Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Here are resources, opportunities, and events that you might want to share with friends and neighbors:
1) Why Organic on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at the Hunter Park GardenHouse
2) Design Lansing’s Complete Street’s Network
3) Mobile Food Pantry on Feb. 20
4) Chicken Out with MSU Extension on March 5
5) Ancient Shores of the Great Lakes on March 2
6) Master Planning on Feb., 16, 18, 23
7) Youth Gardening Conference on Feb. 20
8) GardenHouse Book Club, Feb. 23
9) Michigan Good Food Summit on Feb. 25
10) Gardening Education Collaborative – Check out the calendar/poster of workshops!
11) At Everybody Reads in March
1) Why Organic?
Workshop and Discussion at ANC’s Hunter Park GardenHouse
Join us Tuesday, February 16, from 6:30 – 8:00 pm at the GardenHouse to learn about the benefits associated with eating organic and how to change your gardening ways so as to produce organic food. This workshop will be led by Vicki Morrone of the C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Agriculture. Vicki has an educational background in plant pathology and plant science and works in production and pest management outreach and research programs serving Michigan organic and transition producers of field crops and vegetables. Call Allison at 999-3910 or email her at allisonb@allenneighborhoodcentor.org for more information.
2) Design Lansing’s: Complete Streets Network
Don’t miss this opportunity to help shape Lansing’s future. Following almost a year of public input, the City of Lansing is pleased to present its draft non-motorized plan to the public. Attend the open house to view the draft plan, which includes on and off-road facilities and crossing upgrades. Those attending will be asked to provide:
1) feedback on the draft level non-motorized network plan
2) priorities for implementation of the plan
Following the Non-Motorized Plan open house, there will be a Master Plan meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 in the same room focusing on transportation.
Additional Master Plan meetings will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 PM as follows:
Feb. 16th Economic Development Letts Community Ctr.
Feb. 23rd Land Use South Side Comm. Ctr.
March 4th Green Infrastructure Foster Community Ctr.
For more information, contact Andy Kilpatrick at 517-483-4248 or akilpatr@lansingmi.gov
3) MOBILE FOOD PANTRY
City of Lansing HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT & the Mid-Michigan Food Bank ANNOUNCES the next Mobile Food pantry.
Distribution of FREE, fresh, non-perishable food items
When: Saturday, February 20, 2010
Time: 9am until 11am
Where: Cristo Rey Parish Church, 201 West Miller Road 48911, Lansing, MI 48906
Who can participate?
• The disadvantaged and vulnerable.
• Senior citizens on fixed incomes.
• Families/individuals with limited or low income jobs.
ALL PARTICIPANTS MUST BRING A VALID STATE IDENTIFICATION CARD OR DRIVER’S LICENSE. If you or someone you know must choose between buying food and filling prescriptions, please tell them about this important program. Participants should bring a box or bag to carry food. For more information, call (517) 483-4477
4) Chicken Out With MSU Extension!
For happy chickens, happy neighbors, and a better breakfast! Learn how to do it right!
March 5, 2010, 6:00- 9 :00 p.m.,
Location: Safari Room of the Potter Park Zoo, 1301 South Pennsylvania Avenue Lansing
To Register, call 517-676-7207/ Fax: 517-676-7288, or E-mail: cvernon@ingham.org
What’s All the Flap About??
Wouldn’t it be great to have a few chickens in the back yard? Fresh eggs, bug control, rich compost for the garden, and a chance for the kids to see where food comes from! So you go to the local farm store and buy some chicks. . . .
Now What??
Just like everything else, there is a lot more to raising chickens than meets the eye.
• What should (or can) I feed them at different stages of life?
• How do I keep them healthy and productive?
• What should I expect from my chickens?
• What about raccoons, cats, weasels, coyotes, skunks, opossums….how do I keep my chickens safe?
• How do I manage the manure in a safe way that will not bother neighbors or harm the environment?
• Can I get salmonella poisoning from my chickens, their manure, or the eggs? How can I reduce the risk?
• What kind of equipment do I need to do this right?
Is it legal to do this in Lansing????
In October of 2009 the Ingham County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution allowing homeowners to the keep “up to five hens on one or two-family residential properties, under certain conditions, unless otherwise prohibited or regulated by local ordinances or private land use restrictions.
For more details about this resolution, visit: http://www.ingham.org/bc/BC/INDEX/2009/09-345.htm
5) “Ancient Shores of the Great Lakes – A Voyage into History.”
Message from Carol Linteau, Maritime Culture Advisor, DNR, 517-241-7396
I’m very pleased to invite you to join Lt. Governor John Cherry and the Noble Odyssey Foundation for the Premiere of the exciting new 25 minute film “Ancient Shores of the Great Lakes – A Voyage into History.” The Premiere will be held March 2, 2010 at 11:30 a.m., in the Michigan Historical Center’s main auditorium. Admission is free, and all are welcome. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.
This documentary film presents the exciting findings from the 2009 field research conducted by the Foundation in Michigan Great Lakes waters. You will learn about drowned rivers, waterfalls, caves, and forests on the lake bed, as well as historic shipwrecks and the overall mission of the Foundation. This research was funded in part by a grant from the Michigan Coastal Management Program which annually awards funds provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration for protection of our precious coastal areas and Great Lakes waters.
Please see the attached for further information, and please feel free to share it with others. I look forward to seeing you at this exciting Premiere!
6) The Master Plan meetings
The City is holding topical meetings to gather input from residents for the new Master Plan. Topics include Economic Development (Letts Community Center on February 16), Transportation (Foster Community Center on February 18), and Land Use (Southside Community Center on Wise Road on February 23). A meeting on Green Infrastructure was canceled due to snow and will be rescheduled. All meetings start at 6:30 p.m. The Master Planning folks holding Meetings-in-a-Box and gathering over 1000 surveys over the past many months have noted deep interest in these topics. Make a point of attending any and all and adding your voice to the planning for Lansing’s future.
7) 3rd Annual Youth Garden Conference
Saturday, February 20, 9-4 pm Southside Community Center (5825 Wise Rd, Lansing).
Register now! Registration is now open for the 3rd Annual Youth Garden Conference at www.youthgardeningcoalition.org. If you are involved or would like to be involved with a youth garden, come learn about what is happening with youth gardening in the Lansing area. Gain knowledge and resources to help grow your youth garden and network with others growing school and youth gardens throughout the Lansing area. Both youth and adults are welcome.
8 ) Join the GardenHouse Book Club; read Food Not Lawns
For our next book, the rapidly growing GardenHouse Book Club will be reading a very explicit how-to for turning your yard into a garden and your neighborhood into a community. You can purchase Food Not Lawns by Heather C. Flores from Everybody Reads beginning later this week, and then join us on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 6:30 pm at the GardenHouse.
Here’s what Amazon.com has to say:
“…A source of both information and inspiration for one of the most hopeful and exciting movements of our time.” — Michael Ableman, author of Fields Of Plenty
“For activist readers who believe activism is a political pursuit, FOOD NOT LAWNS: HOW TO TURN YOUR YARD INTO A GARDEN AND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD INTO A COMMUNITY offers a different viewpoint, maintaining that growing food where you live is a key method of becoming a food activist in the community. Chapters advocate planting home and community gardens with an eye to drawing important connections between the politics of a home or community garden and the wider politics of usage, consumption, and sustainability. Another rarity: chapters promote small, easy changes in lifestyles to achieve a transition between personal choice and political activism at the community level, providing keys to change any reader can use.” – Bookwatch/Midwest Book Review, December 2006
For further information or to join this lively, stimulating book club, call Allison at 367-2468 or email her at allisonb@allenneighborhoodcenter.org.
9) Michigan Good Food Summit
Thursday, February 25, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m., Lansing Center
This summit will assemble food system stakeholders from across the state to shape a plan that propels Michigan towards food production, distribution and marketing to support a thriving economy, equity, and sustainability. Good Food is about building on our assets in ways that enable Michigan communities to prosper and our residents to thrive. Focus areas include: Youth Engagement in Community Food, Healthy Food Access for Families & Communities, Farmer Viability & Development, Institutional Food Purchasing, and Food System Infrastructure. To register and for more information visit www.michiganfood.org and contact Kathryn Colasanti at colokat@msu.edu or 517-353-0642.
10) Garden Education Collaborative
The Greater Lansing Garden Education Collaborative (of which ANC is a member) has produced an awesome poster full of classes and hands-on workshops for gardeners of all skill levels (you may have seen them around town). Classes cover a wide variety of topics and are offered at locations throughout Lansing. Check out the calendar on www.allenneighborhoodcenter.org or at www.LetsGardenLansing.org.
11) At Everybody Reads in March
HerStories celebrates Women’s History Month on March 6, 13, and 20 with local storytellers and authors at 1:00pm, followed by free writing workshops at 2:30pm. March 27 at 4:00pm is the HerStories Benefit Show and Open-Mike. Everybody Reads, 2019 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, (517) 346-9900.
