Hi all,

Here’s your friendly reporter with the latest from the PUUF pews (or chairs around a table).

Astoria Coffee Klatch:  we met at Street 14 in downtown Astoria, with 8 or 9 folks in attendance.  St. 14 is a bustling coffee shop with a side room where we gathered around a big table.  Topics of the day were some of the health struggles our members are having,  the health care some of us have been very grateful for over the time we’ve lived here; Casey Eye Institute and Astor Place were two agencies mentioned.  We also reminisced about the early days of PUUF, the several places the Fellowship has met over its nearly 30 year history, like the movie theater in Seaside, the little green church on the south side, the PAC, and now the Presbyterians.  We are glad to have younger folks coming to PUUF these days and getting active, especially with the techie aspects (Zoom may have its drawbacks, but it brought us two folks from Morocco!).  Our group the Covenant of UU Pagans (CUUPs) is growing and bringing an interesting dimension to our services.  All good!

Peninsula Coffee Klatch:  we met for the first time at Colleen’s in Ocean Park; we’ll be alternating meeting places, so we’ll meet at the Olde Towne in Ilwaco in April.  Lots of items of discussion today:  the delicious pastries, for one! also the woes of some family members, UU history via music, other churches we have known, our kids, housing prices (yikes!), and, for the benefit of a newer resident of the peninsula, the hardware stores and handyman possibilities.  Colleen’s has a cozy back room where we were able to munch and sip to our hearts’ content and Colleen herself is a delightful hostess.  We’ll be back—-in May!

Tillamook County Coffee Klatch:  we have been meeting in the famous Manzanita hot spot June’s Garage.  Our little group has been expanding!  It used to be only three or four folks; this month we had one longtime member return briefly, one new member attend for the first time, and one newish member attend for the third time.  We are growing!  We had 6 people this time!  Our hostess June makes great coffee and offers delicious goodies to go with it.  Our topics this month were pretty deep, as we listened raptly to our newest member’s description of how she found us—what an odyssey!  We hope she sticks around!  Because so many of us are Scandinavian, we always talk about our Nordic ties.  Several of us have deep UU roots as well, so it’s fun to hear about the history of First U in Portland as well as other congregations we’ve known.  We talked about racism as we’ve witnessed it in our lives and the hopes we have for lessening its sad effects on American lives.

South County Coffee Klatch:  we have been meeting in one member’s home and this Saturday it was warm enough to meet out in her backyard with goodies and coffee.  Topics of discussion:  people we know who are now in memory care facilities, the Ketanji Jackson hearings, new cat problems, the squirrels and birds around us in the backyard, someone’s new job, my magic glasses, the Ghost Conference going on in Seaside, the translation of the ancient poem Gilgamesh by Steven Mitchell, surfing, the books we are reading, and Fellowship ideas for the next church year.

That’s it for this month’s NFTP report.  See you again in April!

Astoria:  Apr. 2, St. 14, 10 a.m.

Peninsula:  Apr. 9, Olde Towne, 10 a.m.

Tillamook:  Apr. 16, June’s garage, 10 a.m.

South County (note change of date):  Apr. 30, time TBA.