Monthly Archives: February 2020

New Announcements!

Spring Street Living RoomFundraising Drive
The next fundraising drive for improvements to Spring Street Center is about to begin. The plan is to raise $3000 to sand and refinish the wood floors in November. You can earmark a portion of your monthly donation, or designate a donation specifically for the fundraising drive.

Next General Meeting
March 20 in Bellevue after latihan.

Month of the Ancestors
Begins March 24. The midpoint is the full moon on April 7, which happens to fall on a Tuesday. Ancestor Testing will be available after latihan. Shall we have lunch after? Make it a social occasion as well?

Ramadan
Begins April 24. There will be a Subud Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting in Portland on May 24, which happens to correspond with Eidl Fitri.

Upcoming Events, Including Kedjiwaan Day

Soup and Bread

You are cordially invited to join Rayma and Oswald Norton for soup and bread at 6:00 at their home Friday night before the Eastside Latihan on March 6th. If you would like to bring something to add to the menu it is welcome, but not necessary.

Kedjiwan Day and Potluck

March 8th the helpers are planning a Kedjiwan Day and Potluck following latihan at Spring Street Center. Please bring questions you would like to test as well as a delectable dish!

Ancestor Testing

Tuesday, April 7 after Latihan there will be testing in the middle of the Month of the Ancestors. See: https://www.subudgreaterseattle.com/testing-for-month-of-ancestors/

Testing for Month of Ancestors

We caught up with Local Helper of Subud Greater Seattle (& LONGTIME Subud member) Sebastian Tedrow, who discussed the testing he will make available on Tuesday, April 7, 2020:

Paul E Nelson:  So it turns out the month of ancestors starts on March 24th, which is a Tuesday, meaning April 7th is the full moon and there is an opportunity for Subud members to do ancestor testing on that day, April 7th, Tuesday at 11:00. (Testing will start after Latihan.)

Sebastian Tedrow: Historically, with the full moon in the middle of the month of the ancestors is considered like the night of the ancestors. And when it fell during Menucha times, we had some pretty powerful sessions of ancestor testing. And occasionally, we’ve done it in the past, but I realized that since it falls on a Latihan day, a Tuesday, I’m willing to do ancestor testing with anyone who wants to do testing about their ancestors and how it is affecting their lives and whether their Latihan has progressed or moved to the point that it’s possible that their ancestors are ready to move on, are ready to experience a conscious effort to engage in the Latihan at this time.

The month of the ancestors is a time in which historically in the Islamic community and in our Subud community, that the ancestors are more available or more aware, or more in touch with us in the world at this time. And so, it is an opportunity to fulfill part of our obligation as Subud members to help lift and show respect to those ancestors who brought us to this Latihan and brought us to this place in our lives. And so, it is something that we can do if you’re willing and you wish to do.

Paul E Nelson: You said this is not for the weak of heart?

Sebastian Tedrow: I have said that and the ancestor testing doesn’t have to be really rigorous. It can just simply be a dedicated Latihan. Historically, some people have wanted to go much deeper. That is the portion that I think is probably not for the weak of heart or the faint of heart, I should say. But simply doing a Latihan for your ancestors or a Latihan to honor and be aware of the presence of the ancestors in your life and what brought you here is something that should be available to all who wish to participate, and that should not be anything that would be…

Paul E Nelson: Difficult.

Sebastian Tedrow: Challenging or difficult. Yeah.

Paul E Nelson: Thanks, Sebastian.

Sebastian: Any time.

Subud Greater Seattle Treasurer 2019 Summary Report

Donations

Over all donations for December were $3832 ($1,740 general fund $2,092 Maintenance Fund). At the end of the year we were behind our 2019 budget for donations to our building and general funds by $1,600.

Member 2020 donations calculated through Pledging this year

This year we’re asking all members to participate – in whatever way they can – by donating to our center.

As of the end of December only 8 members have pledged. Total annual pledges so far $5,264.

Update on Building Repair Fund

With December’s donations we have completed our fund raising and have $215 toward our 2020 Maintenance Fund. Many thanks to all members throughout 2019 that made this happen!!

Building Rentals

December rentals brought in $800. AirBnB rentals for December were $5,880 – $870 up over November. For 2019 we were -$1,923 under budgeted income for AirBnB. Because of a major client for Hall Rentals, our overall budgeted amount for 2019 was positive $ 982.

December Expenses

December expenses were up again over November due to increased heating costs. We ask everyone who uses the hall for latihan to return the heat to normal after using the facilities.

Future Expenses

January expenses will continue be higher due to heating costs, but should be in line with average winter costs.

Proposed 2020 Budget

The budget for 2020 was approved at our last group meeting at the Subud House on Sunday December 15 th . In that
approved budget is $400 a month to be dedicated toward building up a building maintenance fund; $100 a month
toward building up a fund to assist Subud Seattle members in need to attend Subud events; and, $1000 ($500 ea.) to send 2 delegates from the Seattle Subud Group to the SUSA congress this summer.

Important! New name for donation checks to Subud Greater Seattle

Use only “Subud PNW – Seattle Center” on any future donations to our center. Bank rules, recently changed, are delaying deposits. Please be sure to change the “Pay To The Order Of” section of your handwritten or automatic withdrawal check from your account and use this name. If you intend to make your donation to the Region, please earmark your check ‘Subud PNW’.

Pledges still being accepted

Please fill out a pledge form online if you haven’t already.

Bank Information for monthly donations

Thanks monthly recurring donations setup through your bank. These regular checks really help us meet our monthly commitments to the region and pay for our use of our facilities.
If you’d like to know how to setup a recurring donation to our group through your bank, please contact me.

Nov 15 2019, General Meeting Minutes

General Meeting 11/15/2019

 

Jim opened meeting 8:39 PM

 

Committee Present

Jim O’Halloran       Chair

Oswald Norton       Treasurer

Ramon Hildreth      Secretary

 

Members Present

Rachman Cantrell

Ida Cantrell

Marston Gregory

Hadijah Gregory

Rayma Norton

Elisha Gullixson

Danella Gullixson

Hanafi Libman

Lucinda O’Halloran

Debbie Machado-Santos

 

Loretta Covert – Visiting National Helper

 

Moment of quiet…

 

Reviewing and approving the minutes:  Oswald Moved to accept the minutes. Hadijah seconded. Approved by all.

 

Website Update:  Real Basics has taken on the backend support of our website.  Focusing on the enterprise website first.  Security updates have been made to both sites.

 

Helpers Report:

Women:  No candidates.  Meeting on Sunday 11/17

 

Men:       6 men at last Tuesday latihan.  One current candidate

 

National: Looking for a place to hold a meeting in January.  Have been doing a lot of

traveling.  Loretta will attend our next regional congress.  National Congress

July 4th weekend.  Possible Nashville college location.  New committee to be

selected this congress.

 

Financial Report:

<Oswald’s report submitted>

 

 

New Business:

 

Jim proposed we increase our commitment to the region to $800, from $710.  This would include October 2019.

 

Rachman seconded the motion. Oswald called the question.  Proposal passed unanimously.

 

Jim proposed we make a one-time donation of $1000 to the region earmarked for regional helper travel.

 

Danella seconded the motion. Jim called the question.  Proposal passed unanimously.

 

Menucha Chat

 

Alternative latihan locations.  Email Jim if you are interested in pursuing this.

 

Holiday Party – 12/22nd.

 

Next General meeting date TBD.

 

Ramon moves to adjourn. Oswald seconded. Unanimous assent to adjourn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 13, 2019 General Meeting Minutes

General Meeting 10/13/2019

 

Jim opened meeting 11:59 PM

 

Committee Present

Jim O’Halloran       Chair

Bhakti Watts          Vice Chair

Oswald Norton       Treasurer

Ramon Hildreth      Secretary

 

Members Present

Halstein Stralberg

Sarah Stralberg

Paul Nelson

Halimah Bellows

Marston Gregory

Ivox Ideo

Abideen Gunitalka

Salamah O’Brien

Lucinda O’Halloran

 

Moment of quiet…

 

Reviewing and approving the minutes:

Marston moved to accept minutes – Paul seconded – all approved.

 

Old Business:

Ways to increase income, will cover this in the reports section.

How do we do a better job of getting announcements out?

-text tree

-if you don’t have a mobile number in the directory, give it to a member of the committee

-actual posters

add details/specific info

 

New Business:

Helper Report: Women -> No candidates at this time

Men -> new member Ivox, Candidate helper, Arkarsh -but in school at this time. Tuesday    latihan is successful.  Paul recommends women adopt their rota system.

 

Financial Report <insert report here>

 

Oswald mentioned all the generous donations which helped us convert our regional loan to a grant, since we matched the loan amount in donations.  We do need $2400.00 to complete the member portion of additional maintenance that the house needed

 

 

AirBnB Report.  <insert report here>

Record October, but about 3% down for the year to date.  Superhosts 14th quarter in a row.

 

Rental Report. <insert report here>

 

Housing Report. <insert report here>

 

Web sites: Real Basics – working on a proposal to maintain and refresh our web sites.  Committee is working on that.

 

Region still needs a secretary.

 

Jim called for a volunteer to help setup a fund from our local group to assist members financially to attend SUBUD events.

 

Latihan location? Does anyone have any input on this?  No input.  Carpooling might be helpful to mitigate parking issues. Bhakti would be interesting in coordinating this.

 

Holiday Party December 22nd.  Everyone is invited.  Potluck.

 

Marston & Salamah are interested in pursuing a daytime latihan.  Paul thinks it a good idea to start talking about another open house in the future.

 

Oswald is seeking volunteers to help with homeless meal service at his church.

 

Meeting adjourned

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aug 30, 2019 General Meeting Minutes

General Meeting 08/30/2019

 

Jim opened meeting 8:42 PM

 

Committee Present

Jim O’Halloran

Oswald Norton

Bhakti Watts

 

Members Present

Rachman Cantrell

Elisha Gullixson

Halstein Stralberg

Ida Cantrell

Debbie Machado-Santos

Greg Doland

Eva Maria Doland

 

 

Increasing House Income:  Jim is working on this and will report back.  Paul and Oswald will also be talking about other options aside from AriBnb and report back to the committee.

 

Grant Proposal:  Was proposed and accepted by the by SUBUD PNW.  We have put in request for matching funds to help with the painting of the house.

 

Men Helpers:

Candidate Helper.  Aarkarsh is now a candidate helper.

 

Financial Report: passed out by Oswald.  Still need $3200 to complete the goal of $10,866.00

 

New Business:

Menucha Nov 7 – 10th.

 

Jim: looking for someone to help raise money for people who can’t afford to attend events, Menucha for example.

 

Possibility of using Peerspace for hall rentals – Debbie will send info to committee.

 

Women are looking for more helpers.

 

Meeting closed approximately 9:10 PM

 

 

 

 

 

May 05, 2019 General Meeting Minutes

05/17/2018 General Meeting

 

Committee Present

Jim O’Halloran            Chair

Oswald Norton           Treasurer

Ramon Hildreth          Secretary

 

Members Present:

Marston Gregory

Debbie Machado-Santos

Ida Cantrell

Rachman Cantrell

Elisha Gullixson

Hanafi Libman

Rayma Norton

 

Moment of silence

Meeting started at 8:37

 

Review Agenda

 

Review Minutes:

Add location of the meeting

Correct Danelle’s statement (typo)

 

Marston moved to accept minutes as corrected above, Oswald seconded. All in favor

 

Sewer Project:  Sewer is fixed, 20 year warranty.  Video on request.

 

Gardening Day report:  Large attendance, great success.  Got a lot done.  Highlight was

Getting junk removed from back.  Removed many locust roots.  We will need to keep an eye on the roots going forward.

 

Email subscription setup will be done next week (Ramon)

 

Helper Report:  Meeting this Sunday after latihan (May 19th) Kedjiwaan day will be discussed.

 

Financial Report:  available on request

 

Checks:  Please make all checks out to Subud Pacific Northwest or SPNW – otherwise the bank won’t accept them.

 

AirBnB Report: available on request

Rates discussion – overall our rates are lower than the neighborhood average.  We utilize the Airbnb algorithm.  Rates are set by Airbnb based on booking demand in the neighborhood.  At this time we will continue to use the algorithm.

 

Facilities Manager Report:

2 major projects this year:

Sewer –  done

Painting  – June 17-July 8th. windows will be sealed during painting Jim will ask Paul to   let all Airbnb guests know that painting activities may impact their visit.

 

Rental Manager/Housekeeping report:  available on request

 

SPNW needs a secretary!

 

Next General Meeting 6/23

 

Jim will send list of upcoming dates to Rachman to post on website.

 

August 11th – family picnic Bradner Gardens (potluck)

 

Ramon moved to close the meeting, Oswald seconded it, all in favor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 14, 2019 General Meeting Minutes

04/14/2019 General Meeting

 

Moment of quiet:

Meeting called to order: 12:09 PM

 

Committee Present:

Jim O’Halloran            Chair

Bhakti Watts               Vice Chair

Oswald Norton           Treasurer

Ramon Hildreth          Secretary

 

Members Present:

Marston Gregory

Lucinda O’Hallaran

Elisha Gullixson

Insiah Caspers

Danella Mauguin

Rayma Norton

David Lynch
Halstein Stralberg

Abadin Gunatilaka

 

Agenda:  no changes/additions

 

Minutes from 3/15 meeting:

corrections:

(Danella) “the money tree is for any house maintenance projects”

“Christchurch spelling”

“Elisha’s name is spelled wrong”

 

Marston moved the minutes be approved as amended, Danella seconded, all in favor

 

Old Business:

Sewer Project rescheduled to April 17th.   Locust Roots:  Keep on top of any new roots that show up.

Online donations & email verification still in progress

Contact Info – complete

 

Ongoing Reports:

Helper Report:

Rayma:

Next helper meeting May 19th.  Kedjiwaan June 9th.   Regional helpers

Will attend.  Rayma will send info to Rachman and Paul to post the info

On SGS/PNW web sites respectively.  2-3 women coming to Eastside   latihan       8-10 on Sundays

 

 

Elisha:

Business as usual.  10 -12 men have been coming to latihan on Sundays.

Halstein – 3-8 coming to latihan

 

 

Financial Report:

<insert financial report>

Oswald:

reviewed the report and discussed the separation of expenses between occupancy and AirBnb expenses.  Discussion on earmarking.  Oswald suggested we target the 6500 needed towards the cost of the painting.

Lucinda/Marston/Jim/ approved with 2 abstentions

 

AirBnb Report:

-up 2% from last year, possible to exceed April 2015

-increased pressure from AirBnb to reduce rates

-overall revenues appear to be trending up

 

 

Facilities Manager Report:

-Marston with work with the plumber for sewer repair on Wednesday

-Owl painting.  Color samples now available please vote

-Misc future projects

-Patio entryway needs resurfacing

-Water intrusion on one bedroom

-April 28th, garden day after latihan

 

Rental Agent Report:

-Rental business is up

-Music event in May

-Summer graduation party upcoming

-September: University of Colorado ongoing weekend/monthly rental

-Debbie is providing all housekeeping duties 2x month

-Dawn in charge of linens

-Ricardo doing small household repairs/backs up Debbie for turning rooms, etc.

 

 

New Business:

Homelessness – the committee will add an agenda item to discuss the best way to help homeless Subud members.

 

Announcements:

-Elisha will be playing in Conway (near La Conner) April 26th at the Conway Muse @7:30 PM

-Jim will be playing also on April 26th @Kezira Café 7 :30 PM

-Elisha and Jim considering a gig at the house and possible open house –   sometime near end of July

-Danella suggested everyone signup for the SICA newsletter

-Garden Party after latihan April 28th.

-August 11 family picnic possibly at Lincoln Park or Bradner Gardens more coordination to follow.

-Easter Service being held at Oswald’s church.  All are welcome

-May 3rd there will be an event in the main space at Eastside latihan location

 

Oswald moved to adjourn meeting, Jim seconded, all in favor

 

Meeting adjourned at 13:13 pm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 15, 2019 General Meeting Minutes

General Meeting 03/15/2019 7:16 PM

 

Opened with moment of silence for Christ Church.

 

Members Present:

Ida Cantrell

Rachman Cantrell

Elijah Gullixson

Rayma Norton

Halstein Stralberg

Marston Gregory

Ramon Hildreth

Sebastian Tedrow

Oswald Norton

Debbie Machado-Santos

 

Agenda passed out, all in agreement on agenda items.

 

Sewer Update:  2017 job only did video out to the cleanout, not all the way to the street.  We need to line the sewer from the cleanout to the street.  Paid 50%, we will get 20-year warranty.  March 27th the work will be done

 

Painting Update: Accepted bid from Owl Painting, $13,000 borrowed money to cover it.  Doing fundraising to help pay it back.  The colors will be put out by Insiah so we can vote on what colors to use.

-Creekside Green

-Beige

-Mystery Color (Insiah’s choice)

 

Airbnb: Over 1000 reviews still with Superhost status

 

Fundraising.  Daniella brought a money tree and was able to raise 337 + 500 special donation towards the sewer project.

 

Another 500 special donation was made for the painting project.  Marston will put up some visual aids to show what has been raised for both sewer and painting projects.

 

Possible Susila Dharma fundraiser in the spring – Debbie might work on this (Spring?)

 

 

 

 

 

ON April 28th after Latihan near earth day Marston said there will be a garden and cleanup day – we need a truck to cart away the garbage in the back.  Ramon will provide this.

 

 

Helper Report: Sebastian thinks we need to start talking about getting a Kedjiwaan event scheduled.  Will start the conversation with other helpers.

 

Financial Report: Positive at the moment.  Oswald is going to attempt to split out the cost between the running of Airbnb versus the costs of using the facility for latihan as members.  The report Oswald presented is a draft.  He will do further work on it.

 

New Business: Discussion on the needs of the group. Oswald summarized the needs of the group based on the testing that was done 2/23.  This was listed on the Agenda.

 

Discussion about how to best provide space for members needs after latihan – perhaps this can be worked out at the next Kejiawaan day.  Sebastian agreed to write an article that can be posted that can be way to invite members to engage helpers.

 

Summer Picnic:  Find a park with shelters that we can reserve.  A Saturday in August is the target.

 

Oswald made a motion to close the meeting. Passed with no opposition at 9:51 PM.

 

Item Assigned Target Actual
Post article on Garden cleanup day Rachman 04/15/2019
Update Financial Report Oswald By next General meeting (next month)
Article on engaging the members in testing an ‘invitation’ Sebastian 03/26/2019
Put small whiteboard on the men’s and women’s latihan hall Marston
Reserve a spot for the summer picnic Debbie 03/19/2019