Christmas Eve Collections:  Thanks to the generosity of those in attendance, our Christmas Eve collections totaled $1,992.  They will form the core of our 2009 gift to support the activities of our Partner Church in Marosvasarhely.  Any who were not in church Christmas Eve may still contribute by sending a check to the Winchester Unitarian Society annotated “Partner Church Fund.”

An Honor for Reverend Laci Nagy:  Partner Church Senior Minister Laci Nagy has been elected Assistant Bishop of the Unitarian churches in Transylvania.  (Many of you met Reverend Laci when he; his wife, Gizi; and fourteen other Marosvasarhely youth and adults visited us in Winchester this summer.)  The position carries considerable responsibility for the denomination as a whole but will allow Reverend Laci to remain as minister in Marosvasarhely.  That, in turn, means a continuation of our long and cordial friendship with him and his family.

Scholarship Students:  Scholarship student Timea has been appointed an instructor in dissection after only one year of medical school.  It’s an assignment usually reserved for fourth year students.  She is amassing a remarkable record in a very short time.  Her twin brother, Lorand, saved enough from his summer construction job to purchase a clarinet worthy of his considerable talent.  He has just finished a Christmas shopping mall gig with a group of fifteen fellow students all dressed as elves or reindeer.  Law students Boti and Zsolt continue their studies.  Both send their thanks for our support.

Graduates:  All three scholarship graduates have stayed in contact with us.  Sisters Moni and Orsi are both employed in Marosvasarhely clinics.  Pharmacist Emoke writes that she has passed her professional exam and is now a full-fledged clinical pharmacist.  She is working at a “better pharmacy” where the pay is higher.