All whose primary identification is male are welcome to the beautiful Menucha Conference Center on the Columbia Gorge in early November. Car pools will be available to aid in transport and reduce carbon impacts, and scholarships will help to defray the cost of attendance. Our theme is still under development, but is likely to involve reflection on when and why we choose to tune-in vs. to tune-out in our personal and public lives. Your ideas are welcome. As usual, we will hold an open-mic session for sharing poems, songs, jokes, and more Saturday evening.
For more information, contact planning committee members:
The UUFC Women’s Retreat 2023 Planning Team asks that you Save The Date of October 13-14 for our upcoming Fall retreat at the UUFC building. Attendees need only identify as women in a way that’s significant to them. We would love to have your input in our decision-making process, especially around the theme and topics you most want to engage with, and how you’d like to spend our time together. Please take a moment to fill out our brief SURVEY by March 7. If you want more information about what the Women’s Retreat was like last year, please visit the links below.
We look forward to being together again as a sisterhood!
Amy Ayers, Priscilla Galasso, Kris Egan, Ann Marchant, Bonnie Morihara, Sharon Seabrook, Rose Sweetwater, and Heather Thomas.
The Building Expansion Team and the Board are in agreement: we can move forward to expand the social hall and make the whole building more energy efficient and safe. We have already invested in this process and we’ll still be able to accomplish a lot. First, the Corvallis City Council needs to vote to let us rescind our request for a new conditional use permit. That meeting will be on March 6. Once we have that assurance, we’ll schedule an open meeting for all who are interested to talk about the next steps and what the project can include now.
Our keynote speaker is Linda Carroll, author of Love Cycles: The Five Essential Stages of Lasting Love, which has been translated into four languages, and the highly-acclaimed book, Love Skills, published in 2020. Linda holds a master’s degree in counseling and has practiced psychotherapy, specializing in couples and communication, since 1981. She works in Corvallis, Oregon, and coaches’ clients virtually, by phone, and in person all over the world. Linda first joined the UU in 1978 and is also a co-founder of a nonprofit serving migrants in Tijuana called Just One Story at a Time. just1atatime.org
Linda has authored three books on personal growth and healing. She grew up in a conservative Catholic family in San Francisco during the 1950s and came of age during the countercultural 1960s. From her traditional childhood, she preserves a faith in the importance of service, mystery, and reverence for all forms of life, and from her early flower-child leanings, she maintains a belief in looking outside the box for approaches to healing. Visit her website at lindaacarroll.com.
Retreat Schedule:
Friday, Oct. 7 6:30 p.m. – Greetings, registration, workshop sign-ups, and sing-along 7:00 p.m. – Program begins in the Sanctuary Welcome & Housekeeping – Kris Egan Chalice lighting – Jill McAllister Speaker introduction – Amy Ayers 7:15 p.m. – Keynote Presentation – Linda Carroll 8:30 p.m. – Bedtime Story and Singing – Ann Marchant 9:00 p.m. – Housekeeping announcements and Dismissal
Saturday, Oct. 8 9:00 a.m. – Gather and Greet in the Sanctuary 9:15 a.m. – Announcements and chalice lighting – Kris Egan 9:20 a.m. – Speaker introduction – Bonnie Morihara 9:30 a.m. – Focus on Connection, Community, Caring – Linda Carroll 11:50 a.m. – Lunch and break announcements – Heather Thomas 12:00 p.m. – LUNCH and Recess 1:00 p.m. – Break-out Workshop #1 2:00 p.m. – Break-out Workshop #2 3:00 p.m. – Break-out Workshop #3 4:00 p.m. – Bathroom break; Re-group and Gather in Sanctuary. 4:15 p.m. – Singing 4:30 p.m. – Love in Action suggestions – Priscilla Galasso 4:45 p.m. – Closing thoughts – Jill McAllister 6:00 p.m. – Dismissal
Workshops and More!
Walking Connections – Priscilla Galasso
We will begin with circle time in the parking lot to introduce ourselves and focus our attention on the possibilities for connection during our walk. We will walk on paved paths west along Circle Blvd to Witham Hill Nature Area, where we will follow the Upper Loop trail through the woods and then return to the UUFC. The total distance is approximately 3 miles with about 200 feet of elevation gain. The pace will be moderate. Please dress for the weather, wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring your water bottle. This workshop will run from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
Listening and Telling: The Yin and Yang of Connection – Shikha Gottfried
The stories we choose to tell others reflect part of the identity we portray as we move through the world. In this workshop, we’ll explore deepening our connection to one another by sharing small slices of our stories via a few guided questions, and perhaps along the way finding threads of shared experiences that you didn’t know existed in this community. This workshop finds inspiration from the book Between the Listening and The Telling: How Stories Can Save Us by Mark Yaconelli. Please bring a small object that symbolizes for you a time when you were either deeply cared for, or that you really gave of yourself to care for someone else. One hour
Connections within sewing and stitching circles – Amy Ayers
A brief history and celebration of women gathering in circles to knit, sew, quilt, or practice any other needle art as a part of community, necessity, charitable works, and political action. Please bring any portable needle art project you may be currently working on such as knitting, crochet, needle point or embroidery to work on while we share our projects and consider the power of women gathered together in sewing circles for connection, learning, and sometimes to promote political and social change. One hour
Poetry and Hats – a lighthearted way to share poetry. – Jean Gilbert
Please bring three poems and three hats. ALL types of hats are welcome! We will read the poems aloud while wearing the hats, with stories about our choices as time allows. I’ll have a few extra poems and hats in case you forget to bring them. One hour
Foods to build Community, Connection, and Caring – Ann Marchant
Community: Each person’s micro-biome is a community of microbes – some beneficial, others not so much. Which foods promote a healthy gut community?
Connection: the Gut – Brain Connection plays a major role in mental health. Food choices help guide that connection.
Caring: What do you bring to potlucks? Is everyone welcome at your table? Introducing “Universal Meals,” developed by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine. Even most people with food sensitivities can enjoy these delicious recipes. https://www.pcrm.org/universalmeals One hour
Ukraine and our connection to the world community – Irja Galvan
Join Irja as she shares her knowledge of and caring connection to the Ukraine. Learn and discuss more about the current crisis and how we all are connected to it. One hour
Word Play – Bonnie Morihara
Come play with your choice of different “illuminated” acrostic forms. Add words to represent various UU or personal values and color the pages. Or complete an alphabetical acrostic. What fun! Materials: pre-printed forms, colored pencils and pens which Bonnie will supply. Your playful, creative mind: you supply. One hour
Belly Dancing – Dawn Dirks
Come learn some basic belly dance moves. For Dawn, this dance form is sacred dance, ritual dance, Goddess dance. Sacred dance has probably been practiced for as long as humans have been able to move and to think about what it means to practice spirituality. This workshop will include gentle stretches and slow, low-impact movement. No dance experience is necessary – just bring your open heart and willingness to move your sacred body in ways that may be new for you. Dawn will bring hip scarves and silk veils for participants to use during the session. Please bring a yoga mat if you have one for a short meditation at the end of the session. One hour
Living Room Conversations – Nancy Haldeman Limited to 8 participants
Join Nancy in discussing “Coronavirus – Reflecting and Transitioning”. Each person speaks to questions provided for up to 2 minutes each with no cross talk. 1½ hours
