Thursday, July 17, 2014

John Henry's Hammer Concert - Saturday, August 2

Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards and The Hip Swayers  
August 2nd Concert at the 1st Unitarian Church 
Enjoy an evening of classic country and folk tunes sure to delight!


- Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards are a folk duo from Massachusetts whose songs resonate with the love of Americana and old country music, commanding familiar traditional melodies and poignant, introspective lyrics, and backing them with delicate arrangements on ukulele, clarinet, guitar and banjo.

- the Hip Swayers aka "the chick with the bass and the dude" play upbeat, fun, classic country & rockin' Americana -  "These performers from Worcester, Massachusetts are not to be missed! A bit of Hank Williams sensibility, Carter/Cash authenticity, and infectious personality."  SF Station - San Francisco's City Guide

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Summer Weekly Schedule

Church Office Hours:
Monday - Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Closed on Fridays
Please call the church office in advance if you need access to the
building. Staff takes vacation during this time. 

Every Monday throughout the summer: 
5:30 p.m. Meditation Group will continue to meet throughout the summer in the Chapel.  
(No Monday Night Fellowship Dinner during the Summer)

On Wednesdays throughout the summer: 
7:30 p.m. Tibetan Teachings 
In the Bancroft Room.

On Thursdays throughout the summer: 
6:30 p.m. Kundalini Yoga
In the Chapel.

Sundays throughout the summer:
9:00 a.m. Court Hill Singers Rehearsal
In the Bancroft Room.

10:30 a.m. Worship
In the Bancroft Room

Friday, May 30, 2014

Summer Garden Tours 2014 - Part 2

Summer 2014 Garden Tours
July through August


Summer Sunday tours of church members' and friends' gardens are back! Join us any Sunday afternoon (except June 8) from 1:30 to 3:30 to relax in a beautiful setting in good company.  If rain threatens, we cross our fingers and hope it will clear at the critical time. Questions? Call Kris Johnson at 508-796-5969.



  
Sunday, July 6 - Jim Dolan, 769 Grove St., Worcester. From church take Harvard St. past the Art Museum, turn left briefly on Salisbury St. and then first right onto Grove. It winds around past Indian Lake and becomes Rt. 122A.  769 is almost in Holden directly in front of the St. Peter's-Marian High School.

Sunday, July 13 - Barbara Engwall, 22 Vincent Ave., Worcester.  From church take Highland St. and turn left onto Park Ave. by Price Chopper. Near Webster Square turn right by Commerce bank onto Lovell St.. Pass school and turn left onto Columbus. At hilltop make 3 immediate turns:right, left, right onto Vincent Ave.

Sunday, July 20 - The Gustavsons, 82 Uncatena Ave., Worcester. From church take Lincoln St. under 290 uphill and bear left onto Burncoat St. where they fork. Cross 290, straight past Burncoat schools to light by convenience store: turn right. Uncatena will be a left a little way downhill by the very tall hedge. #82 is on left just after you turn.

Sunday, July 27 - The Keatings, 983 Pleasant St., Worcester.  From church take Highland St. to Newton Square rotary: more or less straight through, still on Pleasant. Watch for 983 on right before Tatnuck Sq.

Sunday, Aug. 3 - Red Barn, Shrewsbury St., Holden. From church take Grove St. out of Worcester past Indian Lake and stay straight/bearing left.  It becomes 122A.  At lights and shopping plaza near Holden Ctr. turn right onto Shrewsbury St. and watch for Red Barn sign on left.

Sunday,  Aug. 10 - The Riggs, 337 Salisbury St., Holden. From church take Salisbury St. towards Holden, past Salisbury Green on right. Approx. 2 miles late see #337 on left.

Sunday, Aug. 17 - The Miricks,160 Mirick Rd. Princeton. From church get to Lincoln Sq. and take 290 East briefly to 190 North. Take exit 5 and turn left onto Rt. 140. Follow winding country road to blinking light and turn left onto Rt. 62 and later right into Rt. 130 (before Princeton Ctr.)  Go past Merriam Rd. to 2nd left onto Mirick. Go approx. 1.5 miles, past Beaman Rd. and uphill to house with big red barn on left. Park by barn.


Sunday, Aug. 24 - The Triple Crown on Crown Hill! (3 gorgeous gardens) 7, 5, and 2 Congress St.,Worcester. LIMITED ON-STREET PARKING - CARPOOLS ENCOURAGED.  From church take Highland St. to left onto Harvard/Lynden up and downhill to lights by All Saints Church: turn right onto Pleasant. Turn left onto Crown at hilltop and immediate right onto Congress.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Ferry Beach Registration Form

Ferry Beach Registration Form
September 12th -14th 2014
(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON)
You are invited to attend our Ferry Beach 2014 weekend, a getaway for our UU church community to the beautiful sandy shore of Saco, Maine.  We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend of relaxation, laughter, good conversation and great food.  Come enjoy the fun, play games, walk the beach, take a hike, or simply sit on the porch by the beach with a good book or a good friend.  
Ferry Beach is a UU camp and conference center located on the beach in Saco, Maine.  It offers dorm-style rooms with bunks in the buildings and camping for tents or campers in Hersey Grove.  Delicious meals are catered and include a variety of foods to suite every dietary need.  
Your cost to lodge in a dorm for the weekend includes 4 delicious meals and is:
Adults and children 13 +        $100
Children 5-12                        $80
Children 2-4                        $50
Children under 2 are                 Free
Camping in Hersey Grove is $35 per site plus the cost of food
Adults and children 13+        $50
Children 5-12                        $30
Children under 5 eat                Free
Your registration form and complete payment must be received by June 15th.   Please make checks payable to: UU Church of Worcester.  Cancellations with full refunds are available on or before August 1, 2013.  Thereafter, you may only receive a refund if someone takes your place.  Please complete the attached Ferry Beach form as soon as possible and return it to us at church or mail to:
Maya Desai (from UUCW)
c/o UUCW
90 Holden St.
Worcester, MA 01606
 Laura Kirshenbaum (from First U)
34 Cedar Rd.
Holden, MA 01520
Any special requests must also be sent or emailed on our Ferry Beach form before June 15th so we can accommodate you.  If you have questions about the weekend, please contact our coordinators:
Maya Desai & Sean Divoll, UU Church of Worcester (Holden Street)
508-853-2422 divolls@verizon.net
Shannon & Laura Kirshenbaum, First Unitarian Church of Worcester (downtown) 508-210-0657 laurakirshenbaum@gmail.com
Ferry Beach Registration Form -- September 12th -14th 2014
(FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY AFTERNOON)
Family Name____________________________________________________________
Address_______________________________________________________________
Home Phone #:_________________________ Cell Phone #:_____________________
Email___________________________________________
List Names of participants and ages (if you wish to share, it helps with planning):
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Pricing:
Complete if staying in the DORM        or                   Complete if CAMPING
$100 x____ = ______(adults & 13+)                            Per site = $35.00/weekend
$80 x____ = ______        (5-12yr)                                                plus meals
$50 x ____ = ______ (2-4yr)         $50 x ____ =_____ (adults & 13+)
             Under 2 free                                                $30 x ____ =_____ (5-12yr)
                              Under 5 kids eat free
TOTAL      = $ _________
Please make checks payable to UU Church of Worcester with memo noting “Ferry Beach”.  The registration deadline is June 15th.
MEALS:         
Meal Category
# of adults
# of kids
Standard Meal
Vegetarian Meal
Vegan Meal
Gluten Free Meal
Other dietary needs:_____________________________________________________
Accommodation Requests:
Roommate request?_____________________________________________________
Do you have any special circumstances that require 1st floor accommodations or other special concerns?________________________________________________________
Activities:
____Yes, I would love to run/help with the music for the bonfire.
____Yes, I would love to run/help out with an activity with the kids.
____Yes, I would be interested in running an activity for adults.
PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM WITH YOUR CHECK BY JUNE 15th!!

Your check should be made out to UUCW with Ferry Beach in the memo.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

DeWitt Clinton and Amos Eaton

DeWitt Clinton and 
Amos Eaton 
Geology and Power in Early New York                   
by David I. Spanagel
David I. Spanagel explores the origins of American geology and the culture that helped give it rise, focusing on Amos Eaton, the educator and amateur scientist who founded the Rensselaer School, and on DeWitt Clinton, the masterful politician who led the movement for the Erie Canal. DeWitt Clinton and Amos Eaton shows how a cluster of assumptions about the peculiar landscape and entrepreneurial spirit of New York came to define the Empire State.

Spanagel sheds light on a particularly innovative and fruitful period of interplay among science, politics, art, and literature in American history. New Yorkers' romantic views of natural majesty and ideas about improving the land influenced scientific ideas and other features of contemporary culture. The life of Amos Eaton provides a lens through which readers gain fresh awareness of scientific knowledge, economic planning, and cultural values during the first half of the nineteenth century. Scientists of the time were fascinated by questions such as: How old is the earth? When did time begin? How might the passage of time have shaped and reshaped the original landscape?

In the United States, New Yorkers of the mid-1820s mounted the most concerted effort to find answers to these large questions of natural history. Both geographic conditions and historical forces led Amos Eaton and his wealthy patron Stephen Van Rensselaer to open the Rensselaer School at Troy, New York, in 1826. Eaton thus gave America its first generation of professional scientists, many of whom formed professional organizations and standards of practice still active today.


David I. Spanagel teaches history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014
288 pp., 7 halftones, 3 line drawings
Hardcover book, list price $54.95

Monday, March 24, 2014

All Circles Lunch After Worship - Sunday, March 30

What are the Caring Circles?
A roughly geographic way of connecting congregants with each other. We are then more able to help one another in a time of need, say a ride to church or to a doctors'a appointment, perhaps food after illness or a new baby.  

How do I participate?
Everyone who is active in the church, member and nonmembers, are invited to be in a circle. You may also invite a friend who is interested in the church to participate in your circle. No one is excluded. We meet socially to get to know one another.  

What is an all-circle lunch?
After worship we will sit together in our circles for a light potluck lunch.  We have recently merged from nine to six total circles, and we are now named by color.  You should have information from your circle leaders regarding your new color-name, and if you have moved to a different circle.  Circles 6 and 7 are now merged into other circles.  

Please refer to the circle leaders list below to help you know your new circle color, and feel free to dress in your circle color this Sunday.

Please bring potluck food to share if you are able.  If you are having a super busy weekend, just come, there is typically plenty of food!

Caring Circle Leaders List March 2014

Don Rawding , Caring Community Leader: Correspondence
(notify Don if you know of someone in need of a card from the church)

Circle 2 ==> now the Yellow Circle
Paul Kelly            508-792-9661       pkrlly@bancroftschool.org
David Blodgett    508-340-1041       blogettdavid@gmail.com

Circle 3===> now the Red Circle
Diane Mirick       978-464-2313       dkmirick@verizon.net
Joan Russo                                     thekeddygroup@msn.com

Circle 4====> now the Green Circle
Jean McInerney  508-753-2639       jemcinerney@verizon.net
Fran Nase           508-799-7607       frannase@charter.net
Sue Stanley          508-688-9722       Rodsue@att.global.net
Nancy Coppolino  508-517-0191     ncoppolino@verizon.net

Circle 5==> now the Purple Circle
Marjorie Connelly  508-277-0104    marjorieconnelly@gmail.com
Danna Peterson  508-842-0494       dannapeterson@townisp.com
Peter Gray          508-740-7968       grayp@bc.edu
Hari Kirin Kaur Khalsa 774-287-2233    dmpinge@gmail.com

(Circle 6 & Circle 7 are now merged into other circles.  If you are not sure what circle you are in, contact Hari Kirin, Vivian, Marjorie, or Rick)

Circle 8==>now the Blue Circle
Vivian Shortreed   508-799-9750     vhshortreed@gmail.com
Rick & Madeline Silva 508-799-9456   avlis@aol.com

Circle 9 + 10 =è now the Orange Circle
Lee Bona            508-353-0366       leebona@verizon.net
Ted Messier        508-852-8122       tamessier@charter.net
Liz Gustavson      508-852-0814       gustavsonliz@hotmailcom

Bernadette Nelson 508-853-8023    nelsonbmn2@gmail.com

Monday, March 17, 2014

How First U Helps Homeless Youth

How Did Our Church Help A Teenager Living in the Woods?

John ran away from his home in the Midwest when he was 17 years old and came to Worcester to meet a friend. With no job and no money, John lived “in the woods” in Worcester. A Stand Up For Kids-Worcester volunteer found John on the streets of Worcester and this began their relationship. John’s wish was to return to high school, but because he didn’t know where he was born, did not have his previous school records and did not have a local address, he was refused acceptance when he tried to enter school on his own. Stand Up For Kids-Worcester helped John get his birth certificate, located his previous school records, provided him meals, helped him find a place to live and he returned to school. A year later, John graduated from high school on the Dean’s list. John is 20 years old today, lives with his girlfriend and her mother in Worcester, and is currently attending college part time in a pre-med program.

How did First Unitarian help?

Our Church was one of the founders of Jericho Road-Worcester who, in turn, assisted Stand Up For Kids – Worcester.  Here’s how we were able to be a part of the help John received:

  • Our Church was one of the founders of Jericho Road-Worcester who, in turn, assisted Stand Up For Kids – Worcester. Here’s how we were able to be a part of the help John received:
  • First Unitarian, along with First Baptist and Unitarian Universalist Churches of Worcester are sponsors of Jericho Road-Worcester (JRW), an affiliate of the Jericho Road Project, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. JRW matches the professional skills of our volunteers with more than 30 nonprofit organizations in the greater Worcester community
  • Stand Up For Kids-Worcester is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization and is run entirely by volunteers who find homeless and alone kids in the Worcester community and help them improve their lives. They needed some help.
  • A member of our Church and JRW board member (Joan Russo), provided management coaching to Stand Up For Kids-Worcester’s Executive Director and helped create their first Executive Board.
  • Our Church recently designated Stand Up For Kids-Worcester as one of our 50/50 plate collection recipients.  Our generous donations contributed over $1600 to the homeless children of Worcester.
  • Inspired by both JRW and Stand Up For Kids-Worcester’s mission, another member of our church (Lisa Siciliano) designated Stand Up For Kids-Worcester as this year’s non-profit recipient of a portion of sales of her original artwork at Sparkreations.


If you are interested in being a volunteer with JRW or making a monetary contribution please contact Jolene Jennings, the JRW Director at jjennings@jerichoroadproject.org  or visit our webpage at www.jerichoroadproject.org/Worcester


If being a member of the JRW Board is of interest to you, please speak to Jeanine Beratta or Joan Russo.