Weekly Communicator

Weekly Communicator

July 28, 2022

Sunday Service

Join us this Sunday, July 31st in Hobart Hall at 10:30 AM for our Annual Blessing of the Animals Service. All well-behaved pets are welcome. If you have a shy or aggressive pet, a photo may be brought in and placed on our altar. There will also be an opportunity to honor pets that have passed on, so you may bring a photo of that loved one, as well. We will also be

streaming this service live on Zoom -- see link below. This is our weekly Sunday service- there will be no other service in the Sanctuary on July 31st at 10:30 AM.

Join us this Sunday at 10:30am in Hobart Hall or via Zoom

https://zoom.us/j/5264858673

or listen to audio only at UUCFM.org

Please send all newsletter articles by

12pm Wednesday for publication in Thursday's newsletter.

Send articles to newsletter@uucfm.org

**Please do not send requests to the office manager email**

Covid Protocol Update

The efficacy of vaccines and treatments has significantly reduced Covid’s danger for most of us. As a result, the protocols for campus events have been revised:

Masks will continue to be required in the sanctuary during worship services.
Masks are optional for coffee and other functions in Hobart Hall.
In the library, classrooms, and other small spaces, masks are required UNLESS everyone present agrees otherwise. We’ll continue to be respectful and protective of those of us whose immunity is impaired.
Worship services will continue to be available on Zoom.

Although the Covid risk level will continue to fluctuate, I’m sure all of us hope the worst of the pandemic is behind us. We’ll continue to monitor the risk and change the guidelines as needed to protect our congregation.

Please reach out to me with any questions at UUCFMPresident@UUCFM.org.

Namaste,

Mary Studer

President, Board of Trustees

Friendly Reminder

As we return to having more activities on campus, we want to remind you to leave spaces in the same or better condition than you found them. This includes cleaning up after yourselves, turning off lights and fans, and locking doors. Thank you!

Campus Grounds

A lot of hard work was done by the Scouts and a small group of congregants and gardeners. We cleaned up and mulched in front of the Sanctuary, the Memorial Garden and near Hobart Hall, removed dead palm fronds from the courtyard, and mowed between rows of the community garden. Thanks to Judy Burget, Linda Bradford, and Holley Rauen for joining us in this work.

IT’S TIME FOR RADICAL HOSPITALITY

We will soon welcome Reverend Sue Gabrielson to UUCFM. She will be traveling from Costa Rica several times during her tenure with us. We want to extend UUCFM RADICAL HOSPITALITY to her when we she visits in person. We have the following opportunities for members to consider as we plan for these visits. Please read the information below and sign up for one or all of the options. Contact Helen Leddy and indicate your preferences and availability.

Home Hospitality: Overnight accommodations including breakfast

If you have a bedroom and private bath available, can provide breakfast for several mornings, and can allow space in your refrigerator for guest supplies, please let Helen know. You may not get much advance notice. You will need to provide a parking space for an additional vehicle as Rev. Sue will have a car. Please understand, too, that Rev. Sue will be here in a professional capacity and may seek privacy.

Hosts: Members who wish to provide meals for Rev. Sue during her stay

If you are unable to provide home hospitality but would like to entertain Rev. Sue for a meal (in or out of your home), please let Helen know. Rev. Sue may choose to request that the meal be prepared and presented to her for solo eating.

Sharing your favorite restaurants, sights to see, and other interesting facts about Fort Myers and the surrounding area

Rev. Sue will want to know more about the Fort Myers area. We can help by providing information about our favorite restaurants, sights to visit, theaters, music, and other interesting facts about the larger Ft Myers community. Please send your selections to Helen.

Thank you for being willing to provide radical hospitality as we welcome Rev. Sue.

Volunteer Opportunities

There are multiple volunteer opportunities available. If you would like to help out, please reach out to one of the following people:

Sunday Social Hour Kitchen Help contact Dorothy Van Howe

Sunday Tech Team contact Walter Peterson

Brewer Family Gardens contact Bonnie Jean Clancy

Band/choir contact Suellen Kipp

Special Community Sharing for July 31st

Gulf Coast Humane Society is a not-for-profit, no-kill, animal welfare organization established as the first non-profit animal welfare organization in Southwest Florida in 1947. They rely solely on donations, grants, bequests and fundraising events to further their mission of caring for the neglected and abandoned pets of Southwest Florida.

Their mission is to provide humane care for surrendered animals by offering refuge, providing medical care, and facilitating an adoptive home. Each year they take in more than 3,000 animals to find a forever home through adoption. Additionally, their spay/neuter clinic performs nearly 9,000 surgeries per year to help with our community’s overpopulation problem.

To help animals already in homes, they have over 15,000 patient visits to their wellness clinic and operate a robust pet food pantry, both efforts to keep families together.

If you cannot attend in person, you can still donate by mailing a check to the office with "community sharing" in the subject line, or by using the "donate" button on the website and marking it "community sharing".

Volunteer of the Month

Long before officially becoming a member, Bonnie Jean Clancy has been donating her time, energy, and Master Gardener gifts to UUCFM. Part of our Ministry for Earth, Bonnie Jean has worked tirelessly to improve all of the grounds, from end-to-beautiful-bountiful-end. She took over the challenging (and often thankless) work of managing the Community Garden, and has organized several work days both with the Scouts and with the Guardians of the Gardens. You can find her out there in the heat and humidity nearly every day, often harvesting contributions for food banks and other charities. We are so very lucky to have Bonnie Jean Clancy in our congregational life!

Embracing the 8th Principle:

Actions That Dismantle Oppression

A series of conversations about oppression, from 4:00-5:30pm on Mondays, via Zoom. We are using the book Is Everyone Really Equal? by Oslem Sensoy & Robin DiAngelo as a basis for our discussions, with recommendations of other optional readings for those who wish to dive more deeply into each week’s topics.

We hope that you will join us on this journey. Contact Cat Pivetti for information and links.

Poetry Circle

Come, come, Poets and Lovers of Poetry!

We read and discuss in detail a variety of poems, often related to our UU experience, usually centered around a weekly theme. Members share their own work for discussion as well, if they want to, but you do not need to be a writer to join. We offer weekly prompts, although there is no obligation to follow them.

This is an ongoing Zoom group. New members can join at any time, and we really hope you will. Contact Judi Dettorre or Cat Pivetti for more information.

We meet every other Tuesday from 1-3pm.

Newcomers - Continuing Discussion Group

Sunday, August 7

11:45am-1:15pm - Room 2

Marge Gonzalez facilitates conversations with visitors and newer members about Unitarian Universalism.

Bring your own sack lunch if desired. (Mark the sack with your name if stored in kitchen ‘fridge during Services.)

Questions? Contact judyburget@gmail.com

Monday Book Club

The Monday Book Club will meet on August 8 to begin discussion of its new book, The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality. Contact Mary Studer for details.

November trip to Guatemala

Summer work continues with building a berm on the Shetland Avenue border for perennials and cleaning up and covering (with plants or hay) abandoned beds.