2003 UU Unsung Hero Award
Linda Melski
Linda Melski has been described as a dedicated organizer par
excellence. Fellow UUs have said that if it weren't for Linda's
task-oriented nature, things would never get done. Linda's
long-term dedication to Unitarian Universalism spans many
categories. She has shown continual dedication to her denomination
through her support of UU congregational life in Newton, MA,
her dedication to her UU fellowship in Marshfield, WI, her
involvement in UUism at the district and national levels,
and her support of the ministries by mail and cyberspace of
the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF). The CLF Board of
Directors is proud to honor CLF member Linda Melski as our
recipient for the CLF's Unsung UU Hero Award for 2003.
Linda's contribution to UU congregational life began at the
First Unitarian Society of Newton, MA (FUSN). Her husband
John Melski recalls that Linda's first introduction to UUism
came by way of Rev. Clark Dewey Wells in 1977. His opening
words in the first UU service Linda attended were about preparing
soup for 2,000 Boston Marathoners. Upon hearing these words,
"Linda knew immediately that she had found her spiritual home,"
John says. During the six years that she was a member of the
Newton church, she contributed to the congregation through:
- Serving on the membership, hospitality and the Women's
Alliance committees.
- Organizing FUSN's bridge group, still active today.
- Organizing and executing two record-breaking pledge campaigns.
- Co-leading the "About Your Sexuality" course for junior
high school students with her husband John. According to
FUSN member Noreen Kimball, Linda and John "did a great
deal to update the accuracy of the medical information for
our students."
According to her husband, when Linda and family moved to Marshfield,
WI in 1983, Rev. Gerry Krick admonished her, "Go and build a
church!" And Linda took this admonishment to heart.
Linda became a driving force behind the Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of Marshfield, WI (UUFM) through the following activities:
- Opening the church to children's participation, including
that of her own children.
- Offering her basement as the fellowship's meeting place
for several years.
- Serving on the UUFM Board since 1984, having held every
office on the Board, sometimes two at a time! She has either
been or worked closely with the Treasurer since 1986. This
involved overseeing the purchase of a two-acre plot upon
which the fellowship hopes to build in the future.
- Publishing the Chalice Flame, UUFM's newsletter, since
1986.
Linda has represented her UU fellowship within the larger community
by:
- Serving as a member of the Marshfield Area Ministerial
Committee for 8 yrs.
- Organizing two local peace fairs and Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day.
- Representing her fellowship at the local ecumenical Thanksgiving
Day service.
- Shouldering community responsibilities, such as writing
affidavits of moral conduct for two boys in Marshfield community
to become Eagle Scouts, as well as opening her home to visitors,
such as three Tibetan monks.
To sum up her role in UUFM, her husband John states, "People
often assume that Linda is our minister. In many ways, she is."
Linda's active role in her fellowship in Marshfield led to her
participation at the district and national levels in the following
ways:
- Serving on the Central Midwest District's Growth and
Support Committee, which evolved into the Chalice Lighters.
- Organizing two Small Society Workshops for societies
with fewer than 50 members.
- Serving as liaison to the UU Service Committee from her
fellowship.
- Attending General Assembly every year except for two
since 1987, including serving as Chairperson of Hospitality
for the 1990 GA in Milwaukee.
- Co-managing the original UUA-GA list serve from 1997-2002.
Of her dedication as a "General Assembly Web worker," Deborah
Weiner, Director of Electronic Communications at the UUA recalls
Linda's behind-the-scenes support role as "office mom," which
involved "making sure that the people who make the web site
happen at all hours of the day and night had supplies, food,
M&Ms, and that we weren't working in a disheveled mess!"
Finally, Linda has shared many of her energies and talents in
support of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, the UUA's congregation
by mail and cyberspace, of which she has been a member since
1983. Linda served as Chair of the Board for two years during
the challenging two-year transition from Rev. Scott Alexander
to Rev. Jane Rzepka. Of her dedication, Rev. Scott Alexander
states, "Linda Melski was a wonderful and active lay member
of CLF and an exquisite and hard working board member. She had
plenty of vision for the future of CLF, seeing the need early
for us to be up and present on the Web before most others on
the Board and staff did." Linda has supported CLF's cyber-ministries
by:
- Creating and co-managing CLF-L, an e-mail list serve
that has helped to connect CLF's international membership
online since 1998.
- Co-managing CLF-RE, as well as CLF's new announcements
list, CLF-A.
- Facilitating the start of UUMIL, a list serve for UUs
in the military, and YUU-CLF, a list serve for UU youth.
According to Kasey Melski, Linda's daughter and former UUA Webmaster,
Linda has given CLF members "their first option of day-to-day
contact with each other as a congregation. And to have kept
it going…in spite of some of the more vocal opposition from
overzealous members, reaches hero status in my eyes."
Linda's dedication to her community expands well beyond her
UU activities. For example, she has been involved in promoting
her town's public library as well as serving on the board of
her local food and clothing pantry, Soup or Socks. In the political
arena, Linda successfully managed the campaign of her Representative
to the State Assembly of Wisconsin in 2002.
To honor the endless dedication and energy Linda has poured
into UU activities at the fellowship, congregational, district
and national levels for over 25 years, CLF proudly awards Linda
Melski for the CLF 2003 UU Unsung Hero Award.
Last updated June 12, 2005
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