On Nov 19, we’ll extend a warm welcome to 5 new RVUUF members at our New Member Joining Ceremony: Gina, Roy, Adrienne, Tez, and Debra! Not all of them can make it to the ceremony, but be sure to look for them and say hi when you can. They’re terrific, and we’re excited to have them in our midst. Here’s a little information about each of them… also have a look at the bulletin board in the RVUUF hallway.
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Gina Vallis is a San Francisco native who got her Ph.D. at the University of California, and for 15 years taught a range of courses including Film Studies, Race and Gender Studies, and Semiotics. In 2014, she retired early and moved to Ashland with her husband of nearly 30 years, Roy, to become a caretaker for their adult special needs son who has serious and ongoing health challenges.
Gina is interested in social action, plays the octave mandolin, and her passion is writing fiction novels; she’s a published author who “would like to be more published.” She tends to identify as Humanist-agnostic, valuing the questions we ask, more than the provisional answers at which we arrive. She is interested in building new ties with the people in this community, and says, “In joining the RVUUF, I’m looking for like-minded spirits with whom to share a commitment to Humanism. We don’t know anyone here; my family and I have been among strangers for too long and we’re trying to break out of it. I’m neuro-divergent and a bit face-blind, but I’m hoping others will overlook that.” Yes indeed, I’m sure we will!
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Roy Vallis was born in a small fishing village on the northeast coast of Canada, and his earliest thoughts involved how he was going to get out of that small fishing village. His travels took him to UC Berkeley, CA, where, he studied hard and met his “beautiful wife, Gina.”
After teaching Film Studies and Rhetoric at university, Roy is now retired and living in Ashland. He and Gina are rebuilding, renovating, enhancing, and modifying their wonderful little home, where they live with their “special forever” child, Caleb. Roy also plays guitar and enjoys painting in oil, and tends to identify as a Humanist and an Atheist, as well as a Feminist.
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Adrienne Simmons is a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, who moved to Ashland from Portland, OR after retiring from a wonderful career with Providence Health System. She currently enjoys being an ASPIRE mentor at Ashland High School and Rogue Valley Mentoring, and is also a new CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocate for Children and Youth) – which is big commitment with a big learning curve, as some of you know.
Adrienne and her husband both enjoy theater, hiking, and taking classes at OLLI, and she has already joined the Anti-Racism team at RVUUF.
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Tez Alvey has recently been involved with the UU in Grants Pass, and is a versatile new member of RVUUF. Tez is super busy working 2 jobs, while finishing up a masters’ degree at SOU… and is also a capable cook, who offered a “delicious catered dinner for four” at the 2022 UUGP Live Auction Benefit!
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Debra Johnson arrived in Ashland 9 years ago from the SF Bay Area. She’s a retired Geriatric Care Manager, and also a Certified Death Doula and advanced care planning facilitator. She has a passion for supporting people and crafting their end of life wishes based on their values, hopes, and beliefs. She loves to cook, read, create, and share/connect deeply through intimate conversation and exploration of life and one’s experiences.
Debra is co-teaching a wonderful course at OLLI in 2024 called “Care Circles: Informal Aging Support” which is about setting up informal aging support to help you age in place, by means of Care Circles, such as her own circle of 13 members for the past 3 years. Her personal website is latelifejourney.com.