Upcoming Events
Saturday, May 10, PLEDGE OF RESISTANCE TRAINING at the Loretto Motherhouse, 9-3pm. This training in civil disobedience is offered to those wishing to do an action of non-violent protest if Secretary of State John Kerry advises President Obama to approve the building of the Keystone XL Pipeline. This will be the fourth training offered in the Louisville area. Call Newpioneers 859-336-5070 if interested in learning more.
The Louisville Festival of Faiths will take place May 13-17th at Actors Theater in Louisville. See the website for full schedule and bios. New Pioneers members are eligible for a 20% discount on tickets. Let us know and we'll send you the PROMO code.
|
NP E-News April 30th
LOTS TO CELEBRATE THIS WEEK!!! The Green Festival was a great success! Our Earth Day celebration was attended by over 100 students and adults! The Williams Company has announced it will stop work on the proposed BlueGrass Pipeline! New Pioneers has received checks for $1,080 from TGKentucky for our team’s work on the March tree-planting project, and a check for $200 from Washington County Solid Waste for the five miles of highway NP volunteers cleaned in April! AND NP intern Jessica Shelton, St. Catharine College Class of 2014, has been awarded a full tuition scholarship to graduate school at University of Louisville!
The First Annual Springfield Green Festival was a huge success, with vendors, musicians, local craftspeople and food providers all saying “when we do this again next year…”.Thirty vendors, almost all from Washington Co., shared new and exciting ideas for sustainable living practices (want to cook with a solar oven? grow mushrooms on a log? reuse or recycle almost everything? save on energy big time?). The Cattleman’s Association and the Blue Bird Café served delicious meals all day, with good Kentucky beer and wine available for those who wished, and local musicians made spirits soar. Pony rides, bean planting, and crafts kept the kids happily busy. Many folks could be seen carrying off hanging baskets, blueberry bushes, and veggie and flower plants for their gardens. BIG, BIG THANKS TO THE GREAT ORGANIZING TEAM headed up by Gary Schatzke with Daniel Barber, Amanda Manning, Sr. Claire McGowan, Dennis Morgeson, Jim Silliman, and James Spragens.
Earth Day was celebrated in fine style by North Washington Co. third grade students and teachers, New Pioneers volunteers and many adults from the community. The group was greeted by Judge John Settles, Mayor Cecconi (Springfield) and Mayor Pat Kirsch (Willisburg). Winifred Cheuvront, a student in the Berry Farming Program at St. Catharine College, was the keynote speaker. SPECIAL THANKS to a whole host of volunteers who made the event successful: Reba Hamilton, Lisa Haydon, Louise Young, Pat Kirsch, Joan Callahan, Belle and Bobbie Sutton, Jim and Jennie Edelen, Dennis Morgeson, John Graves, Daniel Barber and master griller James Spragens. The whole earth thanks you!
And, we just had word that the Williams Company, developer of the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, has suspended all investment in the project “in response to an insufficient level of firm customer commitments.” We think that local Kentucky opposition to the project may have had a lot to do with this decision, since it was becoming increasingly difficult for the company to purchase easements from local landowners who recognized the dangers inherent in this NGL pipeline. BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO WORKED SO HARD ON THIS ISSUE!! It feels like a David win over Goliath! Click on the highlighted portion below for three great articles from this week’s papers: KY Standard, Marcellus Drilling News, and editorial from today’s Courier Journal.
|
|
