WEDNESDAY, JULY 19

We're halfway through our magical week together! Have you made an effort to introduce yourself to a newcomer and converse with someone new? Have you turned your world around by stepping outside your comfort zone, learning a new skill or game strategy or song, building community with a joint jigsaw puzzle effort at Common Ground? Continue to protect your precious energy, to look out for each other, and to enjoy how this diverse community helps everyone thrive!

WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

7 am - 8 pm: SUUSI Dining Hall Hours, Courtyard Dining Hall

9 - 9:45 am: Morning Worship, We Come from the Water: Practices and Rituals for Healing, Star Atrium at Bardo Fine Arts Center

9:30 am - 6:30 pm: SUUSI Store and Artisans' Bazaar, Blue Ridge Conf. Ctr.

4 - 6 pm: Community Time, SUUSI Pride, Central Plaza

4:15 - 5:15 pm: Joe Jencks Singing & Signing in the SUUSI Store

5:15 - 6:15 pm: Carla Ulbrich Singing & Signing in the SUUSI Store

4 - 5 pm: SUUSI Board Town Hall, Coulter Recital Hall

5 - 6 pm: SUUSI Board Candidate Forum, Coulter Recital Hall

6:30 - 8 pm: Ballroom Hour+, Campus Rec Center Studio 1

7 - 7:45 pm: Evening Worship, The Rabbit Listened, Bardo

8 - 9 pm: Concert Hour with Crys Matthews, Bardo

9 - 11:30 pm: Cabaret, Bardo

10:30 pm - 1 am: Serendipity, Theme: Tropical, Hillside Grind

11 pm - 3 am: Late Night Song Circle, Water Rock 3108

1 - 3:30 am: BBQuusi, Hillside Grind

Evening Worship

Evening worship takes place in the Bardo Arts Auditorium from 7 - 7:45 pm. Bardo Auditorium is one of the locations where it is strongly recommended for non-performers to wear masks, and there will be a designated section of the audience where masks are required. The theme of tonight's worship service is: The Rabbit Listened - How do we navigate actual change and ground our spirits so that possibility can take flight?

You've Got a Choice

Remember you can attend worship both virtually and in-person this year -- like, if you're there at WCU with a restless child, or feeling not quite ready for peopling yet, or just need a slower wake-up but still really want some nourishing morning worship time. The link is in your daily SOLIS activity notice. It is such a joy to see you in the screens and hear you singing from 800 miles away!

Thursday Transition Worship Service

Thursday evening, we will mark various life transitions within our community. This includes child dedications, teen bridging, and other important transitions. This year, this celebration will include those who wish to have their new names, pronouns, and/or gender identities recognized and celebrated by the SUUSI community. If you would like to be part of this celebration, or if you have a child to be dedicated, please email nurture@suusi.org no later than NOON Thursday. (Please note that teens who are bridging will be coordinated by the Teen Director, teens@suusi.org.)

Concert Hour: Crys Matthews

Tonight's concert hour starting at 8 pm in Bardo features Crys Matthews, one of the brightest stars of the new generation of social justice music-makers, already being hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie.” Crys is a powerful lyricist whose songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls "the poster-child for intersectionality." She has released albums with social justice themes and also those of thoughtful songs on love and life. Crys has won awards for her songwriting, and has performed at music festivals and prestigious venues across the country. “I believe in hope,” Matthews said. “As a social-justice songwriter, it is my duty to keep breathing that hope and encouragement into the people who listen to my music.” Crys’ songs can remind us why music indeed soothes the soul. Visit her website at: www.crysmatthews.com.

Star Car Drivers Needed

Help our SUUSI community! Star Car (golf cart) drivers are needed. Sign up sheet is on the table by the entrance to the SUUSI Bookstore in Blue Ridge Conference Center. Want to help, but Star Car is not your thing? Plenty of other volunteer opportunities are available here or email volunteers@suusi.org.

It Takes Two to Tango

Ballroom Hour+ is a "partner dancing" venue available to all SUUSI attendees. It is held 6:30 - 8 pm today - Friday and is located in the fully air conditioned Campus Recreation Center Studio 1. The Campus Rec Center is just to the left of the Clock Towerr – enter through the far right front door, and we are located at the top of the stairs. We will be playing a mix of Ballroom, Swing, Latin, and Country for your partner dancing pleasure, and we include a short dance lesson during the evening. For Wednesday, the lesson will teach the Tango and Hustle basic steps.

Who's Running for SUUSI Board?

ANDREW DIAMOND

SUUSI is at a time for contemplation of what we are together and what we, as a community, can become. The pandemic and other factors have created genuine challenges for SUUSI, and I feel the times call on me to deepen my commitment to SUUSI. This year is my 26th SUUSI since 1991. I have served on some UU boards, including the Florida District UU Board. IRL, I'm an IT Consultant with 30 years of post-MBA experience in my field (accounting and database design/implementation) I am also a yoga teacher, airplane/helicopter pilot, and avid skier. As a board member, I would work mindfully with both practical considerations and the heart and soul of the organization in mind. My primary work would be to support and encourage other board members and core staffers in their roles. I have the experience to provide a grounded voice while not being so set in my ways, or clouded by my personal wishes, that I'd resist nurturing the healthy change and growth for SUUSI that would benefit all participants. To take on this role, the community is the voice in deciding if what I bring aligns with your values to earn your vote. I thank you for your consideration.

ANTHONY QUANDT-JUDD

My name is Anthony Quandt-Judd. I was born in Florida on June 23rd, 2004, in Saint Petersburg, Florida. I am currently a student at the University of South Florida. I have been a part of Unitarian Universalism since I was born. I was born to two young parents with very caring unitarian universalist families, who have given me so much love and support throughout my life. SUUSI has always been a place I can call home, and I want to ensure that all people who share this belief can also call SUUSI home. I have served my two years on the board already and would love to continue to serve SUUSI as an adult representative. 

ROBBY GREENBERG

This is my 37th SUUSI. I have served as Director of Cabaret, Coordinator of Concert Hour, and Director of Nightlife. I have presented my workshop, Showcase of Stars, for many years. I want to be a part of making sure that SUUSI continues to be the safe, welcoming space for participants that I found at my first SUUSI in 1984. I am retired and actively involved in my fellowship in Franklin, NC. My work life included managing The Caves, my family's restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, and creating and running R&R Inclusion, an agency which provided activities in the community for adults with disabilities. I believe my skillset and my dedication to SUUSI principles will enhance the SUUSI Board. 

RENEE PHILLIPS

My name is Renee Phillips and I am running for the youth representative position on the SUUSI Board of Trustees. As a passionate advocate for youth empowerment and community engagement, I am excited about the opportunity to contribute my skills and dedication to SUUSI. I am committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for young individuals, where their voices are heard, and their ideas are valued. As a Youth Representative, I aim to be a voice for my peers, addressing their concerns, and proposing initiatives that will positively impact our community.

SUUSI Board of Trustees Events Today in Coulter

The SUUSI Board wants your input! Come to the Board Town Hall today in Coulter Recital Hall from 4 - 5 pm. SUUSI occasionally has to find a new location — whether we stay at WCU a little longer or look to move elsewhere in the Southeast, we want to know what factors matter most to you in host sites and locations. Specifically, what would make SUUSI a safe and welcoming space for you? While everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this forum, we especially encourage people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA2S+ people to attend, as we aim to center these identities and perspectives in this conversation. Hosted by Ivy Breivogel, board member and assistant director of the Young Adults program.

Not sure who to vote for in tomorrow's Board election? Stay for the Adult Board Candidate Forum in the Coulter Recital Hall today from 5 - 6 pm. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions of the folks running for the board this year. This is also your opportunity to ask current Board of Trustee members anything about SUUSI. Come, be an informed participant and voter!

Today's Blast from SUUSI's Past

Apropos to this afternoon's Town Hall about SUUSI locations: In early 1960, after six popular and very successful years at Blue Ridge Assembly, the Southern UU Institute "began looking into possible alternative locations." It was reported to the community that "each site examined 'proved to be unsatisfactory, and [was also] found to be booked several years in advance.'" (This week's Blasts from the Past are taken from the SUUSI history book, "Remember the Feeling," available in the SUUSI Store.)

Recovery Meetings

Recovery Meetings will be held today - Friday: 7:30 am, 1 pm, 5:30 pm, and 11 pm in the Addiction and Recovery Support Space (Blue Ridge 230). If you're struggling and need to talk, contact recovery chaplain Jane Upton at 407-694-9629 (7 am - 11 pm).

We’ve had some awesome Cabaret performers this week, and there’s more to come! The Wednesday night line-up includes Pat Wictor, Friction Farm, the Mostly Melodica Mommas, Valerie DuBay and Kathee Tomlin, Misfit and the Misfits (does that pique your curiosity?), Russ Taddeo… and maybe a few more!

TWOB (Teens Way Off Broadway) will be Friday at 8pm in Bardo! You don't want to miss it. Here is today’s TWOB clue:

You’ll enjoy TWOB best if you read "Remember the Feeling" by Bill Gupton first, available at the SUUSI bookstore

Think you know what the 2023 TWOB show theme will be? Email twob@suusi.org.

Covenant: Right or Wrong?

SUUSI’s covenant contains the following: Safety, Affirmation, Trust, Accountability, Validation, and Reconciliation. What do these words mean to you? Do they necessarily mean the same thing to other people here at SUUSI? Who’s “right”? Who’s “wrong”? “Right View” is part of the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism. Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh said, "Relatively speaking, there are right views and there are wrong views. But if we look more deeply, we see that all views are wrong views. No view can ever be the truth. It is just from one point; that is why it is called a “point of view.” If we go to another point, we will see things differently and realize that our first view was not entirely right."

I think that this can give us a healthy way to approach covenant – that our covenant isn’t this fixed thing that is either broken or not, but that it might appear to be broken from one person’s view, yet not broken from another’s. Maybe both are right; or possibly, as Thich Nhat Hanh would say, maybe both are wrong. If we can free our covenant of binary thinking (i.e. broken or not broken, right or wrong) and instead think of it as something different; something ideal that is simply put under the normal stresses and strains of relationships, then perhaps we can then free ourselves to address these stresses and strains in healthy ways. – Rev. Dave Dunn, 2023 CAT chair

Youth and Youth Parents

Youth programming continues today with age group programming in the morning and afternoon activities of slime, hair and body art, and tie-dye.

Middlers

Tie-dye for middlers is happening this morning, and the Middler Dance is happening tonight from 7 - 9 pm in the Blue Ridge/Balsam Crossover Lounge.

Teens

Teen programming today includes an afternoon of thrift store shopping and an Angel Walk from 9:30 - 10:30 pm.

Young Adults

In addition to the daily YA Touch Group which started yesterday, you can participate in Granny Hobby Day from 2:30 - 4 pm, a YA/Median swim from 7 - 9 pm, and Movie Night from 9 pm - midnight.

Medians

This evening you can join YA/Median swim from 7 - 9 pm, and Evening Baking from 8 - 10 pm. And, as always, Midnight Snacks available 'til 2 am!