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Quote of the month: Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire." Friedrich Nietzsche |
Once again, I must apologize for not putting together a newsletter for October. I have no excuse -- I just dropped the ball. But at least I'm getting back in the saddle and putting my nose to the grindstone... or whatever other metaphor you care to choose for what I'm doing.
While our October meeting was rather sparsely populated, we had a very interesting gathering. I brought in a CD I had burned with a short collection of my favorite "atheist" pop songs. We heard songs by Bad Religion, Frank Zappa, XTC (which is NOT a punk band), Billy Joel, John Lennon, the Beatles, Rush and Pearl Jam.
As usual, we stayed past our nominal hour, which I don't think is any problem... we have yet to trample on anyone's time of a Sunday evening. I understand that one of our newer members is a student at UNC-G, and might be able to obtain a free room for us to meet on campus shortly. We'll have to get an update on this for our next meeting.
Long ago, when we first started out, I asked our members if they thought we should go about the business of electing officers. That idea wasn't very popular; apparently, many non-believers are borderline anarchists. {;-)
Now, while I think that informality has a lot of plusses, it has a pretty big drawback, in that a lot of administrative work concentrates in the hands of just a few. To wit: mine, and those of our Librarian, Rachel. There are a couple of "offices" that I would love some help with as soon as we can arrange.
First, I would dearly love for someone to help with out treasury. I have a cashbox, but no real financial records. This is bothersome for many reasons, but primarily, I believe that we ought to become a little more rigorous in our book keeping in hopes of becoming a registered non-profit organization. That way, we can make it possible for "dues" to be tax-deductible. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Also, I must admit that I have been less than stellar in the realm of meeting planning. One or two folks to help in obtaining speakers for meetings, and advertising them around the area would be a big plus for us.
I'm sure that there are many other areas where folks could help out, and make the PFA a more visible, attractive group in the area. Hopefully, we can pool our ideas and find some cool possibilities for the coming year.
As we did last year, I'm hoping we can get together for a nice dinner on the Sunday before the Winter Solstice. I have made arrangements for a private room at Ham's Restaurant in Greensboro for 5:00 on the evening of Dec. 19. I am planning to announce this dinner to other Freethought groups in the state, inviting all and sundry to come join us. I expect this dinner will be a little more pleasant than last year's gathering -- I rather think we'll avoid Golden Corral for the foreseeable future.
Our next meeting will be on Sunday, November 14 at 4:00 PM, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro. I hope everyone can make it!