Board President’s Notes

by Will Aitcheson

I am writing to you this month in order to celebrate all the great things that happened since my last note. First, let’s warmly welcome our five new members; Xanath Bailey, Rick and Karen Haas, Miranda Kyhill, and Beverly Lavick. Our sincere hope is that you feel we are a part of you the way we feel that you are now a part of us. 

Second, we continue to enjoy our monthly Pot Lucks. This month we had discussions regarding legal and ethical political action that our congregation can and is encouraged to participate in. Related to this was an affirmation of our UU principle regarding conscience and the use of democratic process within our Congregation and in society at large. To this end we are constituting a committee to review our bylaws and recommend changes as necessary. We also talked about continuing to plan to rehabilitate the land on the south side of our building. There was a consensus that the use of that land should be economically feasible, ecologically responsible and sustainable and easy to maintain. We were given an update how and why it is so difficult to find a tenant for our rental space. Basically, the local real estate market is inundated with vacant commercial property. Nevertheless, we will continue our search for appropriate tenants for the space. We are changing our strategy in order to consider renting a portion of the space as well as the entire space. Finally, we talked about setting up a Care Circle for Nancy Corliss. Anyone interested in participating in this circle, please contact me by phone, email, or in person. 

I want to say how very grateful I am to all those who participated in our fundraising Italian Dinner event on Oct. 5th. Essentially the whole congregation had a part to play in this activity’s success. That participation started with the creative and logistically effective planning by the fundraising committee, followed by meal preparation planning by Sally, moved to the many volunteers who did the preparation and set up which includes the food service expertise of Scott Sires which helped us immensely. The beautiful music making of Ray, Michelle and Bob was as sweet as the pie ala mode for dessert. Then there are all those who came to share the dinner, and the many people who cleaned up afterwards. Similarly, I would like to thank and acknowledge the great work done by all our other committees: worship, social action, building and grounds, membership and hospitality, and finance, as well as the ad hoc committees for bylaws and our south side grounds project. Everyone in these committees, through their hard work and devotion, put the love in our Beloved Community and they serve with love and compassion.

Finally, I again call your attention to the minutes of our recent October Board meeting. You will find that what is discussed at our Pot Luck dinner is discussed and acted upon at the Board meeting, and vice versa. This is as it should be. May it always be so.