Dear ,
We send you warm summer greetings and news of branch activities in the coming months. This letter brings you behind the scenes of the planning process of the Core Group and gives you a picture of our work in furthering anthroposophical endeavors in our community.
We met recently to review this past 2020-2021 year when we were all forced by Covid to stop in-person gatherings and move to meetings over Zoom. We are cautiously optimistic about meeting again this fall with at least some of our meetings with an in-person option. Because Zoom has created some real benefits and opportunities to widen our reach, we anticipate continuing to use that format as a way to draw outside speakers with unique expertise. The survey that some of you completed this past spring indicated to us that there is merit in both in-person and Zoom meetings and we are hoping to alternate between those formats.
Our plans for this fall are falling into place with our overarching theme being Anthroposophical Insights from the Realm of Biodynamics. You will be receiving detailed notifications soon for our September meeting with James Dyson which will be over Zoom on Sunday, September 26 at noon. The title of his talk is “Nutrition from the Earth and the Cosmos – introducing the complex dynamics”.
In October we plan to hold our monthly meeting on October 26, the usual fourth Tuesday of the month, at 7pm with Carin and Delmar as special local guests on the continuing theme of biodynamics. The format, based on current Covid precautions and information, will be both in-person and webcast via Zoom from the Resource Center for Nonviolence at 612 Ocean Street in Santa Cruz. David Eyes has been working on the technology needed to make this happen. We will update you as the time approaches, and we anticipate that masks will be required for the meeting at RCNV.
The AGM, now known as the ASA Annual Conference, meeting dates are October 7-10, all virtually, with Michael Lipson, Michaela Glockler, and Brian Gray as the main speakers. Our local branch is working on a possible local and in-person gathering for a small portion of this conference, and we will notify you as those details are known. You are encouraged to check out the full conference details on the Anthroposophical Society of America website.
In November we anticipate a branch meeting via Zoom, with a possible in-person option, and those details will be forthcoming and will again follow the theme of biodynamics.
In other Core Group business, we discussed possible future opportunities to coordinate speakers with other branches in San Francisco, Sacramento and beyond, using Zoom, and we will continue to explore the idea. The Oberufer Shepherds Play has been a longstanding tradition each December, and we are optimistic about a performance again this year so stay tuned. We are also planning on returning to our customary Holy Nights readings. If you missed a talk from our last year’s program, it can now be accessed on our website, and we are in the process of updating the other information such as study groups so if you are involved in one which is not currently listed, please let us know.
Our final word is about finances from John Baring, our Treasurer. It has been a challenging year financially for SCMBAS. We started the year with a promising schedule of speakers but there were additional administrative costs that were substantially higher than previous years. Our revenue at $2,582 was up from $2,203 of the previous year, but as we had more speakers, even though some donated their fees, our event expenses were higher than the previous year. We also did not present the Oberufer Shepherds Play in December which has historically been our largest revenue item. While we were minimally positive the previous year, our loss this last year was $569. Our ending cash position was $3,379 versus $3948 as of the previous year. It is very clear that our membership support is very important so we urge you to renew your membership which can be completed online at our website.
Members of the Core Group welcome your suggestions and appreciate your continuing support.
Warm regards, the Core Group
