We will need LOTS of volunteers to staff the booth on both Saturday 4/4 and Sunday 4/5. We will need 21 people to staff the booth during at least 7 "shifts" of 2 hours each, from 10-6 Sat., and 12-6 Sunday. (If we can have it open longer hours, that would be great too) . Ideally we would like at least 3 people "on duty" at all times. Of course you are welcome to do more than one shift! If you have guests in town, bring them along, and they can browse the fair while you are at the booth.

We also need some help setting up the booth early Saturday morning and breaking it down on Sunday evening. Please plan to spend at least 2 hours helping to talk to those people who will stop by to find out about Humanism and Freethinking, and our group. We had a great time doing this, and excellent response, almost all very positive, when we did this at Riverfest in October. This is a wonderful way to meet people and present a positive, fun, upbeat face of Humanism to people who may be fearful of people who think differently from the mainstream. When you RSVP, please indicate approximately what time you have available, such as Sat. AM or PM, etc. More details to follow. Thank you to all who volunteer - we appreciate your willingness to give back to our group!!

Please plan to join us for a celebration of Spring Social ! Yes, Saturday March 21st is the first full day of official Springtime, and our Hampstead contingent has offered to host a late afternoon, evening get together. Please bring some finger food and plan to enjoy a few hours of relaxation and good conversation. There will be games and vernal equinox related fun, and maybe a Trivia contest. You are welcome to "BYOB." Soft drinks provided. We would like to make this a family event, so in order to help us plan for this event, please RSVP as soon as possible, and please indicate if you do plan to bring children, and their ages, so we will have some activities planned for them. The party will be held at a private home in Hampstead with a nice yard, and we will be outside for some activities, weather permitting. There is also a pool table and other games.

We could use some bocce balls and other tame lawn games.

Driving directions will be sent to you prior to the party. Hope to see you there!

From our speaker: "I will talk about my experiences while running for Governor of South Carolina, why I ran, and what it accomplished. I will also talk about the need for political activism for humanists, both locally and nationally."

Join us for this important meeting with a social hour and pot luck supper buffet afterwords. We will order out for pizza during the meeting, so if you care to contribute a salad, fruit plate, or other side dish or dessert, please do so. Soft drinks and coffee provided, BYOB allowed. Also, if you can bring a non perishable food item which we will donate to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard ( a food pantry), please do so. We will be collecting at every meeting from now on for this charitable cause to help our neighbors during these tough times!

Bio of our speaker, Dr. Herb Silverman: Born in Philadelphia, Herb Silverman received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Syracuse University and has been a Professor of Mathematics at the College of Charleston since 1976. Herb is President of the Secular Coalition for America, an umbrella organization of nine national nontheistic organizations. He is founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry and founder and faculty advisor to the College of Charleston student Atheist/Humanist Alliance. He is a national board member of the American Humanist Association, Atheist Alliance International, and Humanist Institute. He is an advisory board member of the Secular Student Alliance and a member of the National Advisory Council of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Herb has appeared in a number of debates, including one at the Oxford Union in Oxford, England on the topic: “Does American Religion Undermine American Values?” He has numerous articles in freethought publications. He also has a book on Complex Variables and a chapter called "Innerancy Turned Political" in The Fundamentals of Extremism.

Darwin, Creationism, and America's Public Schools
Two hundred years ago Charles Darwin was born. The ideas he developed not
only transformed science, technology, and philosophy, they incurred a
religious backlash that continues to this day. Moreover, as times have
changed, both evolutionary science and the creationist response have
evolved. How is this conflict still affecting American education?
Fred Edwords is director of communications for the American Humanist
Association and was founding editor of the Creation/Evolution journal. He
has lectured and debated on the creation vs. evolution controversy
throughout North America for thirty years and is currently on the faculty of
the Humanist Institute.

We invite all of our members to participate in creating Evolution themed treats to share at this meeting, which will be a mix and mingle reception from 5-6 PM, followed by a talk given by Fred Edwords.

We are honored to have Fred visit with us, as he is a leading voice for humanism in the United States and abroad. Fred Edwords is recognized as an outstanding lecturer, debater, and inspirational speaker on human rights, humanist philosophical issues, and humanist lifestyle concerns. He has appeared on national and local television in the United States and Canada, has been interviewed on radio and for newspapers around the world, and has lectured in North America, Europe, and India. Among other accomplishments, Fred was the first president (2002-2005) of Camp Quest, Inc., a summer camp for freethinking children, and served in various leadership roles on the staff of the Ohio camp from 1998 to 2008. He has also served on the boards of the International Humanist and Ethical Union and the National Center for Science Education, served as vice president of the North American Committee for Humanism, and is currently a co-mentor of Class 16 of the Humanist Institute.
http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/edwordsbio.php

Due to Fred's travel schedule and a projected late arrival in Wilmington, we are reversing the normal order of events for this special meeting, and will start with our social hour, and then have this special Darwin Day lecture. Please plan to come with your own contribution to an appetizer, finger food type of buffet. We suggest Dinosaur Drummetts; Primordial Soup; Triassic Tacos, a Natural Selection vegetable plate, etc --use your imaginations and have some fun with this one!! Also, if you have fossils, books or other things of special interest related to evolution and Darwin, we will have a display table, so please bring these things along to share.