Prairie Fire

March 22, 2011

In this issue:
-calendar
-programs
-news

The Prairie Fire is the newsletter that is published by Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society on the 6th and 22^nd of every month. View past issues at www.uuprairie.org

Contact Us:

Consulting Minister
Rev. Jane Esbensen
jlesbensen@gmail.com
770-5486

President
Barbara Park
barpark@gmail.com
608-273-8775

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

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

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:

Items for the Prairie Fire due on the 1^st and 15^th of every month. Please send to Kate Liu at admin@uuprairie.org
or call 271-8218.

Calendar

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
1:30 Prairie Elders meet at Oakwood. Topic is Stones. For more information contact Donna Murdoch 238-3802.

Saturday, March 26, 2011
9:00 Forum on Homelessness in Madison, First Society.
7:00 Beat the Winter Blues Wine & Cheese & Chocolate & Music evening

Sunday, March 27, 2011
8:45 Choir rehearsal
10:00 Service - “Heart to Heart: a Personal Journey Through Restorative Justice,” presented by Jackie Millar.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011
7:00 Program committee meets.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
7:00 Caring committee meets.

Thursday, March 31, 2011
7:00 Prairie Board meeting.

Friday, April 1, 2011
Prairie Fire deadline.

Sunday, April 3, 2011
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service – speaker Fred Edwords.

Monday, April 4, 2011
6:30 Spanish Speaker's Potluck at Prairie. Call Rosemary Dorney at 238-4382 for more information.

Sunday, April 10, 2011
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service – “Jesus and the Easter Bunny,” Intergenerational, presented by RE.

Upcoming Programs
Sunday, March 27, 2011, 2010, 10:00 am: "Heart to Heart: a Personal Journey Through Restorative Justice,” presented by Jackie Millar. In the wake of a violent, random crime that forever changed her life, Jackie Millar has dedicated her life to speaking to juveniles, adult inmates, university students, law enforcement officials, women's groups, law students, church assemblies, rehabilitation workers, and many other diverse groups about the power of restorative justice. She will tell us her story - the story of a crime, her rehabilitation as a result of the traumatic brain injury sustained from the bullet wound in her head, and perhaps most surprisingly, her forgiveness, and love.

Sunday, April 3, 2011, 10:00 am: “A Humanist Look at Myth, Symbol, and Art," presented by Fred Edwords. Myth, symbol, and art have a tremendous impact on society. Works of symbolic art, narratives both folkloric and literary, are almost always deliberate and even rational products of the mind. Narrative art in particular must stay within certain rational bounds in order to maximize its aesthetic and social appeal. The story narrative is perhaps the most efficient means of communication known to man, one that can affect the mind in a way no didactic lecture or philosophical argument usually can. Fred Edwords serves as national director of the United Coalition of Reason and also serves on the faculty of the Humanist Institute, is national director of the International Darwin Day Foundation, and acts as a management and public relations consultant to the American Humanist Association. As a continuing voice for humanist ideas, he has, over the past thirty-five years, appeared on national and local television in the US and Canada, been interviewed on radio and for newspapers around the world, and has lectured around the world.

News
Fred Edwords to show slides of ads to Humanist Union The United Coalition of Reason, led by Fred Edwords, is an organization created for the purpose of developing coalitions of local humanist, freethought, atheist, Ethical Culture and similar organizations all around the country. The Coalition launched an advertising campaign of billboards and bus ads (“Are you good without God? Millions are”) to help existing local groups connect with interested persons in their areas. The Humanist Union is delighted to welcome Fred Edwords to our April 3rd meeting to show us his presentation on the ad campaigns. Usual potluck lunch at 11:45 am, presentation and discussion from 12:30 to 1:30 pm. All interested are encouraged to attend.

Fundraising Trips! Pat Watkins, Prairie member and travel organizer extraordinaire, has put together a great group of fundraising trips for 2011. Some of the dates of these trips have changed from what was originally published. If you are interested in any of these trips or would like to be on her mailing list, please contact Pat at 233-5795.

18 June 2011: The Rotary Gardens in Janesville, where the roses and other early flowers will be in bloom, followed by a leisurely lunch aboard ship as we sail around Lake Geneva. 16 July 2011: The Emperors’ Private Paradise: Treasures From the Forbidden City. Milwaukee Art Museum. 5-8 August 2011:Art Tour to Grand Rapids, Michigan (by bus) 5 November, 2011: Impressionism on Paper: Drawings from Manet to Van Gogh. Milwaukee Art Museum.

Registration Open for District Assembly April 29-30! Central MidWest District Assembly will be held Friday April 29 through Saturday, April 30th in Bloomington, IL. African-American UU minister,Rev. Mark Morrison Reed, will be the keynote speaker. If you are interested in being Prairie's delegate for this meeting, or are just interested in attending, please contact Christina Klock at cak190 (at) hotmail.com or 695-5013.

Volunteer Opportunities:
Prairie has a long-standing tradition of helping the Grace Episcopal Men's Drop-in Shelter. Once a month, in a joint effort with James Reeb UU, volunteers from Prairie serve breakfast on a Saturday morning. The next dates are 4/2, 5/7, 6/4, and 7/2. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Paula Pachciarz at 608.273.4806 or pjpchz (at) gmail.com. (Full article appears in Prairie News.)

Prairie UU is also a "buddy" church, providing volunteers when it is Midvale Lutheran's turn to house homeless families. Midvale Lutheran participates in a program with the The Road Home, which is the umbrella organization that runs the Interfaith Hospitality Network temporary housing program. Our next opportunity to help out is April 17-23. Contact Erin Bosch to get more information: hillfarms (at) yahoo.com or call 238-6285.