Fiscal Year 2012 is ending on June 30, 2012.  We ask all pledging members and friends to please make every effort to review and complete your FY2012 pledge and dues commitment.  If you do not believe that you will be able to fulfill your pledge, please contact the church office.  We thank you and appreciate your continued support in funding our mission.

Our Mission….

Through spirited worship and open-minded religious exploration, our mission is to inspire people to live caring lives of meaning and purpose. We seek to encourage curiosity, strive to create peace and justice, and care for  the living Earth with reverence and gratitude.

Melissa will be out of town Monday, June 18 – June 30, 2012.  From June 18 – June 24 I will be attending the annual General Assembly in Phoenix and though I will not be checking email, I will be available by cell phone for emergencies.  From June 25– June 30, I will be on vacation visiting my family in Phoenix, if you have an urgent concern that week that  cannot wait until I return, please contact Karen Lapidus on her cell phone (which is listed in the directory).

Sunday, June 24      Magical Outreach: Teaching UU Values At Hogwarts

Led by:  Joe Kuemerle and Worship Associate Max Grubb

The Kent UU Hogwarts program was founded as an alternative to Christian Bible School and uses the themes of Harry Potter and Hogwarts to engage with children while taking that opportunity to teach them about how we as UU’s think about the world, spirituality and justice. Come and join some of the Hogwarts staff as we share how we are working to expand the reach of our faith’s core values while also having a lot of fun.

KentHogwarts comes to Summer RE!

This Sunday, we will have a special class co-led by Professor C.H. Dazzleswift (Becky Haines) and Lady Larkin (Sandy Bowers).  While the adults are hearing about how our UU values align with the KentHogwarts program, the children will be sampling the delights of the program.  Activities will include making wands, playing with the giant parachute, and singing Hogwartian songs.  Come prepared to have fun!  We will meet in Fesenden Hall at 11:15.  Nursery care will be provided at 9:30 and 11:15.  During the month of July, RE will take place at 10:30 while we have just one worship service.

Summer Solstice/Midsummer Celebration at KC’s home in Ravenna

June 23 at 5 PM

Potluck dinner and bbq, bonfire, and interactive ritual for the group!

Bring a dish to share and a lawn chair or blanket!

Contact KC for details.

Calling all Gardeners!

We will be having a work party on Saturday, June 23rd from 9-noon.  Goals are to continue the beautification of the backyard of the Church.  We will be spreading wood chips, weeding, planting summer flowers, and rearranging the furniture in the area.   We also need a volunteer to polyurethane two wooden benches.   Bring gloves and tools.

Summertime = Hungry Time

We need donations for Kent social Services food programs.

Children are home from school with no breakfast or lunch programs; summer feeding initiatives reach only 10% of eligible children.

PLEASE bring in some child friendly food items – jelly & PB, mac n’ cheese mix, cereal, crackers, healthy snacks, canned pasta, dry pasta shapes & spaghetti sauce, canned fruit, 100% fruit juice, pudding cups, and gelatin mix.

Drop your items and brown paper grocery bags in the lower level closet next to the elevator . . . I’ll do the rest and get it where it needs to go. Acme gift cards are also welcome . . . please donate at the Acme Bucks table during coffee hour.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Elaine Bowen

Art in the Sanctuary

Amy Breedon is active in our church and is pursuing her interest in graphic art.  She has provided the art in the sanctuary through the end of July. The digital images are all for sale, but they are just samples of what can be printed in various sizes.  Framing provided by F. J. Kluth Art Gallery.

Paleolithic Caves: Movie and Presentation by Art Historian Heidrun Hultgren

Sunday, July 1 at 12:30 pm in Fessenden Hall

Presentation to highlight three Paleolithic Caves:  Altamira, Lascaux and Chauvet

Followed by the movie: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

A free will offering will be gratefully accepted to benefit the Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent

As the Library committee continues to search for a permanent Chair, a temporary Co-Chair position was created in order to give Martha some much needed personal time. Ann Waters has agreed to be Co-Chair. She will prepare the monthly meeting agenda and chair the meetings in addition to her regular publicity duties. Martha will continue to order books, write book reviews, monitor the website, manage the account and attend any church board meetings. The entire committee will be working to interest new members in the work of the Library. Please consider attending one of the dynamic committee Library meetings. The next meeting is August 6th at 12:30 P.M. in Fessenden Hall.

The Book Group will be meeting on Tuesday, July 17 at 7 pm in the home of  Bonnie.  This month we are reading Unsaid by Neil Abramson. After veterinarian Helena Colden dies of breast cancer, she is unable to move on and narrates the emotional deterioration and struggle of her attorney husband David as he becomes involved in a court case to save the life of a chimpanzee. In August we will read The Paris Wife, a novel by Paula McLain, and in September we will read Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards. If you have any questions you may contact Bonnie Harper.

Recycle your Electronics and Small Appliances

The KentHogwarts School is in need of any unwanted electrical or mechanical small appliances; for example: vacuum, kitchen appliances, old computer equipment, typewriters.  No TVs or monitors please.  All donations will be greatly appreciated.   Please bring your items to church and deposit in the box located in Fessenden Hall. Deadline to donate is TODAY, June 6^th.   Please contact John Bores with any questions.

Planned Parenthood will be making a presentation at the SPAN-OH meeting on June 6^th at 7 pm in Fessenden Hall. The presentation will highlight all the services they provide, how many people benefit and who can receive services through Planned Parenthood.   All are welcome to attend and please bring a friend.

Kent Community Sing

Tonight, June 6^th at 7 pm to be held in the Sanctuary.  All are welcome to come join the fun.

Send off for Mac Goekler and Eunice Michaels

Mac Goekler and Eunice Michaels will both be moving away this summer.  Mac will be moving to join his wife Susan and Eunice will be moving to be nearer her son and his family.  We will be offering our best wishes to both Mac and Eunice at the picnic following our service at Plum Creek Park on June 10.  Please come and wish them both well as they take this next step on their journeys.

Annual Service and Picnic in the Park on June 10
On Sunday, June 10, we will celebrate our annual worship service and picnic at Plum Creek Park in Kent (which is at the intersection of Cherry Street and Mogadore Road).  We will be meeting at Pavillion #2 for one service only at 10:30 am.  Our service will be fully multigenerational; the whole community is invited to worship and play together.

Please bring a lawnchair (and maybe an extra to share), a dish to share at the picnic (but not dessert as we will have a cake to mark a special occasion), your own place setting, any games you would like to play during the picnic and anything else you will need to be comfortable.  And remember, we will have one service only beginning at 10:30 am!

YES! Acme Bucks WILL be available June 10: A trunk Sale!

June 10, Acme Bucks will be available from the trunk of my silver car at the service in the park. I plan to get there early, and we’ll be selling after the service during lunch. See me, Esther Duncan or Julie Wilcox if you don’t see anyone by my car.  Don’t just buy groceries, buy the cards from us at no extra cost to you, so the church gets 5% of the card value!

THANKS!  Bob Erdman, Grocery Card Coordinator

Tupperware News!

The Tupperware orders are in and once again will be available at the church during Coffee Hour Sunday, June 17th. If you ordered something please see Meg to pick up your order.  If you won’t be at the church please feel free to call me to schedule a time to pick up your order.

This fundraiser was a HUGE success raising $451 for our church!  A heartfelt thank you to all who participated.

Thank you again,

Meg Milko

Olive Hobbs is Turning 90!
Olive Hobbs will be 90 years old on June 13 and you are invited to help her celebrate.  A party will be held in her honor in the Commons area of her home at Laurel Lake.  The physical address is 200 Laurel Lake Drive in Hudson and you will enter the Commons right as you come in the main entrance.  The party will be held from 6:30 to 8:00 pm on Wednesday, June 13.  Please inform Rev. Melissa if you will be attending by the end of the day on June 10 so that we can be sure to arrange for enough cake and seating.

Hymnals at Your House?

We seem to be missing a bunch of the grey Singing the Living Tradition hymnals.  Did you happen to take one home with you at some point?  Is it still at your house?  If so, please accept this invitation to return it to the sanctuary so we have enough hymnals for our Sunday morning singing pleasures.  Thank you!

The Book Group will be meeting on Tuesday, June 12 at 7 pm in the home Mary Ann Kasper. This month we will be reading Swamplandia by Karen Russell. The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly #1 in the region, is swiftly being encroached upon by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. Against a backdrop of hauntingly fecund plant life animated by ancient lizards and lawless hungers, the author has written a novel about a family’s struggle to stay afloat in a world that is inexorably sinking.  In July we will read Unsaid by Neil Abramson, and in August we will read The Paris Wife, a novel by Paula McLain. If you have any questions you may contact Bonnie Harper.

Summer RE Begins on Sunday, June 17
Our theme for this summer, is “Stories that Inspire”.   During the months of June and August, we will be offering an all-ages, story-based program at 11:15 in Fessenden Hall.  During the month of July, we will be holding only one service at 10:30 and will offer RE at that time.  Nursery care will be available during all of the worship services.  There will be no Time for All Ages during the worship services over the summer.

Summer Solstice/Midsummer

Celebration at KC’s home in Ravenna

June 23 at 5 PM

Potluck dinner and bbq, bonfire, and interactive ritual for the group!

Bring a dish to share and a lawn chair or blanket!

Contact KC for her address or any details.

The special collection for the Portage Park District was $462.76, which will be used toward making improvements at Towner’s Woods, according to Christine Craycroft, the executive director of the park district. Our Hogwarts program has used this park for the site of its “Forbidden Forest”, so the monies we have given will directly benefit our congregation. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this collection.

Sally Burnell

Social Justice Committee chair