Events

When: Thursdays, May 12 and May 26, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Where: Sequoia Village Cohousing Common House, 459 Sequoia Lane, Sebastopol— off Covert Lane, opposite to the south of Pacific Market (Fiesta) and west a little, before Pleasant Hill. PARK ON THE STREET!

TRANSITION ARTS:

A newly forming arts group will gather for a second meeting on April 28 at Sequoia Village Cohousing in the common house.

This is experiential! We will create a banner together for the Transition Style fundraiser while we talk about what directions we want to take as a group. Bring favorite supplies for creating on fabric -- or just bring yourself.

Also: Please see Transition Style announcement and call for volunteers!

Last meeting participated in creating a Transition Style event banner for surprise uses around town up to August 21, the event date, and will no doubt complete it while we talk on May 12.

Art Brigade is still hoping for visual artists to attend to consider participating in a group Transition-related exhibit, perhaps in more than one place, probably in August, and for musicians and poets to participate in the Transition Style event May 21.

If afternoon meetings do not work for you, and if you're interested in participating, please email Alexandra at ahart[at]sonic.net or phone 827-3781. We are also looking for help in managing the group details -- need volunteers!

More info: Alexandra at ahart[at]sonic.net or 827-3781.

Last year, the 350 Home & Garden Challenge succeeded in mobilizing 628 gardens in a single weekend, 60% of which were new gardens!

This year, together we will:

* Host events and workshops.
* Innovate sustainable solutions for food, water and energy.
* Culminate the energy into one mass action taking place in neighborhoods, schools, churches, city property and homes around the county on the weekend of May 14 and 15!

Not only is Sonoma County taking on this challenge, Transition US is taking the challenge across the nation. Also this year, Transition Sebastopol is proud to be a Partner Organization in this year's Challenge!

Please consider becoming involved this year by coordinating a gardening or home energy project. If you are interested in being a community organizer, please contact Sara McCamant, Outreach Coordinator, at outreach@350challenge.net.

When: Saturday, May 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: St. Stephens Church, 500 Robinson Way, Sebastopol, CA
COST: $20 No one turned away for lack of funds

Theme of the Month: Waste

This Saturday we will be talking about every aspect of Waste and Consumption; Our goal is to show you the way to Zero Waste and learn how to live with No Impact in every area of your life. And, this class is a part of the 350 Home & Garden Challenge event happening this weekend, May 14th & 15th. So, please register this event now at www.dailyacts.org.

Nationally acclaimed sustainability expert Portia Sinnott will be presenting on integrating zero waste into your day-to-day activities and discussing how you can develop low impact habits in tune with your values - while still having a fun and satisfying life.

Julia Valentine, our Transition Sebastopol's permaculturist, will be guiding our construction of worm bins.

The Seed Bank is having their work party at the same location, from 9-12, and offering a plant share, for the 350 Home and Garden Challenge. They ask that you bring your extra plants (labeled please) and see what others are offering. If you need plants for your 350 garden, you can get some there! One audacious weekend and 1,000's of powerful actions to grow food, conserve water, save energy and reduce waste….all across the US. What an incredible time, and method, to tell the world that we are all willing to do one more thing to create a better world.

Saturday’s class is full of activities, so come join us and explore the many facets of waste, and the simple ways we can reduce our daily consumption. We will be working together on a number of projects and exercises. We will examine how advertising has affected, and presently affects, our consumption habits and consider how we can get what we need in ways that do less harm to the environment. We will create an alternative gift registry with items that are non-material, secondhand, homemade, service-oriented (such as “fix my bike”), experiential (such as “take me to a concert”), or that come from companies that are socially and environmentally responsible. We will be creating visual aids, and building worm bins, and more.

9am - 10:30 am: The first part of the morning we will enjoy a cup of tea/coffee together and some fabulous bread and/or scones from the bakery in Freestone. During that time we will meet each other, go through the schedule for the day, and begin our discussion of Waste.

Break 10:30 – 11:00 am - Seed Bank time?
11:00 - 2:00pm: Portia Sinnott
Lunch will be served during presentation.
2:00 – 4:30pm: Class exercises
4:30 – 5:00: Review

Donation for this Class: $20 - Includes lunch. No one turned away for lack of funds. Please email angel@wegreenyou.com or call Angel @ 477-4564 in advance to RSVP.

3 things to do before coming to class:

1. Go to http://www.storyofstuff.com and watch this free 20 minute movie before class.

2. Register this event at www.dailyacts.org.

3. Bring a bucket with a tight fitting lid to class for your worm bin project.

Absolutely must RSVP by calling 477-4564 or Email: angel@wegreenyou.com.

 GENERAL COURSE INFO:

The Model of Transition for Sustainable Living (MTSL) program consists of twelve modules—one of which will be covered each month in 2011.  Together they will provide an overall perspective on current thinking and technology, as well as practical skills for everyday sustainable living.  The MTSL program includes a Workbook/Planner, a Reader, a Resource Directory, a Journal, and a series of Visual Aides.

The program has been designed to work in concert with local participating businesses and organizations.  The mission of the program is to empower you to act; to transition you from wherever you are today, to a lifestyle that is highly sustainable, within the one-year time period of the course.  Therefore, the program consists of 20% theory and 80% practical application. 

The course, if completed, will:

·          dramatically lower your carbon emissions
·          save you money on utilities
·          reduce your demand on resources
·          assist you in becoming more socially responsible
·          help you to become a steward of the environment.

Remaining 2011 Schedule:

June 11 & 12                Transportation
July 9 & 10                    Tools 
August 13 & 14             Food Preparation
September 10 & 11      Emergency Preparedness/CERT Training
October 8 & 9                Energy
November 12 & 13       Technology
December 10 & 11       Home Environment

Last year, the 350 Home & Garden Challenge succeeded in mobilizing 628 gardens in a single weekend, 60% of which were new gardens!

This year, together we will:

* Host events and workshops.
* Innovate sustainable solutions for food, water and energy.
* Culminate the energy into one mass action taking place in neighborhoods, schools, churches, city property and homes around the county on the weekend of May 14 and 15!

Not only is Sonoma County taking on this challenge, Transition US is taking the challenge across the nation. Also this year, Transition Sebastopol is proud to be a Partner Organization in this year's Challenge!

Please consider becoming involved this year by coordinating a gardening or home energy project. If you are interested in being a community organizer, please contact Sara McCamant, Outreach Coordinator, at outreach@350challenge.net.

Greetings Transitioners,

This sunday the HeartSing will be shifting a little bit. In order to honor all the great work of the 350 garden challenge this weekend, we decided to merge our events and come to Aubergines and expand the fun!

HeartSing will be bringing its presence to the celebration with a little taste of what we do along with the many other wonderful things planned for the evening. See the description below.

AND, we will be holding our usual gathering around the fire the next day, on Monday evening; 7:30 at Laguna farm. The theme is still "The Garden of Community" Yay!

yours in community,
Julia and Whitebear

Sunday – May 15, 2011 – The 350 Garden Challenge After Party
6pm to 10pm at Aubergine's in Sebastopol

It’s a blow out party for the 350 Garden Challenge – Only $5 at the door

Grow Food, Save Water, Conserve Energy, Build Community - WE DID IT!
Inspiring 1,000’s of actions throughout the county – What a weekend!

Celebrate with your friends, family and community after participating in one of the most important projects for Sonoma County’s future – Transforming our landscapes into beautiful, bountiful, water-wise food gardens

Come for dinner and take advantage of the delectable Doors & Dinner Special for only $15 – Enjoy the acoustic sounds of Nate Lopez while you munch on these fantastic homemade specials from Aubergine, prepared with local fresh produce, eggs & cheese.

here's the line-up:

6:00 – 7:00 Doors & Dinner * – Soloist Nate Lopez – Jazz, Blues, Funk
7:00 – 7:30 Welcome / Garden Challenge Wrap Presentation
7:30 – 7:45 HeartSing Artists
7:45 – 8:30 Blusion for World Fusion – Politiko Rough-Jazz Dance Band
8:30 – 8:40 Emcee ~5 min / Time Bank Speaker
8:40 – 8:55 HeartSing Artists
8:55 – 9:00 Raffle Drawing
9:00 – 9:30 Love Choir
Closing Ceremonies with HeartSing

Herbal Medicine Making with Suzie Gruber 

When: Saturday, May 21, 10 a.m.--Noon
Where: Sonoma County Herb Exchange Barn at Laguna Farm, 1764 Cooper Road, Sebastopol

Cost: $10 donation—No one turned away for lack of funds

Learn the basics of herbal medicine making including tinctures, infusions and salves so that you can create your own herbal medicine chest, providing healthy, locally available alternatives to commercial medicines. This class, taught in a highly interactive format, will include lots of demonstration and discussion of medicine making tools. Additionally, the Sonoma County Herb Exchange will be open after this class for you to purchase dried herbs so you can get started making medicines right away.

Suzie Gruber, trained by Karyn Sanders and Sarah Holmes, practices energetic herbalism in Sebastopol. Additionally, she helps run the Sonoma County Herb Exchange, a local growers’ cooperative providing high quality organic medicinal herbs.

For more information please call (707) 888-9646 or email suzie@suziegruber.com.

Visit the Transition Sebastopol table at the Fermentation Festival and enjoy a great event!

When: Saturday, May 21. 12 noon – 5 p.m.
Where: Salmon Creek School, 1935 Bohemian Highway, Occidental 

What:
· Keynote Speakers Fermentation Author Sandor Katz and Permaculture Expert David Blume globally recognized for his work in sustainability and ecology

· New this year! Help us taste kombucha brews at the first People’s Kombucha Awards with Michael Pollan.

· Artisan Foods, Informational Exhibits, Dynamic Music, Family fun!

· Sample an amazing variety of fermented food and drink

· Explore exhibits on the miracle of fermentation and its many health benefits

· Enjoy educational food demonstrations, enzyme foot baths, and kid friendly activities

· Choose from an assortment of delectable gourmet lunches

· Celebrate with a diverse mix of inspired Sonoma County acoustic music

This is a low-waste, alcohol free, pet free, smoke free and MUST have fun event. Rain or shine!

http://www.freestonefermentationfestival.com/schedule/

http://www.freestonefermentationfestival.com/event-details/

http://www.freestonefermentationfestival.com/directions/

Please join us for Transition Sebastopol's April Movie Night at the French Garden Restaurant for a screening of:
Cultural Creatives.

~ free event - donations appreciated ~ optional discussion following the screening ~

About the Film:

Featuring many key figures from Europe and the U.S., this is the first documentary film to look with scientific thoroughness at the world of Cultural Creatives. It shows that a great mass of people think differently from the way propagated by the media and promoted by the establishment. By the end of the film it becomes evident that this huge mass, were it to become aware of its power, could change the world. Because Cultural Creatives are unstoppable and their number is continuously rising, the values they champion could soon become core values for human civilization generally.Cultural Creatives are emerging without anybody organizing their presence, without anyone seeking to create political power from their existence, and without any group having any interest in them. They are emerging simply because in real historical development the growth of human consciousness can not be stopped, no matter how much today's establishments and intellectual elites try to ignore and even hide their appearance.

So they are all here, among and around us: 80 million Cultural Creatives in the United States and 120 million in Europe, all with a similar mindset -- the citizens of a new world. They are the ones who are really preparing the future and its new social structures for us, and are doing so right now. They are the ones who anticipate the future as an astonishing opportunity never before available to mankind throughout the whole course of its history here on earth. Their message: The time is ripe to take the shaping of social life into our own hands.

http://www.CulturalCreatives.CC~

FREE EVENT 
~donations appreciated~
Come early and enjoy dinner!

Location:
The French Garden Restaurant
8050 Bodega Avenue, Sebastopol

Googlemap

When: Thursdays, May 26, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Where: Sequoia Village Cohousing Common House, 459 Sequoia Lane, Sebastopol— off Covert Lane, opposite to the south of Pacific Market (Fiesta) and west a little, before Pleasant Hill. PARK ON THE STREET!

Also: Please see Transition Style announcement and call for volunteers!

Last meeting participated in creating a Transition Style event banner for surprise uses around town up to August 21, the event date, and will no doubt complete it while we talk on May 12.

Art Brigade is still hoping for visual artists to attend to consider participating in a group Transition-related exhibit, perhaps in more than one place, probably in August, and for musicians and poets to participate in the Transition Style event May 21.

If afternoon meetings do not work for you, and if you're interested in participating, please email Alexandra at ahart[at]sonic.net or phone 827-3781. We are also looking for help in managing the group details -- need volunteers!

More info: Alexandra at ahart[at]sonic.net or 827-3781.

A Wisdom Council Discussion Group of Transition Sebastopol 

Calling All Elders, Earth Elders, Wannabe Elders, Soon-to-become Elders, or Interested Baby Boomers on up! 


The Elder Salon is a nonhierarchical circle of peers. We’ll introduce the discussion with some thoughts from an elder voice or thought-provoking instigator to kick off our own discovery of what it is WE think and believe about the topic; what WE want and need now and in our future; what WE think should be the course of action and attitudes as we progress into and through our older years

WHY: There are a lot of new ideas about aging, staying youthful in body and spirit, and our role in society and local life. What have our generational contributions been and what is left undone? What are our mistakes and triumphs?

May Theme: “Opening Up into New Territory” (an opening for participants to contribute to the next direction)

see more about this group here: http://transitionsebastopol.org/aboutelderssalon

West County Community Seed Bank meets monthly on the last Saturday of the month (except Nov. and Dec) from 9 -11:30 am to share seeds, plants, resources and local gardening and food information.

Location:
St Stephen's Church
500 Robinson Way in Sebastopol

Schedule: 

9:00-10:30: Work party in the Community Seed Garden
10:30: Class 

9:00- 1:00--Seed Exchange: Free seeds to share. (Seeds and resources are available the whole time.) 

Come by and check out our seeds or stay for the whole time!.

All classes and seeds are free to the community! 

West County Seed Bank:
Help build our seed saving network! Join Sonoma County Gardeners in expanding our repository of free, locally grown, open pollinated, pesticide-free, non-GMO vegetable, herb, and flower seeds!We meet the last Saturday of each month to swap plants and seeds; and to share ideas and techniques on seeds growing and saving.

For information go to: westcountyseedbank.blogspot.com

Seed Bank open from 10 to 1- we offer locally grown seed free to gardeners, with the intention that those who take seed will grow some seed and return seed to the seed bank. 

Contact Sara 829-5234, westcountyseedbank@gmail.com