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Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society
Promoting the health of all life in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed through
action projects organized by volunteers.
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Greetings!
April is an event-filled month from garden prep and planting to economic alternative trainings. There are many opportunities to get your hands dirty, enjoy the warm weather and connect with others. One opportunity is to learn about the ecological benefits of installing a rain garden on April 16th (7-8:30 PM), a kickoff to Phase I of the Greenbelt Food Forest.
On a bioregional level, I invite you to join a new Meetup Group (Mid-Chesapeake Permaculture Guild) devoted to creating a strong network of folks interested in permaculture design for both the landscape and community organizing.
In solidarity with the 99% Spring, Kim Walsh ~ Executive Director |
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| Three Sisters Gardens and Greenbelt Food Forest
Join Us Outside to Enjoy Spring!
Saturday, April 7 (10-12 PM) ~ Shrom Hills Park work morning
Contact Lucy Duff at lucyduff@earthlink.net for more details.
Friday, April 13 (2-5 PM) ~ Meet in the back of Greenbelt Community Center, next to Adult Day Care Center.
Standing raised bed will be built along with bed preparation.
Refreshments & Snacks Provided. Contact Concetta Laskey at concetta@chears.org for more details.
Monday, April 16 (7-8:30 PM) ~ Springhill Lake Recreation Center. Rain Garden & Water Quality workshop by Lesley Riddle of City of Greenbelt Public Works & Cary Coppack of Concerned Citizens to Restore Indian Creek (CCRIC). Contact Kim Walsh at kim@chears.org for more details.
Friday, April 20 (2-5 PM) ~ Shrom Hills Park, Bed preparation & planting! Refreshments & Snacks Provided. Contact Lucy Duff at lucyduff@earthlink.net for more details.
Saturday, April 21 (2-4 PM) ~ Earth Day Celebration at Springhill Lake Recreation Center. Installation of rain gardens. A collaborative event brought to you by REI, City of Greenbelt Public Works, Campfire USA, CCRIC, and CHEARS. Learn about native rain garden plants and the important work they do to improve water quality in our neighborhood! Funding received from Jim Cassels Award and the Chesapeake Bay Trust Community Greening Grant for the Greenbelt Food Forest, which is a collaboration of City of Greenbelt Public Works, Concerned Citizens to Restore Indian Creek (CCRIC), Ancestral Knowledge, TapRoots, Campfire USA and CHEARS.
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MONTHLY MEETING
April 11 ~ "Local Updates" Special Guests will discuss recent MD Legislation (Wind, Solar, Fracking, Bag Bill) as well as Keystone XL Pipeline, Occupy Movement, Citizens United, and Clean Currents. Details will follow. GREEN MAN FESTIVAL
GCAN plans to participate by teaching visitors how to properly inflate their tires for maximum gas mileage. Also, info about Greenbelt's Anti-Idling Campaign will be available. Looking for volunteers to work 1-2 hour shifts.
GCAN "ACTIVISTS NETWORK"
April 2 ~ Offshore Wind Energy Rally in Annapolis April 3 ~ Annual Meeting of Greenbelt Federal Credit Union to request that the coop purchase wind energy. April 14 ~ Annual Meeting of Greenbelt Food Coop to request that the coop purchase wind energy. April 14 ~Local Training (1-4 pm, Room 202 in the Community Center). We will reflect on our economy, look at examples from the history of non-violent direct actions, and plan our own campaigns to take action. The goal of the training is to work together to reclaim our country through sustained non-violent action. Sign up for the training online! For further information, contact Jennifer Robinson at jlrobinson720@yahoo.com.
April 9-15 ~ " The 99% Spring" Write your Maryland legislator, in support of MD Community Renewables bill - HB864/SB595, which would create solar farms or gardens where anyone could buy 1 or more solar panels and ask to have the electricity produced credited against their home utility bill.
DISCUSSION CIRCLES* World on the Edge at Paint Branch UU Church, started on March 21, daytime hours.
* Common Security Club at Paint Branch UU Church. * Same topics available in Greenbelt, need 8 people to form a group.
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The 9 Lives Re-Purposing/ Yard Sale
April 14 (9-12 PM) ~ Roosevelt Plaza Center
Donations of your unused but good items are welcome. All good old things need a loving home, so don't let your attic, shed or cupboards fill up with things you no longer use or need--Recycle them to a new home where they will be appreciated and used. The "9 Lives" Yard Sale serves as the place for the good old stuff to find someone who is looking for just such an item. So look around and find the good stuff that has "more lives to live", and donate it to the 9 Lives Yard Sale!
HOW TO DONATE ITEMS:
A representative of CHEARS will arrange to pick up your donations on or before the evening of 4/13. If you plan to donate a lot, please help us by letting us know early.
Option #2-You can bring items directly to the sale on Saturday morning between 9-10 AM.
Here is the list of some of the items that we can take!
Kitchen gadgets, pots, pans, tools, toys, games, books, and creative supplies, pictures, mirrors, decorative items, lawn and garden tools and equipment, Electronics such as radios, record players and other music devices, and most working items under 15 Lbs (No old style tube TVs please!), Musical Instruments, craft equipment, and supplies. Clothing, but only kids cloths, and costumes, shoes, belts, hats and coats, furniture that can be moved easily by hand such as - bookcases, chairs (dining, rocking, arm, and desk), tables (dining, coffee, end, and side), lamps (table, floor, clip-on, hanging), kids furniture, lawn or deck tables and chairs (no couches please)
9 Lives Yard Sale is brought to you by CHEARS
** Stone Soup Project **
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Home Salon:
Economics of Happiness and Sacred Economics
Saturday April 28th, 2012 (6:00 PM to 10:00 PM)
Film, Discussion & Potluck~Most Americans are facing their most significant economic challenges in generations. From the hardships of unemployment to the perils of mounting debt, worry about the health of a national economy that depends on consumerism and market success dominates our conversation. But have we asked what the economy is really for?
RSVP is required and limited to 20 participants
Location will be given when you RSVP. |
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Chestory: Center for the Chesapeake Story
The Chestory Legacy Group meets twice yearly to continue Tom Wisner's legacy. The Chestory Archive, located at the Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons, MD, has much of Tom's writings, art work and educational materials. These materials are now also available on-line.
Chesapeake Conservation Corp volunteer, Concetta Laskey has done an incredible job of cataloging Tom's work and creating the website for the archive. This resource will assist teachers in meeting Maryland's new environmental literacy standards. We are working now on plans to raise funds to continue developing and maintaining the website and to offer workshops for teachers. A sample presentation using Tom's educational materials will be given at the Greenbelt Green Man Festival on May 12-13.
The new children's song book and accompanying CD, "Singing the Chesapeake", with songs by Tom, his son Mark Wisner, and Teresa Whitaker, is scheduled to be completed in June. We are planning events this fall in various schools to celebrate this long awaited publication. We will soon be adding a new item for sale on the Chestory website - "Bay Babies" - a delightful children's book about the Bay written by Cathy Green and illustrated by the late Mary Beth Harry. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the Mary Beth Harry Student Scholarship through the Arts Council of Calvert County.
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 8th Annual Green Man Festival ~May 12-13, 2012
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Call for Entries for the Green Man Festival T-shirt!
Visual Artists and Poets of all ages
Each year the Green Man Festival has selected an image of the Green Man and a Poem about our relationship with Nature to create the posters, ads and T-shirts for the event. This year's festival theme is "Finding Common Ground" and we invite all of you to tap into the memories of gardens and wild places you have known to create your own image of the Green Man as a portrait or as a poem, or both. All T-shirt entries will be considered for the Green Man exhibit at the New Deal Café during the month of May and June. Submit digital files to greenbeltgreen_man@live.com or by mail to:
CHEARS
Attn: Green Man Festival
PO Box 1841
Greenbelt, MD 20768-1841
All art and poetry must be submitted by April 5th, to be considered for use this year. All submissions will be displayed at the festival and will be considered for the Green Man exhibit at the New Deal Café. If your work is selected for the T-shirt you will receive 2 FREE shirts!
Art Show Call for Entries: Visual Artists, Poets and Writers
All ages are invited to submit art entries for a two month long Green Man Festival exhibit at the New Deal Cafe during May and June, 2012. This year's theme of "Celebrating Our Common Ground, the Garden From Where Life Springs!" asks you to connect your senses and imagination to the natural world that is all around us. It asks you to share what you see, feel, hear, taste, smell and simply connect with in the undeveloped spaces around the back yard, at the edge of forests, along creeks and riverbanks or beside a lake --wherever the Green Man may be. For the exhibit you may submit paintings, drawings, collages, photos, constructions, sculpture, fabric, glass, pottery and any handmade art or craft item that expresses the love of nature.
Instructions for submitting art: All wall art must be ready to hang (framed and secured by wire). Include title, price if being offered for sale, and contact information for the buyer. A display case is available for 3 dimensional pieces no larger than 10"x 10". Please help us plan. Contact us and tell us what you plan to bring. The exhibit schedule is; Drop off ~ Monday May 7, 6:00-8:00 pm Reception ~ June 3, 7:00-9:00 pm Pick up ~ July 2, 6:00-8:00 pm
To be held at: The New Deal Cafe 113 Centerway Greenbelt, MD 20770
Contact Richard at stonesoupchef@live.com or call 202-664-7572. We need all of you to join and be a part of the 8th Annual Greenbelt Green Man Festival!
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PAID ONE YEAR ENVIRONMENTAL INTERNSHIP
CHEARS in Greenbelt, MD and Calvert Marine Museum (CMM) located in Solomons, MD submitted a joint application to Chesapeake Bay Trust for a full time, one year, paid, Chesapeake Conservation Corp Volunteer. Applications are due by May 14, 2012 5:00 PM. To see application details, click on the link below.
Chesapeake Conservation Corps (CCC) program provides service-learning opportunities and green job training for young people, ages 18-25, through environmental and energy conservation projects. This initiative, supported by Constellation Energy, the Trust, and the state of Maryland, pairs young adults with organizations that provide hands-on environmental, leadership, and technical training opportunities for a one-year term of service to begin late August 2012.
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECTS
Calvert Marine Museum
The CCC volunteer would review audio-visual materials, primarily consisting of oral interviews with "bay folk" and film documentation. From among these materials, the volunteer would identify key items to be converted to a digital format, which will be done by a professional film studio. After conversion, the CCC volunteer will be primarily responsible for selecting excerpts to be edited and will work with a professional videographer in the studio to create suitable film and audio clips for inclusion on the Chestory Archive website. The project aims to enhance the virtual archive website as a resource to promote the cultural aspects of environmental literacy in Maryland. Contact Richard Dodds at doddsrj@co.cal.md.us for more information.
CHEARS
Educational programs and practices that strengthen intergenerational relationships and competencies in children, youth, older adults, and families are critical in changing behaviors towards environmental awareness and stewardship. The CCC volunteer will assist in developing an intergenerational education program focused on community environmental documentation. The CCC volunteer will be facilitating the intergenerational volunteer group in learning to use digital media to document environmental solutions. They will assist with camera work, framing interview questions, post-production, editing, and uploading of short clips to feature on local TV, YouTube and other social media outlets. The expected outcomes from this project are short videos, primarily shot by community volunteers and final edited by the CCC Volunteer. Contact Kim Walsh at kim@chears.org for more information.
This multiple site placement
provides a specific set of technical skills to the CCC Volunteer interested in community film documentation, facilitation of group learning processes, project management, communication skills, and leadership development. The CCC Volunteer will begin their year with CMM from September-February and spend the remaining half of the year in Greenbelt, MD.
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Gather 'Round Chesapeake: Tom Wisner's Vision
When Tom Wisner, the Chesapeake Bay 'Bard' died in April 2010, he'd already given us living treasures: dozens of recorded Chesapeake songs, stories and radio shows. Now, Sara Ebenreck Leeland, co-founder and partner with Tom in Chestory (Center for the Chesapeake Story) project, has published a book that collects Tom's written reflections on the powerful insights that guided his work. Gather 'Round Chesapeake: Tom Wisner's Vision is a collection of Wisner's writing, from short celebratory poems to analysis of how our cultural ways of thinking about 'nature' results in the destruction of our waters and what an alternative 'Come Full Circle' way of living might be like.
"Thanks to water for its grace, For singing on the roof when it rains". "Spiritual learning comes backwards."
"You begin mostly in the dark, choosing paths from impulse by following your heart. Then, much later, truths begin to emerge, ...and you learn why you did those things."
The book is available from the following websites.
www.chestory.com
www.amazon.com
www.saraleelandbooks.net
and other Chesapeake bookstores and in Greenbelt you can purchase from
www.pottershousebooks.org
For more information, contact Joan Clement at Chestory@gmail.com
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TapRoots: Greenbelt Middle School
TapRoots is an agricultural educational program committed to introducing topics of environmental sustainability, agroecology, food safety and nutrition. Through rigorous hands-on learning activities, students relate to the environment on a more personal level while simultaneously broadening their ecological understandings.
Greenbelt Middle Schools 7th grade students explored the fundamentals
of plant propagation during the relaunch of the TapRoots 8 lesson series last week. The series of lessons are led by University of Maryland students:
Ali Karp,
Atara Bernstein,
Garrett Byron,
Rachel Keirzew,
Mayhah Suri,
Martin Handelman.
These fine men and women play a valuable role in further developing the TapRoots program as they provide immediate feedback on the strengths and weakness
of the program. Through reflection papers and one-on-one meetings TapRoots is able to strengthen its programming by making real-time adjustment to the curriculum. Within the initial week, programming the
TapRoots team has already contributed to significant improvements with the program.
When GMS students return from spring break they will learn about composting and companion planting. In May TapRoots will focus on soil, entomology and plant pathology. To sum it up in June students and teachers will read excerpts from Silent Spring and the Sand County Almanac out in the garden and respond with inferences on Rachel Carson's and Aldo Leopold's land ethic.
TapRoots is also looking for your input. If you are a parent with a middle school aged child please take a few minutes to voice your perspectives on environmental education with this survey. Also, follow us on twitter @tap_roots for an insider's look at the program.
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CHEARS
Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research SocietyPO Box 1841 ˇ Greenbelt, MD ˇ 20768 www.chears.org
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