May 6, 2010

In this issue:
-calendar
-programs

The Prairie Fire
Bulletin is a
calendar- only
newsletter that
is published by
Prairie Unitarian
Universalist Society
on the 6th of every
month. The full
featured Prairie
Fire is published
on the 21st of every
month. View past
issues at
www.uuprairie.org

Contact Us:

Minister
Rev. Ralph Tyksinski
minister@uuprairie.org
873-6041

Director of Religious
Education
Rebecca Malke-Eliganti
youthcoordinator@
uuprairie.org
695-3435

Editor/ Congregational
Administrator
Kate Liu
admin@uuprairie.org
271-8218

President
Rachel Long
608-328-4899

Prairie Web Sites:

Home Page
www.uuprairie.org

News Group
http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/prairie
news/

Views
http://groups.yahoo.
com/group/prairie
views/

Social Action
http://socialaction.
madisonwi.us

Humanist Union
http://humanist.
madisonwi.us

Input Deadlines:
Calendar items and
program descriptions
are due on the 1st and
15th of each month.
Feature articles for the
full Prairie Fire are 
due on the 15th of each
month. Please send to
Kate Liu at
admin@uuprairie.org
or call 271-8218.

Calendar

Sunday, May 9, 2010
8:45 am - Choir Rehearsal.
10:00 am – service - "Women Composers II," presented by Jim Reilly.
11:45 am - Prairie Board meeting.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010
6:30 pm - Spanish Speaker's Potluck at the home of Mary and Andy Somers.

Friday, May 14, 2010
Deadline for June 5th Milwaukee Museum Fund Raiser Trip! Call Pat Watkins (233-
5795) for more info.

Saturday, May 15, 2010 - Prairie Fire item deadline.
9:00 am - 1:00 pm: Outdoor workday at Prairie. (Rain date May 22.)

Sunday, May 16, 2010
8:45 am - Choir Rehearsal.
10:00 am – service - "Transitions," presented by the RE committee.
11:30 am - Spring Parish Meeting. Potluck at 11:30, meeting begins at 11:45.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 7:00 pm - Program committee meets.

Sunday, May 23, 2010 8:45 am - Choir Rehearsal.
10:00 am – service - "A Visit from Margaret Fuller," presented by Robin Proud.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
2:00 pm - Prairie Elders meet at Oakwood. Topic is "Housing Transitions."

Sunday, May 30, 2010
8:45 am - Choir Rehearsal.
10:00 am – service - "Memorial Day: Meditation, Reflection, Memories," presented by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski.
11:45 am - Prairie Book Club meets to discuss A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
3:00 pm - Memorial Service for Mary Lou Diehl, at Prairie.

Sunday, June 6, 2010 11:45 am - Joint Board Meeting. Location TBA.

Sunday, June 20, 2010 11:45 am - Retirement Party for Rev. Ralph Tyksinski.

Upcoming Programs

Sunday, May 9, 2010, 10:00 am: "Women Composers II," presented by Jim Reilly. Jim Reilly will return to Prairie for his third visit. When he was here last year for Mothers' Day he performed music by a variety of women composers, and this year he returns to that theme---"Women Composers II". He will both play on the piano and sing for us a variety of music ranging all the way from the French composer of salon music Cécile Chaminade to Billie Holiday. Interspersed will be readings by members of Prairie of works by women. The choir, under the direction of Barbara Park, will perform a work by Elizabeth Alexander. Jim Reilly, a pianist and a tenor, is former Director of Music at First Universalist Church in Minneapolis and Music Director Emeritus of Mindekirken (The Norwegian Memorial Lutheran Church) in Minneapolis. He performs most often as a vocal accompanist, but this past year has included solo vocal performances in Chicago and Madison and solo piano work in Minneapolis and Iowa. He is in town to sing at the Unitarian Society Friday Concert Series here (on Friday May 6) with pianist Jeffrey Wagner from Chicago. Jim grew up in Syracuse, N.Y. in the same Universalist Church as our own Barbara Park.

Sunday, May 16, 2010, 10:00 am: "Transitions," presented by Religious Education. Like green caterpillars transitioning into beautiful butterflies we all go through many changes in our lives. In the UU RE tradition these transitions start with a child dedication and end with the Coming of Age program. This service will honor our youth as one begins their journey into Unitarian Universalism and another completes the Coming of Age program and graduates from high school. At the end of the service RE students will present a gift to the congregation.

Sunday, May 23, 2010, 10:00 am: "A Visit from Margaret Fuller," presented by Robin Proud. On the occasion of her 200th birthday, Margaret Fuller will introduce you to her life as a scholar, writer, war correspondent, editor of the Transcendentalist magazine The Dial, and America's first feminist. An intimate of Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, and Hawthorne, Fuller will convince you (with a little help from Robin Proud) that she should be better known and appreciated, especially by Unitarians.

Sunday, May 30, 2010, 10:00 am: "Memorial Day: Meditation, Reflection, Memories," presented by Rev. Ralph Tyksinski. We will be exploring the many meanings that this federal holiday offers for our reflection on and recognition of those in our military who died in battle. It began after the Civil War in 1868 as Decoration Day. One hundred years later, the name officially switched to Memorial Day. As a people we UU's practice working for peace and justice, we must, however, never forget the men and women who have given it their all - sometimes giving everything - to work for what they think is true and right. By celebrating Memorial Day, we work to make sure fewer people have to leave their homes, families and friends to fight in war.