Volume 19, Number 7 – January 2018

          UPCOMING SERVICES

Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.

Jan 7 David Barnhill

Jan. 21 Rev. Denise Tracy

Feb. 4 Build Your Own Theology

presentation

Feb. 18 Rev. Mary Beth O'Halloran

ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. alternating with our regular Sunday services  

Jan. 14 and Jan. 28, “The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience”

Everyone is welcome to join the new Adult Religious Education series, “The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience.” Topics include: Does God exist? Do we have a soul? Is it possible to make contact with a spiritual realm? How should we respond to the divine? Will life continue beyond death.

DISCUSSION GROUPS

Men's Discussion Group meets on Tuesday, Jan. 16, at 6 p.m. at the Fellowship

All are invited to attend this potluck followed by discussion. Main course provided, others to bring a dish to pass and beverage of your choice. New members welcome. Contact Dick Fields, dmafields@yahoo.com, for more information.

Women's Discussion Group meets on Tuesday, Jan. 23, at 10 a.m. at the Fellowship

All are invited to attend this discussion followed by lunch. New members welcome. Contact Mary Ann Fields, dmafields@yahoo.com, for more information.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Care Committee would like to sponsor another Women's Discussion Group for those who cannot come to our morning session. If interested please contact Toni Polfus 715 277 2025 or Mary Ann Fields 715 385 2975 and we will help find a time for interested persons.

MILESTONES

ANNOUNCEMENTS  

For distribution of announcements between newsletters or email/address corrections, contact Candy Sorensen at sorencan@yahoo.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Frederick Place in Rhinelander has a sizeable number of dates open for meals. If you can help out with one of these dates you can either call Frederick Place at 715-369-9777 or email Tammy Modic at frederickplace@ gmail.com

• In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship presents ...

Becoming MLK Jr.’s Dream

Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018, at 1:30 p.m. at Nicolet College Theater

with speaker Cara Fitzgerald

     Last spring, English teacher Cara Fitzgerald, a 2001 Rhinelander High School and 2005 UW-Madison graduate, along with three Madison Memorial High School educators, led an all-school read of “All American Boys,” an award-winning novel about race relations.

     In her presentation entitled “Creating Conversations in the Community,” Fitzgerald will talk about how the book discussion and subsequent month-long activities were organized and describe the effects this activity had on students, parents and police liaisons.

     Fitzgerald will reflect upon the importance of community engagement. For further information regarding the all-school read, please refer to the following website, http://jmmreads.weebly.com/rationale.html.

     The event will feature footage from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches. Children are encouraged to attend.

     This event is sponsored in partnership with: Nicolet College, Eagle River First Congregational United Church of Christ, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Holy Family Catholic Church, North Central Labor Coalition, League of Women Voters of the Northwoods, Marywood Spirituality Center, Northwoods Branch

American Association of University Women, Northern WI Center for Working People, Ascension Lutheran Church and Northwoods Progressives.

     For more information, contact Diane Reupert at 715-282-5400 or dreupert@gmail.com.

A full copy of the event’s press release is included at the end of the newsletter.

●     Woman's March on Minocqua 2018, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, march begins at 11 a.m. at St. Matthias' Episcopal Church, 403 E Chicago Ave, Minocqua, WI 54548

We march to show our strength as women and to show support for women, men & children. All are welcome.

We march for human rights, dignity and equality for all. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/771519633033874

We'll walk from St. Matthias around the town of Minocqua, and back to the church. We'll have hot coffee, hot cocoa, and whatever finger foods you care to bring! You may bring your own signs, we will have a few extra.

Out of respect to the church, we are considering this a nonpolitical event. Our focus is human rights, dignity, and equality for all women, men and children

Our NUUF Community

If you know someone who is interested in joining the Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, please contact Candy Sorensen at sorencan@yahoo.com or call 715-892-2997.

Check out our website https://nuuf.com/joomla4. Also take time to "LIKE" us on Facebook. Click here on Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for direct access if you already have a Facebook account. We're posting pictures, reminders about upcoming events and more.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Hello everyone, I will be compiling the newsletter for the foreseeable future! Please send announcements and updates to me, Carly Ratliff, at carly.j.ratliff@gmail.com or to Candy Sorensen at sorencan@yahoo.com by Jan. 28 for the February Newsletter. It is very helpful if your copy is written exactly the way you want it to read so that it can be copied and pasted. Thank you!

Rhinelander High School Grad, Cara Fitzgerald, to Speak at

Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Forum

By Cheryl Hanson

     The Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (NUUF) will host its annual speaker

forum in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018, at 1:30

p.m. at the Nicolet College Theater in Rhinelander.

     This year’s featured speaker is Cara Fitzgerald, a 2001 graduate of Rhinelander High

School and 2005 graduate of UW-Madison. Ms. Fitzgerald currently teaches English at Madison Memorial High School in Madison, Wisconsin.

     Her topic is entitled “Creating Conversations in the Community.”

     Ms. Fitzgerald follows in the formidable footsteps of her mother, Gail, who taught

elementary school in Rhinelander for many years, and her father, Chuck, who served as a

member and board president for the School District of Rhinelander.

     Last spring, along with three Madison Memorial colleagues, Ms. Fitzgerald led an all-

school read of the young adult novel “All American Boys,” a story about race relations in America.

     Through fundraising efforts all 2,000 students and 200 faculty received copies of the book.

     Approximately 20 Madison police officers also read the novel.

     Ms. Fitzgerald’s presentation will focus on the impact the book discussions and

supporting month-long activities, such as film screenings, panel presentations, art activities, and reading performances, had on the entire community of students, parents, and police officers.

     “All American Boys” was co-authored by Jason Reynolds, an African-American, and

Brendan Kiely, a white American. Each brought a different perspective to the story about Rashad Butler, a black high school student who is wrongfully beaten by a police officer while his classmate, Quinn Collins, sees the incident from a distance and doesn’t know what to do.

     In an interview with Amber Payne, editor of NBC-BLK, the news website focused on

conversations about black identity, politics, and culture, Reynolds shared an experience he had as a high school student. He and four friends ran through a yellow traffic light. They were pulled over by an officer, who ordered them to get out of the car and then proceeded to rummage through the vehicle before letting them go.

     In contrast, Kiely described the time he was pulled over for exceeding the speed limit by 30-miles per hour, remained in his car, and was let go with a warning. Kiely called this white privilege “a shield and a veil,” which makes white people oblivious to the problem of race discrimination.

     The authors intentionally targeted All American Boys at “young people who are on the

front lines” of racial issues. Kiely, who taught high school for 10 years, believes his experience put him in a unique position to make this novel a conversation starter among that age group.

     Reynolds and Kiely won the 2016 Coretta Scott King Award sponsored by the American

Library Association, which recognizes outstanding books about the African-American

experience written for a youth audience.

     This year’s program at Nicolet College will feature footage from Martin Luther King

Jr.’s speeches.

     Children are encouraged to attend.

     Partnering with NUUF as co-sponsors of the event are: Nicolet College, Eagle River First

Congregational United Church of Christ, St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, St. Matthias

Episcopal Church, Holy family Catholic Church, Ascension Lutheran Church, Marywood

Spirituality Center, North Central Labor Coalition, League of Women Voters of the Northwoods, Northwoods Branch American Association of University Women, Northern Wisconsin Center for Working People, and Northwoods Progressives.

     To learn more about the all-school read at Madison Memorial go to http://jmmreads.weebly.com.

     For further information about the MLK speaker forum, contact Diane Reupert at

715-282-5400.