by May Killorin | Mar 5, 2026 | Announcements
Hello WUUC Members and Friends,
The Advocates for Social Justice (ASJ) welcomes your input on who should receive funds from our special collections this year. Please go to this survey for details about ASJ Special Collections and to VOTE FOR YOUR TOP 10 organizations nominated for special collections April 2026 – March 2027.
Survey closes on Sunday, March 15, so why not do it right now?!
SURVEY IS HERE: https://forms.gle/dg9J19ZWf7qFky9SA
Thanks so much,
Cora Goss-Grubbs
ASJ Special Collections Coordinator
by May Killorin | Jan 30, 2026 | Uncategorized
Complete your out of area contact card (OACC) and distribute copies to each family member . Put copies in your vehicle/or Go-Bags (more on this later). Your out of area contact should be more that 100 miles form here and capable of doing text.
Post emergency phone numbers in a visible location.
Teach your children how and when to call 911.
Prepare for Fire:
Check your insurance coverage and exclusion limits. Make a photo and written inventory. Store off site.
House fire: create an evacuation plan and meet-up area (see OACC above)
Wild Fire: Look at how you will evacuate. Identify a family/friend who can provide shelter.
Prepare for Severe weather:
Start a stock pile of emergency supplies (more on this later.)
Make a plan of where you can go if there is prolonged power loss.
Pets need a plan too https://mil.wa.gov/pet-preparedness
Learn your community Warning Signals
King County and Snohomish County have alert systems. Add them to your phone.
Find out about Disaster plans at your workplace, your children’s school or childcare center, and other places your family visits regularly
In coming months we will address the following: Water, Grab and Go Kits, Important documents, and Get 2 Weeks Ready. For more information look at the following links:
Plan in a year https://mil.wa.gov/asset/5f171cc0a935f,
by May Killorin | Dec 23, 2025 | Announcements
We are launching a 12 month program to help WUUC members become prepared for emergencies. In January we will focus on Communications. The first step is to identify an
Out of Area Contact
As a family, choose a friend or relative who lives outside of the Pacific Northwest and ask them to be your out-of-area contact. In a disaster, you may be unable to make phone calls due to service outages or overwhelmed cell towers. Instead of trying to call, text your out-of-area contact where you are and if you are okay or need help. This person can serve as a relay between you and your family, sharing important messages and each other’s locations.
You can download a contact card here: Download our contact card (Opens in a new window) Fill out and keep in a safe place for each family member, like your disaster kits.
The year-long program we will use can be viewed here: https://mil.wa.gov/asset/5f171cc0a935f
If you have want more information, please contact
Marcia Sprang (she/her),
mlsprang@hotmail.com or
Michael Paul Ervick, MBA, MPM (he/him)
Michael.Ervick@Ervick.Com
Co-Leaders of the Emergency Preparedness Task Force, Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church
by May Killorin | Nov 24, 2025 | Announcements
We welcomed multiple new members to our church recently. The December and January newsletters will both feature bios from our new members so our community can read and welcome these wonderful people to our community at WUUC. The bios in this newsletter will be Barbara and Skip Tripp, Tony and Marie Porter, Kristina Schmidt, and Howard Voland. The January Newsletter will feature bios from Quentin, Marie and Ezri Quiñones-Rezin, Eli Taylor and Lily Jones, Christine Deppe, and Kristina Gray.
Barbara and Skip Tripp
Skip and Barbara were married 55 years ago this week (Nov.7) and spent the first 35 years of their married life in the New York metropolitan area where they raised their two children, Megan and Kevin. They retired to Gig Harbor in 2025 where they were active in members of the Tahoma UU Congregation and volunteered with Harbor Wildwatch, an organization promoting the environmental welfare of Puget Sound. After Covid and 16 1/2 years in Gig Harbor, it was time to move closer to Megan and family who live in north Seattle, so Mill Creek became their new home in 2021. Barbara was born in Seattle but was raised in New Jersey. She graduated from Whitman College with a BA in English, then returned to NJ where she met Skip. They raised their children in Briarcliff Manor, NY, where Barbara was an active community leader. She eventually went back to work in Human Resources. When Skip was transferred to New Jersey she became the executive assistant to the president of a large plastics manufacturing company. Once back in Gig Harbor, Barbara assumed a number of leadership roles at Harbor WIldWatch and TUUC, culminating with a stint as Board President. She enjoys walking, reading, and gardening. Skip was born and raised in Butte, MT. He obtained a PhD in organic chemistry from Cornell University. He spent his entire career doing pharmaceutical research for a Swiss drug company that evolved into Novartis.. During his tenure, he and family enjoyed 6 month assignments in Hershey, PA, and Basel, Switzerland. Once retired , Skip served on the TUUC board and chaired the New Church Building Committee. Skip enjoys esoteric science and good conversation.
Tony and Marie Porter
Tony was born in Pascagoula MS and met Marie when he was 18 years old. He and Marie married when Tony was 19 and Marie was 18. Tony went to Clear Creek Baptist College in Pineville Kentucky where he graduated with a BS in biblical studies. He and Marie then moved to Gulfport, MS. Tony then went to William Carey College and got a BA in Humanities. He then graduated from New Orleans Baptist Seminary with a Masters of Divinity. Tony then joined the Navy as a Chaplain where he served for 10 years. After getting out of the Navy he and Marie moved to Bothell. Tony was hired by the Seattle Police Department where he retired as a detective after 25 years. During the time Tony was in the Navy his religious views became more liberal and the Baptist church just didn’t fit any more. With prodding from Marie he started WUUC 30 years ago. The church went in to a building program and was sharing another church for space. This caused the service to be moved to nights and Tony worked nights at that time. Church attendance slipped away. Marie felt like she wanted to start attending again and Tony agreed. So here they are.
My name is Marie Porter… married to Tony Porter for 52 years and mother to Matthew Porter who died at age 33. I enjoy being in Nature, cooking, reading (especially History) and traveling. I am curious about all kinds of things. I earned my college degree in English after attending six different colleges during Tony’s Navy career. I am rather quiet… not a big talker but do better at listening. I have enjoyed meeting some of you at the church and look forward to being a part of your community of faith.
Kristina Schmidt
Kristina is an elementary school teacher in the Northshore School District. She loves to sing, play music, read and write, comb for sea glass, and take walks in nature. She is a mother to a lovely daughter who is a musician in Seattle. When asked to write an epitaph in the Building Your Own Theology course, Kristina wrote “Her childhood stubbornness was tempered through life into an inner strength.” With the loss of her husband and several immediate family members, Kristina feels a need to expand her community. She loves the warmth and dedication to others of this community, and feels fortunate to be welcomed as a new member!
Howard Voland
Howard Voland Grew up in Monroe, graduated from West Point, and served in the army. He resigned when his father died to take over the family’s newspaper business in the Skykomish Valley. In 1983 he came out as gay and met his amazing husband, Keith McGregor, the following year on a hike at Mt. Rainier. Not able to marry, they took out a joint mortgage on a house in Maltby. They gardened, they hiked, they traveled, wrote plays together and did many other fabulous things for almost 40 years. Then one afternoon in April 2024, Keith drank his last martini in that same house looking out over the garden they had built together. He died peacefully on his own terms in Howard’s arms after four-years of living with cancer. A year later, in a search for community and support, Howard found it at WUUC.
by May Killorin | Jun 30, 2025 | Announcements
The Northwest Abortion Access Fund is an abortion fund serving Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. Trained, compassionate volunteer advocates run our toll-free helpline. We help people pay for their abortion care by sending funding directly to the clinic. We also help people get to and from the clinic. And we make sure people traveling for care have a safe place to stay.
The ASJ Committee thanks WUUC members and friends for their generous support of our monthly special collections, which take place during services on the third Sunday of every month (July 20). Instructions for giving are posted during the service, and you can also donate anytime at https://onrealm.org/wuuc/-/give/now, or by sending a check to WUUC at P.O. Box 111, Woodinville, WA 98072. Please make checks out to WUUC and write “ASJ Special Collection” in the notes. Visit wuuc.org/collection.
