Priairie Fire

Prairie Fire

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The Prairie Fire is published by Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society on the 6th and 21st of every month. View past issues at www.uuprairie.org/ newsletter/

Input Deadlines:
Calendar items, announcements, and program descriptions are due on the 1st and 15th of each month. Please send to Dan Klock at admin@uuprairie.org or call 271-8218.

March 23, 2012

Calendar

Sunday, March 25, 2012
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service - “The Global Politics of Water: Managing Our Most Precious Resource in the 21st Century,” presented by Oriol Mirosa.
11:15 Soup Sunday
11:30 Prairie Book Club meets to discuss The Ghost Map - The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson.

Monday, March 26, 2012
7:00 Program Committee meets

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
1:30 Prairie Elders meet

Sunday, April 1, 2012
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service – “Putting Your Faith in Action,” presented by a panel of Prairie members.
11:45 Humanist Union meets

Sunday, April 8, 2012
8:45 No Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service
10:00 Easter Egg Hunt
11:30 Easter Brunch

Saturday, April 14, 2012
9:00 H&P Cleanup Day

Sunday, April 15, 2012
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service

Monday, April 16, 2012
7:00 Prairie's Board meets

Sunday, April 22, 2012
8:45 Choir Rehearsal
10:00 Service
10:00 RE Service Sunday – Neighborhood Cleanup
11:30 Soup Sunday
11:45 Congregational bylaws meeting

Friday, April 27, 2012
Spring Retreat at Bethel Horizons begins

Sunday, April 29, 2012.
No service or RE at Prairie
12:00 Spring Retreat Ends

Sunday, May 6, 2012
8:45 Choir rehearsal
10:00 Service
11:30 Congregational bylaws meeting

Upcoming Programs

Sunday, March 25, 2012, 10:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. "The Global Politics of Water: Managing Our Most Precious Resource in the 21st Century," presented by Oriol Mirosa.

In this talk, Oriol Mirosa will provide an overview of the global water challenges that humanity is facing in the 21st century. Oriol will discuss how states and a range of other public and private actors are attempting to meet these challenges at the international level, paying particular attention to the new forms of global water governance that have emerged in the last two decades. The presentation will conclude with a review of the two main approaches to water management currently being debated at the global level – 'water as a commodity' and 'water as a human right' – and their implications for people's access to water.

Sunday, April 1, 2012, 10:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m. "Putting Your Faith in Action," presented by a panel of Prairie members.

UU minister L.B. Fisher once said, "Universalists are often asked where they stand. The only true answer to give to this question is that we do not stand at all, we move".

How do our principles guide us in our daily search for truth and justice? This morning, we'll have a panel of four Prairie members who will tell us how they put their faith into action by sharing their volunteer experiences.

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

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

Editor/Administrative Assistant
Dan Klock
admin@uuprairie.org
271-8218
Office hours: M – F
10:00 to 1:00

Prairie Websites:
Home Page
http://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

Announcements

Spring Cleanup Day: Prairie's H&P committee will have a Spring cleanup on Saturday, April 14, from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Let Dirk Herr-Hoyman know if there is some specific activity you feel should be done.

The Humanist Union will meet on Sunday, April 1. A potluck lunch will be served at 11:45, followed by a report on the Reason Rally at 12:30.

PRAIRIE ELDERS MEETING: Tuesday, March 27, 1:30-3:20, Nakoma Room, Heritage Oaks building, Oakwood Village West. Call contacts for directions, parking or a ride. If convenient, bring your own beverage cup and a few snacks. Newcomers welcome.

TOPIC: Issues of Death and Dying. Comment on your most important concerns, share information you gleaned from workshops and personal experience or just come and listen. For a good review of decisions and tasks, see First Unitarian Society’s 2011 publication “Final Choices.” A copy can be downloaded at http://fusmadison.org/media/FinalChoices2011.pdf You may wish to selectively print pages. The document is 36 pages long. An outline of Final Choices will be mailed to members who don’t use the web. Included will be a list of recommended readings which address the dying process and our feelings about death.

ABOUT US: Prairie Elders aims to provide good times and mutual support for Prairie UU Members and Friends over 65 and UUs living at the facility where we meet. Our “round robin” format makes it easier to hear and gives all of us the option of speaking. Topics alternate between general issues and personal interests. Contacts: Donna Murdoch 238-3802, Gordon Cunningham 230-3367, Rosemary Dorney 238-4382 or Rose Smith 233-3363. Call Donna to add your name to the mailing list.

News

Prairie Family Retreat - April 27-29, 2012:

Mark your calendars for the annual Prairie Family Retreat at Bethel Horizons in Dodgeville, WI. The fun begins Friday evening, April 27th and continues through noon on Sunday, April 29th. This is a great time for Prairie members to connect with each other in a less hurried environment, have a chance to play,
sing, talk, or just linger over coffee.

For those of you who have not attended a Prairie Retreat before, here is the typical schedule:

Friday evening - arrival in the early evening, finger food potluck, mixer games
Saturday - breakfast, programming (arts and crafts, games, discussions, etc,) lunch, more programming, dinner, talent show, and folk dancing
Sunday - breakfast, key log ceremony, clean up, and home again

This year’s program is being coordinated by Phyllis Long. Here’s a “sneak peak” at the offerings: a session of Yoga for Relaxation, a Ukrainian Easter Egg session, a recorder playing workshop, and, of course, meetings of the WOW women’s group and the book club.

Kate Liu will be the registrar this year, coordinating rooms and meals and whatnot. Registration forms and an information sheet are attached to this issue of the Prairie Fire, and are also available in hard copy at Prairie or from Kate or Phyllis. Closer to the actual retreat dates, final schedules will be available.

Any questions, please contact Kate Liu - kgliu311@gmail.com , 238-9153, or Phyllis Long - plong373@gmail.com, 608-325-7397.

Bylaws Tweaking:

As most of you know, on February 19th our society passed a set of new bylaws that will go into effect July 1, 2012. Though many hours, much thought and many people contributed to the content, there were still a few issues we didn’t have time to resolve. This April and May we will have three opportunities to discuss additional amendments for potential passage at the Spring Parish Meeting June 5th. If you are interested in participating, here is the process.

Take a look at the new Bylaws, posted on Prairie’s website under “About Us” on the left side of the main page.
Write your proposed change or amendment, indicating what language you would like to add or delete, and where in the Bylaws any new language should be inserted.
Send your proposal to me by email, mail, or in person at Prairie.
I will gather proposals and publish them for the congregation to consider.
Come to one of the additional Bylaws discussion sessions, scheduled after service Sundays 4/22 and 5/06, and sometime on Saturday 4/28 at the Prairie Retreat.
In our discussions we will decide on any amendments to be published in advance of the Spring Parish Meeting for our congregation's consideration and a vote there.

Again, thank you all for your thoughtful contributions to the effective functioning of your Society!

Rachel Long
Chair, Long Range Planning