The Williston-West Navigator

I start every October Newsletter off like this so why change now? It is hard to believe that another summer is past and fall is here again! But yet I savor the days of fall and find the changes of the seasons invigorating with each season providing unique anticipations of brand new adventures.

Of course for us it is the beginning of the church season and we have lots happening right now. I want to use my space this month to give you an update on our church and things to expect in the coming weeks.

Tom Riddle and the Christian Education Committee have launched another season of Sunday school with a large and enthusiastic group of children who are obviously very comfortable and happy in their church experience. We are fortunate to have Tom and the dedicated committee to lead us in the fulfillment of our baptismal promises to our children and to provide for them the foundations of our faith heritage.

The choir, as always, is like an anchor in worship which holds us firmly as the winds of the Spirit grace our sanctuary and call us to service. And as always, they are looking for new voices to make what they do so well even better. Please call Becky if you would like to explore the possibility of joining that piece of our family that brings us so much joy in our worship.

Another Explorers Group is being formed to provide for those who wish an opportunity to look at the meaning of church membership. If this sounds good for you just call the office and sign up now. Remember – it is truly a time of exploration for one to decide if and when the time is right to become an official member of our church.

The Basic Bible Study is again well- attended with enthusiastic folk seeking knowledge to strengthen their spiritual pilgrimage. The Bible is a very complex book that cannot be approached meaningfully without some basic understanding of its makeup and structure. Many of us were never given the fundamentals so this study is provided to open the Biblical world to our contemporary circumstances.

The fall financials are better than expected and we are on budget. That is good news after coming out of summer which traditionally leaves us between a rock and a hard place because of vacations. The trustees are proactive in dealing with last winter’s fuel deficit with each of them putting in $50 and challenging others to do the same. With that squared away we can start this heating season with a clean slate. The fund raising committee is energized and has been meeting for some months. They have come up with a great plan to get our story out which, I’m sure, will prove to be effective, informative and entertaining.

Next month’s Navigator will be loaded with Christmas Fair information. The Fair will be, as usual, the first weekend in December. Last year’s was the best yet in terms of participation and money raised. This year it will be even better because we have many more who have stepped up to help. Be thinking about how you can help.

The Membership Committee has a huge dinner fellowship event underway as well as a new photo directory that will do so much in helping us to get to know each other by putting names with faces. What a gift this will be!

The Missions Committee continues it incredible work as is always evident by their monthly updates and is evident all around us. The Deacons’ meetings are inspirational and their work is obvious when we worship.

The Fellowship Committee continues the task of organizing coffee and good food after church. There is so much more that is happening and is going to happen that I can’t list it all now, but the life in our church is a reflection of this vitality and all that you do is greatly appreciated.

Remember that all that we do is made possible by God’s Grace which we all receive when we worship and grow together in the Love of Christ. In all our activities, in and out of the church building, our worship time together on Sunday morning is our most vital time for in it we are empowered to take the higher road, to forgive one another and to walk the paths to which we are called by God through Christ.

A new pictorial directory is in progress and a great many of our families have signed up to have their pictures taken.  If you haven't reserved your time to be photographed, you are NOT too late!  The schedule for sittings is as follows:

Thursday, October 9th: 3-9 PM.
Friday, October 10th: 3-9 PM
Saturday, October 11th :10 AM to 4PM

We are pushing for 100% participation and our directory won't be complete without YOU.  Our phone committee is working hard to reach you but if you haven't heard from them as yet, please call Barbara Loughlin at 741-2648 to schedule your appointment.  Remember, there is no charge to be photographed.  You will receive a copy of the directory and a complimentary 8x10 Custom Color portrait as a gift from Olan Mills for participating in the program.  If you so choose, you may also purchase additional photos at the time of the sitting.

    *If there is anyone who needs a ride to be photographed, please call Barbara and she can arrange for that to happen.

Glorious Creator,

As we move into a new season, we begin to see the change of colors by day, to feel the coolness of autumnal air in the evening, and sense the urgency in our hearts by futile attempts to hold back that which we know we cannot control. This beautiful display of the earthly cycle from season to season reminds us that we are not in control. However beautiful, it reminds us that change is ever present and, at times, feels threatening.

Lord, fill us with the inspiration to create change – not merely for the sake of change, but to embrace personal evolution. We ask that you help us identify within ourselves that which must decompose to fuel our better selves. That we may change enough of our inner selves to find our truer, Christ-like selves. When we feel out of control and threatened, remind us of Christ’s teachings – that he urges our inner change and, perhaps more importantly, that he believes in our ability to create inner change.

In His holy name we pray, Amen.

JULY MIGRANT WORKER FOOD DRIVE A GREAT SUCCESS!

During the month of July the Missions Committee sponsored a food and dry goods drive for migrant workers in Washington County. The drive culminated with donations as an "admissions charge" to attend the annual church gathering in Jonesport at the end of July. We are happy to report that the drive was a great success and 40 grocery bags of food items and two boxes of kitchenware were delivered to the Raker Center in Cherryfield. The Maine Migrant Worker Health Care Organization sponsors a food pantry at the Raker Center annually, and this year, thanks in part to the generous donations from the Williston-West church community, they served 490 families, reaching almost 1600 workers and family members!

My husband, Chris Chomitz, and I joined Williston-West the month of the annual Gathering at Eric and Betty’s home in Jonesport. Contrary to the timing, we did not plan to join just so we could attend!

As newcomers, everything was new to us – the location, the people, and the activities (or the lack thereof). We had no expectations and were pleased with everything we observed and in which we participated. For those of you who do attend each year, this event may seem the same each time. It is for those people who chose not to go that I address these comments.

Life is a journey divided into time fragments. We mark anniversaries of various kinds every year. We make appointments to get the oil changed in our cars every three months. We go to the grocery store every week. We go to work every day. These events are the same and yet we attend them because we have to.

An annual event, such as the Gathering, allows us to mark the passage of a year by observing a time, a place, and the people there. Change comes to us all; here is where we can acknowledge what has changed in ourselves, our friends and in Jonesport since our last visit. Change is never the same; it is different for all of us. The changes to be marked by attending the Gathering involve us as individuals and as a group. Change can be painful or pleasant. Our opportunity, then, is to acknowledge what changes have taken place and help those having trouble with their individual challenges. In doing so, we gain insight into ourselves and find purpose in attending. We attend because we want to.

Take it from a newcomer, it is worth the trip – over and over and over!

-- Altar candles @$66.00 per box (doz.)

-- Please purchase an early Christmas gifts of Palestinian crafts – available in the office.

-- Roadrunner for office internet access - about $40 per month

-- VCR & TV combo (TV, VCR AND DVD even better)

-- A long-handled, square-ended, steel shovel

-- Someone with a truck or van to make occasional trips to the dump with large items.

-- Pruning shears, both hand-held and long-handled Yard tools

-- Low wire garden fencing for lawns

-- Any carpentry tools

-- Screws, nails, nuts, hooks – any type of hardware

-- Maintenance supplies

JUSTICE FOR FARM WORKERS

I recently met with a colleague who engaged me in a discussion about the role of economic justice in communities of faith. She had recently attended an interfaith meeting where there was a palpable reluctance to "take on" such an issue. I shared with her how, from my personal experience, professionally, as a Christian, and from the communities of faith that I have belonged to, it seemed impossible to table economic justice as too risky. Last month, the Justice and Witness Ministries of the UCC took a strong stance on some very important economic justice issues affecting farmworkers in our country. The Ministries distributed information on two national boycotts and in a parallel response put out a call to action for an Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride (NYC & WDC on 10/4/03). The General Synod of the UCC has endorsed the boycotts of Taco Bell and Mt. Olive pickles (primarily sold in the southeastern US). The Taco Bell boycott has brought attention to the deplorable conditions that farmworkers in Immokalee Florida have endured while picking tomatoes for one of our country's largest fast food chains.

The plight of the Immokalee farm workers has captured national attention, and was very poignantly represented in an article that appeared in the April 28th issue of The New Yorker, entitled "Nobodies: Does Slavery Exist in America?" The article written by John Bowe details modern day slavery for Mexican and Guatemalan men and women who have come to the U.S. with hopes of ultimately providing a better life for their families back home. Instead, they found appallingly low wages, violence, and exploitation. Current wages for these tomato harvesters is one-third of the pay received during the 1970s for comparable work. In 1998, the average income for an Immokalee farm worker was $6,574. In terms of a daily wage this translates to as little as 40¢ per bucket of tomatoes. To earn $50 in a day, a worker would need to fill 125 buckets or the equivalent of two tons of tomatoes. Taco Bell purchases millions of pounds of tomatoes each year from packing-houses in Immokalee.

Yet, the wage issue is merely indicative of the egregious conditions these workers were forced to work and live under. The article paints a bleak picture as many of these farmworkers have also lived in constant fear of losing their jobs or potentially their lives. Labor contractors kept 24-hour guard over them, their wages were garnered for exorbitant amounts of money to cover shelter and transportation, their housing was overcrowded and substandard, and the workers were routinely threatening with violence if they were to try to escape or tell anyone about these conditions. Over the past several years, there have been a number of slavery cases tried in Florida involving workers who had harvested tomatoes.

I certainly cannot do justice to this compelling story, but would gladly make copies of the article available. More importantly, when you and your family are dining out please consider participating in the boycott, and DROP THE CHALUPA!! Collectively we could all make a difference in the lives of these farmworkers as they strive for reform, and for the justice that we all deserve.

It’s not too early to be thinking about the best little Christmas Fair in Portland, and for you to be thinking about your part in the action. What can you do?

• Volunteer to work that day (774-4060)


• Items for Granny’s Attic


• Food for the gourmet table


• Hand-made items for the Crafts Table


• Items for the Silent Auction


• Clean-up and set-up crews


• Greeters at the door


• Advertising


• Chefs and servers for our Café

Much more to come next month – this is just to get you thinking about it!

HO HO HO!

Thomas calls for outpouring of "amazing generosity"

One billion dollars.

Can a small denomination like the 1.3 million-member United Church of Christ raise that kind of money in annual giving? The Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, thinks it can.

During the opening session of Synod 24, Thomas challenged the membership to increase its annual giving to $1 billion annually – by 2007, the 50th anniversary of the church’s historic union in 1957.

Like the church’s forebears, "we are invited to a love for Jesus that makes us daring," Thomas told the 2,000-plus delegates and visitors. "We are called to an amazing generosity."

UCC members now give $850 million annually through their local churches. Over 90 percent never leaves the local setting, but the remaining balance goes to the work of the wider church through Conferences and the Covenanted Ministries of the national setting. The increase could turn the church around in the face of declining membership rolls and a diminished national and global missions program, Thomas thinks.

New money will bring in new members by strengthening local churches and building new ones, Thomas said.

Gracie Allen

Anyone who enjoys good prose would appreciate the eclectic collection of short stories and essays by Julian Barnes entitled, "A History of the World in Ten and a Half Chapters."

It begins with a revisionist account of Noah’s endeavor with the Ark, as told by a stowaway. The biblical narrative will never be the same after reading this. The book ends with a sneak preview of Heaven. In between are eight works so varied as to deny any connection: a sixteenth century French courtroom drama, a hijacking of a Mediterranean cruise ship by terrorists, the spiritual odyssey of an American astronaut, etc. As you read, however, you begin to wonder abut some common threads, including a certain insect…

By all means, however, read "Parenthesis." It is an essay on the nature of love – as fine a prose exposition as any poetical one. Romantic, sentimental love has a central place in the workings of the world, which, indeed, cannot operate without it.

The book may be obtained by interlibrary loan. Contrary to what you might guess, it’s easy reading. Julian Barnes is an English novelist.

So what do we owe the dead? We, who will be like them soon enough? We, who are filled with sadness from 'our' loss, a sadness often mixed with a fear of our own mortality? I worry often enough about getting old - or older, then remember Ida Carras, who was just about my age already when I was born, then manage to live another fifty-six years.

What do I owe Ida Carras, who died on August 24th of this year? Ida, a small, wonderful, leathery old woman, who had lived a full life and retired from the Phone Company when I was still a child. Ida, a gruff, no nonsense New Englander with a wicked laugh and a wild sense of humor...even into her last years. I owe Ida remembrance, as I do all those who have gone before me. A life lived well and the good things we do may be enough. But to celebrate the good in a life, to keep the memory of those we truly care about alive, we need to remember.

I may not be the appropriate person to do a remembrance of Ida. After all, when I first moved to Portland in late 1983 – across the street from her - she was already 87 years old!! I never knew the young Ida, born in 1896 on Westport Is, Maine, - the same year that Henry Ford built his first 'Quadricycle', and Grover Cleveland was still President.

The person I met was an old, but still very active woman, a kindly neighbor who was often out in her garden, usually wearing her apron. In 1991, Christina and I gave a New Year's Eve party. We invited many people, saying "even if you are going to another party, stop in and say hello!" Quite a few people stopped by, stayed a short while and left, but Millie and Ida dressed up to party and stayed most of the evening!

Memories. They are really what we leave behind. What little thing that you do – good or bad – will keep you alive in the hearts of others? I once went to visit Ida in the hospital - she was about 101 years at the time. I smiled and said, "Ida, what are you doing here, goofing off?" She barely missed a beat before saying, "Well, I think I’m getting old." Keeping a sense of humor is keeping a sense of yourself. Phil Chase - another who gave dignity to aging…always neatly dressed, always a smile and a hello for all. Carlton and Janet Lane. The very last time I saw them together they were walking hand in hand, like young lovers, always smiling. Shortly before he died, Carlton took part in our celebration of Christmas past… sharing stories from the last century.

We owe all of these folks – and many more - a place in our hearts. We may not have known them all very well, but they were good people who paved the way for us. They kept the spirit of Williston-West alive and thriving, as we must do for the next generation to follow.

PORTLAND - Ida F. Carras, 107, who lived at the Seaside Nursing Home, Baxter Blvd. formerly of Carroll St., Portland died Saturday, Aug. 24, 2003 at the Maine Medical Center.

She was born on Westport Island, a daughter of Irving and Addie McCullum Fowle. She attended schools in Bowdoinham.

Ida would tell her story about having no bridge to cross between the island and mainland so she would walk over ice during the winter to attend school.

She was employed at New England Telephone (now AT&T) for most of her life. The phone exchange was run out of their own home for a few years. She was very proud working for her employer retiring in the early 60's.

She was one of the original members of the former West Church and a long-term member of Williston-West Church. She traveled extensively around the world, visiting such places as Africa and Alaska when she was in her seventies. She also enjoyed cats, especially her own, Luke, and loved all the neighborhood dogs.

For over 50 years, she was a very close friend of Mildred Perkins, who now resides on State Street. Millie and Ida shared the residence at 1 Carroll St., across from the Williston-West Church. A number of years ago, Millie donated a hydrangea tree to the church in Ida's honor. They were placed on the Carroll St. side of the church so Ida could enjoy them from her living room window.

She leaves a grandniece, Amy Downing of Memphis, Tenn.; and two grandnephews, David Downing of Dallas, Texas, and Chuck Hatch of Indiatlantic, Fla.

A Memorial service was held Saturday. Sept. 13, at 1 p.m. at Williston-West Church, with the Rev. Dr. Eric Kelley officiating. Several friends shared their memories of Ida, including one from the West church who told of Ida's days as the church organist; and another from Bowdoinham who remembered Ida from many years ago.

Rev. Kelley had the privilege of committing Ida to her final resting place in a quiet little cemetery beside an ancient Congregational Church in Minot, Maine, which looked like a Norman Rockwell creation. She is at peace and now may her memory bring peace to us.

Dear Friends:

It was Easter, 1996. We had stopped going to church regularly, but wanted to find a service on Easter Sunday. Where to go? Tolerance and honesty were the key ingredients. How about the church that hosted the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus and that seemed to have such a comfortable feel to it? So we drove down from Brunswick and heard Eric say in his homily, "stay with us one year and I’ll change your life."

Seven and a half years have gone by and our lives certainly have changed. We still don’t know the answer but, to quote Eric, "that’s OK"! We have shared wonderful, quality times with people whose values are the same as ours. We have found close friends that we will have for the rest of our lives. We will forever thank Eric for his support though the terrible experience of our son’s illness and ultimate suicide. It is time, though, to move on. The drive from Brunswick, a desire to become more active locally now that retirement is coming up, and other considerations play a role in our decision.

Williston West has been a major part of our lives and we will miss it. It’s important to us that all of you know that we leave with the warmest of feelings, and we will always remember how this church has added to our life experience and to our spiritual growth.

We certainly will be back from time to time to check in and renew friendships.

With fondest wishes,

Les and Sidney Hodgdon

In recent summers, Williston-West Church has made a $100 contribution toward Portland West’s program to connect up any interested West End youngsters, at no cost, with an appropriate "camping experience."

So, while I was doing my weekly volunteer mentoring at Portland West’s Learning Center, it seemed a good idea to ask two eleven-year-old girl campers how it went.

Bianca Di Biase and Casey Smith attended Camp Medomak in Washington, Maine. They spent their ten days in cabins of ten girls each. Bianca reported that she really liked swimming, kayaking and dancing. When I asked, she told me that a group of girls used the song, "Get Busy" to make up a dance of their own. These were the things that Bianca liked – she was not so crazy about Arts and Crafts.

This was Casey’s first year at camp. She also like the dancing and canoeing. She said that the weather was nice during camp and that they "rode to Camp Medomak in a van" (which was driven by a volunteer).

The transporting of children to various camps has been another way that Williston-West members have supported the Portland West camp program for several summers now.

I was pleased and surprised to find that my young friend of two years, Ikram Hassan, had been a Seeds of Peace camper this summer, so we sat down and did this interview:

Ikram, a West End/Portland girl is now thirteen and an eighth-grader at King Middle School. Her two-week late August session had been set up to include Lewiston and Portland teens – two cities where there has been friction between "mainstream" and Muslim kids.

Ikram’s family are Somalis. Last year she told me of Mogadishu and how her family left there when she was very little because of the war. Her fellow Seeds of Peace campers were from the United States, Europe, the Balkans and Cyprus. The "American delegation" hailed from Maryland, California and Maine; the Portlanders were students from the Lyman Moore and King Middle Schools, Portland High School and Cheverus.

Ikram’s expenses were all covered for camp, though from a different source than the Portland West-administered camperships. She definitely hopes to go back next summer, she says. The "very best part of camp was meeting all those people." from other places. Also the "color games," a competition in various sports between a green and a blue team – Ikram was part of the winning team (she is a graceful and athletic girl!).

I recalled that, two years ago, if Ikram had chosen to attend a typical camp, swimming would have been a problem. Seeds of Peace, however, cognizant of Muslim gradation, had separate swimming places so that boys and girls could not see each other.

The "hardest part of camp," according to Ikram, was the last day. "Leaving the people from Cyprus and the Balkans, who we would not see again, was sad, very sad."

How nice it was to find that a girl I really like has enjoyed Seeds of Peace, which my church has heartily supported and where I helped plant this year’s flowers (it was my Seeds of Peace tote bag that led Ikram and me into this interview!).

Liberia – CWS is airlifting a twenty ton shipment of emergency food. CWS blankets, health kits and interchurch medical assistance boxes – providing essential medicines for 10,000 people for three months.

Africa – CWS is working hand in hand with local people to drill borehole wells and shallow wells reaching down to the aquifer, where water is clean and pure, installing pumps to bring clean water nearer at hand.

The Balkans – CWS assisted a boarding school by providing 1,000 chickens, nearly 22 tons of feed, and a small generator. The chickens produced enough fresh eggs to provide nutritious breakfasts for 114 students. The extra eggs sold in the local market provided much needed income for the school.

Egypt – Some 75,000 low income people in twenty-four communities are participating in sustainable development projects, including training in how to provide potable water, improve sewage disposal, and mobilize their communities to receive immunizations.