The CSA will host its 34rd annual Arts and Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at the Assembly Ball Field, M-22 at Crystal Lake.

More than 100 artists participate from all over Michigan and beyond.  Fair goers will find jewelry of all kinds, decorative art, pottery, oil paintings, watercolors, fine photography, wooden art, children’s delights, doll clothes, books, herbal soaps, baskets, wearable art, and much, much, more. 

   A food tent will offer breakfast and lunch, such as donuts, hot dogs, pizza, snacks and beverages.  A bake sale will offer an array of homemade goodies.  The Cottage Treasure sale will take place inside the CSA assembly building from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.  A cottage treasure presale will be held for CSA MEMBERS ONLY from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 24^th. 

   The CSA Arts and Crafts Fair is sponsored by the CSA Woman’s Association to raise funds to support local charities and projects to enhance the CSA.

   To find out how to become a vendor, contact Nancy Reid at nancyreid362@gmail.com or 231-399-0150.  For additional information about the fair, contact Susan Teteak at tsteteak@charter.net

At long last - the calendar is here! 

Sunday            June 17         First Sunday Service            11:00am

Monday            June 18         Office Opens/Programs Begin      9:00am

Thursday          June 28         Women’s Assoc. Bd. Meeting       9:00am

Thursday          June 28         Potluck Dinner                   6:00pm

Monday-Saturday   July 2-7        July Tennis Tournament              TBA

Saturday          July 7          Board of Trustees Meeting        9:00am

Monday            July 9          Children’s Operetta Tryouts      1:00pm

Tuesday           July 10         Women’s Assoc. Coffee/Speaker    9:00am

Friday            July 13         Outdoor Movie                       TBA

Saturday          July 14         Water Carnival                      TBA

Saturday          July 14         Dutton Concert                   8:00pm

Wednesday         July 18         Art Workshops                       TBA

Thursday          July 19         Potluck Dinner                   6:00pm

Friday            July 20         Operetta Dress Rehearsal         7:30pm

Saturday          July 21         Children’s Operetta              7:30pm

Tuesday           July 24         Cottage Treasures Pre-sale       5:00pm

Wednesday         July 25         Arts and Crafts Fair     10:00am-4:00pm

Saturday          July 28         Burrows-Getz Concert             8:00pm

Monday-Friday     July 30-Aug. 3  Ecology Ed. In Residence    Noon-1:00pm

Monday            July 30         Adult Operetta Tryouts           1:00pm

Tuesday           July 31         Women’s Assoc. Bd. Meeting       9:00am

Wednesday         August 1        Art Workshops                       TBA

Friday            August 3        Trustees Meeting                 9:00am

Friday            August 3        Ecology Day                         TBA

Saturday          August 4        Annual Meeting                   9:30am

Saturday          August 4        Water Carnival                      TBA

Saturday          August 4        Armstrong Concert                8:00pm

Monday-Saturday   August 6-11     August Tennis Tournament            TBA

Tuesday           August 7        Women’s Assoc. Coffee/Speaker    9:00am

Wednesday         August 8        Authors and Artisans Fair           TBA

Thursday          August 9        Women’s Assoc. Bd. Meeting       9:00am

Friday-Saturday   August 10-11    Adult Operetta                   7:30pm

Monday-Friday     August 13-17    Gibson Series               Noon-1:00pm

Thursday          August 16       Potluck Dinner                   6:00pm

Friday            August 17       Office Closes/Programs End       4:00pm

Sunday            August 19       Last Sunday Service             11:00am

There will be a beach picnic at Point Betsie Sunday afternoon  around 5 or so.  Come out and enjoy the day and meet some new people.   I’ll be serving marinated chicken on the barbie, baked beans, and anything else that comes along. I haven’t been able to obtain any salmon the last few years.  The usual rules apply.  Bring a smile and get to know 2  people you don’t already know…. Hope to see you there.

A huge THANK YOU, goes out to Chris Earl…..She has salmon and is happy to share…There will now be fish on the menu as well as chicken.
The pic today is a self portrait of how the fish see me from under water.  Obviously I have too much time on my hands….
Be well,  Jay

VERY important…..I’m going to be sending CRYSTALNEWS via g-mail starting next week.  This change will allow me to send more frequent issues. It is currently taking almost two hours to send  one.  If you didn’t receive a CRYSTALNEWS test e-mail yesterday I need for you to send me a blank e-mail to crystalnews13@gmail.com  with ADD ME  on the subject line. I don’t want to lose any recipients during this transition…I’ll be sending a CRYSTALNEWS with a picture on Monday from the new system to make sure every one is on board…

Shiver by the River went off as planed, even without Mother Natures cooperation. the 40+ temperatures, the week of the festival took a huge toll on the ice and snow. The parade has grown nicely over the years and each year we see more and more involvement in the festival. A big thank you to all who help make it happen…..Our weather here is moderating into Winter lite and my kayak is making noises about getting wet soon….Crystal is still frozen, but only for a few weeks more.

I’m happy to offer a new item from Walk Softly Photos…The first annual Cottage Calendar.  June, July, August and September, (the important months) annotated with most of the Summer events and functions…It is a limited edition of 100, so if you really, really want one let me know and I’ll send or save you one…$7.00 which includes shipping…the calendar is 11″x17″ and the images are 7″x!0″ on card stock and suitable for framing…what a deal…and a bonus picture on the very back to hang on the icebox over the Winter to remind you of Summers to come….
While I was out of town this past weekend my turkeys left home and didn’t leave a note….If you see them, tell them the free lunch is back on..and I miss their antics.  They are so funny as the weather warms up and they start thinking about the up coming breeding season..

Be well,  Jay

The Nominations Committee presented the following slate of officers at the 2010 Annual Meeting:

Bob Cooper
David Dennison
Irene Fisk
Joan Hughes
Julia Frost Nebonne

Respectfully submitted,
Susan Baity Stearns

The 32nd CSA Arts and Crafts Fair will be held, rain or shine, on July 28, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.   More than 100 artists from all over Michigan and beyond will participate.  The CSA Arts and Crafts Fair is sponsored by the CSA Women’s Association to raise funds to support local charities and projects to enhance the CSA summer experience.

If you wish to reserve a vendor space, please contact Beth Wolszon at bethwol@sbcglobal.net or 312-939-6271.  You may donate to the bake sale from 8 -10:00 a.m.  Bring fudge, coffeecake, breads, pies, cookies, cupcakes, quiche, or any of your favorite baked goodies.  Support the Cottage Treasures sale – all items welcome EXCEPT couches/sleeper sofas, major appliances, building materials, light fixtures, sinks, and non-working electronics.  CSA members are welcome to come to the pre-sale on Tuesday, July 27th from 5-7 p.m. in the Assembly building.  Bid on specialty items in the Silent Action Wednesday, July 28th from 9 a.m.-12 noon  and be present at 12:30 p.m. to see if you were the highest bidder.  Children can enjoy games at the Kids Korner near the Woods Courts and everyone can stop by the Food Booth to enjoy donuts, coffee, drinks, and lunch.

The women’s association needs the help of each CSA member to help make the fair a success.  Lend a hand – look for volunteer sign-up sheets posted on the Assembly Building porch a few weeks prior to the fair.  Thank you!

Email posting is on its way for those of you that are hesitant to learn the new website's backend functionality.  Stay tuned for more information!

Open the local links menu item (under the “Community” tab) and follow the first link for information about an important court case making its way through the Michigan judicial system.

The CSA Board of Trustees is asking each committee or fund chair to designate a member  to update content on the CSA website. Many of you have already done that – great! If you haven’t, please do so and have that person contact webmaster Doug Fuller by email at  webmaster@summerassembly.org or by phone at 925_672_7533 to get set up. Those who already have access to the new site follow these directions:

Your page on the site is set up like a blog – that is, each new post is added above the old ones so they stay in chronological order. That works out well in most cases – your users see the latest info first and can scroll down to see older information. Some of the pages are set up differently, but most of them work this way.

To post:

1. Log in to summerassembly.org by clicking “Log in” on the right side of the Home Page. Enter your username and password.

2. Click the “Write New Post” button on the right side of the page.

4. Give your new Post a title in the “Title” text area.

5. Write your Post in the “Post” text area or copy and paste text from your computer.

6. Use the text formatting tools above the “Post” text area to format your content.  For additional formatting tools click the button furthest to the right (the one with the impossibly small colored squares lined up next to each other).

Advanced feature — To add media to your Post, click the appropriate media button above the formatting tool bar. (Image, Video, Audio, or Media — experiment or ask Doug or Peter for help).

7. When you have finished writing your content, scroll down the page to the “Categories” bar.  Click the “Categories” bar to expand it.

8. Select the category(s) you would like your new Post to be published under.  You should find your committee or fund name on the list. Check it.

9. Scroll back up the page and check or uncheck the “Keep post private” box, according to the guidelines* below.

9. Click the “Publish” button on the right hand side in the dark grey box.

10. Click the “View this Post” button after you have published the Post to ensure that your new Post looks the way you want it to look.

* Guidelines

At the 2008 Winter Meeting, the CSA Board approved the concept of opening the CSA website to the general public, under the following guidelines:

·         All committee/Board business is private.

·         Any committee posts specifically promoting an event, making an announcement or providing general information can be public without special approval.

·         If there’s any question about whether a post should be public or private, the Board President makes the decision.

·         Secretary’s minutes of meetings, budget discussions and reports, committee reports that have really no public interest stay private.

All information provided in the official Congregational Summer Assembly (CSA) web site is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute a legal contract between the CSA and any person or entity unless otherwise specified. Information on official CSA web site is subject to change without prior notice. Although every reasonable effort is made to present current and accurate information, the CSA makes no guarantees of any kind.

The CSA web site may contain information that is created and maintained by a variety of sources both internal and external to the CSA. This site may contain unmoderated forums and third party content containing the personal opinions and other expressions of the persons who post the entries. The CSA does not control, monitor or guarantee the information contained in these sites or information contained in links to other external web sites, and does not endorse any views expressed or products or services offered therein. In no event shall the CSA be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such site or resource.

If you see something in a CSA (www.summerassembly.org) document that should be corrected or updated, send mail to the address on the document (or to webmaster@summerassembly.org if the document is unsigned). Be sure to give the full URL of the document in your letter.
Unless otherwise noted, the web information does not represent official statements or views of the Congregational Summer Assembly.