Oxford Hills
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Join us! Bring your friends!Transition Oxford Hills & Sustainable Oxford Hills will join the Public Interest Forum
Thursday, November 17, 2011 at the Fare Share Commons 443 Main Street, Norway, Maine
5:30 potluck
6:00 video: The Power of Community: How Cuba survived Peak Oil
7:00 update on TOH & SOH, and discussion
After an initial meeting open to the local community in January of 2011, Transition Oxford Hills hosted a monthly series of videos on Transition themes, and hosted a Training for Transition April 30 - May 1, 2011. The training was attended by 28 people, 3/4 of them from the Oxford Hills. An Initiating Group with nine members (7 of whom attended T4T locally) slowly coalesced over the summer of 2011, and began working on its mission and structure in September of 2011. We will meet every two weeks, and expect to begin hosting community events again in October. If you would like more information and/or you would like to be added to our email list, or you want to help, please contact transitionoxfordhills@yahoo.com, or call Claire Gelinas at 207-515-1880.
Below is a history of our public activities - which we're posting here and publicizing by email, facebook & flyers until we have decided as a group what electronic format we will use.
We can do it!
Training for Transition April 30 - May 1: See the Transition US training page for details, or email transitionoxfordhills@yahoo.com, download attachment way ..... at the bottom.
End of Suburbia
Sunday March 27
Fare Share Commons
443 Main St. Norway Maine 04268
Potluck 5:30
Film 6:15
See you there! Bring your friends! Pass this on!
After World War II North Americans invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream.
But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are emerging about the sustainability of this way of life. With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. World Oil Peak and the inevitable decline of fossil fuels are upon us now, scientists and policy makers argue in this documentary. The consequences of inaction in the face of this global crisis are enormous. What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the people of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today’s suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to deal with The End of Suburbia?
Hosted by Barrie Zwicker. Featuring James Howard Kunstler, Richard Heinberg, Peter Calthorpe, Michael Klare, Matthew Simmons, Michael C. Ruppert, Julian Darley, Colin Campbell, Kenneth Deffeyes, Ali Samsam Bakhtiari and Steve Andrews. Directed by Gregory Greene. Produced by Barry Silverthorn. Duration: 78 minutes.
Thank you to Mike Dunn for making this video available.
JOIN US for a Potluck Supper and Documentary Film: In Transition
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS!
This Sunday - February 27, at 5:30 PM
Christ Episcopal Church
35 Paris Street, Norway, Maine
In Transition is "a film about change, about hope, showing a practical vision for creating a post-consumer society, where ordinary people make a difference." In Transition is the first detailed film about the Transition movement filmed by those who Cknow it best, those who are making it happen on the ground.
The Transition movement is about communities around the world responding to peak oil and climate change with creativity, imagination and humour, and setting about rebuilding their local economies and communities. In Transition has been shown in communities around the world to enthusiastic audiences. It is positive, solutions focused, and fun.
Hope to see you there! If you need more information, email singearth@ymail.com, or call Claire at 207-515-1880.
February 22, 2011: Ruby DayBranch, Richard Beal, Mike Dunn, Kyle Forsythe, Joan Beal, Gay DeHart, Deborah Crump & Claire Gelinas have all committed to help make a Training For Transition happen in the Oxford Hills this spring. The first thing we'll do is decide on a date. We'll keep you posted!
January 28, 2011
Wow! I am still amazed that so many people turned out for the Transition Oxford Hills meeting on January 23rd.. Our email contact list has jumped from 40 to 56, and we have added 3 contacts to whom we'll phone or postal mail as needed.
Ruby and I are typing information from large and small group work and from your evaluation forms (thank you for your feed back!). We're also updating contact lists. You'll receive an email with more detail after the weekend, but some early steps are clearly indicated at this stage.
NEXT STEPS:
Introduction to Transition: FILM, POTLUCK & (a little) DISCUSSION - Sunday, February 27 5:00-7:30 - place and film to be announced. This could be the beginning of a regular film series on a variety of topics related to Transition.
I've spoken (unofficially) with a couple of folks from Sustainable Oxford Hills, and emailed the group as a whole to ask if they are willing to pilot their PRESENTATION on the Economy, the Environment, and Energy to Transition Oxford Hills. Ruby got a preview of the presentation-in-process and was very much impressed. You'll receive more detail as it comes in.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES on line, and in Massachusetts & Connecticut. See the links at the bottom of this email. I'm planning to attend the training in Greenfield on the 12th & 13th of February. It would be great if two to four of us could attend. We can carpool! If you want to attend, and know you will use the information to help Transition Oxford Hills, and you can't afford it - PLEASE - let me know - I am happy to solicit and even beg for money for you to attend. If you are a young person, invite another young person, and you can support each other to be strong voices.
Our inclusion and diversity work at the meeting included many great suggestions, and also told us a lot about ourselves . We can continue the momentum on this work if three to six people are willing to take on the initial stages. There's some great information on how to proceed in transition, permaculture, and social & environmental justice circles. We can start by educating ourselves. First sign-up: Claire Gelinas. Anyone else? Let me know!
And here's a very timely announcement from:
The Alan Day Community Garden - Community Meeting on Sunday, Jan 30th, 3-5pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Norway, ME. The first order of fun will be a Bulk Seed Order: heirloom seeds at greatly reduced prices. You will get a chance to meet organizers, volunteers and future gardeners, help create plans for the 2011 year at the garden and have delicious snacks and good fun with folks who are committed to creating a healthier community.
Thank you all!
Training links below:
Claire
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Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - 12:00pm - 1:00pmOnline (Donation Requested)
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 4:00pm - Wednesday, February 23, 2011 - 5:00pmOnline (Donation Requested)
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Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 11:00am - 12:00pmConference Call (Free)
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Saturday, February 12, 2011 (All day) - Sunday, February 13, 2011 (All day)Greenfield MA - this is the one Claire wants to attend
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Saturday, March 26, 2011 (All day) - Sunday, March 27, 2011 (All day)New HavenCT
January 19, 2011
We are two people planning a "working meeting" on January 23rd (more info below) for 10 to 30 others in our rural Western Maine, US community, to begin to "plan community wide events or processes to generate interest, enthusiasm and participation in Transition Oxford Hills from a variety of individuals and groups." We are also nine other people so far who are strongly interested in attending the working meeting, and approximately 30 others on an email list. The agenda for our meeting includes minimal discussion about global climate change and peak oil, and lots of work on how to engage community in a variety of ways on a variety of levels. We hope to begin at the beginning with inclusion and diversity, and plan to benefit from recent online discussions of this issue, as well as from the experience of one of us who has worked in this context with other issues. Our goal is to draw the widest net possible of people and ideas. We've done some modest outreach so far and plan to do more. Claire Gelinas is certified in permaculture design. Ruby DayBranch is working on this as her high school senior project. She is a founder of the Alan Day Community Garden. We have both read the Transition Handbook.
We feel very lucky to be doing this work in this particular community. There are a number of groups in our area working on issues related to a Transition Initiative, and we are are making connections with people in these groups. Some of the old skills, and old social and kinship networks still exist in this part of rural Maine, and we are moving along the pathways of our own and other networks to make these connections.
YOU ARE INVITED to a working meeting (and you're invited to invite others if you like)
5:00-8:00 PM
First Universalist Church
479 Main St., Norway Maine
IMAGINE a community that has everything it needs to support itself and thrive. Imagine a way of living that's more connected, more alive and more in touch with our environment than the way we are living now. That's what Transition Initiatives are creating in many towns around the world.
Bring your desire to help the Oxford Hills meet the challenges of peak oil and climate change, which are already impacting our community in so many ways. Bring your thoughts, your ideas, your imagination, and the determination to engage as many people as possible in the work of re-creating our community (including how we can connect the many local groups already working on parts of this important work).
We'll bring BEEF STEW (local beef), SQUASH SOUP (local squash), and GOOD LOCAL BREAD.
And TOGETHER, we'll come up with some great ideas to get all kinds of folks interested in working on a Transition Initiative.
NO COMMITMENT TO A SECOND MEETING IS NECESSARY.
NO EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY.
But if you want more information, check out these web sites (please cut & paste if they won't connect)
http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/a-resilient-community/party-down
http://transitionculture.org/2010/11/26/ingredients-for-transition-inclusion-and-diversity/diversity-2/
http://transitionus.org/
http://www.transitionnetwork.org/
or buy or borrow The Transition Handbook by Rob Hopkins (one copy for loan and others for purchase available at Fare Share Co-op, 443 Main St., Norway). Or contact Claire for more information.
Sure hope to see you there!
Claire Gelinas
207-515-1880
singearth@ymail.com
Stories from Oxford Hills
