CLARA WORKSHOP – TONITE! – Wednesday, Nov 10 via Zoom
This interactive workshop will cover the practice of CLARA. CLARA is an acronym that gives us an easy way to remember five concrete steps for building and maintaining respect and common ground with a conversation partner: Center, Listen, Affirm your similarities, Respond, and Ask Questions (or Add Information). The CLARA method is a way to achieve productive, civil conversations. The workshop will be led by Layla Ananda, MA, LLP, an experienced CLARA presenter. 7pm on Zoom. Register here and the link will be sent.
HOLIDAY DOVES – PEACE ON EARTH 2021 – Time to sponsor a dove!
We will be decorating a light pole for the Hometown Holidays event again this year. Our theme of Peace on Earth was well-received so we’ll do it again! We will decorate the lamp post to be a tree with lights and hang dozens of personally decorated Doves of Peace. We had almost 30 last year and would love to have even more this year. The tree will go up right after Thanksgiving. Here are the details:
- Email OWOF (owofchelsea@gmail.com) that you are interested in sponsoring a dove. We would ask for a contribution of $10 (or more).
- Let us know if you would like to personally decorate your dove (please do!). It’s nothing fancy and we have paint sets available you can use.
- Pick up and drop off the dove at a downtown location.
- Donations can be made via check or PayPal.
- Once you let us know you are interested, you will receive an email with more specific details. We expect the doves to be ready for pick-up next week!
ADDITIONAL CIVILITY MONTH ACTIVITIES
Saturday, Nov 13. Community Forum. This zoom discussion, normally held on the 2^nd Saturday of the month, will be focused on the topic of civility. Those attending the session will help to set the session’s agenda. Watch local media for link. 9am via Zoom.
Saturday, Nov 13. Movie and discussion hosted by the CRC.
12 Angry Men will be shown followed by discussion afterwards moderated by Dr. Al Hollenbeck. This movie, regarded as a masterpiece, is about a jury’s process of working together to arrive at a difficult decision. 2pm. In the theater of Dancy House (Main Bldg). Directions posted at the door. Limited to 50 and masks required. (If Covid restrictions apply, event will be postponed.)
Monday, Nov 15 Civility in the Visual Arts.
Led by art historian Kathy Gunderson. Artists throughout history have provided a visual commentary on the social, political and religious world of their time. Kathy will discuss two artists known for their work addressing humanity in world events in the 20th and 21st centuries: Norman Rockwell and the street artist Banksy. 6.30 pm in the McKune Room of the Chelsea District Library. (If Covid restrictions apply, event will be postponed.)
And the winner is…. !!
If, for some reason you’ve been seriously away these last few months, there was an election in the City of Chelsea last week. We are so very happy to say that the Vice-President of OWOF, Jane Pacheco, is now the MAYOR OF CHELSEA!!! She will be sworn in at the November 15th Council meeting at 7pm. The zoom link and agenda will be published on the city website here. Let’s all sign on and witness this proud moment! The Council will have a progressive majority now so stay tuned for a year of growth and activity!
Schools Activity
There was a recent article in MLive describing an incident involving a racist image circulated by the Chelsea football team. The incident was definitively condemned by the High School Principal. The OWOF Board agreed on a statement that is on our Facebook page and was read at the School Board meeting on Monday, supporting the work of the Diversity, Belonging, Equity and Inclusion activities of the schools and encouraging parents and students to report any incidents.
The School Board is in the process of voting to accept the work of the DBEI committee. They ran into some push-back this last meeting and will take up the matter again on November 22. We will have more information then – it will be important to have public comment in support of this important work!
A full description of the meeting and the DBEI discussion, our statement and the response is here.
MLK Jr. Day 2022
This event is coming up quickly and the schools have the day off this year! Please email OWOF owofchelsea@gmail.com if you are willing to help organize and implement our Days of Service/Social Action. The template is there from last year – helping will be easy and fun!
Stay engaged!
Your OWOF Team
HOW TO GET CONNECTED TO THE WORK OF OWOF
Currently, all OWOF Board of Director meetings and Action Group meetings are held via zoom and open to the public. The next Board meeting is Tuesday, November 2 at 10:00 am. OWOF attempts to send out a newsletter a few times per month and you can also follow/like the OWOF Facebook page to stay up to date with meeting and program details. Email owofchelsea@gmail.com for more information or to be added to the email list.