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Hello Members and Friends!

Welcome to our August 2022 update.

All current memberships expire on September 30th

If you have a yearly membership with SHoWLE just be aware your membership expires on September 30th. This is a change made by the board in 2021 to streamline our membership process by having a single expiration date for all yearly memberships.

If you got a new membership after March of 2022 I will contact you and let you know your expiration date. In most cases it will be 9/30/2023.

1 Year Individual Membership is $10
1 Year Household Membership is $20 - Household is for 2 or more people who live at the same address and can include college students living outside the home.

To renew your membership, visit https://humanistswle.org/login and renew using the account setup on the website. If you can't remember your login or don't think you set one up then visit https://humanistswle.org/join-our-group and we can manually update your membership once we get notice you paid.

Membership Benefits Include:

A monthly meeting with like minded people
Ability to guide and vote on the direction of the group
Serve in leadership positions and on our Board of Directors
Discounts on sponsored events and group merchandise
Regular communications about meetings, events, and other topics of interest to the group before the general public

We Will Be Having A Booth at Two Events in August

SHoWLE will be having a booth at Maumee Summer Fair on August 13th and at Toledo Pride on August 20th. The Summer Fair was new for us in 2021 and we will be returning to Pride since before the pandemic. We will need help setting up and tearing down the booth and if you can only spare 30 minutes or hour feel free to volunteer to staff the booth so Doug can eat and go to the bathroom. If you are interested fill out our form and we will get back to those who are interested.

Booth Interest Form

August is a time for vacations and sitting outside when it isn't too hot and humid. Although SHoWLE is taking a break from formal meetings, there are two events coming up this month where we will setup our info booth. If you would like to help staff the booth or help setup or tear down, we would appreciate the help. If you happen to be at these events look for us and stop by and say hello.

We will have some Dinosaur toys for the kids and a chance to win a couple of books for the adults. One is "Founding Myth Christian Nationalism American" by Andrew L Seidel and "Every Tool's a Hammer: Life Is What You Make It" by Adam Savage. The Savage book is autographed since it was obtained when he came to Toledo for an author event.

You can also take the time to renew your membership and have that out of the way before October 1st or you can donate to help us build a community for a better tomorrow.

Saturday August 13th Maumee Summer Fair: 9 am to 5 PM - downtown Maumee

This will be our 2nd year at this event and we have the same booth space which is in the 100 block of W. Wayne Street (approx location https://goo.gl/maps/Z28ziUs7oYfry18Q6)

Saturday August 20th Toledo Pride Festival: 12 noon to 7 PM - Promenade Park - downtown Toledo

We haven't been at Pride since 2019 so it will be good to be there again. We have no idea where the booth will be but it will be in the park. We really could use help setting up and tearing down since this is a closed area and we have to pack in and pack out. We will be somewhere here: https://goo.gl/maps/uRUCWqDwb3uSREDU6

Save the Date
SHoWLE Homecoming Picnic
Sunday, September 11, 2022 11 AM to 4 PM
Middlegrounds Metropark: Rotary Roundhouse shelter
111 Ottawa Street Toledo

Join us for our Homecoming Picnic. As we move further into a post pandemic time, SHoWLE wanted to invite our members and friends to a picnic to celebrate the group and to recommit ourselves to being the best Humanist group in Toledo.

We will be having a potluck style picnic - bring a dish or snack to share. SHoWLE will provide drinks (water, pop, and ice), chips, some disposable dishes and utensils, and napkins. There is a large charcoal grill and the shelter has electricity so you can bring something in a crockpot to keep warm if need be.

There is a large lawn so please bring any sports equipment you would like to share or lawn games. The park has a pet area so bring your pets too.

We will also be able to take new memberships, renewals, and generous donations but that isn't required to enjoy the picnic.

Directions: Use the link above to use Google Maps but if you want manual directions drive to downtown Toledo toward Washington Street. Travel East on Washington toward Owens Corning. After you cross Swan Creek turn right on Ottawa Street and the park will be on your left just past the Anthony Wayne Bridge. Another way is to take the Anthony Wayne Trail to Western Ave. Turn right and follow Western until you get to Broadway St. Turn left and take Broadway to Logan St. Turn right and travel to Emerald Ave and turn left. Follow Emerald past the train station to Ottawa St. Turn right and follow Ottawa St. The park will be on your right before you get to the Anthony Wayne Bridge.

*This meeting is free and open to the public*

Unless otherwise noted, all our meetings and events are open to the public and we adhere to the SHoWLE In-person Meeting Policy

Of Note:

This summer there will be opportunities to participate and network with other Humanists and freethinkers. Check out these upcoming events that maybe of interest.

BAHACON

Bluewater Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics Conference
August 26-28, 2022
Sarnia, Ontario (a bit more than 2 hours from Toledo)

Speakers include

Gretta Vosper, Bob Ripley, Hemant Mehta, Dave Warnock, Annie Laurie Gaylor, Dr Joshua Bowen, Seth Andrews, Dan Barker

https://www.bahacon.com

Our Podcast: Glass City Humanist

In this episode, organized groups are having trouble with declining numbers because younger people don't think the groups address their concerns like social justice. Secular groups should address those issues because they have long roots in the conflict between church and state.

00:50 Our upcoming events
06:18 Get Younger or Die

Check out our Podcast

For more information and to check out our past episodes visit the Glass City Humanist website.

More News & Notes

Help with our joining page

For those concerned about how to join our group or renew your membership using our new integrated membership check out form on the website, we have created a help page that takes you step-by-step through the process.

Member Check Out Help

Board Meetings

The Board of Directors meets every other month with the next meeting sometime in January. If you are a voting member (you paid dues) and would like to observe a Board meeting or have questions or concerns about the Board of Directors, please send us a note using our contact form.

More Options To Give Us Donations
We now can accept donations using two apps you might have on your phone. You can now use Venmo and Cash App to send us donations. Just use the correct tag for the right app. Venmo is @toledohumanists and our Cash App tag is $humanistswle.

If you want to join the group instead of just donating then we would like you to visit our membership page.

Use Your Phone With Zoom

Did you know you don't have to use video when joining us for meetings and events on Zoom?

In fact you can use your telephone and call into the meeting without using a computer. When you register for a meeting you will get a link and other information on how to join the meeting. One of those options is to call into the meeting by phone. If seeing the speaker isn't a priority or you just aren't able to use a computer you can join us on the phone. We do ask that when you join the meeting just let us know who you are.

We Have a Wish List Page

We have an Amazon Smile wish list that people can purchase items from and send to us. Some people, for personal reasons, refuse to shop at Amazon and we respect that. We have copied our list onto a web page on the website.

If you would like to fill our wish list but not from Amazon then just look for our items where you do shop, buy them, and send them to us at SHoWLE PO Box 6433 Toledo, OH 43613 If you would rather drop them off to us, contact us and we can arrange a drop off.

Also note that except for the books, we are not married to a particular product manufacturer on this list. For example we would like four folding chairs with padding but they don’t have to be from Flash Furniture.

Software we use were recently added so you can sponsor a full year of Zoom or Adobe Cloud for the group to use.

Do you have an idea for a meeting or event?

Do you have an idea for a topic for a meeting or an activity for us to do as a group? Let us know.

If there is a particular topic or speaker you would like to see at a future meeting or have an idea for a group activity then please send us a note by email or fill out our contact form.

It would help if you provided as much information as possible about the idea - like who to contact or websites to visit.

There is no guarantee SHoWLE will turn your idea into an actual meeting or event but the odds increase if you are willing to host the event and/or do a lot of the leg work.

Activities and meetings for SHoWLE depend entirely on volunteer effort.

Are you a member?

Joining the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie gets you the following benefits:

A monthly meeting with like minded people
Ability to guide and vote on the direction of the group
Serve in leadership positions and on our Board of Directors
Regular communications about meetings, events, and other topics of interest to the group before the general public

We have two membership plans:

$10 for an Individual
$20 for a Household (two or more people at the same address)

Just see a Board member at our next meeting or event or click on the button below to pay online or to get information on mailing it in.

Join Now

You can now donate to the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie

Please help us provide a supportive local community for humanists and other nontheists, while promoting ethical and reasonable secular world views through education, community service, outreach, activism, and social events.

You can use Paypal or a credit card. Donations are tax deductible.

Donate Online

You can always donate at one of our meetings or events or send your check or money order to:

Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie
PO Box 6433
Toledo, OH 43612-0433

We are also connected with the Amazon Smile program. If you choose SHoWLE as your charity then a portion of sales you complete will be sent to us. Use this link to choose us:

Amazon Smiles

Our Mission:

The mission of the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie is to provide a supportive local community for humanists and other nontheists, while promoting an ethical, reasonable, and secular approach to life through education, community service, outreach, activism, and social events.

We envision a Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan where secular people are respected and integrated in broader society, live values of reason and compassion, and enjoy a friendly humanist community.