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Executive Committee Letter
July 1980

To: General Councilors, Society Presidents' and Field Representatives

Our July 12 meeting was quite busy with many routine matters in prep-aration for the General Council meeting Saturday, August 9.

You are aware that Urantia Brotherhood had planned to have a General Conference at Estes Park, Colorado, in August 1981. These plans have been changed. The facility in Estes Park could not provide us with the needed number of meeting rooms for our type of programming. As a member of the Conference Planning Commiltee, John Hay looked into alternate locations and Carolyn Kendall, Chairman of the last General Conf'erence, visited four facilities. From her detailed report on each site, the Executive Committee chose Snowmass at Snowmass Village, Colorado, near Aspen. The dates are June 28 - July 3, 1981. A notice of this change plus additional information will go out in August to those on our mail-ing list.

A survey questionnaire concerning study group activity will be mailed shortly by the Domestic Extension Committee. I wish to urge you to respond promptly and to encourage those in your area to do likev/ise. is our first syst:ematic effort to gather ~his information which will useful in planning for the future.

Frank Sgaraglino, Finance Commitlee Chairman, reported on the follow-up solicitation letter sent in May. As of June 30, members responding were 32 with $3,200 and non-members were 84 with $5,200. Since the f'irst letter sent in November, 545 have responded with $81,000. About half is pledged to Urantia Foundation. About $40,000 is pledged to the Bro-therhood against a budget of $89,500. The remainder must come f'rom unpledged contributions and commissions on the sale of The Urantia Book.

Urantia Foundation informed the Brotherhood that they have learned that a group in Houston, Texas has registered with the state as the First Urantia Society of Houston, Inc. We do not believe this to be the chartered First Urantia Society of Houston. Suit was filed by Urantia Foundation on June 27, 1980, against First Urantia Society of Houston, Inc., a recently incorporated Texas not-for-profit corporation, Kermit Laurent, W. Allen Brazell, Sue Via Brazell, Cathy Fusco, and John Charles, for the infringment of the Foundation's mark Urantia. On Wednesday, July 16, 1980, a hearing was held in the courtroom of Judge McDonald in Houston on the Foundation's motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin First Urantia Society of Houston, Inc., from using the trademark Urantia in its name, or otherwise, pending a trial on the merits.

The defendant corporation took the position that it (and not First Urantia Society of Houston) was the Society which had been chartered by Urantia Brotherhood and had the right to use the word Urantia in its name, despite the Brotherhood's denial that such was the fact. The Court, without making any ruling regarding the mark itself, viewed matter as an internal controversy, and for that reason denied the preliminary injunction.

Urantia Foundation has requested an early trial on the merits of the case which will probably not be till next February or March. In the meantirne, Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood will cooperate towards the settlernent of the internal controversy to the extent it is possible.

Applications for membership-at-large were accepted from Mrs. Mary A. Gibson, Phoenix, AZ; Mr. Dennis Duhaime, Sudbury, Canada; Mrs. Susan Grzeskowiak, North Liberty, IN; and Mr. Ari Antero Kalaka, Karhulla, Finland. We welcome them to our work.

Time is fast approaching when many of you will be here for the Summer Workshops. We look forward to the opportunities for beneficial frat-ernal association -- and I'm sure we can have some fun, too.

Warm regards,

John Hales, President

JH/sk

 


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