Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Church Yard Sale This Saturday, October 3rd


Yard Sale – October 3
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Saturday is our yard sale! We’re counting on a successful sale to help balance the Church’s 2009 budget. We need stuff to sell and volunteers to help!

Donations: Clean out your attic and garage! Make room in your closets and cupboards! If it’s useful, bring it in! We cannot accept items that would cost money for disposal (old TVs, computer monitors, mattresses, etc) but almost anything else can go into the sale. You can drop things off Sunday, September 27, or from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday October 1 and Friday Oct 2. ITEMS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED ON THE DAY OF THE YARD SALE, OCT 3rd.


Clothing Tools
Dishes and glasses Kitchen utensils
Lamps Sports equipment
DVDs and CDs Books
Smaller Furniture Vases
Picnic Tables Lawn furniture
Toys Bicycles
Radios CD players
Knicknacks Garden things
And anything else that could be useful!

Please make sure your item is clean, in working order, and please place a price tag on it with your suggested price. We’re going to sort and mark everything and welcome your suggestions!

Consignments: Do you have some things that are more valuable than the usual yard sale offerings, that you’d like to sell and make a little money for yourself as well as the Church? Bring them, marked with a price (and a reserve price in case we need to bargain). We’ll put on a special label, sell them for you, and return to you 80% of the proceeds. BUT we need you to plan to stop by after Church on October 4 and retrieve anything that did not sell.

Rent a Table: Do you want to sell your own stuff? Or sell crafts? For a $25 contribution to the Church, we’ll give you a table. You keep all your proceeds.

And Please Volunteer!


Set Up and Marking. This will be Thursday, October 1, and Friday, October 2, in Unity Hall, from 5:00 until 8:00 or so. We need to help unload cars, set up tables, sort and organize stuff, and price and mark it. Come an hour or the entire evening!

Selling. We need cashiers, runners, and helpers from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 3. Actually, we need the first shift to show up at 8:00 a.m. to open up and to deal with the inevitable early birds who come to yard sales. We’d like you to commit for 2-hour shifts – but you can stay longer if you want! We really want to have 3-4 people available at all times.

And then on Sunday, October 4, there will be a “make me an offer” opportunity to sell anything that’s left over. We need a couple of people before and after Church.

Advertising. We’re advertising the yard sale in the newspapers and on the Church website, and we’re coordinated with Wesley Methodist which is holding a yard sale on the same day. But there’s no such thing as “enough” advertising. Take a flyer, and post it on your bulletin board at work or in the grocery store. Send flyers to friends – through the postal service or by e-mail. Get the word out! The more people who come, the more successful the yard sale will be.
Please see Joonu Coste or John Mirick to sign up as a volunteer. We have some coverage for everything, but coverage is a little skimpy in a couple of times. With lots of volunteers this will be a fun project!

225th Anniversary News

225th Anniversary Happenings

First Unitarian Church will celebrate its 225th anniversary in 2010. Event planning to honor this milestone is underway. One way YOU can get involved is with 225 ACTS OF KINDNESS. If you did not get a little "acts of kindness" notebook at the Opportunity Fair, stop by the Welcome Table and pick one up. Here's how it works. Just mark down 225 individual acts of kindness in your little book during our celebration year. What you mark down can be just a number, date or the specific act of kindness. The act can be anything from picking up a piece of trash, letting a car in ahead of you, relieving your spouse of a chore, sending a check to charity, etc. The idea is to be aware, take note and mark your book. So, if 225 people complete 225 acts of kindness, that’s 50,625 good deeds, done as a gift for and in celebration of First Unitarian Church’s 225th Anniversary. It might be fun to share your entries with family members. Children can participate too!

225th Anniversary Theme Ideas

We are looking for a theme to capture the spirit of our church’s 225th Anniversary Year. What has sustained us so far, what will sustain us for another 225 years? We are asking you to help us by posting your brief theme idea on a 3"x5" card to be found on the Welcome Table in the Bancroft Room. Or you can email them to office@firstunitarian.com

Monday Night At the Church October 5, 2009

Come join us on Monday night, October 5th, at 7:30 p.m. in the Bancroft Room for the first session of a new monthly program series with poets associated with the Worcester County Poetry Association. Readers will be Carle Johnson, who taught for many years at Worcester's Vocational High School, and Laura Menides, Emeritus Professor of English at WPI. They will be reading their own work and discussing how Worcester poets Elizabeth Bishop and Stanley Kunitz influenced their work.

For a sample of the poets work go to http://www.firstunitarian.com/PDF4Display/WCPA_OCTOBER_5_BROADSIDE.pdf

Monday Night at the Church begins at 5:30 p.m. with an hour of Zen (meditation) practice in the Chapel. Come BE with us in the intimate silence - no experience necessary! The centerpiece of MNATC is of course Ken Waugh and friends’ fellowship dinner. Come join us for a home cooked meal among good company. Childcare is available every Monday night. All are welcome.

Wheel of Life October 3, 2009

A memorial Service for Susan Elizabeth Langley, age 54, was held in our sanctuary on Saturday, September 26th. The Rev. Barbara Merritt conducted the service.

FPN is Back!

The For "People" That Need It group is back. Their first meeting is scheduled for Sunday, October 4th at 12:30 p.m. in the Chapel. This will be a planning session to determine which cause(s) they will focus on this year.

FPN welcomes all children and adults who care about people in need, including homeless "people" of all species, endangered species, and those adversely affected by damage to the environment.

Sacred Writings Oct. 4, 2009

This opportunity for spiritual reflection is held on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. Each week we discuss and reflect upon a selection chosen by a member of our church community. Is there a piece of writing that inspires or encourages you, a piece that touches you in a way that is sacred to you? Please let us know and share it with us in an hour of spiritual reflection and exploration. Everyone is welcome to join us when the spirit, or the writing moves you to be with us. You will find the whole selection on our new blog: http://90mainstreet.com/sacred/ Rev. Merritt leads the group. Childcare is provided.

Bible As Literature

Sundays at noon, after the coffee hour, in the Mirick Room, a few of us meet to read the Bible. The Bible was once the foundation of Western civilization and is still a revealing book for searchers. We are currently reading Proverbs, which, after chapter 9, hardly mentions God. Some proverbs ended up as Jesus' parables. We occasionally consult works of Biblical criticism, but basically we just open the Bible and read. Then we reflect on what the words mean to us. Result is quite a nice reflection on liberal religion. We are looking for another five people.
-Joseph

Circle Suppers

Parishioners are invited to sign up for monthly circle suppers (except December). We have 13 people so far but could use 30. Sign up in the Dining Room. The suppers are occasions for small groups (of 8) to meet. One will host and the others contribute potluck. We share our homes and favorite foods. I am collecting recipes for a recipe book! Conversation around the table usually turns to religion and to Unitarianism; thus we build the community. Everybody does not have to host. Singles welcome. -Joseph