Well May is already upon us and it came up so fast that I plum forgot to write this article and had to get poked by our outgoing Communications Chair to remind me (more on that below). April was, as usual, another busy month for us crazy Humanists and I'll probably forget something important in my summary. I just hope I'm forgiven by whoever organized the event that I forgot. If you're more interested in what's coming up than what's already happened, you can find a quick summary of upcoming events immediately below this column.

Events in April
Unfortunately for me (and Kevin Moriarty), our monthly Inquiring Minds Discussion Group happened to coincide with our participation in the annual "Phoenix Pride Parade" and I chose the later (more on that below). Kevin wanted to march in the parade as well but he chose instead to lead our always exciting discussion. The topic this time was "The Morality of Inaction". Sounds pretty straightforward doesn't it? Well, if you haven't been involved in one of these events, you might be surprised at how easily they can get way off the wall. I wish I could have done both! But I will be at the next one. As I've said before, if you haven't been to one of these, you really should try it.

Some of us did march in the annual "Phoenix Pride Parade" and wore our HSGP T-shirts with pride. We represented the allies of the LGBT community and it was probably one of the most interesting events that I've ever attended. Folks at this event were really self-expressing! And the turnout was incredible. I don't know the count, but it had to be in the several thousand in the parade itself and the sidewalks were literally packed with supporters. I believe the protesters numbered somewhere around 30 and they were entirely on one street corner. Everything stayed calm and festive and we had a blast. It took us a while, but we also found the SCAZ booth and table at the park festivities afterward and they were working hard (in the hot sun) keeping people informed about the non-theistic community as well. It was a very good day.

Our HSGP Humanities Project just doesn't let up! They had another five events this month, four of which were outings. At the monthly in-house meeting, our member David Archibald presented a "World Travel & Photography." He reviewed a trip that he and his wife made last year starting with some interactive audience participation that was a unique approach to an event like this. Each attendee read a paragraph written by either David or his wife about their journey to Norway, Russia, and Finland and that was quite interesting. Then he showed us some of the most beautiful photographs that I have ever seen of their travels. I was mesmerized. Finally he then had us list places that we would advise others to visit either in Arizona, the U.S., or the world. That discussion was very intriguing as well.This was a wonderful event and I won't forget it for a long time. It made me really feel the "wanderlust" of the Archibalds! The outings this month included two poetry readings at the TCA Lounge with Michele Poulos and Jeredith Merrin, an "ASU Composers Concert at the Phoenix Art Museum", and a "Performance with a view: ASU Herberger String Quartet Lakeside" (I wish I had made that one - maybe next time). The Humanities group is certainly serving up some great events!

Our "Odyssey of the Mind" kids, that have been meeting every Sunday for several months, won second place in the State tournament in their division after having won Regionals prior to that. These kids are cookin'! A children's program will continue, on the Sunday's that we have a speaker event only, now that the team is resting from their great success. Thanks again to Brian Calaway, Tracy Trent, and all of the parents that were involved in this and are keeping up a program for the kids.

Our first Sunday speaker this month was Herb Silverman, who talked about his book "Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt.." Besides being the founder and President Emeritus of the Secular Coalition for America, Herb is a long standing powerhouse in the non-theistic community, founded at least two Humanist organizations, is on the board of the American Humanist Association, and is just a great speaker. His stories of his life and experiences were very entertaining and informative and the crowd just loved him. There's a great article about his talk on our main page, written by Linda Wendler, that you should read if you missed him. I really do hope that we can get him back someday in the future.

Game Night was another big success this month with an incredible turnout. It seems that we have a very enthused and dedicated game crowd now. Of course there's always more to it than games with this crowd with some pretty wild discussions as well. But this time, again, I got into a an interesting game that was ... shall we say ... a bit adult, and hilarious pretty much throughout the game. I won't go into details but I will tell you that this game is NOT FOR KIDS. :) Everybody else was having a blast again, as usual. And we had newcomers again who were made to feel immediately welcome. Consider joining us in May if you can.

Our second Sunday speaker this month was Dale Baich presenting "The Death Penalty in Arizona: Past, Present, and Future." Dale is the Asst Federal Public Defender - Capital Habeas Unit. His talk was anything but fun but that's to be expected considering the topic. His talk was extremely informative and very detailed about the history of the death penalty. Opinions vary as to the efficacy of the death penalty, or the humanity of it, and we touched on both and more. He was quite thorough and I did learn much about this always provocative topic.

The Book Club reviewed The way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler. I have not read this one but I gather it is a semi-autobiographical novel that exposes the hypocrisy of the Victorian era. It was written in the late 19th century but not published until 1903 and is considered one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century. The book club keeps on picking winners.

What Else Happened in April?
Planning is starting early this year for our "Year-end Activities" headed up by Rebecca Beltran and Ann Marie Eisentraut. It looks like we're going to do the "And now for something completely different" bit this year. I am very excited to get in on the planning and really looking forward to the results. We also had three new ceiling fans installed on our patio and a mop rack that "you could hang an engine block on". :) Last but not least, we have had some more changes in responsibilities. Our Communications Chair, LuAnn Dahlman, is formally handing over those reins to Linda Wendler and will then take on the task of bringing us a new "Science Night"!! We are all very excited about both transitions and what they hold for the future. Many thanks to LuAnn for her dedicated and skillful service as our Communications Chair since the beginning of 2012. She has done a remarkable job of organizing our website and newsletter and I know she will bring an exciting new element to HSGP with the new Science Night. Also, Linda has proven to be excellent at everything she does so we know we're in good hands there as well.

And finally...
The statement that's only changing a little bit this time. I'm still loving every minute with this great organization and I'm sure there are many who don't yet know about us that would love it too. Please feel encouraged to tell anybody that you think would be interested about who we are and what we're about. I would really like to see HSGP grow and spread out!! As always, I, along with the rest of HSGP board, am interested in any feedback that you might have to share. Please feel free to email me at humanist@hsgp.org. Also, find out who your board members and committee chairs are on the left side of this page and talk to them! Let them know what you think about the work that they are doing and what they are providing for HSGP. They put in a lot of hard work and would really like to hear what you think. Now, enjoy the rest of the newsletter!

Richard Dewey
President, HSGP

One easy way Humanists can raise funds for HSGP is by giving our business to businesses that return a percentage of the proceeds to HSGP. For example, Basha's and Fry's grocery stores both return a percentage of the money our members spend at their stores (see article at lower right for more information).

Last month, HSGP member and Professional Realtor Vici Duarte announced that she is offering a similar service. For any HSGP member, or anyone referred to her by an HSGP member, Vici will donate 10% of her net commission as their realtor to buy or sell a home using her services. If you plan to buy or sell a home, speak to Vici at any HSGP event, or contact her by email at viciduarte@cox.net.

We are also looking for other business people who might be interested in increasing their sales and then giving back to the Humanists. If you have an interest in a business, consider if you would like to offer a way to increase your business and support HSGP. Please contact Vici about setting up a similar agreement.

The AHA is proud to hold its 72nd Annual Conference in San Diego, CA, May 30-June 2, 2013 at the Bahia Resort Hotel. Details are available at conference.americanhumanist.org/