The new Service Area was created during the Board/Council retreat during the weekend of January 9-11, 2004. The first activity of the Service Area was to change its name from Communications and Community Building to Communications for Community Building (CCB). This recognizes the geographic expanse of our District, and the importance of communications to building a community among people who see each other rarely, if ever.

The Service Area includes two vital, functioning activities of the District: the Communications Committee and the Awards Program.

The CommComm continues to perform its duties as it has for several years – keeping the web site up-to-date, preparing and distributing the Dispatch newsletter after each Board meeting, sending e-mail announcements to congregations and other subscribers to the mdd-announce list, and administering the district’s other e-mail lists. As part of the reorganization effort, the web site was updated to provide a space for each of the Service Areas, and a new e-mail list was created to support the District Council. The staffing of the Communications Team has remained the same during the transition (Kok Heong McNaughton [Los Alamos], Judy Phillips [Ogden], and Neal McBurnett [Boulder Church]). Al Bailey (Las Cruces) remains our Webweaver, and Rich Richins (also Las Cruces) has joined the team as editor of the Dispatch; he published his first issue following the Annual Meeting in October 2003, and is preparing for the next issue following the upcoming Board Meeting.

The Awards Team (Marlene Egger [South Valley UU Society, Salt Lake City], Kathy Partridge [Boulder – now Lafayette – Fellowship], Lynn Slater [El Paso], Stan Kidder [Fort Collins] and Janet Andrews [Cheyenne]) have issued a call for nominations for the various District Awards to be given at the Annual Meeting in Las Cruces. Marlene has submitted a separate report to the Board outlining this year’s awards program

The CCB is still formulating its goals and ideas for other program delivery. Meanwhile, we will be focusing on expansion of the awards program and the continued services to the Board, the Council and the Staff in providing a communications system that will truly enhance the community that is the Mountain Desert District. We envision a network of Community Contacts – one for each congregation – who will serve as liaisons between the District and the congregation, assuring distribution of the Dispatch, channeling changes in directory information, and working with the Contacts in neighboring congregations to enhance the activities within the District’s clusters. We will also be working with the local planning committee to increase participation at the Annual Conference and Delegate Assembly, including the continuation of subsidies to congregational presidents who attend.

The CCB Service Area Leader(s) will be an active part of the District Council. While continuing to refine the goals of the Service Area itself, we will be working with and for the other Service Area Leaders individually and as a Council to define and refine our roles in the restructured District, to assure continued delivery of services to the congregations and members, while increasing interaction within the community. We share the vision of the District Executive: that we will make the Mountain Desert District the best district in the UUA.