Member Announcements

Our recently-purchased refrigerator-freezer was defective. It was returned for refund and Tanya Falgout generously donated a bigger, better one. Thanks, Tanya!

The  Umbrella Club  at our  South Louisiana Community College  is a campus organization for members or supporters of the local are LGBTQ community. They have a written and distributed an informative  tri-fold brochure about the Transgender Day of Remembrance .

Our week-delayed 2nd Thursday Movie Night is this Thursday, November 21. We will be viewing the 2018 documentary film about Mister Rogers, " Won't you be my neighbor? " The film tells about the life and guiding philosophy of Fred Rogers, For over 30 years, Fred Rogers, an unassuming minister, puppeteer, writer and producer, was beamed into homes across America in his beloved show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . This documentary received acclaim from both critics and audiences. It grossed over $22 million, becoming the top-grossing biographical documentary ever produced and the 12th largest-grossing documentary ever produced. Read more at the film's Wikipedia page .  Note that there is a new dramatic film titled " A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood " starring Tom Hanks that is being release to theaters this Friday. An article in The Atlantic, My Friend Mister Rogers , gives a very personal perspective on both the new dramatic film as well as the 2018...

Louisiana Trans Advocates The Transgender Day of Remembrance (#TDOR) is an annual observance on November 20 honoring the memory of those whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence. As a Welcoming Congregation, we recognize this and other important days in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) calendar. The poem  O Infinite Love: Prayer for Transgender Day of Remembrance and other transgender awareness resources are available through this UU World link . The UL campus organization GLASS (Giving Love, Acceptance, Safety, and Support) will be hosting a TDOR memorial at the Dupré Library , 400 E Saint Mary Blvd, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. GLASS is an LGBTQIA and straight ally organization on campus whose goal is to connect the bridges of communication between different sexual identities, communities, and genders.

FUNDRAISER YARD SALE!!! We will be having our garage sale on Saturday, November 23rd at Bill Edwards Home. You can bring labelled boxes containing donated items to Church. Scott Ferguson will be storing them at his home and bringing them to Bill's on Friday, November 22nd. We will be setting up the tables and pricing items Friday evening. The sale begins Saturday morning at 7 am. Please consider donating items to support our Fellowship. We also need folks to help price and stage items and to man the tables on Saturday. Thank you! --- sf

Christmas get-together at the Hoagland's, 2018 THANKSGIVING DINNER AT MORRIS AND LINDA HOAGLAND'S If you don't have family to have a Thanksgiving meal with, then go by the Hoagland's on Thanksgiving Day. Please RSVP no later than the weekend of the 23-24th Turkey, dressing and mashed potatoes will be provided You may bring a dish to pass around Thanks, Morris and Linda! --- sf

Move The Mindset (MTM) Presents...  A Christmas Holiday HOBNOB! Please join us for a celebration   to honor our MTM Collaborators with Food & Fun! Monday, December 2, 2019,          6:00 pm to 9:00 pm River Ranch @ Mainstreet Clubhouse 201 Settler’s Trace Blvd, Lafayette, LA 70508 Eat drink & be merry with family friends and food as we party to  live music by Jeremy Benoit “JB SAAX” Band!   Move The Mindset...a grassroots 501(C-3) non-profit civil rights organization committed to promoting racial and social justice through education, dialog, the arts and direct action!

Trees Acadiana is showing a FREE movie at the LITE Center on November 14 at 6:00 pm. On the Trees Acadiana  Facebook Event Page it says Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance soil. By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil’s key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time. Filmed on four continents, featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet. ...

We must reschedule movie night this month to November 21 . Ann and I regret the confusion, but we needed to do it because our son Grayson has been diagnosed with the flu, and it is really not prudent to have guests in the house right now. But - The good news about this rescheduling is that it also solves the scheduling conflict with the Trees Acadiana movie Symphony of the Soils showing on Thursday, November 14. I urge all our regular movie night viewers to attend this alternative event. Here is a link to that film announcement    https://uulalaannouncements.blogspot.com/2019/11/november-14-movie-symphony-of-soil.html I will send out an  invitation and announcement message early next week about the rescheduled movie night film.   -- mike

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UULaLa's own Sarah Brown will appear this week in a production of Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette. This riotous comedy has the famous character Falstaff as its subject. Legend has it that Queen Elizabeth herself demanded that Shakespeare write this comedy starring the drunken, portly Knight. For tickets and more information visit Acting Up in Acadiana's website: The Merry Wives of Windsor | actingup Three performances only! November 21, 22, and 23rd. The Merry Wives of Windsor | actingup

Earthshare Garden is hosting a fund raiser Farm Fresh Brunch on November 17 from 10:00 am until 1:00 pm. Scratch Kitchen is preparing the food, and the event will take place at Espirit de Coeur , 402 Garfield St in Downtown Lafayette. Music by the Swamp Blossoms. This would be a good way to get lunch after the Sunday service while supporting this community organization. Tickets are $60 for adults, and reduced prices are available for children. Attending the brunch is a way you can support community agriculture in Lafayette. More information and tickets are available at:    https://esg-brunch-tickets.eventbrite.com .

Draft meeting minutes for our Executive Committee regular meeting held on November 5, 2019  are now available at   https://minutesuulalafellowship.blogspot.com/   Meeting minutes are compiled by the  secretary after each Fellowship Executive Committee meeting. Our Executive Committee is made up of the Fellowship officers and permanent committee chairs. All meeting are open to the membership. They are usually held on the first Tuesday each month at 6:00 pm. Watch the announcements and newsletter to confirm the date and time.

Many of you will recall that local musician Major Handy and his wife Frances home was destroyed in a fire about 3 months ago . Move the Mindset has set up a fund, the Handy Fire Fund , to assist the Handy Family. If you would like to contribute, you can send a check to Move the Mindset PO Box 93811 Lafayette, LA 70509 Please make your check out to "Move the Mindset" and write "Handy Fire Fund" on the memo line. Please mail checks early enough to be received before November 25.

The Fellowship has cloth napkins to save on waste for our Potluck Dinners. I washed some but did not know how to fold them. I suppose it doesn't really matter but I came across this tutorial that shows how to fold them in a few interesting ways, One way makes a holder for utensils and the other makes a Christmas tree: https://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Cloth-Napkin Here are my efforts: --- Scott Ferguson

LUS is the biggest part of our city government, but sometimes goes "under the radar." The policies and plans at LUS have a big impact on everyone, but especially on those with lower incomes. We need programs like weatherization assistance to lower power bills while also obviating LUS investment to meet peak demand on the hottest days of the year. Programs like weatherization are mandatory for investor owned corporations, but not for public utilities who get their direction from the voters.  Now we have the opportunity to have a voice in planning for LUS electric's future. A new plan called an IRP is being developed, and we can give our input. I hope you can attend. Here's the ANNOUNCEMENT: On Tuesday, November 12th, Lafayette Utilities System (LUS), along with consulting engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, will be hosting the first of a series of community input sessions at the South Regional Library from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The community input se...

Departure time is 7:20 am I am meeting Nel Hahn and two of her friends to drive up there. It is about a three hour drive to the Monroe area. 02:59pm: Arrived about 10:15. Found the rally across the intersection from the Ridgewood Correctional Center. Good turnout. Families of detainees attended. Some from Florida. Several folks spoke from the heart in either English or Spanish pleading that this policy of unnecessary incarceration be stopped. As Nel Hahn pointed out, other states have had programs that allow immigrants to be released until their court dates, but Louisiana has not tried that. Ridgewood is a privately-owned for-profit facility and is totally unnecessary. Nel Has offered to talk with our church about immigrant detention at the November 17th service if nothing comes up to prevent it. 5:46 Back home. Tired but encouraged that -- with media coverage and social media -- others will be motivated to demand justice for these innocent victims. Here are some photos of ...

UULALA Members! We will be having a poster party at Mary Guirard's home on Friday, November 1st at 11 am. The posters are to be used at a rally at the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe in support of the families of refugees being held there. This is the center where  41-year-old Roylan Hernandez-Diaz committed suicide on October 15th, after being held for four months, then having his application for political asylum denied. If you would like to attend the poster party call Scott Ferguson, Social Concerns Chair at 337 504-1860 for more information. Want to attend the rally? Great! If you make posters, please keep them positive -- no shaming. That is the UU way! The families are primarily Hispanic, so you may want to include some Spanish slogans. There is likely to be media coverage there so remember to SMILE! And take lots of selfies of you and your group being AWESOME!!!!! Then share them here or with our Publications Committee (Emily Carline is Chair.) You ca...