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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.

April 10, 2012
Calendar
Sunday, April 15, 2012
10:00 Service - "The Power of Letting Go - Making Life Easy 101," presented by Dean Hinmon.

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

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
7:00 Christian-Pagan Dialogue: Convergence

Sunday, April 22, 2012
10:00 Service - "The Cat in the UU Hat: Dr Seuss and the 7 Principles," presented by Robin Proud.
10:00 RE Service Sunday – Neighborhood Cleanup
11:45 Congregational Bylaws Meeting

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
7:00 Christian-Pagan Dialogue: Collaboration

Friday, April 27, 2012
Prairie's Spring Retreat begins
Sunday, April 29, 2012
No service or RE at Prairie's Meeting House

Monday, April 30, 2012
7:00 Program Committee meets

Sunday, May 6, 2012
10:00 Service 10:00 a.m. “Keeping the Unified Field in Consciousness in a Distracting World of Sound and Fury,” presented by Dean Hinmon.
11:45 Congregational Bylaws Meeting

Saturday, May 12, 2012
Spring Fling

Sunday, May 13, 2012
10:00 Service
10:15 RE Service Sunday
11:15 Soup Sunday
12:30 Humanist Union meets

Sunday, May 20, 2012
10:00 Service
11:30 Supporting Aging Parents support group

Upcoming Programs

Sunday, April 15, 2012, 10:00 a.m. "The Power of Letting Go - Making Life Easy 101," presented by Dean Hinmon.

It's not unusual in psychology or spiritual discussions to hear people speak of “letting go and letting God.” The belief is that by letting go and letting a higher power or intuition or whatever take over you will better be able to take charge of your life and have greater happiness and contentment and more easily achieve whatever it is you want to achieve. The Unified Field plays a big role in your taking on this power. This talk will also include a virtual tour through the Unified Field.

Sunday, April 22, 2012, 10:00 a.m. "The Cat in the UU Hat: Dr Seuss and the 7 Principles," presented by Robin Proud.
Among famous UU's we find not only politicians, reformers and ministers, but also cultural icons including Dr. Seuss. Robin Proud and the Intermediate RE class will present an interactive program for all ages, showing how books written by Seuss represent our principles and values.
Sunday, April 29, 2012 No service at Prairie's Meeting House.  

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
  
INTERESTED In a Support Group around “Supporting Aging Parents”?
We on the Caring Committee realize there are a number of us in the zone of parental care taking as our parents age. We’d like to gather to share resources, stories and support. Katherine Peterson and Aileen Nettleton from the Caring Committee will facilitate our first session. We will base it on the concerns of those who come.

We will meet from 11:45-1:30 on Sunday, May 20, in one of the classrooms at Prairie. Feel free to bring finger food to share.

Please contact Katherine at feelgoodyoga@mac.com (608-205-4366) or Aileen at aanett@sbcglobal.net (238-6053) if you are able to join us so we plan for a space for all. If those who attend wish to meet further, we will plan accordingly at this meeting, but if you wish to come just once, you are welcome.

Christian-Pagan Dialogue Wednesday nights, April 18 and 25, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Join in this two part interfaith dialogue series at Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society with George Hinger, Roman Catholic, and Selena Fox, Pagan.

Wednesday, April 18: Christian-Pagan Dialogue: Convergence
George & Selena give an overview of Christian and Pagan religions and their common ground. They also share perspectives on American religious pluralism and Christo-Paganism, a path of spirituality that is a hybrid of both traditions.
Wednesday, April 25: Christian-Pagan Dialogue: Collaboration
Selena & George discuss their experiences with local and global interfaith organizations, conferences, and projects and the contributions that the interfaith movement is making toward world peace, social justice, and environmental protection.
Johnson Street Performing Arts Salon Rescheduled: Friday, May 11th at 7:30 pm.  Featured performer, Gilda’s Glee Club, will join members of the JRUUC congregation and other local artists, in presenting a collection of pieces with the theme, “The Road to Joy”. The Glee Club, an affiliate of Gilda’s Club, aims to support those whose lives have been touched by cancer.  All are welcome.  Cost: $5 for adults, $2 for kids.  For a small donation, refreshments will be available. James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 2146 East Johnson Street Madison.  www.jruuc.org. 608-242-8887. For more information, pleasecontact Sarah Hallas at slhallas@gmail.com. 
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 can be found here: Registration.pdf, 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.

  1. Take a look at the new Bylaws, posted on Prairie’s website under “About Us” on the left side of the main page.

  2. 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.

  3. Send your proposal to me by email, mail, or in person at Prairie.

  4. I will gather proposals and publish them for the congregation to consider.

  5. 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.

  6. 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