairie members and friends do services for free (as volunteers) as part of their own ministry to Prairie. The Program Committee works with the lay minister to refine topics as necessary and to develop each service with music and readings. The Committee also sets up the room on the Sunday of the service. Let the sky be your limit on your suggestions! PRAIRIE FUND RAISER: TRIP TO CHICAGO ART INSTITUTE ON MARCH 15 The Chicago Art Institute exhibition is the destination for our Saturday, March 15 trip: Edward Hopper and Winslow Homer's Watercolors: The Color of Light Exhibit. Cost of $64 is due by February 18, with checks made out to Prairie Society and mailed to Pat Watkins, 230 N. Meadow Lane, Madison 53705-3331. Confirmation with additional details will be mailed by February 25. See Prairie bulletin board. Edward Hopper (1882–967), is one of the most enduring and popular American painters of the 20th century. His paintings have been celebrated as a part of the very grain and texture of the American experience. This exhibition is the first comprehensive presentation of Hopper's work to be seen in American museums outside of New York in a quarter century. Surveying the artist's 70-year career, this exhibit will feature Hopper's watercolors and oil paintings, and concentrate on his most productive years from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s when he created his most enduring images such as the Art Institute's iconic Nighthawks (1942). Edward Hopper and its companion exhibition, Watercolors by Winslow Homer: The Color of Light, will provide a survey of the American realist tradition and chart the growth of modern subject matter from Homer, America's first modernist, to Hopper, the nation's best known 20th-century realist. CONGREGATIONAL PLANNING SESSIONS There is one change to the calendar since it went to the newsletter: the date for the first congregational planning session has been changed. Otherwise the calendar should be accurate. Congregational Planning Sessions: Session I—Saturday, February 23, 9 a.m.– 3 p.m. Session II—Saturday, April 5, 9 a.m.–noon Session III—Saturday, May 31, 9 a.m.–noon We hope to see all of you there. Watch for background information we'll use to prepare for the session, and more about the session itself in future Prairie Fires and emails. Thanks! Rachel Long PRAIRIE UU 2008-2009 BUDGET As you are aware, Prairie is undertaking a major strategic planning process that will help us set our priorities for the next five years. Meanwhile, we have to wrestle with this budget year. Many of us have been troubled about continuing to be in debt to our members (for notes used to purchase the Fitchburg land) without setting money aside to pay this debt back, and periodically dealing with requests for repayment which are outside of our regular budget. The Board has decided that there are two ways we can proceed and be fiscally responsible. The first option is to get a mortgage on the land in order to pay back our members and have predictable payments we can budget for. The second option is to sell the Fitchburg land, and use the proceeds to pay back our members and our mortgage on the Whenona property, which was taken out to help pay for that land. The Board felt the way to choose between these two scenarios was to present them both to you, and let you tell us what you are willing and able to pay for. Less money is needed from you if we opt to sell the land, so we are asking for you to give two different pledges based on which option Prairie chooses. If we do not raise sufficient funds through the pledging process to keep the land, we expect to be asking for a vote at the Spring Parish Meeting May 4 to sell the land and pay back our debt. If we do raise sufficient funds, we expect to be asking instead for a vote on getting a mortgage with which to pay that debt. The Board will be determining how we will proceed once the pledges are in. Otherwise the two budgets are the same. They both include an increase in our minister position from one-quarter to one-half time. They also include increased funds to cover a new janitor position rather than outside contracted services. The option in which we sell the land gives us an annual operating budget of about $107,000, and will require a 25% increase to the average pledge over last year. The option in which we obtain a mortgage on the land gives us an annual operating budget of about $130,000, and will require a 56% increase to the average pledge over last year. The budgeted amounts may shift to cover priorities that emerge through our strategic planning process, but we believe these budgets fairly represent where we are at this point in our planning. Please look at your pledge packet or talk to Mary Somers, Finance Chair, or Kate Liu, Treasurer for further details. Thanks for your careful consideration. Mary Somers, Finance Chair MEMBERSHIP GETTING TO KNOW OUR MEMBERS: CHRISTINA KLOCK My name is Christina Klock and have gone by "Christina" all my adult life. My grandmother called me Chrissy but that didn't stick, thank goodness! I'm 42 years old and have lived in Madison since 1991 and can't see myself anywhere else - I really love it here! I grew up in Northern Illinios in the country. My parents had a small hobby farm plus 'real' jobs so I had an idyllic childhood complete with a small woods, a stream, and my own horse. I have two sisters and a brother. My older sister, Pam, is a chemist with Abbott Labs in Chicago, my younger sister, Kathleen, is a grant writer for a non-profit and lives in Brooklyn and my younger brother, Dan, is currently back living with my parents in Illinois. I graduated from University of Illinios in Urbana-Champaign in 1989 with a degree in Molecular Biology. During my college years I married and had two children, but unfortunately my marriage did not survive the stress of school, working, and raising a family all at the same time. My children lived with me growing up and I think they are super-wonderful people! They both attended Madison schools until we moved to Fitchburg in 1997, then attended Verona schools through High School. My son is currently 21 and is a Jr.at UW-Whitewater majoring in Information Systems. My daughter is 19 (20 in March!) and lives at home while pursing Art studies at MATC - she is especially interested in photography. I have always loved to learn new things. I relax by playing the piano and am excited to have just acquired my first harp and have started lessons. My harp teacher said that most of her students are women who finally have a bit of free time after having raised children. That was her nice way of saying I'm old. I also enjoy astronomy and like to gaze at the stars. There is nothing like learning about the scope and breadth of the universe to put my problems in their proper perspective. Reading books about astronomy is cheaper than seeing a therapist, so I think that works out for me. I love to read, sew, take pictures of my family, and play with my two dogs. I started my career as a research scientist working for the Human Genome Project. I enjoyed research work but had a need to provide for two small children, so left research for corporate America. I worked for Promega in Madison for 9 years where I transitioned into computing systems. I have worked as a manager at Lands' End for the past 8 years and am responsible for the computer application running landsend.com and the Call Centers in Dodgeville, Reedsburg, and Stevens Point. Yes, I drive out to Dodgeville every day! I do carpool whenever possible and would love to work back in Madison at some point. I was raised United Methodist but would best describe my beliefs (with a couple reservations) to be aligned with the Humanist Manifesto. I had given up on being a part of a religious community until a couple years ago when a wonderful girl that my son was dating was wearing a chalice necklace. I asked what it was. She and her family belong to First Unitarian Society and she was very cheerful about how much she liked attending and shared a little about Unitarians. It got me thinking that maybe there were other people out there like me! I consider myself as starting the 'second half' of my life and want it to be relevant and fulfilling. I'm not sure yet what that means. I found out about Prairie from the Humanist Union website. I started attending the Humanist Union in June last year. I enjoyed the discussion and people so much that I started attending Prairie services and officially joined in December. I like that Prairie is a lay-led community with an open, welcoming, and casual atmosphere. I have enjoyed the services immensely and look forward to getting more involved. SERVICE AUCTION ITEMS NEEDED It’s that time again – Prairie Service Auction time – one of the most pleasurable ways to serve Prairie while having a whale of a time. Sunday, February 24 is the date, right after the Sunday service at Prairie. It’s a major fund-raiser that keeps giving throughout the year both to those who sell and to those who buy. We eat-—food provided (at a price)-—while we bid and watch the Prairie coffers grow. Last year the auction brought in $4,451.00! Right now the Finance Committee is looking for you—-yes, YOU—-to rack your brain for what you would like to offer this year. Or conversely, you can suggest something you would like to buy. The facts we need from donors are at the bottom of this article, or you may simply fill out the form attached to this newsletter. Services and donor information should be forwarded to Finance Committee member Mary Mullen, mmullen(at) chorus.net, or returned to the Prairie welcoming table. Forms will also be available at Prairie. These are some ideas from other years: a dinner with a theme, a garden party, a bike ride and picnic for a group, a game night, babysitting, pet sitting, window washing, providing music for an event, tax preparation, help with your computer, lessons in you-name-it, a weekend in your vacation home, spring yard work, a kettle of soup or any other favorite thing you cook or bake. Speaking of food, in some past years, Prairie members have brought baked goods and they have been auctioned on the spot: whole grain just-baked bread, luscious chocolate cake, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls. Some items already offered are 2 hours of weeding, an hour of chain saw work, a session in your yard or woods to identify your trees and describe their characteristics, a healthy carrot cake, and digital recording to create an audio CD or MP3 file. When I mentioned the auction to my youngest sister, she had a wealth of additional ideas: scan photos and put them on a CD so they can be shared with family members or printed; read a book onto tape or CD; put your audio tapes on CD; put old home videos onto DVD; catalog (make an alphabetical list of) your video, tape, or album collection; or photograph (with a digital camera) your belongings for insurance purposes and put the photos on a CD. Can you guess she is a media specialist at a high school? Some of her additional ideas were: take someone out to Saturday garage sales with a visit to a coffee shop afterward (but pay for your own garage sale finds); change the oil in your car; clean the inside of your car; and yard work of any kind. A service auction donor form will be available at Prairie each Sunday, but you don’t have to wait. Just provide the following information by e-mail (mmullen(at)chorus.net) or call Mary Mullen, 298-0843. Item offered - More lengthy description – Be imaginative. Make it read like an advertisement. SELL it. - Date and time (especially if more than one person will be buying this item) - Number of people who can buy the item - Minimum bid, if any - Your contact information: name, phone numbers, e-mail address, regular address UUSPEAK UU and Prairie abbreviations and acronyms... CMWD = Central Midwest District con = (youth) convention CSS = Congregation Shaarei Shamayim FUS = First Unitarian Society GA = General Assembly IHN = Interfaith Hospitality Network JRUUC = James Reeb UU Congregation MUUYACM = Madison Unitarian Universalist Young Adult and Campus Ministry (pron. moo-YAHK-um) NCC = National Council of Churches RE = Religious Education UUA = Unitarian Universalist Association UUSC = Unitarian Universalist Service Committee UU-UNO = Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office UUWF = Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation YRUU = Young Religious Unitarian Universalists DENOMINATIONAL NEWS ANTI-RACISM TASK FORCE HOSTS PROGRAM AT FIRST UNITARIAN SOCIETY The Journey Toward Wholeness (JTW) task force at FUS is engaged in anti-racism anti-oppression work. On Sunday, February 17 we will continue with our program Race: the Power of an Illusion with Episode 2 of this three-part series. A light lunch will be provided after the 11 a.m. service; the film will be shown in the auditorium at 1 p.m., followed by a guided discussion. Please join us! Episode 2: The Story We Tell uncovers the roots of the race concept in North America, the 19th century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination. The episode is an eye-opening tale of how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as "natural." 2008 PRAIRIE SERVICE AUCTION ITEM Auction is Sunday, February 24, after the service [Use your best advertising style when you write your description. See below for an example.] Return this form to Prairie or send the information online to Mary Mullen, mmullen(at)chorus.net. Item or service offered (short description) _______________________ _________________________________________________________ Additional description:___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ______________ *Date and time (if appropriate)_______________ How many may buy this item?_______________ Minimum bid (if any) $___________________ *If possible, choose dates for events or meals, especially those for more than one person. This will save everyone a lot of time. Your contact information: Name___________________________________ Phone No. _______________________________ e-mail __________________________________ Regular address__________________________ _______________________________________ Example: TriBond Game Party Join us for a stimulating evening of TriBond, conversation, and snacks. Tri-Bond is “Threezer©” riddle game where players try to find the common element between 3 items such as Twin, Timber Wolf, and Viking – all Minnesota teams – or Maori, Inuit, amd Ainu – all indigenous or native people. Up to 6 guests Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, 7:30 p.m. $5 per person minimum Patty Stockdale and Mary Mullen 298-0843 ppstockd(a)wisc.edu 4337 Milford Rd., Madison, 53711 PRAIRIE WEB SITES Society Home Page: http://uuprairie.org/ News Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ prairienews/ Views: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/prairieviews/ Social Action: http://socialaction.madisonwi.us Humanist Union: http://humanist.madisonwi.us