Dear Union Acres,
(As we grew up as children here at Union Acres and have lived here all or most of our lives, this is sort of a special case in community membership--we aren't going to answer the usual questions, but we will give the reasons we would like to become members.)
We are writing in request for an associate membership for long-time residents Tristan Carr and Forest Tapley. We are interested in membership because of the responsibilities and privileges we would gain, the extended family we could more confidently use as a resource for growth, and the group of people with a variety of spiritual paths that we can continue to be exposed to and grow from. As well as this, we would like to become members because of what we feel we have to offer.
For us, a big reason to join the community is to have something to get involved in and do volunteer work for. As we learn more about how things work, we could do a large portion of the work on the pool, for example. Also, we are currently jointly researching with Mike some alternative energy options for the pool and community building. As this idea becomes more refined, we'll be able to have a hand in that among other progressive projects. We will have plenty of "free time" (time we've set aside for community anyway) to contribute, as it would be incorporated into our homeschooling. It takes a village to raise a child and we've been blessed to be here. Now as we are "coming of age" we would like to become more involved to learn those last crucial things before we go. We want Union Acres and everyone living here to be a sort of modern day tribe to support us in learning to make contributions to a group.
We are both very interested in community in general and living in the way Union Acres was founded to be. We feel that we may be able to renew some of those older ideals and bring the community back together, if not simply through youthful energy and innovation, then by learning how to do it and putting it to work. This could be an important opportunity for us to learn more about this way of life and become more involved while we're here. As many of you know, we are avid musicians with a desire to bring others in too. We would like to coordinate and host musical events and/or weekly jam sessions and whatnot, using these friendly get-togethers as a way to enjoy other people's artistic talents, as well as a way to bring together our extended family to share our own talents.
Another way we can contribute is by renewing the Group Endeavor newsletter, a project which we feel reflects the values of being involved and contributing to the community. Through this newsletter we would be able to make Union Acres much more tightly knit than it already is. By getting everyone to share their opinions and experiences through writing and photographs, we would all have even more shared experiences and feel that much more like a family. Also, we will revive the website and have already done work on it to keep it up to date.
We are becoming adults now and we are ready to take on these kinds of responsibilities. We are always seeking personal growth, because we feel that to do so is part of our purpose. We've been nurtured most of our childhoods by this community, and now we want to return some of that energy to help this place grow into an even more wonderful home for us to come back to. All of you can help us become greater and to be ready to go out on our own by allowing us to help Union Acres. This community will always be close to our hearts and we want to become a greater part of it so it can be a greater part of us.
Signed, Forest Tapley and Tristan Carr
