The Chalice campus is safe and sound. There is some minor damage from the wind to the tents that we set up for Cabaret night.

Likewise with Chalice members. So far as we have heard, none of our members lost their houses. Tom Brower’s ex-wife & their kids lost their house in Rancho Bernardo but his mom’s house is fine.

But lots of people are still evacuated including myself.

I stopped by Qualcomm yesterday and got a lot of good information. I spoke with the SD police, SDG&E and FEMA representatives.  They have tons of supplies, clothes, bedding, sheets, food, miscellaneous stuff at Qualcomm as well as representatives from just about every group that you might be interested in talking with including the insurance companies. It is not crowded and it is easy to pick up a few things if you need them.

SD police said that they expect that most of the houses will have electricity because they go in very quickly behind the firemen to deal with the powerlines. Water & gas maybe.

SDG&E said that if your gas is turned off, CALL SDG&E to turn it on. They advise people not to turn the gas on yourself.

Register with FEMA - go online to http://www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm or call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) to register. It doesn’t mean you’ll get or need assistance but they were very responsive about our needs.

============

Dear UU Community of San Diego,

I’m sorry I have not been able to be in touch - I have not had reliable email access. I know that many of you have been concerned about Chalice members and how we are doing. Thank you for your outpouring of support. At this point, I am not sure what all we need. Due to evacuations, many members of Chalice are spread throughout Southern California.

If you are a Chalice member, and have not contacted me already, please contact me on my cell phone. 858.472.3162. I would like to know where you are and how you are doing.

A brief update: Tom and I fled at 5 am Monday morning. We were awakened to a wall of fire coming down Battle Mountain behind our condo complex. We left with minimal items. We were forced evacuated north on Highway 15.
After two attempted settlings and realizing we would be evacuated again, we settled in Temecula in the home of John and Lynn Welniak - founding members of the Temecula Valley UU Community. We do know that our condo did not burn, but we are uncertain of the smoke damage.

The status of the Chalice UU building remains unknown. We’ve received conflicting reports that the building was fine and also that there were buildings burning around it. We hope to know in the next couple of days whether our church is still standing. What we do know is that ours is a resilient and loving congregation and we will pull together as the strong community we are.

We are deeply grateful to the Unitarian Universalist Association Relief Team and the Pacific Southwest District Executive, Rev. Dr. Ken Brown, who are working to raise funds for any San Diego UUs who might need assistance. Our gratitude also to First UU Church as well as Palomar Fellowship for their offers of homes, food, and whatever else might be needed as we recover. Our concern also goes out to those members of San Dieguito who may be suffering losses at this time.

I know that our San Diego Cluster is connected, compassionate, and we are so fortunate at this time to have such a loving community.

My thanks to Rev. Beth Johnson and David Miller for their support during time.

Blessings on the journey,

Rev. Margo McKenna-Brower
Chalice UU Congregation

About 80% of the congregation has been evacuated / displaced by the fires in the San Diego area. Everyone is safe and have been housed somewhere. If anyone knows of anyone in any trouble or needs, toiletries, clothes, money, please contact David Miller (650-224-0827). David has been serving as an ad-hoc coordinator for putting together people with housing.

Carol McIntyre reports: Cricket and I left early yesterday morning and went to my friends in Mira Mesa. The smoke was too intense and I live 3 blocks from Pomerado Rd. I’m home for a few hours so I can water and check everything. We hope to come home in the morning.

Rose has been in Vista since sunday evening, after leaving the church. We had clear sky until this morning around 4am of smoke.

Janet, Ed, Miriam were evacuated early Monday morning from our RB home. Because the 15 was not open Northbound, they went South to friends of ours from First Church.

As far as we know right now, our home is still standing. We have been calling the house periodicly and the answering machine is still picking up, and the Fax machine is still working. The Apartment complex which was all over the TV, is just around the corner from our house.

Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:29:56 -0700
I am thrilled to report that Alec Bergamini just drove from Temecula to Chalice (he’s trying to get to work) and the building and grounds are all fine. Lots of leaves and debris flew around — the tents/dressing rooms are flipped and twisted — but no broken windows or any burn damage at all.

Margo and Tom are staying up in Temecula with John Welniak. It’s not clear whether they have to evacuate again.

The O’Gwynn’s are staying with Tom Carlstrom. Dea and Mark Stutzman are out in Chula Vista with Mark’s brother. Jan & Dean (858-442-0859) have been staying with David Miller.

Phyllis Allison say: I’m back from the Red Cross Shelter of Escondido High School where I was able to volunteer knowing Andi and Bill Stout were here and could drive Geoff and Oedi(puss) should the winds again turn. They are now North in cleaner air as it looks like they can’t return home anytime soon. Their pets are with them.

Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 9:15 PM
Kathy Zapata
>
> Just now thought to check my e-mail although I have talked to many of you throughout this horrific day. Alec, Lucy, Maya, Camila, and I (and Alec’s dog Gracie and our hamster Nutley) all evacuated to my mom’s house in Temecula around 5:00 am.

Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:54:07 -0700 (PDT)
Just a quick update on the Schulz’s and Coon/Dulany’s.

Jess and I spent most of the day at Paul and Deb’s house with Liam and Deb’s mom. When they extended the evacuation area south to Sorrento Valley Blvd. we both decided to make tracks. Jess and I accepted an offer from Gary and Victoria (their back yard works great for the dogs).

Deb and Paul headed their family up to Laguna where they have the keys to a relatives beach house (sounds great, except for the drive up there).

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:32:42 -0700
Patty Carlisle
I haven’t seen or heard about fires getting close to Felicita. I hope no news is good news.

An update on Tom, the O’Gwynn’s, and me: David, Cheryl, Sabrina, and Meredith will stay at Tom’s again tonight.

Jim Idell
Mon, 22 Oct 2007 18:03:47 -0700 (PDT)
With Scripps Ranch being evacuated, Debi and I packed up and are now down with our friends Debby and Pat Callahan in Coronado.

Michael Perry

I’ve just arrived at Al and Sali Weiss’ place. I was told they evacuated Scripps Ranch north of Scripps Poway Pkwy, but I’m only 2 miles south of it so I decided to go before I had to.

Take care everyone,
Michael Perry

On 10/22/07, Dianne Decker-Houser

August is here and while most people think of August as one of the summer months, for the RE department it’s back to the books!

I’m thrilled to announce that Marlene Katz has stepped up to be our new committee chair for the coming year. Marlene and her husband Rob have two kids, Dylan and Avery, who are quite active in our RE program. I’m sure they look forward to their mom’s new role and participation in RE. I know we do!

This year’s regular RE program will be offered during the 9:30 service with the kids being divided into age-based classes. Identical thematic material will be presented during the 11:30 service but in a mixed age environment (though we are considering moving the young teens group to the 11:30 service… those teens need their sleep, you know!)

At our meeting in July, the committee mapped out our themes for the entire school year. Once again we have organized the year into discrete modules giving our volunteer teachers a clear timeline for their teaching commitment. Our year will begin September 2nd with a review of the seven principles. November 4th through December 16th will focus on Our Judeo Christian Heritage, January 6th through February 24th on issues of Social Justice, followed by an exploration of Our UU Identity March 2nd through April 20th. Finally, from April 27th through May 19th we will prepare for RE Sunday by writing our own personal stories in light of the year’s explorations, with the year culminating on May 26th when we will share those stories on RE Sunday

We are excited to be introducing the “Center Quest” program for the coming year. “Center Quest” is both a curriculum and a methodology that gives anyone the tools to become an engaging and effective teacher. Special training for teachers is required for the program to ensure its success. Several volunteers from Chalice will attend a training at the Palomar UU Fellowship in July to help get our year started. A training session led by Liz Jones of First Church will follow for all our volunteer teachers on September 21st and 22nd. The benefits of this training will last for years to come.

See a topic in our schedules you’re interested in? There’s no better way to learn more about a topic than to teach it! Once again we will need a full slate of volunteers to make the RE program a success in the next year. I encourage anyone even remotely interested in teaching RE (or anything else for that matter) to set aside these dates, and contact me right away!

On August 11th, I will be attending my 30th year high school reunion. Yes, I graduated high school in 1977. In 1977, Jimmy Carter was sworn in as President, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors was the leading selling album, and among many other events, on August 16th, Elvis Presley passed away.

As I look back over the past thirty years, there is no way I could ever have imagined that thirty years from my graduation in Evanston, Illinois, I would be a Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Intern in Escondido, California.

It is truly amazing to me where our journeys can lead us. On a daily basis we all make a wide variety of choices; should I check my email, should I have that extra piece of cake, should I look for a new job, should I say I’m sorry to my spouse, choices that take our life in one direction or another. In fact, if I have made just five decisions a day that ever-so-slightly or more-than-slightly changed the direction of my life since 1977, I would have made approximately 52,925 decisions.

Through our lives, we all have made really good decisions and a substantial amount of not-so-good ones, because after all, we are human and that is the joy and challenge of our lives. But whatever those choices have been, they are the decisions that have brought all of us here together and participating in this vibrant and growing community.

Thirty years ago I would never have guessed that all those day-to-day choices would have led me here. It is pleasure to tell you how grateful I am that they have. I wish you peace with where your journey has led you. As I said in my last sermon, choices do matter. So, as you reflect and as you consider decisions that may not always seem perfect or obvious, remember (as it has been said many times before,) it is about the journey. As long as we are on it, we will continue to have plenty of chances to decide. One last thing, (so we don’t take it all so seriously), remember the famous words of Yogi Berra, “When you get to the fork in the road, take it.”

Have a great rest of the summer.

David

July 12, 2007

by Patty Carlisle

Summer minister, David Miller reported a quieter month. General Assembly (GA) was the main event – interesting and exciting. He also worked with RE to facilitate program evolution this year, and met with the Social Justice Committee to discuss “Weaving the Tapestry of Inclusiveness.”

Building and Grounds reported that because the yurts are facilities that children will be occupying, the County required that a Structural Engineer come out to draw up new plans showing their presence on the property. His services will cost $1,000.00, in addition to $600 for belated permits to cover the installation of the yurts.

Cabaret Night promotion is a current focus of the Outreach Committee. They would like to submit notices/articles to North County Times and would like an upfront article on Cabaret since it is our biggest event of the year. This promotion will not only sell tickets but also promote Chalice.

The Social Justice Committee is working to formalize a speaker series and continues to plan the upcoming year-long workshop series centering on “Weaving the Tapestry of Inclusiveness.”

RE Committee goals for 2007-08 include continuing to build on the progress made in enrollment, creating a nursery area separate from the toddler area, and putting together a Toddler program. They also wish to continue building a cadre of excellent leaders/teachers by a) increasing support and building on training for teachers with additional Leader meetings during the year and b) fostering leader-to-leader and leader-to-student connections. In addition,
they want to develop a high school teen program and regular activities for families.

San Diego will be the site of 2008’s District Assembly. The District is looking for local UU churches willing to step into planning and implementation of this event which will offer workshops and guest speakers. Anyone interested in participating on the planning committee should contact a Board member.

A copy of the complete minutes has been posted in the front hall and is available online in our members section.

Chalice has been abuzz with energetic sharing about people’s experiences at General Assembly (GA) and trying to figure out what to do with all these new ideas and passion. If you want to learn more about what happened at GA this year talk to Dean Goddette, David Miller, Michael Perry, Andi Stout, Al and Sali Weiss or Colleen Wells. They all attended and have lots to share. And check out www.uua.org to view the abundance of videos and reports on workshops and events with many of the articles written by our very own Dean Goddette.

Those who attended GA have shared that this is a life-altering experience. Although I have not attended a GA I have attended many District Assemblies. The Pacific Southwest District Assembly (DA) is on a much smaller scale but it is also a wonderful growth experience. AND it is going to be in San Diego next year.

DA happens on the last weekend of April which is April 25-27, 2008. It will be hosted by the five San Diego cluster UU congregations at the Del Mar Marriott. Because we are hosting DA we need members of the cluster congregations to make up the planning committee. The first meeting of this committee will be held on Saturday, August 18 at 9 am. I will let you know when the location is selected. If you are interested, I encourage you to consider serving on this committee and be a part of creating DA 2008.

Lastly, the PSWD Assembly Planning Committee is always looking for new ideas for workshops and presentations. If there is something you would like to learn more about or have something you would like to present, pass it along to the PSWD staff, the PSWD planning committee, or to me.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the Weaving the Tapestry of Inclusiveness group had their first meeting? After service on July 22 about 30 of us met, developed a vision statement, and tossed around lots of ideas on how to proceed with this program. Check it out on our Chalice web site, www.chaliceuu.org.

Yours in the Faith We Share,
Debbie

There are no words. . .

that can express how overwhelmingly grateful we feel to everyone in this amazing congregation! What can we say that will speak to the many hours of preparation so many of you gave in order that we would have a perfect wedding concert, ceremony, and reception?

The weeks before the wedding were filled with planning and bustling; so many details, so much scheduling, and so many things to make sure were ready by July 1. Little of this was done by us; rather, it was almost all done by the members and friends of Chalice! And the result was that the night of the wedding was a magnificent gift to us!

The setting of First UU Church of San Diego was so very beautiful; the concert - every part of it - was spectacular beyond our wildest hopes and dreams; the chapel was overwhelming with the fragrance of flowers and twinkling lights; every person who gave of their time, talents, and finances, to create this for us has left us with full hearts and tears of gratitude! We are not even able to thank all of those who made this service so powerful and personal, because the list would take up the rest of the newsletter.

The ceremony was exactly what we had dreamed for our wedding evening: a candlelight service; being walked down the isle by a family member and a Chalice member to represent the importance of both in our lives; a longtime and close friend, Jared Fulton, to perform the wedding ceremony and thus continue to share in a deep friendship; the opportunity to share more of ourselves through our symbol of unity was an honor; the music chosen for this part of the service was personalized and powerful; and the presence of so many people whom we deeply cherish bearing witness of our commitment to one another. All of these we consider gifts as well!

And the reception, though chaotic due to space issues, was joyful, beautifully decorated, and filled with the most wonderful food , as well as the best band in San Diego – GRUNION RUN! (Not that we are biased!) We were only sorry that we did not get to spend much time at the reception to enjoy the music and food, and we are sorry we had even less time to speak with each and every one of you. We have decided we will simply say, “Thank you for being present, and we hope you had a wonderful time at the reception party!”

We returned from our honeymoon to hours of opening cards, cards filled with an outpouring of support and love for us, as well as best wishes for a lifetime of love toward and connection with one another. These cards, with their warmth and bigheartedness, are just as valuable to us as the cards with financial support for the generous “honeymoon fund.” We thank the generous spirit that each and every one of you has shown toward us at this important time of our lives – whether that be with a card, a financial gift, a specific gift, hours of volunteering, sharing musical talent, or even all of the above combined, as well as a myriad of other gifts that we cannot think of right now.

The hundreds of hours spent volunteering, organizing, creating, practicing, and laboring , as well as attending our wedding - all to provide us with a perfect wedding - as well as financial support for a perfect honeymoon - is deeply treasured by us! We find that there are no words to fully express our gratitude for your love and support.

With respect and affection,
Tom Brower and Margo McKenna Brower

An excellent overview of the US health care system and the challenges facing any kind of reform. This is an excellent blog from a UU minister in Massachusetts.

 Sicko and health care reform

I just returned from an amazing concert at Chalice by Mari Levin, violin, and Tim McKnight, piano. Tim, of course, is our Director of Music at Chalice. Mari is a laureate of the California International Young Artists Competition. The theme of the concert was “Variations on a Theme.” There were about 100 people in attendance and the audience was anticipating an excellent concert as they were familiar with Tim’s talent and with high expectations of Mari.

The evening started out with Sonata op. 5, no. 12, Variations on ‘La Folia di Spagna’ (Arcangelo Corelli). There is a nice dialog between the violin and the piano throughout the piece as the theme moves from instrument to instrument.

The second piece was performed by Mari, “Chaconne” from the Partita No. 2 in D minor, MWV 1004 (Johann Sebastian Bach). The song had its origins as a bawdy peasant dance. A Chaconne has a four measure subject that get repeated and varied. This chaconne has some sixty variations in the piece. The piece represents a special challenge to violinists because it is long with no breaks for fifteen minutes. The piece is also somewhat of a “DaVinci Code” among violinist because there are musical quotations from Bach’s other works and scholars have been cataloging how these overlay with his other pieces.

Variations on “Ah! Vous dirais-je, maman!” (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) was performed Tim McKnight on piano. More familiar to us as “Twinkle, twinkle little star” (not written by Morzart as we find out). Each variation grows in complexity. This was probably the most accessible of all the pieces as even the novice can easily follow the theme through all its extravagant variations.

The fourth piece brings Tim and Mari back together again to play Csardas. A csardas is a folk dance originating in Hungary. Roma music bands popularized the dance form throughout Eastern Europe. The dance form starts out very slowly and ends very quickly with many tempo variations in between. This particular piece by Vittorio Monte requires the violinist to use harmonics to play the melody in some of the variations and ends with a rousing finish to get us to the intermission.

The second half started off with a classic rag, Graceful Ghost Rag, written by William Bolcom, a living American composer. Originally written as part of a collection of rags for piano, he reworked it into an arrangement for violin and piano as a wedding gift for a close friend.

In his youth, Beethoven wrote many variations for solo piano. Beethoven composed Six Variations on an Original Theme Op. 34 in 1802, when he was 32 years old. The variations in Op. 34 are based on an original theme (i.e. not using an existing theme either from his own work or from some other source—folk melody, popular song, etc). The piece opens with a lyrical theme in F major. Each of the variations is written in a different key and has a different character (trilling, dark march, lyrical, etc). The work concludes with a coda, recalling the opening theme. You can see how much more experimental and innovative Beethoven was compare to the variations by Mozart.

Tim and Mari play together again in A Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughn Williams. There is an unproven, but widely believed, legend that the tune Greensleeves was composed by King Henry VIII of England (1491-1547) for his lover and future queen, Anne Boleyn. In 1584, a sonnet set to the tune of “Greensleeves” appears in A Handful of Pleasant Delights. Many believe that the “Lady Greensleeves” of the sonnet was a very promiscuous young lady and likely a prostitute. At the time in England removable green sleeves were required to be worn by prostitutes as an outward label of their profession.

The last piece in the concert was by Maurice Ravel, “Tzigane” Rhapsodie de Concert. Ravel is well-known for writing music in an “impressionistic” style. The “Tzigane” for violin and piano is a significant departure from this style. “Tzigane” is a French word for gypsy and Ravel wrote the piece for the Hungarian virtuouso Jelly d’Aranyi in 1922. The piece opens with a lengthy violin solo exploring the Hungarian harmonic minor scale. As the melodic line gradually moves upwards, Ravel commands the soloist to remain on the lowest string (the G string) until the notes become so high that this is no longer possible. The theme that follows the opening cadenza is a Hungarian dance–a csardas in fact. After the statement of the theme, the piece erupts into a show of spectacular variations where the soloist gets to employ all sorts of violin tricks– perpetual motion, rapid harmonics, left-hand pizzicati (plucking of the strings) in the midst of bowed arpeggios, quadruple stops, and extremely high notes with trills.

For their encore, they performed “Ashokan Farewell” by Jay Ungar which most people may be familiar with from the Civil War documentary by Ken Burns. “This is a piece we discovered recently and just fell in love with.” said Mari.

Tim and Mari gave a great performance of the piece and the audience rewarded a fantastic concert with a standing ovation.