The Service Auction is Coming! Time to Submit Your Donations!

Rat-a-tat-tat ---what's that sound I hear? It's the background music for our annual service auction May 19, 2024. We will be enjoying hearty appetizers as we bid on items at our live auction after church on Sunday, May 19. We will also have a silent online auction and a raffle for the younger set.

The April 23 deadline for donations is just a few weeks away. So, it is time to put on your thinking hats and let your imaginations run wild as you think of items you could donate. Donations of things are welcome, but what we really would like to see are donations that let us have fun with one another. For instance, for those who love the water -- you could take folks out for an afternoon on the water with light snacks or teach someone the joys of kayaking. You could lead a guided bike hike with snacks or have an Earth Day gathering on your deck. How about summer salads on the patio or hosting a banana split making party? You could offer to rake leaves, help plant a garden or even do some weeding. For the picky pet owner you could offer to pet sit while they are out of town. If you like to play cards, how about a card party? Better yet, offer to teach someone how to play Euchre or Pinochle. For the OSU fans you could host a game-watching party with snacks. The crafty set could share their skills by offering to teach someone to knit or cross stitch. The options are endless and we would love to have the donations in our catalog. This is your chance to share your talents and to connect with others.

Write a description of your donation on the donation form which is available by clicking here.

 And, if you need some ideas, we have copies of the past catalogs available here.

And if you would be willing to contribute an appetizer to share for us to enjoy immediately previous to and during the live auction, please sign up by clicking here.  

When you write out your donation idea, take some time to tease and to please with your description. If we have any problem understanding your donation, we will be sure to contact you -- and don't forget to include the value of the item, even if it is priceless. How do you price donkey petting? Especially when one of them sings!  Once we have all of the donations the committee will divide the items into two categories, live and silent. You will be able to check out this year's catalogs on May 7. Even better, you may start bidding on silent auction items a week before the live auction (May 12). Thanks to our new computer system, we will be able to let you know when you have been outbid on an item so you may change your bid. We will also offer auto-bidding up to a preset maximum price....who could ask for anything more? We are looking forward to a lively, fun-filled event with lots of good food, laughter and of course, great bidding. Looking forward to seeing you at the auction on May 19!

Please Help with Sunday morning Greeting and Refreshments!

To sign up to be a greeter on Sunday morning, or to provide refreshments for Fellowship time, please click here. Explanations of the responsibilities role will be available once you click. THANKS!

Mowing at NUUC--We Need Some Help

The mowing season is about to kick off and the Building and Grounds Committee (B&G) again plans for NUUC to handle the mowing ourselves using the same approach as in previous years. Doing the mowing ourselves will save about $3,800 in the budget by avoiding having to contract out the mowing.

The B&G Committee will handle the mowing on a rotating basis with some help from the congregation. B&G Committee members will mow 2 weeks of each month, and the 3rd and 4th weeks plus sometimes the 5th week will be handled by volunteers from the congregation. This approach will spread the work so each committee member will mow about once a month, and each congregational volunteer would mow just one or two times during the season. Our approach will keep everyone's work commitments reasonable.

The areas to be mowed include the church yard bounded by Franklin St., Fourth St., and the parking lot. In addition, part of the southern field at the rear of our property and the west side of the parking lot are included.

We have a zero-turn riding mower, which we use for almost all of the mowing. Having the zero-turn mower continues to make a big difference in our mowing efforts. It has cut our mowing time in half and some volunteers even say the mowing is now fun!

If you are not familiar with using a zero-turn mower, we will give you some brief training for about 15 minutes that gets you familiar enough with the mower to comfortably mow the main parts of the yard. For a few small, tight areas, which the zero-turn mower cannot handle, you would finish up using a self-propelled push power mower. People who haven’t used a zero-turn or even a riding mower, have done well using the zero-turn mower. We also have had a few people who prefer to use the push mower to mow the entire yard instead of the zero-turn mower, which does provide one with more exercise. 

We would like to get 2 to 3 volunteers from the congregation each month to mow one or two times in the season. The mowing season runs from the end of April through early November. This year volunteers from the congregation will be needed beginning in the 3^rd week of April and going through October. 

Please consider volunteering to mow one or two times this season. If you would like to help the church handle the mowing, you can see the mowing sign-up schedule posted at this weblink: tiny.cc/NUUC-mowing . To get scheduled, contact Bob Keith at bobkeith@zoho.com or 740-815-2825. You also can contact Bob if you have questions or would like more information.