May 21, 2011 - Our first, organizing and networking Transitions gathering met at Ahimsa Lodge:
Twenty-five people came to the first CNVA meeting to address Earth Transitions. Of course, the Peace Farm has done this work in various forms for 50 years, but we want to look at what the next 50 might ask from us–and what VPT and CNVA might do for us. For this first meeting, we invited Rebekah Greenwald of Northwest Earth Institute-RI to introduce the NWEI videos and reading materials available for study groups, and we devoted ample time to hearing each other share their interests, visions, and work. The sharing ranged from co-housing, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farming, and energy alternatives to activist organizations such as 350.org and New England Climate Summer. The participants came from nearby communities and from further afield, including Providence, Hartford, Massachusetts, and Mansfield, CT.
July 19, 2011 - A second “Earth Transition” gathering came together , when we welcomed a team of Climate Summer students biking through CT and RI––a direct result of our May networking meeting. The five young women rode their bicycles from Westerly to Voluntown, then participated in a metal-recycling project organized by our VPT Land Stewards. About 30 people joined in for a potluck supper and a discussion in the Muste Center. The riders ended the program by facilitating the group’s creation of an Intersection Web – a group exercise where we picked two issues, such as plastics in the ocean and military recruitment, identified underlying causes and effects, and found there were a number in common. The riders and a few others then enjoyed a campfire before the team hit the sack in the Swann/Rachel Corrie House.
Twenty-five people came to the first CNVA meeting to address Earth Transitions. Of course, the Peace Farm has done this work in various forms for 50 years, but we want to look at what the next 50 might ask from us–and what VPT and CNVA might do for us. For this first meeting, we invited Rebekah Greenwald of Northwest Earth Institute-RI to introduce the NWEI videos and reading materials available for study groups, and we devoted ample time to hearing each other share their interests, visions, and work. The sharing ranged from co-housing, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farming, and energy alternatives to activist organizations such as 350.org and New England Climate Summer. The participants came from nearby communities and from further afield, including Providence, Hartford, Massachusetts, and Mansfield, CT.
July 19, 2011 - A second “Earth Transition” gathering came together , when we welcomed a team of Climate Summer students biking through CT and RI––a direct result of our May networking meeting. The five young women rode their bicycles from Westerly to Voluntown, then participated in a metal-recycling project organized by our VPT Land Stewards. About 30 people joined in for a potluck supper and a discussion in the Muste Center. The riders ended the program by facilitating the group’s creation of an Intersection Web – a group exercise where we picked two issues, such as plastics in the ocean and military recruitment, identified underlying causes and effects, and found there were a number in common. The riders and a few others then enjoyed a campfire before the team hit the sack in the Swann/Rachel Corrie House.
New England Climate Summer
The NE Climate Summer women cyclists (L-R) Tara, Julie, Louisa, Ellie, and Jackie
The next day, the team cycled back to Westerly, where they met with Save the Bay staff, the remarkable TGIF (Turn Grease Into Fuel) team of middle-school students, and a number of other individuals and groups. A program at the Westerly Land Trust and another in Stonington highlighting Community Bike-sharing in Mystic and other local alternative energy projects rounded out their visit, and all came about as a direct result of our CNVA networking meeting in May! (Follow their progress on the CT-RI team blog at www.climatesummer.net)
From Tara's Blog:
Rrrrraging for Peace - Posted on July 21, 2011 by taraescudero
(Also, thank you Tara, for the awesome pictures!)
Friday: 45
Saturday: 45
Sunday: 22.3
Monday: 11.5
Tuesday: 18
Wednesday: 26.6
… miles
We bike a lot. As a team going through major cities (Providence, Hartford, Bridgeport), we have been fairly unsuccessful getting housing in the centers of cities because the churches often say that it would be too dangerous. The common phrase we hear is “we don’t have enough security.” In Providence, we stayed so south in the city that we were almost in another town. We would have to bike at least 3 to 5 miles to get to any meeting or event that we scheduled. In Hartford, we actually stayed in East Hartford and the ride was at least five miles. Finally, in Bridgeport, we stayed downtown and actually got to walk places… weird. And no, I’m not complaining; I love biking, but these miles add up and my energy level goes down.
This week, we are in four towns: Westerly, RI, Stonington, CT, Mystic, CT, and Voluntown, CT. The first three are neighboring towns, and the latter is a good 18 miles away. The numbers above are the miles that we have traveled over this past week (we rode from Bridgeport to Stonington on Friday and Saturday, staying with gracious hosts in Clinton, CT). Although my legs are assuredly tired and probably necessitating a thorough massage, I continue to bike to (1) live out my value of not burning fossil fuels, and (2) show people that ordinary people can bike around on ordinary (note: heavy) bikes. I have been keeping very careful record of our miles traveled (and you can see my reaction to this in our latest posted video).
So, with all this in mind, we did not even think twice about making an 18-mile long trek to Voluntown, CT to attend a potluck put on by the Voluntown Peace Trust (VPT) in our honor. I am delighted that I did not use this long mileage as an excuse to have a rest day because the people I met while at the VPT potluck are truly inspiring. There were the Raging Grannies, who led us in environmentally focused and upbeat songs that had the whole room singing out loud (during which Stella, the caretaker’s 11 going on 20 year old daughter, and I read the lyrics upside down, for apparently good practice to have mental persistence). There was Keren, who had stopped by the VPT’s vegetable stand a couple years ago, and has since never left the VPT.
Friday: 45
Saturday: 45
Sunday: 22.3
Monday: 11.5
Tuesday: 18
Wednesday: 26.6
… miles
We bike a lot. As a team going through major cities (Providence, Hartford, Bridgeport), we have been fairly unsuccessful getting housing in the centers of cities because the churches often say that it would be too dangerous. The common phrase we hear is “we don’t have enough security.” In Providence, we stayed so south in the city that we were almost in another town. We would have to bike at least 3 to 5 miles to get to any meeting or event that we scheduled. In Hartford, we actually stayed in East Hartford and the ride was at least five miles. Finally, in Bridgeport, we stayed downtown and actually got to walk places… weird. And no, I’m not complaining; I love biking, but these miles add up and my energy level goes down.
This week, we are in four towns: Westerly, RI, Stonington, CT, Mystic, CT, and Voluntown, CT. The first three are neighboring towns, and the latter is a good 18 miles away. The numbers above are the miles that we have traveled over this past week (we rode from Bridgeport to Stonington on Friday and Saturday, staying with gracious hosts in Clinton, CT). Although my legs are assuredly tired and probably necessitating a thorough massage, I continue to bike to (1) live out my value of not burning fossil fuels, and (2) show people that ordinary people can bike around on ordinary (note: heavy) bikes. I have been keeping very careful record of our miles traveled (and you can see my reaction to this in our latest posted video).
So, with all this in mind, we did not even think twice about making an 18-mile long trek to Voluntown, CT to attend a potluck put on by the Voluntown Peace Trust (VPT) in our honor. I am delighted that I did not use this long mileage as an excuse to have a rest day because the people I met while at the VPT potluck are truly inspiring. There were the Raging Grannies, who led us in environmentally focused and upbeat songs that had the whole room singing out loud (during which Stella, the caretaker’s 11 going on 20 year old daughter, and I read the lyrics upside down, for apparently good practice to have mental persistence). There was Keren, who had stopped by the VPT’s vegetable stand a couple years ago, and has since never left the VPT.
delicious tomatoes from the Voluntown Peace Trust garden
Let me explain, the Voluntown Peace Trust is a piece of beautiful property with a bountiful garden of vegetables and flowers, a main farmhouse, a building with a kitchen and meeting room space, trails through the woods, and several cabins with seemingly hundreds of beds (the cabin we slept in has about 15 places for people to sleep and the main house has about 21 beds!). Nancy, the caretaker, told us that people often say that the VPT is like a void or black hole because when you step onto the property, you enter a whole new world (this is the appropriate time to burst into a rendition of the Aladdin song). As an organization, the VPT promotes peace in all facets of life, whether that is abstaining from the military or becoming more connected with the land or anything else peaceful! We found many of our ideas overlapping, as we all had a solid grip on what it means to be a conscious and contributing member of the society we live in today.
We could even see how our hard work to make connections has been paying off! Dan Fischer, a member of Summer of Solutions who we befriended in Hartford, taught us how to make an “Intersection Web.” Essentially, you write down two problems on a large piece of paper and draw arrows showing the causes and effects of these problems. Unsurprisingly, their problems begin to intersect, demonstrating that two organizations with seemingly very different focuses (i.e. increasing asthma rates and increasing crime) can work together. The next step is to identify solutions to these problems, in order to (1) envision a better future, and (2) find real solutions that the two organizations can work together on. We successfully held an intersection web and posted the paper up on the wall, with the VPT saying that they will teach intersection web to others.
We could even see how our hard work to make connections has been paying off! Dan Fischer, a member of Summer of Solutions who we befriended in Hartford, taught us how to make an “Intersection Web.” Essentially, you write down two problems on a large piece of paper and draw arrows showing the causes and effects of these problems. Unsurprisingly, their problems begin to intersect, demonstrating that two organizations with seemingly very different focuses (i.e. increasing asthma rates and increasing crime) can work together. The next step is to identify solutions to these problems, in order to (1) envision a better future, and (2) find real solutions that the two organizations can work together on. We successfully held an intersection web and posted the paper up on the wall, with the VPT saying that they will teach intersection web to others.
Intersection Web
I can’t imagine a better way to spend Tuesday than talking with exuberant and interesting VPT members, recycling metal parts from old phone boxes, collecting oddly shaped cucumbers and the largest tomato I have ever seen from the garden, partaking in a delicious potluck, and roasting marshmallows around a campfire with Nancy and Stella to end a most spectacular day. Mileage is trivial in comparison to the connections and friendships that biking long distances has let us develop on this journey.
The Reminder News carried an article about Climate Summer's visit. You can read it here.
The Reminder News carried an article about Climate Summer's visit. You can read it here.
HCW Summer Program @Ahimsa 2011
A swim at Beach Pond!
 The “Herbie Diaz Carasquillo Memorial Cabin” was used this summer by The Hartford Catholic Worker. The cabin, designed by Voluntown resident Wayne Lachapelle, is located on the Ahimsa side of the property and is the first new building on the property in decades. Thank you to Wayne for supervising its construction.
Herbie attended the Hartford Catholic Worker program at VPT for several years before he was murdered in Hartford in 2006. |
 Bridge Fey, a site specific sculpture installation by Nancy MacBride. This sculpture was installed for the VPT Art Walk in October 2010. Leave the Fey a flower, leaf, acorn or other natural object as you pass by her on the trail between the farmhouse and Ahimsa. |
September 10, 2011 - Dedication of the Cal Robertson
Peace Garden
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September 24-25: ABCs of
Sustainable Living and
Third Annual Friends
Fall Fair
~ Ambulating, Bicycling & Carpooling
~ Acoustic music-making, Building a movement, Cooking without gas
LIVE LIGHTLY, SIMPLY, SUSTAINABLY FOR JUST ONE DAY. Our third annual Friends Fun(d)raising Fair for the VPT Farm once again ties in with the 350.org global event: “Moving Planet: A worldwide rally to move away from fossil fuels. “Come on a bike, on skates, on a board, or on foot (…or simply carpool). Come with your neighbors, your friends, your family, your co-workers. Be a part of something huge. It's time to get moving on the climate crisis.” Bring an instrument that doesn’t require electricity (or learn to play one of ours), a local vegetable for Stone Soup, a poem to share by the fire, or a donation to help save the Peace Farm for another year.
Sustainable Living and
Third Annual Friends
Fall Fair
~ Ambulating, Bicycling & Carpooling
~ Acoustic music-making, Building a movement, Cooking without gas
LIVE LIGHTLY, SIMPLY, SUSTAINABLY FOR JUST ONE DAY. Our third annual Friends Fun(d)raising Fair for the VPT Farm once again ties in with the 350.org global event: “Moving Planet: A worldwide rally to move away from fossil fuels. “Come on a bike, on skates, on a board, or on foot (…or simply carpool). Come with your neighbors, your friends, your family, your co-workers. Be a part of something huge. It's time to get moving on the climate crisis.” Bring an instrument that doesn’t require electricity (or learn to play one of ours), a local vegetable for Stone Soup, a poem to share by the fire, or a donation to help save the Peace Farm for another year.
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Oct 1, 2011 - The Gandhi Gala
