The Common Ground Celebration: Sun, Sept 15
Festival celebrates shared vision for the Rondout Valley
by Rebecca Horwitz
I recently met with Lisa Jones, the 2012 coordinator, and Julia Farr, one
of two coordinators this year, along with Elizabeth Ryan, to find out what it’s
all about.
“This is an inclusive,
community-run festival to bring people together, to recognize our common ground,”
explained Jones. “Just like last year, we have a zero waste goal—we produced
only one small bag of trash after a festival of an estimated 700 to 1,000 people.
There will be local food and drink, a pizza oven, and of course, cider. The
main events feature a variety of re-skilling workshops—meaning things people
used to know how to do, like wood carving and bee-keeping.” Learning such
skills promotes a sense of resiliency and self-reliance, and can be a lot of
fun as well. Workshops in nature skills and outdoor education will be offered
by Wild Earth, a program that has summer and year-round educational programs
for kids and adults. The schedule of those outdoor workshops at the festival
will soon be online at rvcgc.org.
Other highlights include two danceable
bands: The Pleasers, and Sweet Clementines. The Marbletown Civic Association is
holding an apple dumpling bake-off competition, and The Signs of Sustainability,
or SOS, Awards ceremony will recognize locals who are stewards of wild,
agricultural and human resources.
The venue for this year’s festival is no accident: there has been a dedicated
effort to save the Stone Ridge Orchard from development. The owners of the
property are selling, and many in the community feared the orchard would soon
become condos. When farmer/activist Elizabeth Ryan came on board to rent and
operate the orchards, it was her hope to be able to purchase them and preserve
them for apple growing and cider making, not building. Right now Elizabeth is
in contract to buy the orchard, and one of the festival’s main goals is to
raise awareness and funds to help her meet the deadline.
Elizabeth is already a seasoned apple grower; she owns Breezy Hill
Orchard and Cider Mill in Staatsburg, Dutchess County. She has earned Eco-apple
certification because her apples are low- or no-spray (of agricultural
chemicals). Cider making, especially the hard kind, just might prove to be
financially viable for orchards—and a return to the days when hard cider was
the most common alcoholic drink in the Hudson Valley.
The CGC is about bringing people together, recognizing our common
ground, and celebrating our shared vision for the Rondout Valley as a healthy,
creative, regenerative and sustainable community now and for years to come in
an inclusive, fun, and collaborative atmosphere.
Come meet your neighbors at the Common Ground Festival on September 14!
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 2:59 PM.
Filed under
Environment,
Feature,
Green Energy,
Local Economy,
locavore
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