Due to the success of our last event, the committee has decided that this year’s auction will be for sign-ups only. We suggest that you donate your hard items previously included in our Silent Auction to the fall yard sale.

Sign-ups are pretty much whatever your imagination can come up with that would be fun to do. We would love to see more family friendly sign-ups this year. Hold a cornhole tournament with other families in your yard or at the church, charging an entry fee that would go to the church. Host a gathering at a local state park pavilion where everyone could go for a possible ranger-led hike if one is happening, or swim in the lake, or just a group nature walk, letting the children lead the way. Perhaps an evening making smores over your firepit? Of course, if you just want to host an intimate gathering of adults on your deck, that’s cool too. Do you have a talent for making things? Offer your skill by offering a custom-made sample. Offer your service at gardening, handyman, or baking something. You get the picture and if you do not, feel free to email the committee at UUCVauction@outlook.com and we will gladly assist in any way we can.

We will again be using the 32auctions.com online site, but with a twist. You will be submitting your sign-ups to the above email address, or leaving a form on the auction table in the social hall. (Blank forms will be on the table.) First timers must register at https://www.32auctions.com/. You will then be able to view the sign-ups up available. However, no advanced bidding will be accepted. All bidding will be done in the social hall on Auction night, November 12. There will be sheets for bidders to place their bidding number/name and the number of spots they wish for say, a dinner, and for submitting escalating bids on sign-ups that require it. You will still receive an invoice through 32auctions.com for your winnings, and can pay online or at the church within 14 days.

The annual budget has set a goal of $10,000 for the Auction, so we encourage everyone to get creative and come up with interesting sign-up. Stay tuned for our kick-off later this month to hear this year’s theme, and keep an eye out for our table in the social hall. Check out the progress as we advance toward our goal!

Cathy Dewalt

Auction Chairperson

The CFTW charity for July through September is the International Service Center (ISC), located at S. River St, in Harrisburg.  ISC promotes educational, cultural, social, and economic programs to help disadvantaged and underprivileged people of different cultural and language backgrounds, to become self supporting and productive members of our pluralistic society. 

As of September 15, more than 23,000 Afghan refugees arrived in the U.S. Since that time, the ISC and a small group of volunteers have been working hard to address the needs of about 60 desperate Afghan clients who came to this area.  Local churches and other organizations, including UUCV, formed teams to help these families find homes, jobs, learn our language and customs, and guide them through medical, financial, and emotional situations, and help them solve many other problems.

Beginning with the worship service on August 21, UUCV began a refreshed and renewed effort toward exploring all aspects of the 8th Principle. The original timeline has been revised, and our vote on adopting the 8th Principle will now be held on MLK Sunday, January 15, 2023. Between now and then there will be a number of opportunities for you to gather more information about the 8th Principle, explore your questions about it, express your support for it and concerns about it, and learn what the 8th Principle calls us to do as a people of faith. Please plan to participate in these activities as each and every voice is important as we move toward adding the 8th Principle to our statement of values.

Our 1st Principle proclaims that we value the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The 8th Principle would add to what we value: the call to actively dismantle racism and oppression in ourselves and our institutions. This will mean different things to each of us as we live into our 4th Principle, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. What the 8th Principle is NOT about is blaming or guilting anyone for where they are right now in their understanding of the impact of racism and oppression on our lives. Regardless of our circumstances, we have all been wounded by racism and oppression. Our UU faith is a Living Tradition, meaning that when our knowledge and understanding of something shifts, we change or add to what was previously held. The 8th Principle is such a change that calls us to look within ourselves and our institutions seeking to heal the wounds and injustices we find. It is an invitation to further our journey of moving toward Siding with Love. We are all at different points on this journey, but together we can move forward in our mission of transforming lives and caring for the world and the 8th Principle provides a public statement of our willingness to do so.

For more information about the 8th Principle please visit www.8thprincipleuu.org or www.uua.org and type “8th Principle” or “article ii” into the search bar. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Wendy Gebb at wendywinter@comcast.net

The day will start at 8 a.m. with a kickoff at Dickinson College’s Allison Hall, 99 Mooreland Ave, Carlisle. After the kickoff event ends at roughly 8:30 a.m., volunteers will head out to their locations and arrive between 8:45 and 9 a.m. Projects will wrap up around noon. Lunch will be held at LeTort Park after that.

All volunteers who sign up by the deadline will get the newly designed Day of Caring T-shirts in this year’s color! (We are keeping the color a secret for now.)

If you are interested in donating a couple hours of time to help local organizations complete some hands-on projects, please sign up in the social hall or contact Cindy Good at cyagood4@gmail.com  The deadline to sign up is September 15th

Activities we can choose to undertake can include letter writing, phone banking, text banking (all with suggested contacts and scripts), registering voters, and/or recruiting poll watchers. An organized effort will begin in earnest after Labor Day. Let’s get our team in place by Labor Day! Please consider serving the greater good in this way. Contact Pam at the church office or email Cheryl Parsons at cherylhparsons@comcast.net if you feel called to join the team!

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD – ORGANIZED EFFORTS ON A GIFT BAN HAPPENING NOW CULMINATING IN A STATEWIDE ACTION ON SEPTEMBER 12TH

Urge your state legislators to pass legislation to monitor and put limits on gifts from lobbyists. Currently there are no limits to money, trips, and merchandise that lobbyists can use to influence legislators and no required reporting of such gifts. Write and mail a postcard to your legislators before September 8th. Stamped postcards, addresses of legislators, and a handout with specific info are available on the music stand by the Social Justice Table in the Social Hall.

Also, please sign the petition at www.fixharrisburg.com/ Consider showing up at the Capitol on September 12th to support the March on Harrisburg Non-Violent Action. For more info check out www.mohpa.org

If you have items to share....fruits, vegetables, books, plant seeds, etc. bring them in and put them on the table for others to take and enjoy!

Need something?  Check out the table and see if there's something there you can take and experience.

Need something but don't have anything to share...it's OK!!!  Maybe another time you will be able to share something others will enjoy!

This is NOT a yardsale table....save those items for our fall yardsale coming up in September. 

Your Hospitality Committee has been working hard to get organized and we’re hoping that you will help us get back into the groove of our treasured Sunday tradition. 

Contact Sara Van Slyke sisinavs@aol.com Or review the signup sheet on the Social Hall Volunteer table for commitment opportunities and volunteer as you are able. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0b44adae29a5fb6-social

We will kick-off our Liturgical year with our annual Water Ceremony on Sunday, September 11.

Bring to the service, a small amount of water from a place that is special to you.  One by one you will pour your water into a community bowl and tell us where your water came from and what it represents to you. 

This is a reminder of another way to support UUCV and contribute to our mission of transforming lives and caring for the world. For several years UUCV has been collecting donations for grocery cards that are then given to ECYEH (Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness) in what we call our Win-WIn grocery card program.

Small things can make a big difference. Our Win-Win grocery card program provides much needed help to ECYEH clients and UUCV gets a $10 donation for each $100 Giant card purchased.

Here’s how the plan works if you are able to make a donation:

• Please mail donations to Pam Martin at UUCV, PO Box 207, Boiling Springs, PA 17007. Donations can also be dropped off to Pam during office hours or placed in the offering baskets on Sunday.

• Donations need to be checks made out to UUCV, and in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.

• Checks should have ECYEH marked in the memo line.

• Donations will be combined toward the purchase of $100 Giant cards as these provide a $10 return to UUCV.

• The grocery cards will then be given to ECYEH.

• Your donation will be recorded on your annual tax statement from UUCV.

From Sonia Pitzi, the coordinator for our region’s Education for Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness (ECYEH) program, “Thank you never seems big enough to express how grateful we are that you have chosen us to receive your hard earned dollars. Yet, know that I say THANK YOU with the biggest hug attached.”