From EOD: May 21, 2021

Before launching into this exciting update on upcoming events and ongoing changes at UCE,  I’d like to remind everyone to help us make our year-end budget by ensuring that your pledge payments are complete for this fiscal year ending on June 30. Vickie Doebele, Staff Accountant, will be sending out statements at the end of this month. Your generosity and financial support are greatly appreciated.  

We are fast approaching our first-ever UCE Parking Lot Pop-Up Sale. Carol Nielsen and I have been ramping up all of the planning in preparation for Saturday’s big event. We have sixteen vendors to sale their wares, a bike selling area, a jewelry table and an art area. Many have stepped up to take a table, set up, do sales, clean-up, work the food tent, and greet guests as they arrived. Nick the Balloon Guy will be there shaping his incredible animal balloon sculptures. You must plan to be there for a day of fun and so many bargains. For participants the set-up time is 8 a.m. The sale opens at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m. Here are a few preview photos.

Outside our landscaping is shaping up. Barbara Butz has been working for weeks planting our pollinator garden. Plants are taking root and emerging to fill the space in our west garden.  

Just to the south along the west wall of the wing, Carol Nielsen and I have been tackling improvement of the old, tired and dying trees and bushes with our landscaper Ernesto. Carol has carefully chosen grasses to provide color, texture and interest year-round. Next time you are there (hopefully Saturday), please take a look at the trees and grasses planted along our building.

These and other improvements have happened due to the generosity of this congregation. Our Capital Campaign funded new sewers, a new parking lot surface, a lighted walkway from Greenwood, new planters, a pollinator garden and new plant life along the wing.  

Projects continue indoors. New furniture for Room 2 arrived today. Next week our team will choose carpet. Once the carpet is installed, Room 2 is ready for use with its beautiful new look – new shades, ceilings tiles, lighting, furniture and carpet.  

Construction is set for June 30 for the Accessibility Ramp and Playscape. This timing is, of course, dependent on the issuance of the building permit. Artist Indira Johnson will meet with Faith Formation families soon to make mosaics for the walkways. Once the hardscape is installed the space will be transformed with flowers, grasses and bushes making it a tranquil area for meetings and a fun area for children to roam through paths finding magical fairy houses, climbing on logs and enjoying the new Intergenerational Playscape.  

The sanctuary cooling work continues. Next week our HVAC company will review the findings of a report submitted by a company we hired to do a design development report. Once complete, we will have a better sense of the decisions our team needs to make. Our project team works closely with our Capital Campaign Implementation Committee and leadership at UCE.  

Gilliam Lawrence and Johna VanDyke continue to work with our team on lobby upgrades. We are on the verge of choosing furniture. Carpet has been ordered for the lobby ramp and sanctuary platform. Decisions are still being made on exactly what is needed to provide a space that is welcoming and comfortable for all who enter no matter your age or physical abilities. We look forward to our littles being able to hang their own coats in our lobby coat area. Stay tuned for progress as we work toward returning to our space in September.  

I was pleased to see how many members and friends attended our Annual Meeting. This  meeting marks an important transition in our church year for staff as we begin to wind down after several busy months. Once the Pop-Up Sale is over, I have a few trips planned. I will celebrate my mom’s 94th birthday and joyfully visit my family, most of whom I have not seen for 1.5 years. I will travel to the Seattle area soon, as my son Ryan, who so many of you know from his time as lobby staff at UCE, is moving there with his partner Samantha. I will take this time to help them settle in and enjoy some outdoor adventures in nature. Rest and restoration will pave the way for our partial return to the building in September. 

Sandra Robinson, Executive Operations Director