President's Blog
This week has been one of adventure for me. For months I had been hoping to get to Pittsburgh to ride the Great Allegheny Rail Trail, but life and circumstances kept getting in the way. Then, I found out very recently that there was a President's Council Retreat I should go to in Pittsburgh. I needed to make both happen. And I did! (email me or talk to me on Sunday about the bike ride and take a ride with me!) I'm new to the President's Council, as you all know. I really didn't know what to expect. I wanted to show a positive face and to learn. You all are relying on me to serve NoVES well and I want to live up to that expectation. And I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with what we discussed and with the ideas we walked away with. Like we experience with virtual meetings versus meeting in person at NoVES is true for the President's Council as well. There was an energy. The meeting was led completely by President of the AEU Board President, Carolyn Parker. The other board members were active and helped plan the retreat in a thoughtful and meaningful way. 30 plus people gathered from around the US to learn about "what's next" and to plan. The event was so successful, we all agreed we should do it again in a year. Materials are all being shared over the next few days as the AEU Board gathers all the info gained during the retreat. I will share them as I get them. (And come get an Ethical! button this Sunday)
As soon as I type this up and hit submit, I will be driving to Pittsburgh for this year's President's Council Meeting with the American Ethical Union. It will be the first time for me to attend in this role.
By the time this is put in the newsletter, I will have been in Pittsburgh for 2 days. I hope I will find it useful and that I will be able to gather information for everyone back at NoVES. I will miss seeing you all this Sunday, but I hope you enjoy the Platform and the other activties that are happening in the next few days (Walk, Happy Hour, etc.) Until next week.
Now that we are up and running, we need to slowly and efficiently add in committees and Sunday morning prep to the schedule. (How nice does it feel for it to happening again?) With there being a 2 year hiatus of meeting in person, we have shuffled some things around to fit the Zoom format and we have gained and lost committees because of it. So, please let the president, Melissa Sinclair know what committee you would like to be a contributing member too. Please note, that not all committees are listed here. These are the bare minimum needed to get us going. We will be adding more as we go along and see the need. For now we need people to be on the:
And then, we are returning to asking for contribution to the Snack Table as follows (please note, this is the schedule from pre-COVID days, so this schedule might be amended if needed). Also, the week you bring in snacks is also your week to help with Sunday Morning Set-up and Tear-Down.
SET-UP TEAMS:
(if your family has more than one last name, choose the first alphabetically for your family).
This Sunday, conveniently is First Sunday for the month of October, so we ask families whose last names start with A-D to contribute to the snack table and to held with set-up/tear-down.
This coming week we are continuing the trend of trying something new. This Sunday we are having a discussion platform versus a traditional presentation. Let's see how how we like this format. I think it will be a great way to be more welcoming to newcomers who are trying to get to know us! Plus, it will probably help us gather more ideas for future discussions. Speaking of newcomers, people are finding us and members we haven't seen in awhile (thanks to COVID) are returning. Oh, that makes me so happy! Keep the feedback coming for ideas you have for activites. See you on Sunday (with my bike, again!) Speaking of the bike - I've been thinking of a fall bike ride especially with teens. Please let me know if there is interest.
Platform was wonderful this past week despite some dust and rust and a few slow starts because of the terrible weather and horrible traffic. You could tell that we were hungry for each other's company. How nice was it to see people face to face and to see so many people on Zoom too? It really lifted my spirits to see you all! So what about this week? Well, this week is the President's vision for the coming year. My plan is to have this platform to be interactive (much like Randy did a bit of that last week too). Sure, I have ideas for this coming year, but I'm just one member. I want us to talk about: festivals, parties, other activities, books, food, etc. Having this break from the routine platform the last 2 years gives us an opportunity to try new things (as we have been. Like, how wonderful it has been to have the Zoom option?). It doesn't mean we would forgo the old style, but we can add in bits and pieces to jazz it up or make it more accessible. I absolutely love brainstorming, so I'm really looking forward to people's ideas! See you on Sunday!
It's finally here! It's opening Sunday September 11! I hope to see many faces like we at the opening picnic this past weekend! We will have Zoom participation available to all, but we hope to see many faces in house too. There will be baked goodies, coffee, and a warm welcome. So bring yourself, a friend, your kids, and help us start the programming year. After platform, (weather permitting) some of us will be riding our bikes along the local bike path just near the school too. Maybe we'll grab lunch and/or a something to drink. The board is still looking for input from members on where we want to put our energy this year. I had a chance to talk with several people at the picnic, and at the House 6 Humanist Happy Hour event, but I would love more input so that we can offer several things this year.
I hope we will have a great turnout for our Labor Day weekend picnic on September 4th from 1:30 - 4:00pm at Lake Accotink Park, Picnice Area #4 because I want to hear your ideas and wishes for the upcoming year!
Opening Sunday is September 11th and I hope many of you can make it! Randy will be speaking, and the amazing Sound Team will be making the Zoom link possible so that we can have many people attend from near and far, and the Sunday School classes will be starting too. It has been so long that we have been sheltering at home and doing things mostly virtually, which has been great, but it would be lovely to meet face to face, to share ideas in person, and to grow our small community so that we can sustain ourselves. I'll even bring something delicious to share for the social hour. Oh, how I miss having opportunities to bake for a group! (And I'm working on low-carb recipes to add to some of the Celiac friendly recipes I have too!) The following week, September 18th, I'll be giving the platform address and I hope to detail some of your ideas and wishes for the year as well as sharing my ideas too (which are many). I'm enthusiastic and I'm ready for the challenge of the year and I hope you all are too. Surviving Covid-19 has been so hard for everyone and every organization, but part of survival is celebrating too! I hope to see many of you at the picnic!
Where: Lake Accotink Park, Picnic area #4
When: Sunday Sept 4, 2022 1:30 - 4:00
I'm really looking forward to the picnic this year. Once again we are at Lake Accontink which has not only a pavavillion, but LOTS of things to do. Gotta a bike? Bring it! Want to take a walk? Take one with a friend. Want to play a game? Bring one or join in on a game session. Invite a friend, bring some music and let's celebrate the end of summer together! Next week I'll talk about opening Sunday!
As this blog post is arriving in all of your email boxes, the NoVES Board is having their monthly meeting. How nice it will be to plan for times we can be together for the picnic, Sunday School, Educational classes, and events again.
We can't know what tomorrow or the next day will bring for sure and we need to be mindful for all possibilities, but it feels so good to be planning for meeting as a larger group again. We made it everyone. The struggle was real organizationally and personally, but we are here and there is so much promise and hope for the year. Stay tuned for upcoming events!
This is going to be a somewhat unorthodox opening letter from the new Board President of NoVES, but in many ways, it's actually perfect.
I, Melissa Sinclair, have been a member of NoVES for 17 years and being a member has been "home" for my family since moving to Northern Virginia. And it is my honor to take my turn as Board President of NoVES for this programming year.
My partner and I found this Society while looking for a community for our children to grow up in, but more importantly, for a place for us to build a community. We were ready to form lasting/caring friendships with life-minded people.
We knew of the Ethical Society from years before when we were looking to find someone to perform our wedding. We were intriqued by the notion of an Ethical Society.
Once we found NoVES, we became members in all sense of the word, as you do when you join a small organization. We taught Sunday School, we served on the board, we ran the auction, we helped with Sunday morning set-up, etc. We enjoyed the Halloween parties and the concerts and we loved that we could work together in community to go to protests, marches, and other events to help this world be a better place.
We welcomed our second child while at the society and we watched our oldest go through the the entire Sunday School program, and most importantly, we got to know all members. They have become our friends.
We have watched the society change over the years, but what I have noticed and loved most of all is seeing the beauty of this community supporting each other.
Most recently I have watched the community survive the pandemic through adapting to the times without losing the close connections. Members have helped each other through broken bones, recovering from COVID, moving, and so much more.
Two weeks ago several of our youth, including my youngest, went to the Quest camp. I was one of the two volunteer parent drivers. It was so wonderful to spend those hours with those kids who I have had the pleasure to see grow.
My teen got ill on the ride home from that trip. It turns out it was a 2 week-long virus (not COVID) he caught while at camp. He's still recovering as are my partner and I, but you know what I realized while we were under the weather? I realized that if I needed anything - someone in this society or other Ethical Societies would help us. We weren’t truly alone. We had community. The importance of that cannot be under estimated or under stated.
I have a lot of hopes for this upcoming programming year and I will detail that in a more orthodox President's blog post will follow next week once my family has completely recovered from this awful virus. But I wanted to send something for my inaugural blog post because we have something special at NoVES and we need to celebrate it, nourish it, and expand it.
Melissa Sinclair NoVES Board President
