Things That Work

Okay, enough with the negative stuff. The fact is, from the YPCU through LRY to YRUU, we have a really strong youth legacy. Not only have there been problems, there have also been solutions and a host of traditions on which our UU youth culture(s) is(are) built. So what works, and where did it come from?
The answers are...
Colin Pringle sayeth:
At the local level, we had meetings at church every Sunday night and for a while, we had a coffee house, which was great, but the adults kept getting on our case about that. We also did stuff to raise money, like selling donuts after the church services. Each year, we had Youth Sunday where we put on the church service. The thing that was a hassle about it was blacking out the sky lights so we could project films and stuff. The sancuary was pretty big and it had about 90 skylights that we had to put black plastic over and hold it down with rocks. Once we got that unplesant task done, we had a great time doing the show.
Jim Sechrest: Overnites were big. We'd plan some activity, eat pizza, play games like Sardines (find people in the dark).

Deirdre Shaw: Conferences, church sleep overs, parties, excursions (horseback riding), Rocky Horror Picture Show, games . . . For our current youth group, the conferences and sleep overs seem to be the most popular.

Wayne Arnason: (summarized by Gene Navias in the YRUU 5 year report) ...there was a focus on conferences, which were experienced by . . . youth as at the heart of things.

Ben Stallings: Lock-ins, check-ins, cooperative activities such as ropes courses, discussions about relevant topics.

Frank Teltsch: (Carleton '65!) The social events, of course! And the Boston trip.