Between Sundays May 8, 2024

UUCV Friends,     We successfully hosted the Pacific Southwest Service Area Assembly, sponsored by Camp de Benneville Pines. And we did so with the help of many Energizer bunnies. Camp staff and board members provided so much. This message is about us at UUCV.

Throughout the weekend, visiting attendees continually thanked me, as our congregation’s lay figurehead. I accepted their thanks and pointed out how many elves were involved in making it happen. I take that metaphor from our longtime leader and benefactor Tom Berg’s cheerful admonition that “Little elves are not going to get the work done.” He meant that people needed to pitch in. So many of us elves pitched in to get the work done. To shift back the metaphor, we had a lot of Energizer bunnies.

In fact, so many of us were involved in getting the work done that I have realized that I cannot name them all individually. And that’s a good thing, because so many folks contributed. So, I’ll just name the various task areas involved, and if you know someone who worked on one or more of those tasks, please be sure to thank that person. Our entire professional staff was involved in putting on this event, some from months in advance and behind the scenes. A small group of Building and Grounds volunteers labored in the weeks and days before the event to spiff up our grounds, which were abundant with spring growth – and with the wildflowers we showed off. B & G volunteers also made sure that our indoor infrastructure was working.

Our indoor spaces also received special welcoming attention. While some of us may still think of our sacred spaces as a converted insurance building, many of our visitors commented what a lovely facility we had. This is thanks to those who made sure that we had our best face on in the sanctuary and that our tables and chairs were set up well, in the Sanctuary and in Berg Hall.

We were well fed, kept refreshed, and libated thanks to many UUCV volunteers and donors, and to the efforts of volunteers from Camp and from our sibling congregation Chalice. Our professional and volunteer AV/tech staff did amazing work both for in-house and online attendees. Several of the events are now archived for viewing.

We also acknowledge everyone who helped support music during the weekend, including Don’t Fret, setup and support for the two concerts, and financial and in-person support for the Emma’s Revolution performance. Home hospitality was well coordinated, and several guests stayed in the homes of our generous hosts. Simultaneous with the assembly, we hosted a youth Con (a gathering just for youth). We were glad to have two youth participants light our chalice for Sunday worship.

We finished with a bang-up Sunday service and yet more hospitality that followed, and many of our abundant leftovers went to a homeless shelter. All of our UUCV attendees did a wonderful job of providing our guests a warm welcome. Thank you to everyone!

Onward,
Jim Merrill, he/him
President, UUCV Board of Trustees