UU Belmont Alliance: Northern Exposures, Photographs from Norway

This monthly Alliance Program enables us to travel above the Arctic Circle. Join us on a breathtaking trip along with Bert and Louise Halstead. Bert writes, “ In March, we traveled to northern Norway as part of a photography tour. We stayed several days in Tromso and then took a cruise to the impossibly scenic Lofoten Islands, all north of the Arctic Circle. Tromso, the world's northernmost city of any size, is famous as the home base of the polar explorer Roald Amundsen and other rugged adventurers. A particular goal of the trip was to observe and photograph the aurora borealis, the Northern Lights, and we were rewarded with spectacular displays on four different nights. In the far north where we were, the hills and mountains are dramatic and the weather is still snowy in March, so we were also treated to gorgeous snowy landscapes during the day. At the end of the trip, we spent a day exploring Norway's capital Oslo, before returning home. We'll show some of our photos and time-lapse movies of the ever-changing Northern Lights, as well as daytime photos that give a taste of the places we visited.” Please contact Kathy Lind at belmontuualliance@uubelmont.org for the Zoom link.

Our Story:

The Belmont Unitarian-Universalist Alliance is the oldest continuing meeting group at First Church. It was founded in 1890 as the local branch of the Alliance of Unitarian Women. When the Unitarian-Universalist Association was created, this Alliance became part of the Unitarian-Universalist Women’s Federation.

While it met at First Church in Belmont, the Alliance wasn’t part of the Church’s organizational structure. It had its own elected officers, dues, and bank account. Dues-paying participants were the official members.

The Alliance held monthly lunches, which included either a presentation or an excursion. In earlier years, the organization ran the Rummage Sale, put on a music program and Wassail every December, and provided the reception following funerals. The group also contributed to church projects such as the restoration of the Tiffany Window.

Alliance bylaws were amended in 1999 to reflect the dissolution of the national organization and the absorption of the local chapter into First Church. The structure of the Alliance remained largely unchanged until 2014, when the group dropped the word “Woman” from the title to make it clear all, not just women, are now welcome to join in.

Now a subcommittee of Adult Programs, the Alliance remains semiautonomous with its own bank account and elected officers. Because the group now holds its monthly meetings on Zoom, it no longer collects dues. At its May 2023 meeting, the group declared that anyone who attends two presentations during two years will be a voting member. The group votes to elect officers and approve expenditures. Officers include President Nicole Bernstein, Co-President Patricia Hawkins, Treasurer Miriam Baker, Secretary Mary Harrison, Program Committee Doris Hunter, and Technical Advisor Mark Rosenstein.