Volume 13, Issue 1 January, 2009

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

January Sunday Services

Services are Sundays at 10:00 AM at 10431 Water Street (Hwy 42) north of Ephraim.

Are you a musician? Do you enjoy music? If so, here are two opportunities for you to contribute to the enrichment of our Sunday services. Contact Geri Friedberg at 868-1342 if you would like to either share your musical talents or have a favorite piece of music you would like to hear during a Sunday service. The latter will, of course, depend upon the fit of such a piece to the topic being presented. Become in-volved - offer your input and your talents.

Copies of the Sunday Sermons are available on CD. Contact Al Wittenkeller, 839-2800 or

alnjudy@dcwis.com

Be sure to check the weekly service bulletin or our website at www.uufdc.org for any last minute updates.

January 4: The Rev. Cynthia John-son Knowing, Doing and Being

A brand new year invites reflection on Being and Becoming. This process may lead us to consider our lives in terms of addition, subtraction, multipli-cation and division. Our dawning in-sights may be revealed in experiences as seemingly diverse as juggling, con-flagration, or meditating about our filing cabinets.

Music: Christine (fiddle) and Nelson(accordion) Whyatt and Gerri Fried-berg, piano

Cynthia Johnson, a retired UU minis-ter,served congregations in Texas and Oklahoma before moving to Door County in 2000. Cynthia preaches regularly at UUFDC and occasionally at other UU congregations but spends more time these days writing, painting, reading, and traveling. January 11: Brian Pertl

Conch Shells, Skull Drums and Thighbone Trumpets: The Sacred Music of Tibetan Buddhism

Service Leader: Cynthia Stiehl Music: Music: Brian Pertl, instrumental

A Lawrence University graduate and Dean of its Conservatory of Music, Brian is an Ethnomusicologist with a Masters Degree from Wesleyan University. He has taught American Popular Music, Afri-can American Music, and Anglo Ameri-can Music. He has done fieldwork in Aus-tralia studying the didjeridu, and studied Tibetan Buddhist sacred music in Tibet, Nepal, and India. He was instrumental in the development of Microsoft’s Encarta January 18: The Rev. Joan Shiels with Hervy Hodges The Audacity of Hope

Occasionally America turns out to be every bit as good as its hype. It's thrill-ing to be around to witness one of those moments. We celebrate the ac-complishments of Martin Luther King

and the Inauguration of Barack Obama.

Music: Hervy Hodges, vocal

Rev. Joan Shiels is a long-time friend of the fellowship. She serves Unitarian and United Church of Christ congregations all over Wisconsin. January 25: The Rev. Phil Sweet The Final Form of Love

The world's great spiritual traditions all stress the importance of forgiveness for maintaining healthy communities, strengthening our intimate relationships and achieving individual emotional healing. But how, when, who and why?

Service Leader: Sheila Saperstein Music: Dave Hansell, bassoon; Dottie Gerrits, flute; Gerri Friedberg, piano; and the UU choir

Rev. Sweet is a popular and frequent speaker at the UUFDC. He served as minister for two rural churches in western Minnesota and for Hope Church in Stur-geon Bay.

2 UU UPDATE January 2009

GOVERNING BOARD

Executive Committee

President Garrett Cohn 559-2557 gucohn@dcwis.com

Vice President Cynthia Stiehl 854-5048 cmstiehl@aol.com

Secretary Helene Di Iulio 854-2312 helened@live.com

Treasurer Juliana Neuman 839-2710 jneuman@dcwis.com Committee Chairs

Social Responsibility Chuck Lauter

Program Lynn Berger

Communications/Editor Marilyn Hansotia

Membership Dottie Gerrits

Building & Grounds Valerie Murre -Schlick

Art Gallery Julia Bresnahan

Denominational Affairs Sarah Naber

Hospitality Virginia Olson

Adult Enrichment & Long Range Planning

Cultural Affairs Nancy Eriksson

Past President David Hansell

Coral Peterson Joins UUFDC By Dottie Gerrits/Coral Peterson

Coral Peterson joined our mem-bership on May 4th. Here is what she has to say!

I call Chicago my hometown. Here I received educa-tion that prepared me for a career in Elk Grove School District. After 30 years I retired and joined the staff of the Theoso-phical Society in Wheaton and remained for nine years. I listened to renowned speakers on comparative religions. Finding their similarities is a passion of mine. Here, I believe, one comes closer to truth.

My true education came from life experi-ences and the people I met on life’s path. I was a Cub Scout den mother, a baseball mom, and a Unity Sunday School teacher.

Volunteer work included helping out in the kitchen on Division Street, serving the peo-ple who lived on the streets in Chicago. They taught me humility, kindness, grati-tude and generosity even if they were broke. I signed up at Mesricordia where severely retarded children live and are edu-cated. The children and the nuns taught me unconditional love and the joy of for-giveness with laughter.

These were some of the lessons that stirred my interest in energy healing. After becoming a Reiki Master I discovered Therapeutic Touch, a simple healing proce-dure complimentary to medical practices. It provided the opportunity to help people heal and not hurt.

After a lengthy time of physical challenges, I was finally pronounced “cured.” Six weeks later, my husband Pat, a Chicago Firefighter, died and the following week my step-dad, Bill, died. My son, Mark, pre-ceded them when he was 23 years old. This left me with one son, Lee.

I sold my home and fulfilled my dream of moving to Door County with my Scotty, Molly. Here the art community opened many doors. Soon after, to my joy, Lee moved here from Arizona.

It was a beautiful day when I walked into the UU and Dottie welcomed me with a warm arm and smile. Ray and Helene in-vited me to their home on Christmas Eve which made a dreaded time into a marvel-ous experience, and I met you. You, kin-dred souls, gave me the most treasured gift, friendship. Thank you.

President’s Message By Garrett Cohn

This month the Gov-erning Board dis-cussed our garden spaces. Green Gables Gardener, Peter Witt,

has told us he can devote four hours a week if we can supply ten hours of support weekly in the gardens. Our hours do not need to overlap his hours on Thursday, and our hours needn’t all be on Thursdays. You can tend the garden in one or two hour incre-ments April though October.

He offered to reduce the size of the garden and the Board decided not to do that this year. We will wait and see how we do in the support area. We need a committed group to show up - four or six people “working” just two hours each weekly. Why not make it into a picnic?

Peter also offered to hold classes during his Thursday hours to address your gardening questions. This is a great opportunity; you can benefit from the knowledge of a garden-ing professional. You can even bring your plants and he will advise you on how to treat them. In addition, he will assist you in devel-oping garden layouts.

Please contact me as soon as possible if you are interested in participating so I can as-semble a report for the Board. This schedule is important as the gardens add to the beauty of our building and uphold the over all look of Green Gables.

Juliana’s financial report will tell about our excellent financial position entering 2009. My hope is that we can end 2009 in as ex-cellent a condition, which means we all need to pay attention to our expenses and income. Speak up if you see something that you feel needs attention. We are lay-led - not only from the pulpit, but also governance.

I hope to be able to report satisfactory re-sults on our final Certificate of Occupancy by mid-January. There were many issues we needed to address.

I learned last week our Chalice Lighters Ap-plication requesting funding for a new sound system is under consideration; we should have an answer shortly. Keep your fingers crossed.

Please join me in welcoming the New Year with an open heart—may Peace and Joy follow us all throughout the year.

3 UU UPDATE January 2009

Plein Air Artist Featured at UU Gallery in January

By Meg Vermillion

Liz Maltman gives the impression that the “open air” is the only studio she needs. Liz discovered painting “en plein air” in 2004 and has been enamored with it ever since. She works primarily in pas-tels, favoring their immediacy, vibrancy of color and portability in the field. Her goad in painting a landscape is not so much to paint it exactly as she sees it but to capture the essence of the scene and the feeling that the particular day evokes.

Originally from Chicago, Liz moved to Fish Creek in 1974 after completing un-dergraduate degrees in art history and psychology. Liz was chosen to partici-pate in the first annual Peninsula Art School, Plein Air Festival in 2007. She has also been a featured artist at the Francis Hardy Gallery. She has won awards in a number of juried exhibitions and is honored to have her work in both private and corporate collections throughout the country. Her work is rep-resented locally at Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor. January Book Club

By Dottie Gerrits

Our discussion of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer will be at Helene Di Iulio’s home at 1075 Lost Lane, Ellison Bay at 1:00 p.m. January 7th. If you need direc-tions, email helenedi@live.com or call 854-2312. She would like to know how many will participate by Monday, January 5th. We will use the study guide pro-vided with the book.

Future selections slated to be discussed are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak on February 4th and Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo on March 4th.

Emerson Event January 27, 2009

By Nancy Eriksson

The next Emerson event will be at 7:30 PM on January 27th at the Fellowship. An Evening with Isadoora. Come and enjoy a sneak peak of their upcoming show She Loves Me.

Following the selections, Ginger Law-rence, the show’s director, will share insights about this particular show and the audience will have an opportunity to ask questions.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for stu-dents and are available at the door. Refreshments will be served following the program. Readers Theatre Associated with “The Big Read Door County” to Present on Janu-ary 26, 2009

By Alan Kopischke

In 1898 Mark Twain wrote an innovative comedy for which he had high hopes about a struggling but talented painter, his thwarted romance and his scheming friends. It was never produced and was lost. In 2003, Twain scholars with The Mark Twain Project found it. Playwright David Ives honed the script, and his ad-aptation made its Broadway premiere in 2007. As part of The Big Read Door County 2009, celebrating and exploring Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," a Clearing class is studying and rehearsing this play throughout January and will present a staged read-ing of the Tony-nominated farce directed by Alan Kopischke at the Unitarian Uni-versalist Fellowship of Door County at 7 PM on January 26. The Big Read Door County is presented by Peninsula Play-ers in partnership with Door County Li-brary. The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in part-nership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest.

There is no charge for this performance. Come and enjoy an evening of fun!

Exploring Interdependence and Diversity Focus of Reli-

gious Education By Lynn Lees

Rose (left) and Celia (right) Schnorr, Peggy Lott’s granddaughters from Kohlberg enjoy decorating cookies during R.E.

The grade school curriculum for January through May of 2009 focuses on stories, activities and crafts related to the UU principle that focuses on respect for the interdependence of all existence.

Junior/senior high classes will continue with the curriculum "Neighboring Faiths". Through discussion, field trips and art projects, these students will study other faith traditions as follows:

January: Celebrating a Culture–The Black Church

February: Finding Absolutes – Funda-mentalism

March: Designing an Earth-centered Service – Religions of the Goddess and Native American Traditions

April: Practicing a Spiritual Discipline –Hinduism and Animism.

May: Engaging in Service – Spirituality and Ethics – Quakers, Religious Human-ists and Unitarian Universalists

Parents interested in having children register for these classes or who wish more information can call Lynn Lees at 920-854-5451 or email at lynna-john@earthlink.net. If you are interested in helping with the religious eductation.

4 UU UPDATE January 2009

Dollars and $ense by Juliana Neuman, Treasurer

The end of 2008 is upon us! If you have a year-end contribution to make to UUFDC, it must be received at the Fellowship by Sun-day, December 28th, or postmarked no later than December 31st.

Contribution acknowledgment letters will be distributed to those who are present at the service on Sunday, January 18th, with the remaining letters to be mailed out the fol-lowing day. These letters are provided for your tax records. Your acknowledgment letter will show the total amount you have contributed to UUFDC during calendar 2008, including pledge payments, dona-tions, and capital campaign contributions. It will not include amounts you have paid for admission to events, concert tickets, or other items for which you received goods or services.

Those who have made a pledge to UUFDC’s operating budget for the current fiscal year (7/1/08 to 6/30/09) will receive a second letter showing the pledge amount and the total payments received through December 31st. Pledge balances are due no later than June 30, 2009. Please note that these pledge update letters refer to the fiscal year, not the calendar year, and are not to be used for tax purposes. Your total calendar year payments are included in the contribution letters described previously in this column.

I am pleased to report that David Clowers has completed our application for a prop-erty tax exemption on the new Ephraim property. The Governing Board is grateful for David’s contribution of his time and ex-pertise.

Movies that Matter By Lu Schilling

The next topic scheduled for the Movies That Matter series, after the holiday feast-ing, is Deconstructing Supper, a lighter version of Future of Food. It explores where our food has been and what was done to it before it came to the table. Can this be related to our health? Who does this benefit? Take a journey into the billion

dollar battle to control global food produc-tion. Join us Tuesday, January 20th, 7:00 PM for the viewing, followed by discussion, of another contemporary topic.

The December MTM Series showing of Sicko, the healthcare documentary, was followed the next day by an NPR discus-sion on the same topic. First, the for-profit motive of this industry is misplaced. The insurance corporations are obstructive to treatment and are siphoning the wealth. Second, illness prevention and wellness development with nutri-tion and implementation of incentives to reduce alcohol, caffeine, sugar, protein and fat in food choices and adding exercise all support a whole-picture approach seen in countries where universal healthcare works. Additionally, our fertility reckless-ness and defiance of natural, end-of-life reality burdens the system. Our current healthcare industry (ranking #37 world-wide) causes catastrophic debt and misery to the masses making us malleable. Hope-less, choice-less people do not vote. The top 5% own 80% of the wealth and this is tolerated because 95% are poor, demoral-ized and scared, believing there is safety in obedience and just hoping for the best. Who does this benefit?

For an expanded essay on the history of Medical Racketeering go to: http://www. ahealedplanet.netmedicine.htm #devel-oping

Eco-Solutions By Lu Schilling

Holidays can be happy without plastic doodads that are gifts but wasteful mate-rialism. Be practical and not too hard on yourself. Recycle Ink and Toner Car-tridges

By Dottie Gerrits

Office Depot and Office Max will credit us with $3 in rewards for each qualifying ink and toner cartridges turned in.

Qualifying ink cartridges are HP, Dell, Lex-mark and Office Depot brand.

Qualifying toner cartridges are HP, Brother

Canon, Lexmark, Dell, Samsung and Office Depot brand.

Please place empty cartridges in the foyer closet basket on the shelf above the coat rack. Thanks! UUFDC Phone Tree

By Dottie Gerrits

UUFDC has a telephone calling tree used to alert members and friends of cancelled UU activities. The list will be posted on the bulletin board. If your name is missing and you want to be added, please contact Dottie Gerrits at 854-2964 or ger-rits@dcwis.com. Membership Committee Report

By Dottie Gerrits

Please give a warm welcome to our two newest members, David and Lois Murphy, They come to us from the Sturgeon Bay area and we are very happy to have them in our midst. An expanded bio and photo will appear in a future issue of UU Update.

It would be helpful if we would all wear our name tags regularly for their benefit and for those of us with bad memories. We have many new people attending our services with regularity and we (Helene) would be happy to make you a name tag, if you so desire. Call Dottie at 854-2964 or email gerrits@dcwis.com or Helene Di Iulio at 854-2312 or email helened@live.com.

Take Time to Reflect

By Henry David Thoreau

In winter we lead a more inward life. Our hearts are warm and cheery, like cottages under drifts, whose windows and doors are half concealed, but from whose chimneys the smoke cheerfully ascends... Lend a Hand

By Edward Everett Hale

I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something: And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

5 UU UPDATE January 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

6 Sam Carmen 8 Julia Bresnahan 12 Helen Taylor 13 Garrett Cohn 17 Ray Pfeiffer 18 John Lees 19 Carole Stein Jack van’t Hoog 21 Mitch Mitchell 30 Jane Aldrich Caring Committee

The Caring Committee coordinates as-sistance and support to UUFDC mem-bers who have a need. Please contact Helene Di Iulio (854-2312) until January 5th and Judy Wittenkeller, (839-2800) after that date if you have needs or know of others who do (if you have their permission). This includes meals, transportation, a visit, errands, house-hold chores or any other needs that would make your lives a bit easier. We are here to help! Fledgling UU Group Forms at Lawrence University

Recently five students, a LU professor, Unitarian Universalist minister Dottie Matthews and several members of the Fox Valley UU Fellowship sat on the comfortable furniture of the Colman lobby around a chalice - the symbol of Unitarian Universalism - and several battery-operated, fire-safe "candles." They shared joys and concerns, a read-ing, some cookies, and enthusiasm for their group, the Lawrence University Unitarian Universalist Student Group.

"I am not sure what direction the group will go in," admitted junior and student president Stacy Klemme, "but all of the d i r e c t i o n s l o o k p o s i t i v e . " Klemme began regularly attending the Fox Valley UU Fellowship, where she was approached by the Fellowship's

two ministers, the Reverend Dottie Mat-thews and the Reverend Roger Bertschausen, about starting a student group. "There is no right and wrong in Unitarian Universalism," Klemme ex-plained. "Well, there is -- it's just vaguer. The most important thing is to be respectful of other people's beliefs."

From the Lawrentian Student newspaper of Lawrence University. Thanks to Rik Warch, former LU president, for this item. How Does This Work?

By Marilyn Hansotia

Did you ever wonder how this newslet-ter is put together? Well, it is through the efforts of a whole village of folks who contribute their articles or an-nouncements. All that information comes initially to me by the 19th of each month. I coordinate all the pieces, so-licit others, write still other items of in-terest or relevance. From there it is all transferred electronically to Nancy Eriksson who puts all the pieces into the lovely presentation that we receive each month either electronically (preferred by us!) or by snail mail. Dottie Gerrits is the “address angel” keeping our email and postal mail lists updated.

If you have items you wish to include, please email the copy in its best form to me at mhansotia@charter.net by the 19th. The priority system works like this:

1. UUFDC activities 2. UUFDC events co-sponsored

with other organizations 3. Non-UUFDC items that may be

of interest to our members and friends.

Thanks for all the regular and occa-sional contributions. They create the patchwork quilt of who we are! The Sky is Low

By Emily Dickinson

The sky is low, the clouds are mean, A traveling flake of snow Across a barn or through a rut Debates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all day How some one had treated him; Nature, like us, is sometimes caught Without her diadem. Courage

By Andrew Jackson One man with courage makes a major-ity.

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Mailed Subscription: $15 per year Emailed Subscription: No charge

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Door County.

10341 Water St. Ephraim Mailing Address

P. O. Box 859 Sister Bay, WI 54234

Phone: 920-854-7559

Submit information to Marilyn Hansotia

mhansotia@charter.net Web page: uufdc.org

In this issue……...…… Emerson Event ..………... Page 3

UUFDC Calendar of Events

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

3

4 SS

Gallery (11-12:30)

5 Mah Jongg

Gallery (1-3)

6

7 Book Club

8

9 10

11 SS

Choir Re-hearsal Gallery

(11-12:30)

12 Mah Jongg

Gallery (1-3)

13 Governing

Board

14 15

16 17

18 SS

Car Pooling Gallery

(11-12:30)

19 Mah Jongg

Gallery (1-3)

20 Movies That

Matter

21

22

23 24

25SS Choir Re-

hearsal Gallery

(11-12:30)

26 Mah Jongg

Gallery The Big

Read

27 Emerson

Series

28 29 30 31

Sundays - 10:00: Service; 11:00: Gallery Open Mondays - 1:00 PM: Mah Jongg / Gallery Open (1 - 3) Wednesday, Jan. 7 - 1:00 PM: Book Club Sunday, Jan 11 - 8:15 AM: Choir Rehearsal Tuesday, Jan 13 - 4 PM: Governing Board Sunday, Jan. 18 - Car Pool-ing Tuesday, Jan 20 - 7 PM: Movies That Matter Sunday, Jan 25 - 8:15 AM: Choir Rehearsal Monday, Jan. 26 - 7 PM: “The Big Read” Readers Theatre Tuesday, Jan 27 - 7:30 PM: Emerson Series: Isadoora Theatre