Tom Gibson of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland led 15 members of our church on a November 9th tour of the award winning permaculture gardens at their church.   Three years in the making, Tom reviewed the process of designing, building, and maintaining the gardens.  Our church will offer an 8 week permaculture design course in March and April to help us consider the design of our gardens, at our homes and as part of our coming expansion.

Come Join us on Dec 8th, at 7 P.M. for our Annual Christmas Movie Night. Come see the silliest and funniest Christmas movies,cartoons and t.v. shows ever made. We will begin with the classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, then a slew of classic cartoons from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and if you were a kid in the ‘sixties, you will appreciate our classic spy Christmas T.V. shows.This is a potluck,so please bring your favorite holiday food. If you have any questions, please contact Cheryl Spoehr.

If you have not yet taken the church library’s survey but would like to, please do so by midnight tonight (June 11). Thank you! The survey is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JFM839C.

We want to thank Larry Cole for donating the following book to the church library.

Mill, John Stuart and Harriet Taylor Mill, Essays on Sex Equality with an introductory essay by Alice S. Rossi (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1970). This volume brings together for the first time all of the writings of John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill on equality between the sexes, including John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women, a classic in the history of the women’s rights movement.

There is also an interpretive essay by Alice S. Rossi, a sociologist and a feminist and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW). It analyzes the long personal and intellectual relationship of John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor.

This book became available March 1 in the Women’s Studies category.

As new books are added to the library, they are shelved on top of the bookcase at the far left end.  This section is suitably labelled “New Books in the Church Library.”

Martha Kluth

The library’s guest speaker for the 2013 Speaker’s Forum will be Mara DeMattia, who is researching the collection of the artist Robert Wood. Her presentation will be on Sunday, February 3, at 3:00 P.M. in the sanctuary, followed by a discussion period. A reception will be held in Fessenden Hall after the program. This event is free and open to the public.

Robert Wood, long a singular personality in the Kent community and among area artists, died unexpectedly at the age of 68 on February 5, 2012. His large body of work includes a variety of techniques including oils, watercolors, and computer-generated designs. Ms. DeMattia has begun to research, document, and date all his paintings and to record pertinent biographical information related to each work, such as location and circumstances of the work; teachers, colleagues, and friends who may have been a part of his artistic circle; and any professional exhibits in which he may have been included. The process becomes a fascinating detective project, particularly when works are scattered all over Northeast Ohio and the East Coast. Since coming to Kent, Ms. DeMattia has had a longstanding interest in Mr. Wood’s creative output. Her initial interest was sparked by John Kluth of the FJKluth Art Gallery in Kent. They are working together on an oral history of Mr. Wood as part of a planned biography of the artist.

Ms. DeMattia’s previous work as an archivist began when she was contracted by the Herman Miller Furniture Company of Zeeland, Michigan. Over a 3-year period she organized their extensive photo collection of innovative pieces manufactured since 1917. She documented the pictures and selected images to build a visual history of the company, which is now displayed throughout the company. These photos may also be found through archive codes designed by Ms. DeMattia at Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan.

Ms. DeMattia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drawing and sculpture from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was a volunteer lecturer in art history at Lorain Community College and a set designer for area community theaters in the mid-1990s. Ms. DeMattia lives in Kent with her husband, Rick, and their three daughters, Rosalyn, Eleanor, and Lillian.

Come to our annual Holiday Movie pot luck. Bring in your favorite holiday treats, and share those brought in by others! We will show some of the oddest, most enjoyable Holiday fare available! Come and share laughter and good times with the friends and members of the U.U.Church of Kent! A good time is guarantied for all!