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UUFSMA Newsletter August 26, 2019
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The Mission of this Fellowship is to serve the spirit as each individual understands it; to serve the educational and pastoral needs of our own community; and to serve our multicultural community through actions that further social justice.
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The next Board of Directors meeting is Thursday, September 12 at 1:00 PM. If you are interested in attending, please contact Board President, John Simsarian at jcsimsarian@yahoo.com. |
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Bonney McDowell grew up in New York City. She attended Smith College, did some graduate work in Michigan and some more back in New York, and ended up with a Master’s degree in Mathematics as well as both a Master’s and a PhD in Musicology.
After teaching music for 10 years at City College of New York, Bonney decided that she would rather be a medical doctor. So, she attended Albert Einstein School of Medicine and then spent four years at Yale training for her specialty, Obstetrics and Gynecology, in which she worked the rest of her career in and around New Haven, Connecticut.
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Bonney and her partner Andrea, who she met in New Haven, retired to Bowen Island off
the coast of British Columbia. After six years, they began to yearn for warmer climes. A
friend told them about San Miguel and they came for a visit, then moved here three
years ago. They attended a few UU services lured by the speaker and decided that we
were kindred spirits and joined the congregation.
Always involved in music, Bonney plays the bassoon in la Banda Sinfonica Juvenil de
Queretaro, which has musicians of all ages and plays at community events. She has
always sung in choirs wherever she lived and sings in our UU “choir” on Sunday
mornings. She is currently on our Board of Directors and serves on the Sunday Service
Committee.
Bonney and Andrea live in the Pueblo Antiguo neighborhood with their two Japanese
Chin dogs in their modern home with a serene Zen garden.
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If you are in need of assistance or know someone who does please contact Francoise or Joan.
If you are in need of a healthcare professional, you will find a comprehensive listing on DiscoverSMA.com under the Business Directory tab, Medical Services. You can search by specialty and/or name, and read reviews posted by others who have used their care.
For pastoral care, please contact Rev. Tom Rosiello -
415-122-2119, tomrosiello@gmail.com
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Calendar of Activities
All are welcome to attend any and all UUFSMA activities. Please join us!
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Tuesday Discussion Group, August 27, 10:15 am, Freedom: What does it mean to you? Do we actually have freedom? Should there be any constraints on our freedom?
Join us for these meaningful discussions led by Liz Stone.The group meets at the Quinta Loreto restaurant at the sunny end, Loreto 15.
Wednesday Lunch Bunch, August 28, 1:30pm, Fiamme Pizzeria, Salida a Celaya 6.
Saturday Women's breakfast group meets at Oso Azul, Zacateros 17 at 9:30 each Saturday morning.
Saturday Men's breakfast group - Men meet in the Jardin at 9:30am in front of the Parroquia and decide where to eat. The regular guys would like some new faces to join them!
Circle Cena - The Circle Cena is a social gathering for people who meet at a host's house once a month for either a pot luck of botanas and dessert or a full course dinner. The hosts coordinate the event as to how many guests they can accommodate and who brings what food to share. As the groups change from cena to cena, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get to know other UUs.
The next Circle Cena is Monday, October 7, 2019. Please sign up as host or guest at the Welcome Table after Sunday service or contact Arlena Lawrence, lawrencearlena@yahoo.com.
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Sunday, September 1, 10:30am
Migration of the Indigenous
in the Bajio
Albert Coffee
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At this week’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Service, archaeologist
Albert Coffee discusses the pre-Hispanic history of this region of Mexico known
as El Bajio with a special focus on migratory patterns dating back to the first
settlers of this continent.
The causes and effects of migration patterns, and the movement of large
groups of ethnically diverse people, are reflected in the faces and cultures of
people throughout the country. Coffee places special emphasis on the ancient El
Bajío culture that built and occupied Cañada de la Virgen and other ceremonial
centers throughout the area. Art, architecture, religion, and long distance trade will
be addressed, as well as the connections to other cultural centers throughout
Mesoamerica during the same time period. The Spanish first encountered the fierce
fighting, semi-nomadic, hunters and gatherers and pyramid builders known as the
Chichimecs when they arrived, but the Chichimec were not the first or only cultural
group to occupy the area. Before them there were the Chupícuaro, famous for their
ceramic figurines depicting women with wide hips, geometric painted patterns, and
cranial as well as dental deformation.
Coffee, who specializes in the cultures of ancient Mesoamerica, was invited
to work alongside the official excavating team at the archaeological zone Cañada
de la Virgen during the 2004 and 2005 field seasons. He was also contracted to
conduct an investigation of the legends, wisdom, and memories of the elders of the
ranch communities located in the areas around the site. He helped conduct
archaeological surveys in the southern state of Oaxaca where he was the director of
a language center at a university on the coast near Puerto Escondido. Since the
site’s opening to the public in 2011, he has taken more than 6000 people on his
tour of Canada de la Virgen and other sites in the state Guanajuato and throughout
Mexico. He has also given numerous presentations and classes at schools and
institutions in San Miguel.
For more information about the UUFSMA, including our Social Action
outreach, weekly discussion groups, social activities, and Care Team, join us any
Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at the Hotel La Aldea or visit our website at uufsma.org. Our
Sunday morning Children’s Religious Education program is on summer break until
September.
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It is that time of year when the UUFSMA is soliciting grant proposals from qualified agencies. If you are interested in applying or know of a worthy organization that may like to apply, please find and complete the Request for Proposal in the Social Action area of the UUFSMA website - www.uufsma.org.
Proposals are due on October 31, 2019. |
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The UUFSMA Social Action Committee (SAC) has been in existence since 2002. A large part of its work has involved reviewing and making funding recommendations on grant proposals from local Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). These grants help improve the quality of life for Mexicans living in and around San Miguel. In 2019 the UUFSMA provided financial support to 11 NGOs with $45,000 USD in grants, representing about half of the Fellowship’s annual income. In addition, each quarter, the SAC and the Congregation help identify organizations with special, often one-time needs, for which the entire Sunday offering is given. We call these donations our “Blue Plate Specials.”
This year the SAC has expanded its activities in several ways by:
* Providing updates to the Congregation before each Sunday offering, detailing progress
grantees are making on the projects the UUFSMA has helped to fund.
* Acting as a conduit to the Board of Directors with information about local social justice
initiatives such as Climate Strikes and Calls to Action on the Migrant Crisis.
* Partnering with members of the Congregation and local organizations to provide small
group discussions and action steps members can take to address Climate Action – the 13th of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goals.
If you are visiting San Miguel or live here part time, we are interested in learning about the
social action/social justice work of your US or Canada-based congregation. Please feel free to take a flyer from the Welcome Table, share it with folks, and act as a bridge between your congregation and us, so that we can learn more about them and possibly find ways to partner with each other. Thank you!
Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 1:00 PM and all are welcome. For
more information, please contact Rebecca Langrall (rlangrall22@gmail.com) or Dick Snyder (rcs39@aol.com), Co-Chairs.
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The Social Action Committee sponsors an ongoing food and supply drive for the migrants on the train tracks in Comonfort and those sheltered at ABBA House in Celaya. More and more families are in need of help, especially with these items:
- Food: Beans, rice, granola bars
- Personal Hygiene: Small soaps, small containers of shampoo, tooth brushes, small tubes of toothpaste
- Other: Socks (all sizes), lip balm, ponchos (rainy season)
Members and friends are encouraged to bring what you can each Sunday and drop it into the two large plastic bins near the sign-in table. Stan Allen and Luisa Field will take the items after the service each week to distribute to those in need. Thanks to all for your continued support of ABBA House and the migrants. Together, we can make an important difference in the comfort of these families as they journey toward a better future.
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Global Climate Strike – September 20, 2019
The Global Climate Strike, inspired by Greta Thunberg, is coming to San Miguel de Allende on September 20, 2019. The San Miguel event will be called Climate Action for the Future, and is scheduled to start at noon in the Jardin Principal (Jardin Allende). The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is joining with a dozen other organizations in organizing this event. Our Social Action Committee encourages all members to support this response to our climate emergency.
You can get more information by looking on Facebook. Under “events,” look up Climate Action for the Future (Public Event). You can join the organizers by looking up “Joe Climeo,” the joint name for the organizers. There is also a Facebook group to join at “Climate Action San Miguel de Allende.”
If you’d like to contact the organizers, send an email to the Social Action Committee representative Diana Winer at winerdiana@gmail.com or climate.action.sma@gmail.com.
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Small Group Discussions
In mid-January 2020, we'll start a discussion group about systemic racism and how we, unintentionally, are probably participants. This is an issue for all North Americans - and beyond.
To join this reflective group, we ask you to obtain a copy and read
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin Diangelo. Phyllis Culp will facilitate the initial discussion of this book, and we will see if and how we want to continue after we discuss it. Group size is limited and all discussion must be confidential to group members.
Sign up now if you are interested by contacting Phyllis at phylculp@mac.com or signing up at the Welcome Table.
As our reflection and discussion warrant, we'll probably want to share our thoughts about other readings. Among them might be former UUA Common Read
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color-blindness by Michelle Alexander, and
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. We could also watch movies, make individual plans to change our behavior and group plans to take action on this problem, etc. Our potential for growth is unlimited. Hope you can join us. More to come about meeting specifics.
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Women's Group, one of the small discussion groups recently launched for UU women, is full and active. Membership to the group has now been closed, and members will continue to meet each week for sharing and supporting one another.
Other UU women’s groups may be formed if more women want to participate. If interested please contact Ellie Goodwin, epgoodwin@hotmail.com or Joanna Kafarowski, joannakafarowski@gmail.com.
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If you have an idea about a new group, please pass your suggestions to Ellie Goodwin, epgoodwin@hotmail.com or Joanna Kafarowski, joannakafarowski@gmail.com, co-chairs of the Member Services Team.
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Welcome Table
At the Welcome Table we have, for your reading pleasure, the Community Connections brochure. It is filled with everything you ever wanted to know about the UUFSMA - a bit of history, events, who we are and what we do. Pick one up next Sunday. |
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Altar Flowers
Flowers are a lovely way to remember or honor someone dear to you. If you wish to have the Sunday flowers dedicated to someone special, please contact Cynthia Sterling at sterlingsilver33@gmail.com.
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We are set up for electronic funds transfers and electronic bill pay payments for your pledges and other donations. For instructions, please contact jane.wilkinson@gmail.com.
And, now we have a link on our website for PayPal under the heading 'donations”.
To use PayPal or a credit card immediately, just click below!
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The UUFSMA Newsletter is produced each week for members and friends of the congregation. Information should be submitted by Wednesday each week to denise.uufsma@gmail.com
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Board of Directors 2019-2020 (as of April 1, 2019)
John Simsarian, President, 154-4771, jcsimsarian@yahoo.com
William Dalsimer, 1st VP, 917-991-7841, wrdalsimer@gmail.comJ
Chris Chase, 2nd VP, 170-4544, Chris.Chase1955@gmail.com
Jane Wilkinson, Treasurer, 152-8019, jane.wilkinson@gmail.com
Dan Neuspiel, Secretary, 415-154-5021, dneuspiel@gmail.com
Bonney McDowell, 415-145-7689, miko789@gmail.com
Eleanor Goodwin, 152-5700, epgoodwin@hotmail.com
Jim Harper, 152-2380, smaharper@yahoo.com
Joanna Kafarowski, 415 152 6111, joannakafarowski@gmail.com
Rebecca Langrall, 415-151-0065, rlangrall22@gmail.com
If you would like a copy of minutes from a Board of Directors meeting, please contact John Simsarian, President.
Affiliate Minister, Rev. Tom Rosiello, tomrosiello@gmail.com
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Committee Chairs and Activity
Administrative
Pastoral/Inreach
Care Team
Francoise Yohalem, francoise.yohalem@gmail.com
Joan Wolf, joanwolf@umich.edu
Children's Program
Chris Chase, chris.chase1955@gmail.com
Circle Cena
Arlena Lawrence, lawrencearlena@yahoo.com
Tuesday Discussion Group
Liz Stone, elmendorf7@aol.com
Sunday Services
Paula Peace, paulapeace@bellsouth.net
Coffee Hour
Peter Podesta, parlino27@gmail.com
Flowers
Cynthia Sterling, sterlingsilver33@gmail.com
Greetings & Name Tags
Jim Harper, smaharper@yahoo.com
Membership Services
Ellie Goodwin, epgoodwin@hotmail.com
Joanna Kafarowski, joannakafarowski@gmail.com
Neighborhood Groups
Ellie Goodwin, epgoodwin@hotmail.com
Special Music
Jon Sievert, jon@humblepress.com
Order of Service
Denise Galipeau, denise.uufsma@gmail.com
Small Group Discussions
Ellie Goodwin, epgoodwin@hotmail.com
Joanna Kafarowski, joannakafarowski@gmail.com
Thanksgiving
Open
Social Action, Outreach and Publicity
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UU YAHOO GROUP SITE
Members regularly post updates and information on this site. You will need to create a Yahoo email address before joining.
To join our Yahoo group site create a Yahoo email account, then click on this link:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/UUFSMA/info
On the bottom right corner, click on 'Join Group' and follow the directions.
Facebook: “Like” us at: UU Fellowship of SMA. Website: www.UUFSMA.Org
Mail address: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of SMA, Apdo 798, San Miguel de Allende 37700 Guanajuato, Mexico.
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