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GROUP EVENTS

The best way to become familiar with SAWUURA is to participate in one of our annual events: 

2008 Memorial Day Weekend, May 24, 25 & 26:  This 3-day weekend is an opportunity for fun, relaxation, and renewal.  The main focus of the weekend is making and renewing friendships (with U.U.s from around the state), enjoying the surroundings, and connecting with nature.  Informal hikes, games, and activities.  Bring activities for children or others to participate in if you wish.  Food provided.  Registration and liability waiver required. Deadline for sign up is May 10th!

2008 Annual Meeting, May 25:  Annual Membership Meeting and SAWUURA Board election at SAWUURA during the Memorial Day Weekend. Please check your UU congregation newsletter, or email info@sawuura.org

2008 Labor Day Weekend, August 30, 31 & September 1: 
There will be singing around the campfire and hiking and S'Mores and our sweat lodge and all the usual SAWUURA fun. See for yourself one of the best star displays in the galaxy. Bring a hammock and work hard on perfecting your afternoon nap! You can be as relaxed or as energetic as you want. Families, couples, and singles are welcome. This late summer weekend offers mild temperatures, and sometimes thunderstorms! See how much the monsoon rains have changed the forest and meadows. Food provided. Registration and liability waiver required.



2008 Women's Weekend (TBA):  This fall event is a retreat-like weekend with group activities, at which women of all ages are welcome, including younger women who have completed their congregations' Coming of Age programs.  Food provided.  Registration and liability waiver required.


For group events, all visitors are to check in with the event host on arrival.  The event host will conduct an orientation concerning general rules and procedures, an overview of the event program, and any other timely information.

Monthly Hosted Free Camp Weekends: The SAWUURA board of trustees has instituted a new program know as the Hosted Free Camp Weekend. This program, under the joint direction of the Facilities and Program Committees, has several goals-some play some work:

Play -- To provide a regular opportunity for fellowship in the woods as well as promote more frequent visitation and enjoyment of the site: hiking, exploring, bird watching, and just hanging out.

Work --
1) To address the problem of the buildup of dry, dead, combustible materials throughout the SAWUURA property, a condition that has been further exacerbated by the ongoing drought, and to deal with this problem through a long term program of ladder fuels reduction to be largely carried out by the volunteer labor of SAWUURA members and friends.
2) To accomplish other facility improvement projects including
(a) Finishing work on the "Winter Cabin" and making it habitable at all seasons of the year.  This project involves
cleaning up the cabin, installing some insulation in the loft, completing the interior sheathing, moving the interior stair, and installing a new wood stove.
(b) Constructing an "accommodation" facility in the form of a platform and large wall tent as well as wheelchair negotiable paths in the main gathering area near the kitchen in order to welcome ALL to our wilderness experience.
(c) Improving our road to a more all-weather standard.

Fuels Clearance:  All these tasks, but especially the fuels reduction project, are extremely labor intensive. Fuels reduction basically involves removing all dead dry materials from ground level (excluding forest floor litter such as dead leaves) to roughly 8 feet up into the trees.  Doing this will hopefully keep on the ground and away from the tree crowns any wild fire that enters the property, minimizing the fire's destructiveness.  The dead materials are piled in the meadows until conditions for burning or mulching are appropriate.

Tools:  We only have a very limited set of tools available at the site. It would be wise to bring your own.  We have found that the most useful tools for fuels reduction are a bow saw or other good-sized pruning saw, long-handled loppers, and a telescoping pole saw.
Additional items of personal equipment that are useful include heavy work gloves, long pants and long-sleeved shirts, eye goggles, and, if you have one, a hard hat.

Camping:  As always, camping at SAWUURA is basic tent camping.  Be aware that as we move toward winter, overnight lows will regularly drop to or below freezing.  Bring your best sleeping bags or more comforters or blankets-whatever it takes to keep warm through the night.  Don't forget a warm hat.



Attending/Volunteering:  We would greatly appreciate the participation of all members and friends and especially teen and youth groups.  Once you come and enjoy SAWUURA you will come again. Work/Play Weekends are more than just work.  They are also a chance to relax in the quiet of the woods, to hike, to explore and to just hang out with friends.

If you are interested in attending a Work/Play Weekend or perhaps even leading one in the future contact:

Eb Eberlein at:  eb@dakotacom.net   520-743-2398

If you are interested in attending one of our events, click here to go to our forms page.

For information on creating a program or event for your UU group, contact programs@sawuura.org.

This page was last updated on 05/06/2008.

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