Winter Solstice Potluck with Gloria Steinem

One of the big events I’ve want­ed to have for the mem­bers and friends of SHoWLE was a win­ter sol­stice gath­er­ing. Many Humanist groups around the coun­try have one and my for­mer group in Columbus had a catered ban­quet each year in December. I would like to announce we will be hav­ing a Winter Solstice Potluck on Saturday December 21, 2024.

I ini­tial­ly had plans for a Winter Solstice Potluck to hap­pen in 2020 and we know why we did­n’t have one. Then after the pan­dem­ic sub­sided SHoWLE did strug­gle to get its feet back under it. I am con­fi­dent that in 2024 we are at least at the place we were at the start of 2020.

The catered ban­quet was used as a fundrais­er for my Columbus group but through the years the costs of the ban­quet wiped out any “prof­it” from sell­ing tick­ets to the event and peo­ple had a cer­tain expec­ta­tion when the event is catered. You buy a tick­et to a din­ner and you expect table ser­vice and bev­er­ages etc….

I like a potluck set­up bet­ter espe­cial­ly for a Humanist group who gath­er as a com­mu­ni­ty to observe the sol­stice.

We also don’t have to sell you tick­ets to attend and that way we can have some­thing else to fundraise off of like door prizes or a raf­fle. And I can assure you there will be plen­ty of oppor­tu­ni­ties.

A potluck also keeps the event open and inclu­sive to the com­mu­ni­ty at large. That way you don’t need to spend $30 a plate for din­ner. It also helps us “cater” to peo­ple with spe­cial diets either they have a med­ical issue or they choose to be veg­an for exam­ple, a potluck is a bet­ter way to have food for every type of diet.

The Winter Solstice Potluck is ten­ta­tive­ly sched­uled for December 21 at the Yager Center at Swan Creek Metropark. In the fall we will have more details and dish sign-up list to try to avoid too much dupli­ca­tion. Other details will fol­low soon after.

I am excit­ed to have this event even I was sweat in the heat and humid­i­ty of June.

Mark this on your cal­en­dar. You can keep up on details as we add them on the event page on our web­site

*UPDATE*

Humanist and fem­i­nist Gloria Steinem will be our keynote speak­er. She will appear via Zoom to say a few words. SHoWLE is thrilled she agreed to speak

We are accept­ing dona­tions to pay Ms. Steinem’s speak­ing fee. If you would like to help check out the dona­tion page.

2024 SHoWLE Picnic

Image with the place day and time of the 2024 picnic

June 16 @ 11:00 am 4:00 pm

Join us for our annu­al pic­nic. A social time for SHoWLE mem­bers and friends to share some good food. Rain or shine.

We will have hot dogs and ham­burg­ers and pro­vid­ing drinks like soda pop and water. Board Member Ed S. will be han­dling the grill and will bring some of his well known side dish­es. This will be the last Picnic for Ed as he is set to retire and move back home to New York state.

Feel free to bring some snacks or deserts to share. You are also wel­come to bring your own entrée and use the grill if you wish.

We wel­come any games or sports equip­ment you have handy and want to share and there is a play­ground close by for kids to enjoy. Feel free to bring your dog as there is plen­ty of room for them to play.

This event is FREE and Open to the Public

We have the Whitetail Shelter reserved. The shel­ter is off park­ing lot #2 on the main park road.

Free

Maumee Ohio

400 Conant St.
Maumee, Ohio 43537 United States
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Having A Blast At Skepticon

This week­end I am attend­ing Skepticon 11 in St. Louis, MO with Shawn and Peggy. Skepticon is a free con­ven­tion for sec­u­lars and skep­tics.

Shawn and I are hav­ing a good time, meet­ing new peo­ple, get­ting new ideas, and com­muning with peo­ple who have sim­i­lar world views as we do.

I’ve learned how to make an awe­some pod­cast and how to per­suade peo­ple on issues I think are impor­tant. I also learned about the reli­gious right’s effort to have spe­cial laws passed in state leg­is­la­tures through their Project Blitz ini­tia­tive. Did you know Ohio has a chap­ter of the Prayer Caucus? It lob­bies state leg­is­la­tors in Columbus.

Shawn and I are bring­ing back meet­ing and event ideas for the com­ing year.

The only mis­step to this year’s con­fer­ence is it being sched­uled dur­ing the 5th Anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. He was shot and killed by a white police offi­cer just 10 miles away in Ferguson. Until one of the talks this evening, Skepticon made no effort to acknowl­edge the event. I hope they do bet­ter next time in mak­ing sure there are no con­flicts like that or at least ded­i­cate some time to mark­ing those kinds of tragedies.

Shawn walked around the area where our hotel is locat­ed and men­tioned to me she saw a lot of home­less peo­ple. It made me con­sid­er that a con­ven­tion like Skepticon should include a com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice project so par­tic­i­pants expe­ri­ence life out­side the hotel.

I do want to attend anoth­er Skepticon in the future. This type of con­ven­tion is need­ed by peo­ple in our com­mu­ni­ty.