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Spring Fling 2001On a glorious Spring weekend in April about 40 or so friends / Friends gathered in Topeka to celebrate life at our MVFC Spring Fling. It was almost certainly the largest Spring Fling gathering in years. I suspect the reason our Spring attendance has never been as great as at our Fall retreat is that there is no announced "program." This year's increase in attendance may be at least in part due to a deepening understanding in our society of the importance for both our physical and emotional health of "being connected." Our Penn Valley folks may be finding sufficient chances to stay connected with lYM's Mid- year meeting being the following weekend so the Kenney's and MacNair's were the only families able to fit both weekends into their schedule.An unexpected treat that a number of us participated in was a Native American sweat lodge ceremony guided by Jim Waters who has moved back to Kansas from Iowa. We are hoping he will t)e able to offer the experience at our Fall retreat as well. Mark your calendar for the weekend of September 28-30. The meeting house in Topeka which is only a few blocks from the State Capitol Building has been lovingly renovated over the past 9 years and is well used by the surrounding community with the Bahai's meeting there regularly. It has also been the site of an annual Jazz festival which has grown so popular that they need now to find larger facilities. The Topeka Quakers have encouraged all of us to join them next year at a date still to be determined as they celebrate their 10th anniversary in their meeting house. -Jim Kenney, reporting |