Cultivating Connections Recommends:  

Events and More for Metro Louisville - April 2014

Affirming Connections between Planet, People, Power and Possibilities

April 2014 Table of Contents - Click to Jump to the Listing
Wednesday the 2nd * Louisville Sustainability Forum: Clearing the Air on Rubbertown
Saturday the 5th * Doing Justice, Environmentally (The What, the How, the Why)
Thursday the 10th * Keenan Lecture Exploring Justice and the Environment
Saturday the 12th * Keystone XL "Pledge of Resistance" Training
Sunday the 13th * Louisville TimeBank Potluck
Tuesday the 15th * Sierra Club Presents: Metro Louisville Paddling
Thursday the 17th * NC3's Network Night - Community Dinner
Monday the 21st * Social Change Book Club: The Upstream Doctors
Friday the 25th and Sunday the 27th * Come Explore Earth Art Adventures
Saturday the 26th * Mighty Kindness Festival - Earth Day Hoot
Sunday the 27th * Sunday Serve Us with Mark, kRi and Hettie!
The Cracks And Crevices of Life As Is by Vanessa Hurst
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Louisville Sustainability Forum
Wednesday, April 2nd, 12 - 1:45 pm
Passionist Earth and Spirit Center
(located behind St Agnes Church at 1920 Newburg Road)

Featured Presentation 
Cleaning the Air in Rubbertown, Part Two

When the topic of emissions and odors in Louisville is discussed, the focus is often about Rubbertown in western Jefferson County.  The ten companies there have been accused of dirtying homes, causing asthma, and being connected to cancer deaths for miles around in the area. Are such charges warranted? Do regulators look the other way when it comes to violations and releases?

This is a continuation of the discussion started at our February meeting.
This month's presenters include:
Tom Herman,
Corporate Environmental Manager, Zeon Chemicals L.P.

Rich Robinson,
Manager, Environment & Risk Protection American Synthetic Rubber Company

Jana Zigrye,
Regulatory Affairs Leader, Dow Chemical Company

Shorter Presentations
Pete Flood, Compliance and Enforcement Manager,
Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government Waste Management District 

Louisville Co-Housing Initiative
Frank Schwartz, Organizer

Now in its seventh year, the purposes of the Louisville Sustainability Forum are:
1.We hold and promote the intention of sustainability for Louisville.
2. We establish and nourish relationships that strengthen
community and create change.
3. We create a space for discussion that inspires, motivates and deepens
our ability to catalyze social change.

Food & drink:
Heine Bros. provides us with Heine Bros. coffee.  Feel free to bring a bag lunch. If you'd like to prepare extra food or drink to share with others, that is always welcome!

 



Saturday, April 5, 1:00 - 3:30 pm
Doing Justice, Environmentally
(The What, the How, the Why)
Louisville Presbyterian Seminary Schlegel Hall 122
1044 Alta Vista Road

When it comes to environmental issues, the poor and vulnerable are hit first and hardest.  Explore our call to bring ecological justice to the world with...

Trisha Tull, biblical scholar and author of Inhabiting Eden: Christians, the Bible, and the Ecological Crisis
Anne Walter, Program Director of the Passionist Earth and Spirit Center
Virginia Bush, RN, BSN, Founding member of 350 Louisville (350.org).
Tim Darst, Director of Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light

Free and open to all.

Light refreshments will be provided at this interactive workshop.




Thursday, April 10, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Spalding University's 33rd annual Keenan Lecture
Spalding's campus (with the specific location TBA).

This year's event will be a panel presentation with Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources Council, Sr. Kathy Wright, Sister of Loretto, and others.  They will address the intersection of justice and the environment, specifically focusing on how concepts of religious justice and legal justice intertwine with environmental concerns.

The ongoing work by the Sisters of Loretto and other Kentucky citizens concerned about the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline will be the central theme for this discussion. A reception will follow.


 

 



Join us for this final round of training to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline
Saturday, April 12, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Activist Training in Louisville
First Unitarian Church, 809 S. 4th Street

You are invited to join the Pledge of Resistance (Credo Action, Rainforest Action Network, and The Other 98%) in taking action against the tar sands carbon bomb known as the Keystone XL Pipeline. 

Join with over 90,000 people nationwide who have signed a pledge to engage, if necessary, in peaceful civil disobedience at over 100 actions should the State Department approve the pipeline.

Join with more than 50 other local citizens who have already participated in this powerful and inspiring training!

This training is required if you do want to risk arrest or
to fill any non-arrestable role in a Louisville Pledge of Resistance action.
There is a role for everyone who wants to participate,
whether risking arrest or not.

We are building a community!

To sign up, or if you're just curious, please Email [email protected].
For more information on the national level,
or to sign the pledge, go to nokxl.org.


Sunday, April 13   6pm - 8:30pm
Louisville TimeBank Potluck
Highland Community Campus 1228 E Breckinridge, 40204

Potlucks are a big part of the TimeBank community. We come together to share food, fun and build community all at the same time. Members get to know each other, and people who are not members can learn a bit about timebanking from chatting with our members at the potluck. Many exchanges get set up at our potlucks too!

RSVP here, and tell us what food you are bringing.
1 item is generally considered to be around 12 portions.

Parking is in the lot behind the building off of Barrett.

For Louisville TimeBank members, in addition to bringing your dish, there are jobs for time credits listed as well to sign up for-- from set up to kids activities. Looking forward to seeing you!
 
 
 

Tuesday, April 15 at 7:00 pm
Greater Louisville Sierra Club Presents:
Metro Louisville Paddling: An Urban Experience
with David Wicks
Clifton Center 2117 Payne Street

Please join us Tuesday, April 15, 7:00 p.m. as we welcome David Wicks for an informative presentation about recreational and conservation opportunities on our many local waterways.  Louisville is becoming a center of urban paddling. This presentation will provide an overview of places to paddle locally, initiatives to promote access, strategies to secure and enhance the riparian environments, and efforts to support long term initiatives to further clean up our streams and rivers.

Dr. Wicks, owner of Get Outdoors Kentucky, a Louisville based outfitter, is actively involved in The Mayors' Hike, Bike, and Paddle, The Community Boat House, The Future Fund Land Trust,  MSD's consent decree advisory board, The Kentuckianna Paddlers Association, the Salt River Watershed Watch,  and is the organizer of a new paddle race called the Louisville 50.  He has been paddling Louisville's rivers and creeks for over 35 years.

 Our programs are always free and open to the public.




Thursday, April 17, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Network Night
The Academy @ Shawnee (4001 Herman St.).

* Experience the energy of the Network with:
"New and Good" and "Partner Shout Outs"
* Connect with your Neighbors
* Network with Opportunities
* Share a Family Dinner
* Make Change In Your Community

Click Below For the Network Center for Community Change's
Website  or Facebook Page


 


Monday, April 21 at 6:00 pm
Social Change Book Club
The Upstream Doctors: 
Medical Innovators Track Sickness to Its Source 
by Rishi Manchanda
Heine Brothers Chenoweth Lane
 
Physician Rishi Manchanda says that our health may depend even more on our social and environmental settings than it does on our most cutting-edge medical care. Manchanda strongly argues that that the future of our health, and our health care system, depends on growing and supporting a new generation of health care practitioners who look upstream for the sources of our problems, rather than simply go for quick-hit symptomatic relief.

These upstreamists, as he calls them, are doctors and nurses on the frontlines of medicine who see that health (like sickness) is more than a chemical equation that can be balanced with pills and procedures administered within clinic walls. They see, rather, that health begins in our everyday lives, in the places where we live, work, eat, and play.

Upstream Doctors is a TED publication available only as a $2.00 download from the TED library.

The Social Change Book Club is open to everyone who is interested in understanding, participating, leading, or supporting social change. Please just show up if you are interested--no RSVP, commitment, etc. It is great when people have read the book, but that is not a requirement to come and discuss.




 
            
Join us for one of these Introductory Presentations
Friday, April 25: 9 - 10 am
and
Sunday, April 27: 3 - 4 pm
Earth Art Adventures

at 1741: A Collaboratory for Social Innovation
(James Lees Presbyterian Church 1741 Frankfort Avenue)

No fee for these events - though donations are always welcome!

All children are natural artists, creative in nature, and Artist of Life's Earth Art Adventures is designed to keep the wonder of our arts alive.  We are pleased to share with you a living multi-media art form that can breathe new life, interest and participation in the arts.



Our teaching methodology is unique. It serves as a powerful tool that delightfully integrates art, technology, the environment, education, and imagination. Our earth-based multi-media experience provides a unique means of learning and teaching art without the necessity for any prior art experience. 

In action, it enhances the nature of teaching and learning, empowering individuals to be critical, reflective, thinker-explorers.

Through our custom-tailored programs, Artist of Life can serve as a "natural" resource for a wide range of child-centered events and organizations.  With Artist of Life, the everyday art of being creative is more than just a promise -  it is an achievable vision.

Email [email protected] to make reservations.


 
Saturday, April 26, 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Mighty Kindness Festival
EARTH DAY HOOT
Waterfront Park's Brown-Forman Amphitheater
1301 River Road (next to the Big Four Bridge & Tumbleweed)

Free & Open to Everyone!

Go to the Hoot Website for all of the Happenings!

Mighty Kindness is a Community Unity Festival that celebrates
all that is Kind for the Body, Soul and Mind in our region!

Music Stage * Local Food * Local Upcycled Art, Jewelry & Handmade Goods
Farms * Green Business * Community Groups * Movement * Free Workshops *SpiritWalk
Mighty Kind Second Line * Community Jam * Natural Medicine & Healing * Drum Circle
Fun 4 Kids * Massage-a-thon, & more!

The Hoot is celebration of kindness- a festival by and for our community.
A community that is creating a region that is more sustainable, respectful, happy,
healthy, peaceful and supportive.

If you care about the Earth, if you want to be empowered to create a better world, if you want to celebrate this magnificent planet with kind folks, come get connected, get solutions, tools, ideas and lots of inspiration at the Earth Day Hoot!

Come experience why Louisville.com called the Hoot,
"1 OF THE TOP 15 MUSIC FESTS IN LOUISVILLE!".


  

Sunday, April 27 at 11:05 am
Sunday Serve Us
with Mark Steiner, Kri and Hettie
Today's Topic:
"Keeping the Kindness Mighty"   
Clifton Universalist Unitarian Church
2231 Payne Street

Mark, KRi and Hettie are delighted to be back at Clifton Universalist Unitarian Church for this Sunday morning program featuring song, story and a general sense of celebration!

Clifton Universalist Unitarian Church is a progressive religious community with a diverse membership that welcomes folks of all backgrounds, beliefs, and lifestyles.  Ours is not a dogmatic, but a pragmatic faith. We may not share the same ideas, but we do share a common way of relating to others and our world that includes justice, compassion, kindness, and respect. It is in this spirit of open-heartedness and open-mindedness that we eagerly open our doors to you.



As a subscriber to Vanessa Hurst's Healing Willow eNewsletter I recently received this wonderful letter that I wanted to share with you.

The Cracks And Crevices of Life As Is

The arrival of the sun each morning is a time of curious hope for me. I watch
the night sky become day through a shift from midnight dark blue to increasingly
lighter blue streaked with shades of red, orange, and yellow. Next the yellow
orb slips up the horizon. With the arrival of the sun, the sky is now the shade
of daylight blue.

No longer am I wrapped in the complacent darkness that often feels safe and
secure but very unsatisfying. Both the new day and I am exposed. In the cheerful
presence of the rising sun, I am invited into a place of curious daring. I am
nudged out of my safe, complacent being. The rhythmic warmth of the sun invites
me to whirl in a dance of discovery while resting in the warmth of possibility.
The sun invites me to simply be.

Each sunrise I am reminded of the three paths of compassion: to cause no harm,
to alleviate suffering, and to take life as it is. Even when I am taking life as
it is, I am encouraged to cast aside the mantle of complacency. Accepting life
as it is asks for me to look beyond the illusions of appearance and safety. My
calling is to actively transform not only my self but also the wide, wonderful
world around me.

Curious daring asks me to find a way that uplifts, brings joy, and reveals a
different but no less vital way to be. Courage provides the impetus for me to
navigate this wild, creative path of transformation. Awareness allows me to flow
through the cracks and the crevices of "as is" and discover what is possible.
Transformation happens in small and large, seen and unseen, felt and unfelt
ways. Accepting life as it is becomes a challenge of joy-filled exploration.

The glorious sunrise reminds me that each day provides us with a new canvas.
Although we may have the same colors and the same paintbrushes, we also have our
creative being. Life may be as it is, but through curious daring we bring life
to its possibilities. Life as is becomes all it could be.

Here's to accepting life as it is and transforming it with curious daring!

Vanessa

A blog posting of the above is available here.
email Vanessa at [email protected]

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