Starr King View

May 2009 Newsletter

Sunday Services - 9:30 a.m.

May 3: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

Danni Simon preaching.

 

May 10: “Mother’s Day, More than Hallmark”

Rev. Mary Edes preaching. 

This is a Multigenerational service.  Children over three should plan to attend with their parents.  Nursery Care will be available for the younger ones.

 

May 17: “The Annual State of the Union Address”

 Paul Hazelton preaching

 

May 24: “To Be Announced” 

Rev. Paul Sawyer preaching

 

May 31: “Ben and Fred, Sitting on Our Shoulders” 

Johan Anderson preaching

 

 

 

 

Game Night Potluck

 

A potluck supper will be held at SKUUF on Saturday evening, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. and will be followed by games.  Bring board games, playing cards or ideas for charades, etc.  And your favorite dish to share.  Come for good food and good fun.  See you there.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Adult Education at 11:00 a.m.

 

May 3 – Connections Gathering – This is an opportunity for those who were not able to attend a Connection’s Gathering to meet with members of the Stewardship Committee, to ask your questions and make your pledge.

            For SKUUFERS who need their May Pole Dance, you may  meet at 11:00 a.m. for a brief explanation of the tradition and a gathering to dance.  Please join us (kids welcome to dance again with parents) for this May ceremony.

 

May 10 – Mother’s Day No Adult Ed

 

May 17 –  Be a SKUUF Energy Starr - The Social Justice Committee encourages all to join the discussion of ways we can continue to change our energy use habits over the summer.  Please bring your ideas and good intentions and help SKUUF meet the goal of losing 100,000 pounds of CO2 emissions by next fall. 

            At the end of the Adult Ed session, we are invited to see a garden and composting.   If you plan to visit the garden, bring a sandwich.    

 

May 24 – Fun Ways to Fund Raise – Fundraising committee will share their ideas about a leaf peeper gathering to be held at SKUUF on the first weekend in October, open to all Unitarians in the New England Area.  Come with ideas on how you can help and also rooms that you may have that can be made available to house these people!

 

May 31 – Meditation and Medicine -  

      Meditation and its variants are said to be good for the soul.  Did you know they are also good for the body?  Welcome to a peaceful soul and a healthy body

 

 

 

 

“From the Prez”…

           

Hello everyone,

 

As I write this we’ve enjoyed a beautiful stretch of sunny spring weather. Even though we could use a little rain to allow the grass to green up, I’ll take the sunshine.  It’s been an eventful month at SKUUF!  Hard to believe it, but after several dozen volunteers worked to cut trees and chip brush, the lot was cleared and our construction was underway.  This week the construction trailer arrived and we had our ground breaking ceremony. It was a great ceremony and it felt wonderful to join hands with all the members and friends new and old and usher in the next phase of our fellowship. Many thanks to Marcia VanderMast for coordinating the ground breaking.

I’d like to remind everyone, that it is still possible to help SKUUF through the construction period. To date, we’ve received three offers for member loans to help cover short term cash flow needs. We still need a few more. If you are interested in making a loan to the congregation please get in touch with myself or Carole Estes.

Aside from the building, so much has been happening throughout the fellowship. The auction was great fun and we raised over $4,000 dollars for the fellowship. Thank you to everyone that was involved in organizing that event. While I miss Sarah’s wonderful sermons and steady presence in the pulpit, I have to say that I have enjoyed both the guest ministers that we’ve had and the lay led services. It’s so wonderful to be part of a community that has volunteer leaders that are ready, willing, and able to step up and help the fellowship run smoothly during Sarah’s sabbatical!  Congratulations and thanks to you all!

Reminder: Save the date. The fellowship’s annual meeting will be on Sunday, May 31^st at 11:00 am after the service. The Board will be putting together the agenda at our meeting in May. See you there!

           

 

 

 

Building Committee  -

 

The fun has begun and we can now all watch the progress of the addition, which started in mid April as planned.  The Committee is very happy with the people who are working on the building.  When we first interviewed companies to work with us during the pre-construction stage, we met Paul Tremblay who is a project superintendent for Trumbull-Nelson, the company we worked with during the planning stage.  Trumbull-Nelson is continuing with us through the construction stage. Paul has worked on so many church construction projects that he is called “St. Paul”.  Much to our chagrin, Paul told us he was thinking of retiring.  Happily for us, he has not retired and he is serving as our construction supervisor.

Fifteen of our subcontractors and vendors are from New Hampshire while only five (all vendors) are from out-of- state so we will be New Hampshire built.  The Building Committee will continue to meet twice a month with Todd Thompson from Trumbull-Nelson, who has been with us from the beginning, and Stu White, our architect. This team and the Building Committee have worked well together and we anticipate a smooth construction process.

 

 

              Building Committee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes from the Treasurer

     

It is so nice for Spring to be here, and especially nice to have the construction started for our expansion.  It took a lot of hard work by a lot of people, and to see it starting to come to fruition is really wonderful.  It is going to be great to see it completed, especially the new Religious Education areas.

On 15 April, we closed on the UUA loan, and the money was subsequently transferred to our bank, Community Guarantee Savings Bank, in Plymouth on 17 April.  The net amount we received was just over $207,000 for a loan of $212,582.  The difference between the net amount we received and the loan total was to pay for closing costs and fees.  We were really fortunate to get the UUA loan as their interest rates are quite a bit lower than commercial rates.  We are paying 4.4% while commercial rates are around 5% to 5.5%.  The terms are also much better- the rate for the UUA loan is reset every seven years, whereas commercial rates are usually reset every year or so, resulting in a higher risk.  As a comparison, the payments for the loan we had for the original mortgage amounted to about $8,500 per year, and with the new mortgage they will be $1,333.45 per month, or just over $16,000 per year.

The budget for fiscal year 2010 will have, as a budget line, the payments for the loan.  As a reminder, there are several more parts as to how we are financing the expansion of SKUUF.  One is the payment of our capital campaign pledges that we made last year. So far the payments are progressing well.  The other is the stewardship pledge campaign for next year.  The Stewardship Campaign is targeting about a 4% increase in our budget from this year (FY 2009) to next year (FY 2010) to cover all of our expenses, including the mortgage.  We are trying to keep the budget growth down, both due to the current state of the economy, and to the dual payments we are all committed to making, to cover both the stewardship and the capital campaign.

To keep the current construction costs down, there will be areas that will not be completely finished.  An example is the new kitchen area.  It will be roughed in, but will not be a usable kitchen until later.  There will also be opportunities for everyone to participate in finishing touches, such as interior painting.  There will be outside work too.  I believe that Paul Hazelton has volunteered to construct the outside retaining wall, and there will also be landscaping.  There are a lot of possibilities- we will need as many volunteers as we can get to really complete our expanded facility. (By the way, any additional contributions to the building fund are appreciated.)

The next time that you are at SKUUF the beginnings of the work will be quite obvious.  Green and orange construction barriers are up, the construction trailer is in the back parking lot and foundation preparations are in progress.  When you are in the foyer, stop and look again at the architect’s drawings- and watch as we progress toward our dream!  And as you watch, remember that you are a part of this wonderful thing that we are doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKUUF Finances Snapshot as of April 15, 2009

 

Fiscal Year to Date, Operating:                                                             Change from Last Month

                        Income            $ 102,392.88                                                       +$ 16,787.90                    

                        Expenses             $ 105,181.52                                                    +$  8,099.08

 

Important Balances

                   Operating Funds    $   38,280.18                                              +$  21,448.35

                   Building Funds*                 $ 274,055.41                                             -$  54,809.19

                   Endowment Funds*          $   11,686.47                                              +$            1.62

 

This snapshot shows only selected funds.  This is not a full accounting of assets or liabilities.  If you would like more detailed information feel free to talk to Gary, or me.

*These funds represent multiple accounts grouped together.

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newsletter Deadline

 

            The June Newsletter deadline is Friday, May 15, 2009.  Send articles, committee reports, notice of upcoming events, news, calendar items, etc., to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RE Calendar for May/June

 

 

Date	Treasure Hunting	Time Travelers
May 3	Chapel,  May Pole
May 10	Multi-Generational Service For Mother’s Day
May 17	Life is Full of Ups and Downs	Present Day UU’S
May 24	What Do You Treasure	Begin Prep for RE Sunday
May 31	What Do We Treasure and Prep for RE Sunday	Final Prep for RE Sunday
June 7	Youth Sunday to celebrate the year. Barbeque to follow
June 14	Start upstairs then Sundaes on Sunday
June 21	Multi generational Flower Communion

 

            June has been included in the calendar as well so that everyone can plan ahead.

 

            May will be our last month with regular RE classes.  We still have much to do in June though: RE Sunday is June 7 followed by our Third Annual Cookout to celebrate the fellowship and the year!  So mark your calendars……More details to follow.

 

 

 

Religious Education Program

 

            Although I have only been your Religious Educator since July 1, I have been a UU Religious Educator for a long time.   I served the Nashua Church from 1979 to 1985, I was the Chair of the District Religious Education Committee from 1983 to 1986, and I became the District RE Consultant in 1988.   By then I knew how isolating the role of R. E. Director could feel.   The ministers had colleagues to turn to.  Why shouldn’t DREs also get together to share ideas and talk about common concerns?

 

            Back in the early eighties I  began meeting with the DREs from the Milford and Manchester Churches.   When I became the Consultant, I expanded the DRE “cluster” to include Keene, Concord, Exeter, Durham, Peterborough and Portsmouth.   I am delighted to say that the Cluster still meets monthly, and now includes Laconia and Plymouth as well.   It is wonderful to talk with others who work in the field!

 

            On April 16 I traveled to the Manchester UU Church to meet with both the DREs and the District’s ministers.   We spent the day listening to Rev. Debra Haffner, a UU minister and head of the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing, and talking about sexual ethics.  Debra mentioned OWL and what a groundbreaking program it is for our children and teens.   It feels good to know that we are offering it at SKUUF.

 

            I enjoy the field of religious education, and I am delighted to have colleagues walking this path with me.

  

                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

              Our Treasurer told me recently that, thanks to your generosity and our little boxes, a check for $579.70 was sent to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to help them in their work.

 

              DRE

 

 

Landscape Help Needed

 As described in the April Newsletter, we are gathering on Saturday, May 2 for a morning of outdoor cleanup at SKUUF.       We work in light mist, but if it pours on the third, our rain date is May 9, 8:30-noon.  Come for whatever time you can contribute.  Bring your gloves, favorite garden tool and water bottle and join us!     

 

Annual Plant Sale

 

            Also, mark your calendar and plan ahead for our annual plant sale, to be held this year on Sunday May 17.  We will share the bounty of our perennial gardens after fellowship on that date.  One week only.  You may drop your plants off on the front porch on Saturday the May 16, if necessary.

      Our friendship gardens are thriving from past generosity, and the modest prices are a plus. We won’t turn down annual seedlings or houseplants, but traditionally our main event is the wide variety of perennials that members and friends donate. 

 

 

 

 

Extending Family is

                           Branching Out…

 

Recently, we enjoyed the ground-breaking ceremony to celebrate the SKUUF expansion project.  It is appropriate that the Extending Family committee follow suit and expand its responsibilities as well.

 

Those who first initiated the SKUUF Phone Tree many years ago and has maintained it every since, have graciously passed the baton to Extending Family.  We will make every effort to follow their example and their time-proven procedure to personally let people know when there has been a passing in our fellowship.

 

Tradition has established that contacting members directly and personally through the use of the phone tree is used only for the sad occasion of a member’s death.  We are staying with, and respecting that tradition.  The use of e-mail has been suggested and considered, but not everyone has access to e-mail, some use it only sporadically while others feel it too impersonal for the news that needs to be conveyed.

 

The fact that our fellowship is expanding is clearly demonstrated each week at coffee hour.   The phone-tree needs some re-construction done to accommodate our growth.  As soon as that is completed, we will be contacting those of you who have been part of the SKUUF phone tree in the past.

 

Our goal is to keep participants calls to only a few, but to do that we will need more phone tree participants. This does not require a big commitment of your time.  You are called only on a needs-be-basis, and this can amount to only once or twice a year, and hopefully less.   We hope you will consider being part of the phone tree.

 

When we say Extending Family is branching out, we are doing just that.  Now there are two distinct in-community out-reach needs we attend to.  The one most familiar is providing temporary help to fellowship members when something unexpected happens.  It can be anything from a ride to the doctor, a dinner delivered to the home, or just being there for someone.  Now, we have added the phone-tree, which only requires making a few telephone calls a few times a year on average.

 

When you volunteer for one, it does not mean that you are expected to participate in the other. We have two separate lists of people who volunteer for what they are most comfortable doing.  If you wish to participate in both services, your name needs to be on both lists.

 

We will have more information for you soon.

 

In the meantime, be careful with those step ladders as you go about your spring cleaning!

 

           

            Co-Chairs of Expanding Family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember to Recycle Cans

 

           Remember to bring your aluminum cans to SKUUF.  Let us continue to recycle for the good of SKUUF and the planet.  Those cans SKUUF collects and recycles help the work of our Fellowship.

 

 

 

Social Justice

 

Community Outreach for May

 

The recipient of our May Community Outreach collection will be the Bridge House in Plymouth. The shelter houses single men and single women and their children.

Unemployment or underemployment is often the primary factor of homelessness at Bridge House. While single men usually move through the shelter to independence within three months, single mothers with children remain guests for up to nine months to a year.  A lack of affordable housing, childcare, or reliable transportation in combination with insufficient skills are significant challenges to overcome.

The Bridge House seeks to reorient its guests by providing a dignified living environment, modeling life-style choices, offering education and medical support through local health practitioners and helping the residents develop workable plans to end their homelessness.

Your generous support for Bridge House and for all Outreach projects is warmly received and greatly appreciated.

 

 

 

 

Solar Clothes Dryer—Hang Your Laundry on the Line
 
            The high school youth group and the social justice committee are coordinating efforts to reduce our carbon footprints by assisting folks with the installation of clothes lines.
            Each dryer load of clothes releases five pounds of carbon dioxide.  If you reduce your dryer usage by hanging out four loads of clothes per week, over the course of a year you will reduce your carbon footprint by over one half a ton.
            So here are your local options for purchasing a solar dryer.  Rand's has a collapsible clothes line apparatus with parallel lines for $55.  The box is over six feet tall. According to the internet, Home Depot in Tilton has one with lines that are at right angles to each other. The cost is $40. Walmart has nothing in stock in this department.
            Both the products above come with a sleeve that is put in the ground, and makes the clothesline removable for the winter if you wish.  If you would like to install one and need help with transporting and/or installation, SKUUF teens and  are ready to help!  They will dig a hole for you, mix up the cement, and position the sleeve. The only cost will be for materials.  Contact the Social Justice Committee for more information and to sign up.

 

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SKUUF Energy Starrs at Adult Ed on May 17

 

Plan to attend Adult Ed on May 17.   We will be sharing carbon-reduction ideas that are best accomplished during the coming summer months.   We will also reflect on what’s been accomplished since last September. 

For many of us this includes not only the reduction in our individual carbon footprint, but significant changes in our daily lives, and perhaps for those we interact with as well.     When we reduce our production of carbon, it often involves the reduction of some activity we can live more happily without.   People start slowly, perhaps eliminating a load of laundry each week and combining errands in order to reduce mileage driven.   More carbon-reduction steps are implemented and soon there is time and energy for important endeavors, like reading a book or going for a walk.   

At the end of the Adult Ed session, we are invited to see a garden and composting.   If you plan to visit the garden, bring a sandwich.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technology Committee

 

            Missed a service?  Want to hear a favorite sermon again? 

            Check out these sources.

 

SKUUF services are available on cable channel 20 in the Plymouth area.  You can view the station’s schedule on your computer at www.plymouth-nh.org/node/458 to check for the next scheduled broadcast.

 

After the services have appeared on television, they are available on DVD from the SKUUF library downstairs.  They are kept on the shelf in the office assistant’s office.  Be sure and leave your name if you check one out. 

 

While you are on the website, click on the podcast link and listen to a sermon by the Rev. Sarah Stewart.  More than  twenty sermons have been posted since last fall.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play Bridge Thursday

 Afternoons at SKUUF

At 1:00 p.m.

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer  Is upon Us

 

Keeping up with the progress on the construction of our addition will be a fringe benefit of attending a summer service this year, and summer is right around the corner.  Now is the time to begin planning the summer schedule at SKUUF. 

As most of you know, during the summer we don’t hold formal services.  For many, the summer provides a well-earned respite from busy volunteer schedules. Others of us, including many returning summer folks, appreciate a time to be together on Sunday mornings through the summer.  Relaxed and informal, our summer services are a great way to stay connected, to become better acquainted, and to learn what interests your fellow SKUUFers.   In the sanctuary there is a corner set up with toys and books for any children who might come.  Their presence is welcomed and enjoyed.

The services are lay led and have covered many subjects over the years- music appreciation, friendship, drumming, environmental concerns, travelogues.  The list is long and varied.  If you have a life-long interest or a consuming passion, or perhaps, knowledge of a subject that would interest others, please consider offering a summer service.  Look for the sign-up sheet in the foyer.

 

  

 

Our Favorite Books

 

(As space allows, each month we will list

 some of the books mentioned in our annual

Book Sharing service held at the end of 2008)

 

Morning on Horseback

 by David McCullough

 

Choices for Sustainable Living

by Northwest Earth Institute

 

Marley and Me by John Grogan

 

Reason and Reverence: Religious

Humanism for the 21st Century

by William Murry

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yard Sale

 

            The SKUUF Yard Sale has always been a great fundraiser, but one that has always relied on the space downstairs for storage, organizing and marking over the summer.   Our wonderful expansion project may make use of this space difficult or impossible this summer.   

            We have been offered the use of a barn for yard sale storage, this year.  We will need a few folks in August to help make space in the barn.  Please contact Jules or George if you can help, and start setting aside your yard sale items now.

 

Starr King View

Minister:  Rev. Sarah Stewart   
sstewart@starrkingfellowship.org  

Office Administrator:
admin@starrkingfellowship.org

Office: (603) 536-8908      
Website—www.starrkingfellowship.org