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A full listing of our events can always be found by visiting our calendar.
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Ecovillage Immersion Program
Experience the joys and challenges of living cooperatively and sustainably
When: Friday, May 31 through Sunday, June 30, all day immersion program
In this time of uncertainty and change in the world, its going to take more than our old modes of activism to turn the tides, its going to take our own personal transformation in learning to live from our wild and loving heart.
Spend a month living in the beautiful wooded valley of Heathcote. We are a permaculture and farming demonstration site and 48 year old intentional community. Work on our organic farm, play in our stream, and learn skills that you can use for the rest of your life.
Workshop Topics: The Immersion Program includes 2-3 classes per week, taught by Heathcote members, CHEARS, and local experts on such topics as permaculture design, organic gardening, bee-keeping, Non-Violent communication, tracking, firestarting, meditation, fermentation, and more.
Housing: Program participants will stay in our historic Heathcote Mill bunk-room. The Mill is our Community Center as well as the location of our conference room and our shared community kitchen.
Tuition: Sliding scale of $850 - $1,000
Meals are included. Partial scholarships are available (application question #16).
Registration: Space is limited; apply online, write or call for an application or more information. Visit the website to find the application.
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Documentary by John D. Liu
"It's possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems."
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Sister Project Update:
Takoma Park/Silver Spring Community Kitchen
The Takoma Park/Silver Spring Community Kitchen project, currently in the planning stage, got a significant boost with an award of $250,000 in State Bond funds thanks to Delegate Sheila Hixson and Senator Jamie Raskin. These funds will be used to upgrade a kitchen in the building owned by and adjoining Takoma Park Presbyterian Church and to increase off street parking.
 The proposed shared use commercial kitchen will provide space at a reasonable price for low-income start-up business and microenterprise development. The project will develop partnerships with local farmers and encourage the use of locally grown foods. Additionally it will provide nutrition and cooking classes, will "flash freeze" foods left over each week from the Takoma Park Farmers Market and will donate these foods to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.
County funding is also being requested as a match to the State Bond funds. If you
live in Montgomery County, or know someone who does, please call or email your four at-large county council members and district representatives to ask and
support County funding to match the State Bond funds for the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Community Kitchen project.  This kind of win-win project is a wonderful example of what local people seeking local solutions for their watershed can accomplish. CHEARS volunteer, Joan Clement, has been supporting this project by advocating for necessary zoning changes and needed funding, and CHEARS recently provided a small donation to help match the State funds. Contact Lorig Charkoudian or Vicki Warren f or further information. |
Concerts in the Chesapeake
Summer Series in Maryland
Thank you for joining us this spring to share community through song and story! Please attend our summer concerts to hear more, featuring singer/songwriter
Mac Walter and the Finding Home Production creative duo Teresa Whitaker and Frank Schwartz.
Teresa, Frank, and Mac will pay tribute to their long-time collaborator Tom Wisner, Bard of the Chesapeake. Tom wrote many songs with his friends, but the ones in this collection are those he sang often with children and groups of educators throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. The songs are celebrations of imagination and wonder, and what it means to be "Chesapeake Born."
SUMMER DATES:
Thursday, June 20, (7:00-8:30 pm)
Annapolis Maritime Museum"s 13th Annual Summer Concert Series
723 Second Street, Annapolis, MD
Thursday, June 27
Frank Schwartz and Teresa Whitaker at the C.V. Starr Center
The Custom House, Washington College
101 South Water St, Chestertown, MD
Call 410-810-7156 for more information
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Only a sample of Tom Wisner's work is featured in this songbook and on the Chestory Virtual Archive. For more information about Tom Wisner and his work, please visit the Chesapeake Environmental Literacy website.
You can also view a slideshow featuring images from the Chestory Virtual Archive - click here!
Brought to you by Finding Home Productions LLC and the Center for the Chesapeake Story (Chestory), a project of CHEARS.
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Greetings!
MAY DAY- a traditional spring holiday in many cultures for community celebrations! There are numerous events happening throughout the Chesapeake to celebrate Spring and below are two festivals to enjoy with family and friends!
Enchantment of Music, Fairies and Magic
Glen Rock, PA ~ Sproutwood Fairie Festival ~ (May 3rd-5th)
 | | Glen Rock Fae: The Spoutwood Fairie Festival - "The Love Trailer" |
Greenbelt, MD ~ Green Man Festival ~ (May 11-12)
He is ancient and he is everywhere the ground absorbs.
His eyes are that of the birds,
and the deer and the beetle...
Celebrate Spring!...Mother's Day!... and all that emerges on the margins!
Hope to see you at one of the festivals or in the gardens!
Kim Walsh
Executive Director
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9th Annual Greenbelt Green Man Festival
Mother's Day Weekend
May 11, 10am-6pm, and May 12, 11am-5pm
Roosevelt Center, Crescent Road and Southway Drive
Join us, rain or shine, for two days of music, vendors,
crafts, environmental awareness, food, and fun in beautiful downtown!
The 9th Annual Green Man Festival is a celebration of Greenbelt's commitment to preserve its acres of forests and to extend the urban tree canopy by planting more native fruiting trees.
Festival activities will reconnect us to the folklore of ancient civilizations through science, art, music and myth by featuring many local artists, musicians and performers from Maryland and around the country.
Visit our website to learn more or write to Richard, Project Coordinator.
Going to the festival? Attended in the past? Tell us about it!
 Find us on Facebook!
The Green Man is out there
waiting for you just outside of view...Read more
HELPING HANDS WANTED**
Become part of the Green Man this year! We invite you to join the village, from music and performances, to arts and crafts, from communications to education, to help provide fun and discovery for both young and old. Add your name to the Green Man's list of friends by updating your information
with CHEARS, and start planning for a fun and informative spring. **Let us know your availability using our online Signup Genius tool.
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Thank you to all our Earth Day Springfest Celebration volunteers!
Celebration of Spring at the Springhill Lake Garden Outdoor Classroom and Food Forest in Greenbelt, April 20, 2013
On Saturday April 20th CHEARS volunteers and citizens and staff from the City of Greenbelt joined together to learn about water quality, conservation landscaping, invasive plants, and forest ecology.
We had a PACKED day installing a rain cistern, planting native and medicinal shrubs, clearing invasive Japanese Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose and Poison Ivy, planting in the Three Sisters Garden, and planting around 40 trees for the Greenbelt Food Forest! Thank you to everyone who came out, including the CHEARS Greenbelt Forest Stewards and City Council Members!
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Three Sisters Demonstration Gardens
Greenbelt Food Forest
Bay-friendly Gardening Methods ~ Growing Food & Healthy Ecosystems
 The Gardens are back in full swing! Each month during the growing season we will host workshops, meetups, and demonstrations for anyone interested in sharing organic gardening techniques and other permaculture practices.
There are also a variety of special events and workshops planned each month, so keep up with the Gardens/FoodForest Calendar for updates.
Cleaning out your garage? Do you have extra garden tools?
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 GCAN: Greenbelt Climate Action Network
MEETINGS
- The next GCAN Meeting will be on Tuesday, May 21, at 7 pm, in the Community Center, Room 1114 The Topic is still "TBA". Please look for a separate GCAN email later this month with details.
GREEN MAN FESTIVAL
GCAN will have a table at the Green Man Festival on May 11-12, to highlight all of our activities below. Please email Lore if you are able to volunteer an hour of your time or sign up using this online Signup Genius tool.
GCAN "ACTIVISTS"
We continue to have a broad-spectrum focus, including:
- CITY: No current action.
- COUNTY: Join an ad-hoc group that meets in College Park, to support a new county Draft Solid Waste Plan, that moves us in the direction of "Zero Waste". Email Lore for more information.
- STATE: The Maryland General Assembly finished their four month session on April 8. A number of GCAN "Activists" attended rallies and hearings and lobbied for various bills on Wind Energy, Fracking, and Community Solar. Over the summer we will be working with CCAN to monitor the Commission on Fracking to make sure the natural gas industry does not exert undo pressure on the process. Click here to learn more and sign a petition to Governor O'Malley.
- FEDERAL: We are continuing to fight the approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline. On April 22, 350.org announced that they had reached their goal of 1 million signatures. Next up, a National Day of Action in May (tbd).
SPECIAL PROJECTS
- The Greenbelt TimeBank continues in beta testing. After two months of experimentation with the TimeBankUSA software, we have decided to try a simpler platform through hOurworld. Our Greenbelt hOurworld link will be available soon.
- The Greenbelt Worker-owned Cooperative "incubator" group continues to meet monthly. Three of the most popular ideas are a Childcare Center in Franklin Park, a Composting Facility to make organic soil, and an Edible Landscaping Business. Next meeting is Sun, May 12, 5:30-7:30 pm. The Composting Coop Subcommittee will meet on Sun, May 19, 5-7:30 pm. Contact Lore for details.
- Re-Skilling Workshop Committee is being spearheaded by Judy Hamburg. The next topic will probably be "weatherizing your windows". Stay tuned for details.
- Film Fest: The recently completed Sacred Economics circle has decided to host a series of provocative films. Please keep your eyes out for upcoming announcements. First up will probably be "Occupy Love"!
DISCUSSION CIRCLES
We will start a new round of circles as soon as we can identify 8 interested people for any of these four topics:
C. A "Peer Support Group" for Climate/Sustainability Activists will be starting in mid-May in Greenbelt. Please email Lore if you are interested. You can indicate your availability for the Intro Meeting by filling out this Doodle poll.
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