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Friday Update

Who Makes a Difference in Our Community?

The Social Justice Team is seeking nominees for the Connolly Community Service Awards for 2023. A bit of history of the awards and the nomination procedures follow. If you know someone – or a group of people — you think should receive one of these awards, please turn in nominations to the church office.

History: In 1993 the church initiated a community service award to recognize a member of the congregation for significant contributions to the community. The award was named for Dr. Charles Parker Connolly, minister of our congregation from 1913 to 1942, and a recognized community leader.

To date the award has been presented to the following individuals: Walt Lewis, Mary Caskey, Martha Logemann, Pat Tollefsrud, Sandra Locke, David Weissbard, Lynn Liston, Pat Lewis, Jon McGinty, JoAnn Shaheen, Leigh Lakey, Roger Oehlke, Lola Gustafson, Allen Penticoff, Colleen McDonald, Jackie Dehler, Bob Arevalo, Dave Black, Myrna Lake, Dave Lantz, Barb Giolitto, Duane Wilke, Ellyn Ahmer, Dale Dunnigan, Nikki Ticknor, Bob Babcock, Shiraz Tata, Allyson Rosemore & Rebecca Beneditz. 

More recently an award was established to recognize a young person, 8th grade through high school, for service to the church and community. Recipients to date are Emma Stocker, Katie Whitworth, Sandra Hill, Jackie Whitworth, Emily Pfleiderer, Max Freund, and Ari Almonaci.

The Social Justice Council has decided to have a “group” award.  This award will be for a group of people, formally or informally organized, who have done the work of justice in our community. Two years ago the award went to the Cornucopia Group.

The awards are presented at the annual meeting of the congregation.

The nominations should include:

 A detailed description of volunteer and/or professional involvement and accomplishments, tasks, performed and issues addressed impact on others, and other relevant information.

 A signed statement that the nominee is willing to be nominated.

A nomination should include the name of the nominator and is due in the office (Send to Autumn uurockford@gmail.com) by June 3rd. The nominations will be reviewed and a selection made by the Social Justice Team before the annual meeting.

We are marching in the Rockford Area Pride Parade this Saturday, June 1. Here are the directions:

We will meet in Staging Area #2, which is on 5th Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets.  It is near Colorlab Cosmetics, kitty corner from Ernie’s Midtown Pub.  The route is about 17 blocks, traveling west and ending at Beattie Park. Be there by 10:30, or at least check in with Lia Gima at 414-915-3426 (call or text). Wear your yellow Side with Love Shirt if you have it, and bring flags, beads, whatever – make it fun!  We have extra flags too.  We are not allowed to throw anything, but we will have some church information to hand out.

We recommend parking near the end (near the Library, perhaps) and then walking to the start; or parking midway.  You can also pair up with someone to put a car on both ends.  So far two people have volunteered to leave their cars at the end of the parade and shuttle folks back to their cars when it’s over.

Link to parade map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=12toWcUms1SrE_MlcqfnZA8HmfgVAYxs&femb=1&ll=42.267991296493335%2C-89.09010416172302&z=15

A few more things
– Wear good walking shoes–the parade route is about 17 blocks long.

– Yellow “Side With Love” t-shirts are encouraged, but not required.

– Bring water, sunscreen, whatever you need for the weather and to take care of your health.

– Be mindful of personal belongings. Keep valuables in a zippered pocket fanny pack or cross-body bag, and don’t bring unnecessary items.

– Ignore any protesters. Smile and wave to your fans, which will be pretty much all the spectators–they love you!

The Board of Trustees: 
President: Spitty Tata 
Clerk: Kim Lowman Vollmer
Vice-President: Matt Menze
Treasurer: Steve Blomgren
Trustees: Clark Logemann, Sarah Greer, & Rebecca Beneditz