HumanistsMN

WE ARE EXTENDING THE SIGNUP DEADLINE TO THE END OF THE DAY ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7. THIS IS THE BARGAIN OF THE SEASON, SO SIGN UP QUICK!

Celebrate the 2025 Winter Solstice with Minnesota Atheists! Join us for a festive time, with a great meal, joyful company, and engaging entertainment!

The price is $40, which includes a meal, tax, tip, and entertainment. It’s $35 if you are a member of Minnesota Atheists or HumanistsMN. It’s better if you become a member before signing up for this Party.

You must register and pay here to attend. The deadline to sign up for this event is December 3, 2025.

5:00-6:00 pm. Social Time
6:00-7:30 pm. Dinner
7:30-8:30 pm. Entertainment

Dinner at 6 PM; menu choices:
• Chicken Breast (dill-lemon white wine sauce), roasted broccolini, roasted rosemary baby red potatoes.
• Salmon (cajun remoulade), roasted broccolini, roasted rosemary baby red potatoes.
• Vegan: Vegetable stir fry.
•• All dinners come with a dessert cookie, brownie, or bar treat.
•• All dinners come with your choice of non-alcoholic soft drink or coffee.
•• A cash bar will be available.

Entertainment
Our after-dinner entertainer will be storyteller Kyle B. Dekker, who will perform his solo show "Audacious Ignatius Lost in Atlantis”. It is the true tale of Ignatius L. Donnelly. Populist, politician, and conspiracy theorist. Donnelly came to prominence as Minnesota’s 2nd Lieutenant Governor (1860-1863). His fiery and combative personality, as well as his penchant for conspiracy theories, derailed what could’ve been a storied political career.

His legacy nearly forgotten, all that remains are excerpts of his firebrand speeches, bad poetry, early speculative fiction, and volumes of conspiracy theories about the Lost City of Atlantis and the true author of Shakespeare’s plays.

We are collecting gifts for patients at Children's Hospital at this event. See suggestions below.

Replying to this Meetup does not secure you a place at this event. You must register at the site and make your payment, either online or by mail. (We can also email you a pdf flyer of this event, that you can print out and return with a check.)

You can sign up for this event and pay for multiple people in a single visit to the website, but each registration is a separate step.

At the point of checkout you will have two payment options:
• To pay by PayPal, which can be linked to one of your credit cards or to your bank’s checking or savings account.
• To just select your meals and then mail us a check to our P.O. Box to cover the cost. Your meal and attendance will not be confirmed UNTIL we receive payment.

GIFT IDEAS

• Gifts must be unwrapped.
• Must be new. No used items.
• No toy knives, guns, or any other weapons.

Infant: rattles, O-balls, sound and light toys, Fisher Price Aquarium or Melody/Motion Soother, Mozart Magic Light Cube, mirrors, stacking and sorting toys.

Toddler: Matchbox / Hot Wheel cars, Fisher Price Little People, Playmobil, Disney, Fisher Price medical kit, puzzles, story books.

School Age: Uno, Connect Four, Sorry, Candy Land, Lego sets, puzzles, Barbie (all ethnic backgrounds) and clothes, I Spy, Seek-N-Find Books.

Adolescents: Gift cards to Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, or Michael’s; playing cards, chess sets, Monopoly, Life, Risk, sketch/doodle pads, nail polish.

Arts and Crafts: Play-Doh, crayons, markers, fussy posters, watercolor paints.

Favorite Characters: Blues Clues, cars and trucks, dinosaurs, Curious George, Doc McStuffins, Dora, Fancy Nancy, Pete the Cat, princesses, super heroes, Thomas the Train.

Join fellow humanists and freethinkers to help sort and pack food at the Food Group Warehouse. The food we sort and pack will eventually be distributed to the nearly 200 food shelves/Fare-for-All Centers that the Food Group services. The Food Group is a secular, NON-faith based non-profit organization whose mission is to "serve the hunger needs of our changing communities".
Warehouse Volunteers assist with projects including:
· Bulk repacking of items such as oatmeal, rice, beans, or pasta
· Assembling boxes for food distribution
· Sorting donated goods
· Cleaning and sanitation of the workspace

Minimum volunteer age is 12, and all minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.

The following is from the The Food Group:

Thank you for signing up to volunteer at The Food Group! All new participants MUST fill out a volunteer waiver at sign-in or can do so on-line here: Click here to sign a copy of waiver 1

We will begin promptly at the scheduled shift time- please try to arrive 5-10 minutes early to wash hands and get settled so we can begin right at 1:00!

Please wear comfortable work clothes and note that closed-toed shoes and pants are required. For safety in the warehouse, please wear tops that cover the torso to the waistline. You are welcome to bring snacks (keep in mind that snacks may only be enjoyed in the volunteer orientation room). (P.S. Some snacks are usually provided by the Food Group.)
If for any reason you are uncomfortable or unable to do a certain duty, please let the staff know when you arrive.
We look forward to hosting you as we complete this important work for our community!
*And remember we have a drinking fountain, so bring your reusable water bottles!*
Hope to see you there!

P.S.: Please remember to keep your RSVP up to date, so that people on the wait-list can sign up and we can show up with a full crew!

This event is sponsored by HumanistsMN. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining to help us cover our costs and build the humanist movement. Not ready to join? Donations are gratefully accepted! Join or donate on our website.

Celebrate the winter solstice in humanist style on Friday, Dec. 19! First Unitarian Society, a humanist congregation, offers an intergenerational and earth-centered celebration of the season in a festive holiday setting.

Join us for dinner at 6pm (purchase online ticket reservations here) or come at 7:30pm for the Midwinter Revels program (free) which includes music, poetry, a rollicking Mummers’ play, and a bit of quiet reflection. Wrap up the evening with dessert, some intergenerational folk dancing, and a Yule fire on the patio.

Open to the public; all are welcome! Bring a friend, or the whole family, and enjoy this community celebration of the season. Purchase ticket reservations here for the dinner on Friday, Dec. 19. BUY NOW and get early-bird discount of only $25/person. (On Dec. 12 price is $30/person while tickets last.) Youth 18 and under are free. Childcare available from 6:45 - 8:45 for those under 6 years of age.

A second night of celebration is being offered on Saturday, Dec. 20 beginning at 5pm for those who like an earlier start to their evening.

Audrey Kingstrom, HumanistsMN program coordinator and Humanist Celebrant, has been creator, producer, and director of Midwinter Revels at First Unitarian Society for over two decades. The festivities draw from the many pre-Christian traditions of northern and southern Europe that have shaped winter holiday celebrations for centuries.

Whether you are seeking a course of recovery for yourself or have been mandated to attend a recovery program, SMART Recovery provides a path to life beyond addiction.

These sessions are sponsored by HumanistsMN -- a local community of humanists, agnostics, atheists, and freethinkers. If you are not yet a dues paying member, please consider joining to help us cover our costs and build the humanist movement. Not yet ready to join? Donations are gratefully accepted! Donate or join us at humanistsmn.org.