Points of Note

POINTS OF NOTE

(This page contains information about things that are not related to an upcoming event date, but are points of interest. It is our policy not to provide e-mail links or phone numbers unless specifically authorized by the persons involved.)

SPLINTERS FROM THE BOARD (Message from our Board President)

A complete copy of the minutes is posted on the bulletin board in the Social Hall; if anyone would like a copy, please call AmyBeth Gibbs (215-343-0406).

Everyone is welcome at board meetings, and we would like to see some of you attend. We meet on the second Monday of each month.

Membership Updates (Notes from our Membership Coordinator)

FY 2011 Stewardship Campaign Pledge Packet
Please fill out and return the following forms:

Fiscal Year 2011 Pledge Form

2011 Member Information Form

2011 Volunteer Form

Also, feel free to review all the following information so you can learn about BuxMont's Mission and Vision and how your financial commitment to our Fellowship will help us achieve our goals:

Buxmont FY 2011 Pledge Packet

UU Fair Share Guide 2011

All of the files are in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the documents, it can be downloaded for free from Adobe at the following website: http://get.adobe.com/reader/

We are asking that all pledges be returned by March 1, 2010. Pledge forms and other information may be deposited in the box located in the social hall. As an alternative, you may email your pledge to the Stewardship Treasurer, Frank Klein. You will be receiving a call from a member of the Stewardship Canvas Team, who can answer any questions you may have, or identify someone who can. Thank you for your commitment to our future.

WILD WILD WEST AUCTION

It’s not too early to be thinking about this year’s rootin’ tootin’ auction on May 1. We need donations and volunteers as soon as possible. BuxMont’s Posse (also known as the Auction Committee) will be bringing you a corral full of pre-auction fun and information on Sunday mornings during March and April.

DO YOU FACEBOOK?

If so, be sure to link up with the BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and BuxMont Photos profiles. And look for fellow members and friends of BuxMont on this online community. It’s a great way to stay in touch—and get to know each other a little better, too.

BUX-MONT MEALS ON WHEELS NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Bux-Mont Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit organization that provides meals for elderly and disabled residents of Hatboro, Warminster, Upper Moreland, and Horsham townships. The organization relies on volunteers to pack and deliver meals five days a week. Volunteers are now needed for the following positions:

• Drivers and assistants are needed to transport and deliver meals on one of four routes each weekday. Each team picks up meals at Abington Hospital’s Warminster facility and delivers to about 12 clients. Meals are ready at 10:30 a.m., and deliveries usually take about 90 minutes.

• Pantry aides assist hospital personnel in packing meals for delivery. They work at the Warminster facility from about 8:30 until 10:00 a.m. daily.

Meals on Wheels volunteers are asked to work two or three days per month on a regular schedule.

DRE SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE

The Settled Director of Religious Education (DRE) Search Committee would like to thank the congregation—adults and children—for joining us in our January 17 RE discussions. It was a great opportunity to be able to tell you about our process and progress as BuxMont searches for our settled DRE and a great opportunity to learn from all of you what your priorities are as we search.

Discussions with our children took place in their RE classes that day. We asked the children what they look forward to when they come Sunday mornings, and they told us they want to learn about Unitarian-Universalism, other religions and religious leaders, and social action projects, and eat donuts. They were asked what they want to get out of coming on Sunday mornings. Popular responses included learning about religions and cultures, learning and forming their own beliefs, friendships, and, again, donuts. Finally, we asked the children what qualities they thought important for a DRE. They want a person who is nice, helpful, outgoing, and a good reader.

We were pleased, but not surprised, to learn that the adult responses to similar questions, discussed in four roundtables, had many common threads with the children. The adults of BuxMont hope that our children will leave our RE program having learned about liberal/UU values, world religions, diversity, and tolerance. They felt we could improve our RE program by having more circle time for the children together downstairs, more social action, more music, and better communication with parents. In particular, families new to RE need better orientation to the program. Finally, participating adults suggested we look for the following qualities as we search for the DRE: personality, good communication skills, the ability to relate well to parents and children, organization skills, and goal setting/vision.

Along with processing these discussions, your DRE Search Committee has been working on the job description and planned benefits and comparing them to UUA suggestions and guidelines. Our next step in this process is to finalize the job posting, post it, and wait for the resumés to pour in. The committee has decided that we will accept resumés from both internal (BuxMont) and external candidates. If you are interested, we suggest you speak with one of us on the committee. We hope to be interviewing in April and reach a decision by early June, for an August start date.

Again, we thank you for your responses and questions. We continue to want to hear from you, and to answer your questions. Catch us in person, via email, or by phone.

GA DELEGATE SELECTION PROCESS

As of the February 7 deadline, five members of the fellowship requested applications to be one of our four delegates to the UUA General Assembly in Minneapolis this June. The applications will be submitted to a panel of four members who will recommend to the Board of Trustees who they feel should represent BuxMont at GA. A decision by the Board should take place at the March meeting.

BuxMont’s delegates to GA vote on all the issues that come before the assembly, including such things as Congregational Study/Action Issues, Actions of Immediate Witness, By-Laws changes, and more. This year it is anticipated that delegates will be voting on changes to our Purposes and Principals, potential changes to the way GA operates in the future, and a statement on Peacemaking. In addition, delegates can attend many workshops, worship services, and lectures.

While we are in need of delegates, BuxMont will not be able to assist its delegates with any of the cost of attending. The budget this year is so tight that no money was allocated for GA delegates. Nonetheless, we are optimistic that some of you will be inspired to attend and represent BuxMont. If you’ve never attended and want to know more about GA, contact one of last year’s attendees: Rik and Anna-Sara Fire, Celia Sharp, Cheryl Osborn-Adams, and Tom Thomas. They will be happy to share their enthusiasm for GA with you.

For an application to be a BuxMont delegate to GA contact Mike Parry

SOLARIUM GALLERY EXHIBIT: ED YOUTZ, WOODTURNING ARTISAN (MARCH 7–APRIL 18)

The Solarium Gallery is pleased to welcome woodturning artisan Ed Youtz to the gallery March 7 through April 18, 2010.

Ed’s beautifully turned, clean-lined bowls, vases, boxes, and abstract wall hangings express a variety of warm-hued, honeyed patinas, silken textures, and intricacy of expression that invite tactile exploration, which Ed welcomes. He says his pieces are meant to be touched and handled to be fully appreciated.

Youtz began his woodturning career as a sophomore at George School, where he learned his craft from Palmer Sharpless. He has also studied wood crafting with Bucks and Lehigh Valley Woodturners, David Ellsworth, and other members of the American Association of Woodturners.

After a 30-year hiatus from woodworking, during which time he was a Physics teacher at the George School, Ed’s interest in woodworking was rekindled when the question arose of what to do with a large ash tree that was felled to make way for the BuxMont Fellowship building expansion. He returned to study under Sharpless for a few more years before retiring from teaching and turning to wood crafting fulltime. He is a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, teaching woodturning at the Woodcraft Store in Allentown and The Goggleworks in Reading.

Ed shares his life with wife, Mary, whom he met at BuxMont in 1993 and married two years later, his sons Brad and Eric, a stepson Dan Gagnier, and four grandsons.

VOLUNTEER JOB DESCRIPTIONS

If you are interested in leadership opportunities at Buxmont, here are some job descriptions of the various positions avaiable. These are elected positions.

HOW TO SPREAD THE NEWS

Here are the different ways to get information to BuxMonters.

	*The Liberal Voice*: E-mail items to the newsletter editor by the 15^th of the month for the following month’s edition. Hard copy can be placed in the newsletter mail folder on the wall in the back hallway by the 10^th of the month.
	Sunday bulletins: Give or e-mail information to Administrator AmyBeth Gibbs by Tuesday evening for the following Sunday.
	Sunday morning announcements: Give or e-mail information to Administrator AmyBeth Gibbs by 9 AM Tuesday. “Special” or oral announcements by individuals must be pre-arranged with the minister or program coordinator. No last minute announcements placed on the podium.
	Web pages: Items submitted to "The Liberal Voice" will also be posted to this web site (barring any personal information). If you need to update or correct these items on the web, or you need to make a last-minute announcement (e.g. a snow emergency) send a request to the BuxMont Web Weaver. Again, remember that not everyone has a computer!
	Fellowship Family news: If you have personal news you would like to share, or news about a Fellowship member or friend, please contact AmyBeth Gibbs or fill out one of the blue forms on the table in the lobby so we can include the information in future newsletters.
	Address and directory changes: Give address, phone or e-mail changes to AmyBeth Gibbs.

Reporting problems

If you notice anything at the Fellowship missing or not working properly, please let our Administrator, AmyBeth Gibbs, know via an e-mail message. Leaving a note on the desk in the office doesn't always work because notes can be lost, moved, or picked up accidentally. Thanks for your help.

SUPPORT BUXMONT FINANCIALLY WITHOUT SPENDING MORE MONEY!

Your pledge to the annual Canvass is and will always be the most important source of income for the Fellowship, but did you know that you can provide additional financial support for our liberal religious mission in other ways, when you make purchases that you would be making anyway?

Merchant rebate programs have been around for years, but they are becoming increasingly popular and easy to participate in. Here are three ways that you can benefit BuxMont in your normal shopping, with the newest ones listed first.

Register and shop online through schoolcash.com
By registering with schoolcash.com, you can obtain merchant rebates for BuxMont every time you shop at some of the most popular online merchants. Once you are registered, the next time you want something from amazon.com, instead of going directly to their web site, you instead log on to www.schoolcash.com, follow the link on their site to amazon.com, and shop as you normally would. Amazon.com will give 3% of what you spend to BuxMont! Their competitor, Barnes & Noble, will give 3.5%! Here’s a partial list of other participating merchants to give you an idea of how complete the coverage is, and how much the donations are:

Land’s End (3.5%)	Jos. A. Bank (6%)	JC Penney (3.5%)
Eddie Bauer (3.5%)	Target (3%)	J. Jill (4%)
Nordstrom (4%)	Kohl’s (3%)	Old Navy (4%)
LL Bean ($3.50/order)	J.crew (4%)	Orvis (9%) (yes 9!)
Dell (2%)	Gateway (1%)	Apple (1%)
OfficeMax.com (3%)	Buy.com (1%)	Palm (3%)
Handspring (4%)	Toys R Us (3%)	Staples (2%)

It’s easy – just go to www.schoolcash.com, go to the registration page, and enter BuxMont in the school name field, Warrington in the city field, and choose Pennsylvania from the drop down list of states. A screen will then appear giving the complete name of BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship for you to choose. Complete the registration by giving your name, address, e-mail address and a password. Every time you log in to schoolcash.com, it will remember who you are, and when you go to the merchant of your choice through their link, the specified rebate will be made to BuxMont.

Register at eScrip.com for supermarket and credit card shopping
Genuardi’s Family Markets will donate from 1 to 3% of your purchase if you use your Genuardi’s Club card and register it with eScrip.com. You don’t have to have a computer to participate, since you can register at the customer service counter at any Genuardi’s.

You can also register your credit card(s) with eScrip.com, so that in-store purchases also earn rebates for BuxMont. This must be done on line, so if you don’t have a computer with an internet connection, AmyBeth Gibbs can help you register over the Fellowship’s computer. After that, you don’t need the computer any more – just pay for your purchase at a participating merchant with your credit card. Some of the same merchants participate in both eScrip and schoolcash, but we don’t know if they will give rebates through both on the same purchase. It will be interesting to find out!

Buy Acme and Giant gift cards at BuxMont
If you shop at Acme or Giant supermarkets, you can buy gift cards at BuxMont after every Sunday service. BuxMont gets 5%, and you don’t spend any more than you would have if you paid cash or used a check.

BUXMONT ON

Do you have items up in your attic, or down in your basement, or hidden in some drawer, that you think might be worth something? Consider donating to BuxMont for auction on eBay. You will get a receipt for your tax-deductible donation, reflecting the amount that the high bidder paid for it! And, the Fellowship would gain an outside source of income, instead of having to do fundraising only within our own congregation. One item recently sold for $200! Contact Howard Barkan for more info. (Click on the eBay logo to see BuxMont auctions that are ongoing or ended in the last 30 days.)

BUXMONT PHONE/E-MAIL CHAIN

Bobbi Penniman, Communications Chair, has a BuxMont phone and e-mail chain. The purpose of this is to be able to disseminate information of a timely or critical nature, for which the usual Sunday announcements and/or Liberal Voice would not suffice. However, there are certainly many members and friends who have opted not to join this list:

If you would like to be added to the phone or e-mail chain, please contact Bobbi. Also, if your e-mail address has changed recently, please let Bobbi know. In case you think that you're on the e-mail list, but you haven't received any BuxMont-wide e-mails in the last month or so, you're probably not, or we have an old invalid e-mail address.

CARING COMMITTEE

The Caring Committee will use the Fellowship e-mail directory to request help for our members in time of need. It works a lot faster than the "old-fashioned" telephone list. If you don't have e-mail, don't check it often, or still want us to call you personally, please give your telephone number to Anna-Sara Fire. Thanks for all your support.