Gay-Straight alliance forming in Valdosta:
An
organizational meeting of people interested in working toward safe schools,
a safe community, and equality for all people, will be held at the UU
church on Wed., Dec.
8, at 7:00 p.m. All people -
gay or straight - are invited to participate.
Your input and support are needed!
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Christmas Parade - come ride or see our cool UU float! The Greater Valdosta Community
Christmas Parade will be held Saturday, Dec. 4 - parade line up will occur at
3:30 in the VSU Oak St. Parking Lot, and the parade will begin at 5:00 p.m.
It will end at the large parking lot on S. Patterson, near Barnes Drug
and the overpass.
We have organized and built a great float to
represent the Unitarian Universalist Church! Lots of space for people to ride!
Call Albert or Delane Slone for more information.
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After the parade.... Games Night!
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Sat.,
Dec 4, 7:00 p.m. Call René
or Julie for more information.
Adopt-a-Stream
On Sunday, Dec. 12,
after the church service, we will take a canoe trip to explore our adopted section
of the Withlachoochee River. Bring a picnic lunch, and come prepared for an
outing at, in, and on the river. Please contact Jim Ingram or Tom Hallock for
more information on this project.
Yule
Celebration
The UU Youth Group
is planning to have a Yule Celebration on the Winter Solstice, Tuesday, Dec. 21,
at the church, starting at 6:00 p.m. Everyone is invited! Bring a covered dish to share, and be prepared
to spend some time outdoors in the evening. Bring sleeping bags if you wish to stay over night to greet the new
day! Call Chris Black at for more information.
A Going-Away
Party!
We will
bid farewell (but not goodbye...) to Carol Stiles, and Steve and Janet Andersen
at a party on Friday, Dec. 3. The party will be combined with a VSU Faculty Happy Hour, hosted by
Betty Derrick and Carol Stiles from 5-7 PM, at Betty’s home. UUers and other friends of Carol and Steve and
Janet are invited to come early and stay late.
Bring your own bottle and, if you're staying late, something to share to
eat. After the Happy Hour we'll roll out
the food and continue partying
Another Square Dance!
We had
such a great time at the square dance in November, everyone wants to do it again!
Albert, Delane, Fleming, and Eric Slone will host a party and square dance at
their home on Saturday, Dec. 11, potluck and bonfire beginning
at 6:30 p.m. No experience necessary to
square dance! Carol again will try to
help with the callin’ provided by tape recorded memories of Carol’s grandfather
Cecil Williams (1902 - 1984). Bring sleeping
bags and camping gear if you wish to spend the night.
Women’s Group
Join us for good food and great
company, the 1st and 3rd Tuesdayof
each month at 7:00 p.m. Bring a snack, ideas for discussion, or just yourself!
Contact Julie Halter for more
information.
Break
Bread Together
Our date for meal deliveries
with the Break Bread Together program is now the 2nd Monday of each
month. If you can deliver meals on this
day beginning about 11:00 a.m., please contact Virginia
Branan.
Religious
Education News
Youth
R.E.
- December schedule
Dec 5th
- Put up and trim UU Church Christmas tree, and enjoy holiday refreshments; 12pm
- attend Catholic folk mass, speak with Father afterwards (tentative - depending
on number of participants and transportation)
Dec
12th - Study earth-centered religion and help plan winter Solstice celebration
on Dec 21st
Dec
19th - Practice for Christmas musical program with Doug & Molly
Dec 26th - Practice and present Christmas
program as a part of the Sunday service, "Happy
Holidays UU Style."
A Note from Janet Andersen, RE Director:
Thank You, Thank You
For delivering
Break Bread Together meals last month: Diane Holliman and Virginia
Branan.
For helping
with the newsletter over the last few months: Virginia Branan, Janet Andersen, Diane Holliman For agreeing
to work with the newsletter in the future! Betty Derrick, Virginia Branan, Julie Halter,
and everyone else!
For organizing
and building a UU float for the Christmas Parade: Albert, Delane, Fleming and Eric Slone, Charles Judah,
Doug Fraser, Steve and Janet Andersen, Rene Kerr, Julie and Jason Halter,
Carol Stiles
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I have
enjoyed working with all of the UU young people these last five years.
I like the energy, spontaneity, and creativity, and it is interesting to
discover the new trends and tribulations of your
generation. I really miss my boys not being home anymore,
so thank you for sharing a small part of your lives with me.
I certainly hope to be able to keep up with your activities and future
life journeys. Steve and
I will be moving to Estes Park, Colorado, Dec. 15th. Come visit us in Colorado! Diane Holliman has volunteered
to take over Youth RE starting in January.
Please give her your support. She
will be contacting you about the RE program.
Diane has taught UU RE in Birmingham, Alabama.
-- Janet
Adult
R.E.is having discussions of various topics, current
issues, and so on. Beginning Dec. 5, we will discuss the proposed Bible history
courses for schools in Georgia (see article under “Issues of Note”). Contact
Charles Judah for more information.
New Year’s Eve Party and bonfire
at Julie and Sam Halter’s place, Friday, Dec. 31, 7 PM - until ?; plenty of floor
space to stay the night (bring a sleeping bag); bring a snack and BYOB.
News from Tallahassee UU:
The Rev.
Amy McKenzie Quinn will be formally installed as the settled minister
of the Unitarian Universalist church of Tallahassee with a special service on
Sunday, Jan.
9, 7:00 p.m. at the Tallahassee church. “Rev. Amy” and the Tallahassee UU Choir will be our featured guests
at our Sunday service on
Jan. 16.
At
the Church-in-the-Woods:
A Course In Miracles,Wednesday
evenings. Call Robert Dixon.
Cardio Karate - Tuesdays and
Fridays, 7:00 - 8:15 pm. Call Albert
and Delane Slone.
Tai Chi , Monday and Thursday evenings,
Dennis Bogyo or Luana Goodwin .
Member
Profiles
Our profiles this month
focus on three members who will be leaving Valdosta for points west (Estes Park,
CO) and south (Gainesville, FL). Think
of this, not as a loss to the congregation, but as expanding our ever-interdependent
web.... (and to those who have already moved from Valdosta who are reading this,
I bet the future newsletter editor could use some news from you!)
Steve Andersen was born and raised in Edgebrook, just outside of Chicago. He attended the Chicago Arts Institute, the Univ.
of Illinois, and received degrees from Southern Illinois Univ. (BFA) and the Univ.
of Colorado (MFA, Ceramics).
Janet Andersen was born and raised in Plainfield, NJ, just outside New York City.
She was graduated from Univ. of Colorado (BA, Geography), and from Sul
Ross State Univ. (MA, European History), and later completed the Registered Nurse
(RN) program at Abraham Baldwin College.
Steve and Janet met at the end of a rope ascent
at the Colorado Univ. Mountain Climbing School in Boulder, and were married two
years later in 1968. They have lived and
worked in Colorado, Montana, Alaska, Australia, South Dakota, Yorkshire, England,
Texas, and Valdosta.
Steve has taught art and ceramics in junior high
to university level for 35 years; Janet stayed home to raise their three sons,
and has done volunteer work with many different groups; for the last 12 years
she taught geography, worked as a travel agent, and now works as a registered
nurse in home health care.
Their life challenges have included raising three
boys, first ascents of mountains in Peru and Alaska, biking from Colorado to Mexico,
crewing on the Australian replica of Capt. Cook’s square rigger, the Endeavor,
and organizing a successful campaign to stop oil drilling in Katchamok Bay, Alaska.
(Those of us who know the Andersens realize this is just a short list of
their many adventures and activities!)
Janet discovered UU during her high school years
from two friends who were members of the very large UU Church in Plainfield, NJ.
Steve’s first exposure to UUism was in Boulder in the mid-‘60’s.
Their first opportunity for UU affiliation together was in Sitka, Alaska,
in 1972. It has been an important part
of their lives ever since. Their three
sons, Tor (26) and twins, Lief and Soren (24) were all “named” in UU churches
in Seattle and Boulder, respectively. Steve and Janet have served UU-Valdosta in various
offices and committee chairs, including vice-president, president, and RE director.
The Andersens leave us with this message:
“We will miss all of you! The saddest part of moving is leaving the church.
We think the Valdosta UU is a great church and has been a wonderful part
of our lives in Valdosta. Please keep in touch and you are always welcomed
to visit us in our new home in Colorado!”
Steve and Janet
Andersen
Carol Stiles grew up near the small town of Spring Hill, KS, just outside of Kansas
City. She attended the Univ. of South
Dakota/Springfield (AAS), South Dakota State Univ. (BS), the Univ. of Illinois
(MS), and Washington State Univ. (Ph.D., Plant Pathology). She lived and worked for two years in the Pinelands
of New Jersey, doing research for Rutgers University on cranberry fruit rot, before
moving to Valdosta in 1996, where she teaches in the Dept. of Biology at VSU.
She will be switching to turfgrass and teaching various plant pathology
courses at the Univ. of Florida starting in January.
Carol first heard about UU while in Illinois,
but being rather busy with graduate school, softball and volleyball, she didn’t
connect with a UU church until it became apparent she really
had moved to the deep South. Her first
UU contact here in Valdosta was to drive by the old church on Ashley St., which
had a ‘for sale’ sign, and then to call the UU phone number, which was answered
by an architect’s office! Nonetheless
she persisted, and made it to a service a few weeks later, attended by about five
other people, in fall 1996. In the spring
of 1997, she took over as newsletter editor, and actually joined the church in
April 1998. As she tells her friends up
north and west, UU-Valdosta “is an oasis....”
Carol’s hobbies include genealogy and travel
(she has relatives everywhere!). Among
her accomplishments, she counts becoming somewhat of an “accidental activist”
(again, that move to the deep south....)
She invites you all to visit her in Gainesville,
perhaps to visit the UU Church there!
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A Note from the (outgoing) Editor:
Introducing our new newsletter team!
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The following individuals have agreed to carry
on with the newsletter; please give them all the support you can by jotting down
items of interest and sending them to the new editor, Betty Derrick, whenever you think
of them! You can also help with photocopying
and mailing, etc., by contacting Virginia Branan.
Editor: Betty Derrick
Production: Virginia Branan,
Membership database: Doug Fraser,
Website: Carol Stiles, Julie Halter, and
Earl
Daniels (now of Macon, GA)
Due to the holiday and my move to Gainesville,
please have submissions to Betty no later than
Dec. 15,
for the January issue. Thanks again to
all of you for your support over the last few years!
Regards,
Carol Stiles
Issues
of Note:
The Georgia
State Board of Education’s proposed curriculum includes three courses that would
cover the Bible in history and science. The three courses are: (1) a Virtual High School course to be taught
through the Internet entitled “Scientific and Religious Perspectives on Life and
Intelligence;” (2) “History of the Old Testament;” and (3) “History of the New
Testament.”
The Georgia State Attorney General recently issued
a ruling which indicates the courses might not be constitutional (Valdosta Daily Times, 23 Nov. 1999). Some state legislators
plan to introduce legislation mandating that the courses be offered.
Join us for a discussion of these and related issues during Adult R.E., 9:30 a.m. each Sunday beginning Dec.
5.
UU
Activities and Announcements “Celebrate
the Millenium”at UU
in the Pines, Dec. 29 - Jan.
1
or at S.W.I.M..
(Southeast Winter Institute in Miami) Dec. 26 - Jan.
1, 2000
