Executive Team Update, September 29, 2023

The Executive Team (ET) has been meeting twice monthly during the summer, and attending Flood Relief UU Team (FRuuT) meetings weekly since mid July. First and foremost, we raise a cheer to our UCM staff members!

Basement clean-up, baseboard and drywall removal, floor treatment of all kinds, furniture displacement, finding professional services and weighing their many proposals, keeping track of work teams, minding our flood recovery budget, applying for grants, moving built-in cabinetry … the list is ever-growing and will continue until the work is done. There really are no words to express our gratitude for the contributions made by Sierra Lowell, Emily Seifert, Jason Kass, Elaine Ball, Donia Prince, and Eliza Thomas. If resilience and endurance can be combined, this is the quality each has brought to our recovery. Thank you so much.

UCM’s property committee members, individuals with carpentry talents, members who coordinate community lunches, and those with strong arms and big hearts to do the hard work … Thank you! FRuuT members have used their deep knowledge, professional contacts, and their individual strengths to meet the challenges, week after week. Each deserves a medal for their efforts.

The Worship Team has conducted our Sunday services in the tranquil space at the North Branch Nature Center. Soon, we’ll gather in our own sanctuary again and when we do, we’ll extend our grateful thanks to Montpelier’s gem, the NBNC.

All to say, the ET’s recent work has been largely focused on flood recovery. Even on re-opening, we will not be at 100% performance, due to damage to our elevette which will be repaired in coming months. But we will be largely whole again, and ready to “Gather the Spirit” once again.

~ The Executive Team: Rev. Joan Javier-Duval, Dawn Evans, Leslie Parr, Donna Russo-Savage