April 20 to 22, 2015 Gathering at Villa Maria del Mar, Santa Cruz
This peaceful, seaside location in Santa Cruz was a wonderful setting for the Amigos' gathering again this year.
The theme for this year's gathering/retreat at the Villa Maria del Mar was: Then and Now, Building and Re-building, Structuring and Re-structuring. Jim and Lydia Stack with Mike and Karen Monley planned the agenda and did a wonderful job of preparing each of the group sessions with photos, videos, film clips and a documentary film.
Monday evening's session, entitled, Our Lives/Inspirational Events, was a sharing of photos and videos highlighting memorable, inspirational or important events in each person's life over the past year.
The annual Board meeting was held late Monday evening, presided over by President Jack Walton.
On Tuesday morning, the group watched the documentary film, Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot (a Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center), which was followed by a discussion and reflection on the film and the times: thoughts, memories, influences. Where were you then, what about now 50 years later? One person spoke about her spouse who had participated in the voter registration drive in the South immediately following the Selma march and signing of the Voter Rights Act.
The topic for Tuesday afternoon's session was: Sharing of Resources that Inspire. The group divided into smaller groups of 5 or 6 and shared comments about each person's list of inspiring/interesting books, movies, poetry, live performances, YouTube videos, travels, etc. The session started with a very funny You Tube video. At the end, everyone shared their lists with the group.
Tuesday evening's group session was entitled: The Rant, which was an opportunity for each person to get something off their chest (rant) about life in our complex, post-modern world: something disturbing about our society about which you are very annoyed, depressed, frustrated or angry. Again, the Stacks and Monleys did a great job of presenting a wonderful lead-in to this session - from the movie: The Network ["I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore"]. It was a fast paced two hours covering a wide range of topics, mostly very serious, some more light-hearted (the annoyance of ever-present leaf blowers on a quiet Saturday morning).
On Wednesday morning, the group met for a Communion/Breaking Bread Service, and following a short break, heard a presentation on travel opportunities by one of the group who is a representative for an international travel organization. Many in the group expressed an interested in taking a trip together to Machu Picchu.
This peaceful, seaside location in Santa Cruz was a wonderful setting for the Amigos' gathering again this year.
The theme for this year's gathering/retreat at the Villa Maria del Mar was: Then and Now, Building and Re-building, Structuring and Re-structuring. Jim and Lydia Stack with Mike and Karen Monley planned the agenda and did a wonderful job of preparing each of the group sessions with photos, videos, film clips and a documentary film.
Monday evening's session, entitled, Our Lives/Inspirational Events, was a sharing of photos and videos highlighting memorable, inspirational or important events in each person's life over the past year.
The annual Board meeting was held late Monday evening, presided over by President Jack Walton.
On Tuesday morning, the group watched the documentary film, Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot (a Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center), which was followed by a discussion and reflection on the film and the times: thoughts, memories, influences. Where were you then, what about now 50 years later? One person spoke about her spouse who had participated in the voter registration drive in the South immediately following the Selma march and signing of the Voter Rights Act.
The topic for Tuesday afternoon's session was: Sharing of Resources that Inspire. The group divided into smaller groups of 5 or 6 and shared comments about each person's list of inspiring/interesting books, movies, poetry, live performances, YouTube videos, travels, etc. The session started with a very funny You Tube video. At the end, everyone shared their lists with the group.
Tuesday evening's group session was entitled: The Rant, which was an opportunity for each person to get something off their chest (rant) about life in our complex, post-modern world: something disturbing about our society about which you are very annoyed, depressed, frustrated or angry. Again, the Stacks and Monleys did a great job of presenting a wonderful lead-in to this session - from the movie: The Network ["I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore"]. It was a fast paced two hours covering a wide range of topics, mostly very serious, some more light-hearted (the annoyance of ever-present leaf blowers on a quiet Saturday morning).
On Wednesday morning, the group met for a Communion/Breaking Bread Service, and following a short break, heard a presentation on travel opportunities by one of the group who is a representative for an international travel organization. Many in the group expressed an interested in taking a trip together to Machu Picchu.