2012 Fall Conference
Connecting with the Wisdom of the Ancients
October 19-21
DeKoven Retreat Center -- 600 - 21st Street, Racine, WI 53403
This year we met at a great new Retreat location - the DeKoven Center in Racine Wisconsin. The Center is within walking distance of Lake Michigan. The lodging and dining hall were in Taylor Hall. Most of the workshops were in Taylor Hall, too. Our opening and closing ceremonies, keynote, several workshops, and our vendor area were in the Assembly Hall in East Building - a short, well-lit walk across the quad from Taylor Hall.
The Keynote speaker was Geri Schrab who spoke on "Accessing Ancient Wisdom through Rock Art." Her ideas stem from the knowledge that a woman's body is a macrocosm of Mother Earth's body and that respect for the Earth and respect for woman goes hand in hand.
Geri Schrab is a artist who has traveled throughout North America to explore ancient sacred sites. She states "The focus of my art-work is the study of petroglyphs and pictographs which are images pecked, carved and painted on rock surfaces by the ancient indigenous people of North America. I have found although the style and execution of the original rock art images may vary from area to area, there is an underlying unity. This ancient unity echoes our common heart and essential connection to Mother Earth."
In the year 2012, we thought about renewal and honoring our past and what it can teach us.
In the fall of the year we join together and connect to gather inner warmth for the winter to come. Want to CONNECT with other like minded women? See old friends and make new ones. Join us
2012 Spring Conference
Pilgrim Park Retreat Center, Princeton, Illinois
We discovered the power of our own voice and our own creativity with musician Pam Blevins Hinkle.
"Expressing our essential and singular beauty is a sacred task. We must find and unleash our unique voice, personality, and calling in the world. The biggest barrier? Our own fear!" --PBH
Pam is a classically-trained flutist, choral director of college and community choirs, and arts administrator. She plays (flute, percussion, kazoo, coffee cans and colanders!) and sings in a band called THIN AIR, whose performances are entirely improvised. Experience the power of group singing and the fun of musical games that create sounds from sublime to hilarious!
Also featuring: Bonnie Ettinger, ALUUC's talented pianist, who joins Pam each summer at MUUSA to provide an extraordinary musical experience to Summer Assembly attendees.
Pilgrim Park Retreat Center near Princeton, Illinois is the beautiful and natural setting for this relaxed Spring Conference. Join friends, old and new, as we celebrate music, our own voices and time together.
Lake Geneva Fall Conference Notes
Judy Piazza, an inspiring, musical performer and sister, shared her talents with retreat participants in many ways over this fine weekend on the shores of Lake Geneva: opening and closing blessings, interesting keynote using a variety of instruments including dulcimer, didgeridoo, flute, tambourine, many drums and percussion instruments and her voice to demonstrate her point: Sound heals!
Highlight of the weekend for many was her amazing performances at the Saturday night Coffee House--Be Your Bold Self! and drumming and dancing with participants after the coffee house.
Congratulations to the ALUUC planning committee members for an outstanding weekend for Central Midwest District women.