SEEDS September Newsletter

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SEEDS Newsletter September 2019
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Rethink, Repurpose

Contents:

Report from our Chair
Annual Meeting
Call for Nominations
Wayne County Farm Tour
Conservation Authors
Sandy’s Trail Walk
Free Book Swap Award
Burkhardt Scholarship

Mark Your Calendar!

September 7 • Wayne County Farm Tour, 5 Regional Farms
September 17 • SEEDS Annual Meeting, The Cooperage, Honesdale
September 22 • Milford Readers & Writers Festival, Grey Towers, Milford
September 29 • Trail Walk with Sandy Long, Hemlock Farms Community Association
November 9 • Free Book Swap, Park Street Complex, Honesdale

Sustainability Tip of the Month

Contributed by Ella Hoerning

The Earth's bee population is dwindling -- bad news for things they pollinate, like apples, almonds, and much of our produce!

Help your local hives by adding a bee bath, a shallow dish or birdbath filled with fresh water and pebbles or marbles to welcome bees to your garden.

Learn more at the Narrowsburg Honey Bee Fest on September 29th.

Chair Message:

With summer winding down, we are looking forward to SEEDS' annual membership meeting, on September 17th, that will be fun and enlightening! You will be able to get up-close and personal with some electric vehicles (EVs) and solar-powered gadgets. You will learn more about our proposed strategic plan. Not sure that would be fun? We will make it short and sweet, and you’ll see that we are thinking ahead with some ambitious and exciting ways to embrace our future with hope and promise.

After hearing what’s happening, you will have about a month to give us your thoughts on the Strategic Plan! There will also be brief updates from each of our circles about what they are working on and where they might need some extra help and ideas….from YOU!

Please come and mingle with your fellow community members, share your thoughts with us, and enjoy some great food from our friends at Mustard Seed Cafe! Doors open at 5:30 p.m. when food will be available for purchase, while the EVs and their owners will be lined up for you to visit. The program includes a brief business meeting and begins at 6 p.m. Please RSVP to help us with planning. See you then!

Katharine Dodge

Annual Meeting and Strategic Plan

As you may already be aware, SEEDS has been hard at work developing a Strategic Plan to help guide us into our 2nd decade. We’ve completed an initial draft of the plan and are excited to share it with you and ask for your input. We appreciate your feedback as it will help SEEDS continue to drive our mission and serve our community.

The plan can be found on the SEEDS website by clicking HERE.
Or, attend our Annual Membership Meeting to learn more!

Annual Membership Meeting
Tuesday, September 17
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Program begins promptly at 6:00 p.m.
The Cooperage
1030 Main Street, Honesdale, PA

Healthy and delicious food from The Mustard Seed Café will be available for purchase.
Electric vehicles and solar devices on display!

Please RSVP (to help determine food quantities). Or, for more information call (570) 245–1256 or email Sandy@SeedsGroup.net. (Food purchase not required).

RSVP to our Annual Membership Meeting!

Call for Nominations and 2018 Meeting Minutes Approval

SEEDS will conduct Cycle Two elections at our annual membership meeting on Tuesday, September 17th. Open board positions include: Treasurer, Corresponding Secretary and a Board member-at-large position. Each position is for a two-year term, with 2 term limits in each position.

Please let us know if you, or someone you know, would like to be considered, and submit a short bio by September 10th to Executive Director, Sandy Long at Sandy@SeedsGroup.net.

Click HERE to learn more about the board position duties, as defined in our bylaws, and to review the 2018 General Membership Minutes, for which we will request approval.

Get on the Bus for the Wayne County Farm Tour

Five Wayne County farms will open their doors to the public on a day-long farm tour to be held on Saturday, September 7, creating an opportunity for people to get a behind-the-scene look at farming on a family farm. An additional stop on this bus tour will be at the Wayne County Demonstration Farm to see how conservation practices in agriculture support sustainability.

Stops on the tour include:

Calkins Creamery, the county’s preeminent cheesemaker and its Highland Dairy Farm;
the county’s largest organic vegetable farm, Willow Wisp Organic Farm, to learn about its many sustainable farming and energy practices;
lunch by The Mustard Seed Cafe with a spectacular view at Second District Vineyard and Hops Farm;
a diversified beef farm with an on-farm store and vegetable CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) at Fertile Valley Farm, pictured.

The tour is jointly hosted by the Wayne Conservation District and SEEDS with support from Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and Wayne Economic Development Corp.

The cost for the day is $5, which includes lunch. Advance registration is required by calling the Wayne Conservation District at 570-253-0930. Check-in on the day of the tour is at 8:00 a.m. at the Park Street Complex, 648 Park Street, in Honesdale, with departure at 8:30 a.m. The bus will return there by 5:00 p.m.

For more information visit wayneconservation.org or seedsgroup.net.
And, listen to WDNH Radio's Taste Test Thursday podcast featuring the farm tour!

Seeing the Forest through the Trees

Experience the beauty and healing that can be found within the natural world at the program, “Seeing the Forest Through the Trees: Finding Deeper Meaning in Nature,” on Sunday, September 22, from 1-3 pm, at Grey Towers National Historic Site, Milford, PA.

This free panel discussion and optional field excursion with authors John Harvey and Doug Bill is part of the Milford Readers & Writers Festival. Co-sponsored by Pike/Wayne Conservation Partnership and the US Forest Service at Grey Towers, with support from the Grey Towers Heritage Association, the program will be moderated by Sandy Long, Executive Director of SEEDS.

Photo of author John Harvey.

Grey Towers hosts public programs that help carry forward the conservation legacy of Gifford Pinchot, founder of the US Forest Service and two-term Governor of Pennsylvania.

John Harvey, author of The Stillness of the Living Forest: A Year of Listening and Learning, is a naturalist and consulting psychologist whose years of experience helped him to appreciate the healing potential of a nature connection. He completed a year-long commitment to sit an hour each week in the same spot in the woods. As he settled into his routine of visiting his "sit spot" and fully engaging his senses, rich and illuminating experiences began to unfold.

Photo of author Doug Bill.

Doug Bill’s work is focused on bringing a profound, spiritual truth into a hectic world. During the early 1970s, he traveled to India and Nepal, where deeply moving experiences in overcrowded villages, along with later advanced studies in psychology and spirituality, awakened him to the oneness of all life. Those experiences planted the seeds for his book Living the Namaste Principle, which outlines his quest to awaken, access, and embody the awareness of the divinity within.

Following the panel discussion, Harvey and Bill will lead an optional field excursion that will include a brief sensory-based meditative experience and a Wander Walk. It is a unique opportunity for festival goers to interact with the authors and gain new insights into what informs their writing.

The program will be held rain or shine; dress for the weather and with appropriate footwear for uneven terrain. Light refreshments will be served and pre-registration is appreciated at 570-296- 9630 or greytowers.org.

For more information about the Milford Readers & Writers Festival
visit milfordreadersandwriters.com.

Trail Walk with SEEDS Executive Director

Trail Walk flyer.

SEEDS Executive Director, Sandy Long will lead a free trail walk for the Hemlock Farms Conservancy (HFC) on Sunday, September 29, at 1:00 PM at the Hemlock Trail. Participants will meet at the Hemlock Farms Community Association mail room parking lot.

Afterward, join Sandy and HFC Executive Director Kelly Stagen for a question and answer session about SEEDS.

If you are coming from outside of Hemlock Farms please call 570-872-5162 for gate entry.

Free Book Swap Wins Award!

We’re delighted to announce that our annual free Book Swap, spearheaded by SEEDS Board Member Jenna Wayne Mauder, is the recipient of a 2019 Environmental Award presented by the Northeast PA Environmental Partners. The award recognizes the Book Swap for exemplifying how partnerships work together to get big jobs completed for the benefit of the environment and our community.

The Book Swap is a collaborative effort among local governments, area businesses, nonprofits, and individuals to provide a sustainably responsible outlet for rehoming and repurposing mass quantities of books.

The Northeast Environmental Partners are comprised of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Protection, PA Environmental Council, PPL Corporation, Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, and Wilkes University.

The Environmental Awards will be officially presented at a special dinner on Thursday, October 24 at the Woodlands Inn and Resort in Wilkes-Barre. For more information on the dinner or to receive an invitation, please contact the PA Environmental Council at 570-718-6507 or send email to Angela Vitkoski at: avitkoski@pecpa.org.

And don't forget to mark your calendars for this year's Free Book Swap on November 9!

Phoebe Cykosky awarded SEEDS Burkhardt Scholarship

SEEDS has issued its $1,000 scholarship in memory of Michael “Jake” Burkhardt to Phoebe Cyckosky, a 2019 graduate of Wallenpaupack Area High School. The scholarship honors the memory of Jake, Western Wayne Class of 2015, who loved life, his family, his community and the environment and worked with SEEDS as a high school student.

Phoebe was selected for her winning essay on the following topic,
which can be read in full HERE:

“In what ways does our consumption of non-renewable energy sources affect the health and well-being of the Earth and its lifeforms? How does developing “clean” energy alternatives contribute to a more sustainable future? What practices have you seen in your community that indicate we’re going in the right or wrong direction? What information would you provide to educate people? What tools and strategies would you employ to accomplish this, both locally and beyond?”

Entries were reviewed by a panel of SEEDS volunteers based on the responsiveness to the topic, the persuasiveness, logic, and cohesiveness of the ideas presented, and other criteria such as proper grammar.

Phoebe and her parents, Dawn and Ed Cykosky, attended a recent SEEDS board meeting to express their gratitude for the scholarship. Board members took great pleasure in meeting this promising young woman and wishing her well in her studies at Penn State University.

Photo of the SEEDS Board with the Burkhardt scholarship recipient 2019 Phoebe Cykosky.

SEEDS Burkhardt Scholarship recipient, Phoebe Cykosky (front row, center) stands surrounded by SEEDS Board Members and her parents at the August Board Meeting.

More Ways to Support SEEDS!

Lake Region IGA Supermarkets donate 1% of your purchases to local charities through their Lake Region Community Dock Foundation.

Sign up for a new card, and choose SEEDS as your charity. Or visit www.lrcdf.org to link your existing Preferred Customer Card to SEEDS.

All Your AMAZON Purchases can support SEEDS. When you can't shop local, go to AmazonSmile, operated by Amazon with the same products and prices. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of eligible purchases to SEEDS! To select SEEDS, search charities list for SEEDS in Honesdale, PA right before check-out.

Have you “liked” us on Facebook? If not, click HERE. If so, please “invite your friends” to like us too!

If you are not a member of SEEDS, please consider joining us today!

Our annual membership dues are only $10, and you will continue to receive our newsletters, invitations to our educational forums and other events. Please make your check payable to SEEDS of Northeastern PA and mail to SEEDS, 1030 Main Street, Honesdale, PA 18431.

You may become a more active member and join some of our project circles. If you are interested in hearing more about SEEDS and our programs, please contact our Executive Director at sandy @seedsgroup.net or call 570-245-1256.