The Grove

I wanted to shoot out a quick update to let everyone know what has been going on lately.

Firstly, I have added the Midsummer Night's Dream ritual to the website under the Events page. I may have said this in the last email but I can't remember.

I also added a piece of writing entitled "I am Pagan" by Selena Fox to the About Us page. I decided that it was a more personal writing about what it means to be Pagan than posting a bland, basic statement of faith. Of course, we all have our own opinions on what being a Pagan means but I think that Selena covers the most essential parts and does it well.

Secondly, I want to take my time to shake a disapproving finger to all of you who have joined our Yahoo group yet NEVER seem to read or reply to things. It makes it feel futile, which is what I was afraid would happen when I opened it. Honestly, this is a great tool for everyone to keep in touch and communicate, let's use it!

Thirdly, I need feedback regarding what types of classes you would like our Pagan Study Group to offer. I won't be setting up the study groups if I don't have students or teachers. So, let me know if you are interested in teaching and what subjects and those who feel they have more to learn (which, in my opinion, is all of us) let me know what kind of topics you would like covered. This will enable me to compare responses and begin scheduling the meetings. That also means I need and idea of what nights of the week would work for people.

Thank you to the few people I have heard from. I appreciate your input.

And finally, I am going to schedule and impromptu Housewarming Party / Meet and Eat at my new house on Friday, July 24th at 7pm. All the details will be on the Events page.

A last word (I swear!): I want to thank everyone who has donated to The Grove recently. All of your contributions are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Summer Solstice

I just wanted to let everyone know that we had a magnificent ritual for Midsummer here at my house. I was so happy to get to have everyone over to the see the new house and I was so proud of the ritual that I wrote because I spent so much time putting it together. I have actually posted my transcript of the ritual on the Events page should anyone want to read it that missed out. If you don't know, the entire rite was based off of William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Looking to the Future

Lammas will be held at my house on August 1. Paul and David offered to do Mabon again this year at their house and Mattea has volunteered for Yule. For Samhain we will be doing either something like All Hallows Harvest from last year or I have been talking with Heidi from the Eagle Mountain Protogrove and Wild Sky Studios (y'all know Heidi) about putting together a festival similar to Pagan Pride Day. This would mean getting more space, vendors, and performers. It is certainly an exciting idea. O

Sometime in July or August we will be having a trip to the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma. It's about an hour drive from the metroplex and I think we will have a great time. Of course, you can expect a few Meet and Eats thrown it between now and Yule.

Our next project in line is the Pagan Study Group. I am still in need of teachers and I need to get an idea as to what days would be best to plan the meetings on. For more on this, check out my post on our Yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/groveonline/

If you're not already a part of the Yahoo group you should join. It's a great way for us to keep in touch.

At The Moment

I am feeling rather content with the progress we have made as a group over the last year. I have met some of the most amazing people. Some faces we have only seen once or twice, and some I look forward to seeing at every event. I have been amazed at the amount of support and friendship that has poured in right when I've needed it most. I am looking forward to the next year with The Grove and the changes and developments to come.

Thanks for being a part in it in whatever way you have.

Haley

I'm back! It has been forever since I have been around and actually done some work regarding The Grove and I wanted to start by giving you guys a bit of an explanation.

The last few months have been (as many of you know) beyond busy for me. I found a house, bought it, have spent numerous days paint, packed, and done a little bit of moving. I am now just about moved out of the house I was brought home from the hospital to, which is very strange. Before that was term papers and final exams. Brittany left this morning to spend two months interning in Washington DC because her mom was offered a temporary position there. And that is not to mention work and family obligations and going on vacation and finding roommates.

Essentially, I have been completely self involved and this may be the one time I don't feel bad using that as an excuse to be MIA and I hope you guys can understand as well.

Normally, with the way that the days fell, we would have had a Meet and Eat between Beltane and Summer Solstice, but it just wasn't a good time. That doesn't mean we aren't going to be hosting activities in the future, I promise. I hope to be back on the wagon soon.

I promise to deliver a good ritual for Summer Solstice to make it up to you guys. I can't give you the details of exactly what we will be doing right now (because I haven't made up my mind) but it won't be anything outrageous. We will be doing our normal ritual and potluck routine only it will be at my new house! This will also mark one year since our first group ritual so I hope to honor that some how.

Don't forget to RVSP by replying to this email, using the Yahoo group, or the page on our site. The ritual will be on Saturday the 20th. Gathering at 7, ritual at 8. Doors will be shut at 8 to any late comers.

Sometime in July I will be having a house warming party and I would like to see you guys there. I will let you know when because the 4th and my nephews birthday party will be around there as well.

In late July or early August I would love it if we could set up our trip to the casino that we have been discussing.

The next official Meet and Eat will probably be a movie night. I say we meet at my house, eat pizza or something, and watch something witchy like Practical Magic, Hocus Pocus, Witches of Eastwick, Wicker Man, etc.

That's quite enough from me. See you soon and I hope you will join the yahoo group if you haven't already.

Blessed Be,

Haley K.

The Grove

I added two new events to the events page; Summer Solstice and my housewarming party.

So sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been busy in my neck of the woods.

So, first, we were able to raise more than enough money for our non-profit application thanks to the rummage sale and some generous donations. The extra funds will go into our account to be used for future events.

Big, huge, amazing thank yous go out to Mattea, Paul and David, John, Sarah, Heidi, and Kim.

Secondly, we have begun to plan our Samhain celebration for this year. Things will be changing quite a bit from last year and attendees can probably expect more of a festival atmosphere than the dinner party we had last year.

We will need volunteers, vendors, performers, and donations. Much more information (and begging) to come once it is available.

Brittany is writing the ritual for Beltane and we are considering doing a cowboy theme, so everyone bring your sense of humor and I think we'll have a great time. I am going to get the details for this put together as soon as I possibly can and get them out.

The Grove's Birthday. I don't have a clue. Our birthday was actually April 3 but I can fudge it and say we're celebrating in June on the anniversary of our first event. Eventually I will actually plan something.

We are having the rummage sale on Friday and Saturday, March 27 and 28 at Mattea's home at 610 W. Lovers Lane in Arlington. We really need at least one person to volunteer for Friday morning. Mattea is having surgery on the Thursday before so she will not be feeling up to setting up and and running the sale. Please, please please! Brittany and I both have class on Friday morning so it would be near impossible for us to get there.

Saturday, I know I will be able to be there for sure and Brittany should be able to as well so volunteers will not be nearly as needed. However, we wouldn't turn down someone who wants to help us clean up after the sale.

We need stuff to sell! We will accept donations of household items, clothing, books, electronics, furniture, etc. Donations can be dropped off with Haley at Ostara or you can email Mattea (mheldner@balfinancialllc.com) to set up a time to drop off donations at her home up to a week in advance.

Please remember, all profits from the rummage sale will go to The Grove's 501(c)(3) application fee (about $350) or toward future ritual supplies.

Just email if you are interested in volunteering or leave a comment here.

Saturday after the rummage sale we will be having a birthday party for The Grove. I am not certain what we will be doing but I would love to have you guys all come out.

 I am still planning on doing the Pagan Study Group. Planning for it is some what on hold until we can get this rummage sale taken care of. I am also house shopping at the moment and dealing with some problems with a business (who ripped me off) so my attention is just elsewhere.

Study Groups for New Pagans

Just a little update on what I have been up to in my neck of the woods

I am already planning the Samhain celebration for this year. I know, I know, that's all the way in October but the earlier I can get things like the location and theme lined up the easier it makes it in the 11th hour. I will be (attempting) to hand over the planning reins this year by forming a planning committee to help me get ready but that is a long way off. All Hallows Harvest (Samhain 2008) took me 4 months and countless hours to plan. I'm hoping things will be a lot easier this year now that I've done this once already.

I am slowly percolating the best way to go about forming a Pagan Study Group. I need to decide the best days to do the meetings, what topics to cover, who will mentor, and, the most important, are people actually interested in this idea.

Brittany and I have been tossing around fundraising ideas and hopefully one of them will come to fruition in the future. If anyone has any idea I hope they'll let me know very soon.

We have a busy Spring coming up for The Grove and I hope everyone will take the time to read this over and start thinking about which of these events you might be interested in attending, volunteering for, or whatever.

First and foremost, Ostara

We will be celebrating Ostara / Spring Equinox this year on Saturday, March 21st at Paul and David's house in Fort Worth. The ritual will probably run on our typical schedule of gathering at 7pm and the ritual will begin at 8pm. As those of you who came to Mabon know, David is an amazing priest and we had a beautiful ritual for the last equinox and I know we will have one for this equinox as well. I will not be posting their address publicly for safety and privacy reasons so the only way to know the location of the ritual is to RSVP. I will email you with the address and any further information you need to know once you have let me know you plan to attend. Further details will be available as soon as I have them.

Later that month, Charity Rummage Sale!

We are going to have a garage sale on Friday and Saturday March 27th and 28th at Mattea's house in Arlington. Basically, we will need people (being you guys) to donate clothing, books, furniture, toys, and other garage sale type items so that we can sell them and hopefully raise the money for our 501(c)(3) certification. Overall, we need about $360 to cover the total filing costs. The garage sale will be step one of that, and Gods willing, we can raise a fair amount of that with the garage sale. We will need a few volunteers to help with set up, tear down, and running the sale. I imagine we will be taking donations at Ostara, but I will try and have another time that you can drop off donation items. I will have to talk to Mattea about that and get back to you all soon. So, start your Spring cleaning and start thinking about what you might be able to contribute. For information about the benefits and definitions of a 501(c)(3) certification just go here.

And maybe in March, The Grove's First Birthday!

The official start day of The Grove was April 3, 2008 so our one year birthday is coming up. I am considering having a little birthday party either on March 28th after the garage sale or April 10th. I haven't quite decided and I didn't want to do it on the 3rd because that would be the next week after the garage sale and two weeks after the Ostara ritual so I didn't want you try and force people to hang out with us 3 weekends in a row. And it might get Brittany fired for taking that much time off in a row. Chances are, we'll do it the afternoon or evening after the garage sale. I have no clue what our plans will be but I know I'll probably get a cake for everyone. If we do it after the garage sale, everyone will still be welcome to attend, even if they couldn't make the garage sale.

Much later on, Beltane

 I have just talked to AJ and we will be hosting the Beltane ritual at her home in Keller on Friday, May 1st. More information will be coming on this topic closer to to the date. I have asked Brittany to coordinate the actual ritual and I know she is trying to come up with some fun, unique ideas.

Finally, other fundraising ideas

Chances are, we will need additional fundraisers besides just the garage sale. Now, while donations are always more than appreciated, we would like it if money could be made from outside of our pool of attendees. One idea that we had was to try and sell things on Ebay. At any given time, there are usually a variety of spell kits on sale and Brittany and I thought. "we could do that!". We haven't really decided if we're going to for sure, but it's something to consider. If you have any larger ticket items, say that would be a bit too nice or valuable for the garage sale, that you would be willing to donate to The Grove that we could auction off on Ebay we would be eternally grateful. I am looking through my personal items to see if there's anything that I can find of my own. I have put up a graphic to help us keep track of out fundraising, it can be seen here.

If you have any questions, concerns, or commentary; just email us.