Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Here are resources, opportunities, and events that you might want to share with friends and neighbors:
1) New Walk/Bike Lansing Meeting- TODAY!
2) New Parks Master Plan Input Session on Mar 18 and/or 23
3) ENO Spring Souper on Mar 13
4) New Free H1N1 FluVaccination Clinic on Mar 18
5) MI Ave. Thinkers and Doers features Bob Tresize on Mar 24
6) New Thornapple and Giving Tree Farm CSA shares available
7) Mobile Food Pantry on March 20
8) Potter Park Zoo hosts renowned Wolf Expert on March 28
9) MI Recycling Coalition’s Master Business Recycler Training Program
10) Fenner Spring Volunteer Orientation on March 13
1) Walk/Bike Lansing meeting TODAY – Tuesday, March 9, 1:00pm @ Foster
If you cannot attend, send your updates to payal@midmeac.org. Here are the agenda items for the meeting:
1. Walk/Bike Task Force Co-Chair – John
2. Persons with Disabilities/Accessibility Info – Patricia
3. SeeClickFix – Andy
4. Sidewalk Snow Removal Ordinance – Jessica
5. Lansing’s Draft Non-Motorized Network Plan – Andy
6. Greening Mid-MI Data/Possible Collaborations – Nancy and Harmony
7. Update on Bicycle Friendly Communities Applications – Lyndon and Tim
8. Update on Promoting Active Communities Award – Janine
9. Update on Smart Commute – PayalNew! Public Meetings on the 5-Year Master Park Plan
2) Weigh in on Parks Master Plan
The Lansing City Council Committee on Public Services will hold two public meetings:
- Thursday, March 18, at Gier Community Center (2400 Hall Street), Room 210, 6-8 p.m.
- Tuesday, March 23, Southside Community Center (5815 Wise Road) Community Room, 6-8 p.m.
The purpose of the meetings is to obtain input on the proposed Master Park Plan. The plan outlines the goals of the Parks Department through the next five years for parkland, facility, and recreation programming development. It also allows the City of Lansing to become eligible to compete with other communities for matching state and federal recreation development and land acquisition grants. For additional information on the Master Park Plan, contact Murdock Jemerson at 517-483-4277. For information on the scheduled meetings, please contact Diana Bitely, Administrative Secretary at 517-483-4177.
3) ENO Spring Souper
On Saturday, March 13, from 4-7 pm, at Pattengill Middle School, join your neighbors for the 30th Annual Spring Souper – a fundraiser for the Eastside Neighborhood Organization. Enjoy Soups of all Sorts, Bread, Beverages, and Desserts; Adult/Child Raffles, Silent Auction, and catching up with neighbors. Tickets are: $5 for adults, $3 for kids under 14 years, and $18 for a Family of 5 or more. Tickets available at the door. Call Denise at 484-9109 or Marti at 648-9877 for more information.
4) H1N1 Flu Vaccine Clinic at Bingham School – Open to All
Brought to you by Ingham County Health Department, Allen Neighborhood Center, and Bingham Elementary School.
There will be a FREE H1N1 flu shot clinic at Bingham Elementary on Thursday, March 18 between 1:00 and 7:00 PM. Nurses from the Ingham Health Department will give the shots, and staff from Allen Neighborhood Center will be there to sign people up for free health coverage for the uninsured (Ingham Health Plan), to answer questions about programs that can help you save money on your energy bills, and provide information about all of our programs.
People with the highest risk of getting the flu are children and young adults, pregnant women, and adults 25 to 64 who have chronic health problems. Healthy adults might not get sick from the flu, but they can still carry it to their family members and friends without knowing they have it. The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that getting a shot is the best way to prevent the H1N1 flu. Children under the age of nine must receive two flu shots one month apart from one another. To make it easy for you, Allen Neighborhood Center will be having another free flu shot clinic on Tuesday, April 20 between 1:00 and 8:00 PM at Calvary Christian Fellowship – 1611 E. Kalamazoo St., so that you can bring your child for their second shot then.
It is important that you talk to your family doctor or a nurse if you have any questions about H1N1. If you cannot talk to your doctor before the clinic, you can call 2-1-1 (toll free 1-866-561-2500) for general information about H1N1. Please call Allen Neighborhood Center at 367-2468 if you have any questions about the flu shot clinics or need help finding a family doctor.
Remember, this is still flu season and the H1N1 bug remains a public health concern.
5) Michigan Avenue Thinkers and Doers features Bob Tresize
Please join the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development’s Michigan Avenue Thinkers and Doers on Wednesday, March 24 in welcoming Bob Trezise, President and CEO of the Lansing Economic Development Corporation. He will discuss planned developments along Michigan Avenue and in downtown Lansing. The event will take place at the CCED office (1615 E. Michigan Ave.). Refreshments will be served at 5:30 pm, and the presentation will begin at 6:00pm. Contact Natalie Youakim, Center for Community and Economic Development
Michigan State University, 517.353.9555, msu.cced@gmail.com, youakimn@msu.edu for more information.
6) Interested in joining a CSA? Check out one of these!
Thornapple CSA has returned with shares available for the 2010 growing season. Our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) group is hosted at Appleschram Orchards. Everything is grown organically, with lots of heirloom varieties to keep your taste buds happy and your body healthy! Already our hoophouse has sweet spinach being harvested, and seeds for more early greens are in the ground for our second season.
Shareholders buy a share, and can expect a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and herbs. A full share will feed a family of four and costs less than $30 a week. Last year many members with smaller families shared a share, reducing costs and still received a bounty of produce. Shares may be picked up at Allen Street Farmer’s Market each Wednesday.
More information is available at our website: www.thornapplecsa.com, or by emailing us at thornapplecsa@gmail.com. Join the Farm… your body and the earth will love it!
Giving Tree Farm CSA
Giving Tree Farm is located just north of Lansing on Turner Rd (the Old Town area). The farm serves as the site for Community Based Intervention’s vocational training program and also hosts an independent horticultural therapy program year round. For more information about the social programming check out http://www.cbirehab.com/57901/73201.html We are Certified Organic, with eight hoop houses, 7 acres of fields, a cut flower garden, and a herb garden. In addition to our CSA program, we sell our produce at farmer’s markets (including Allen Street Farmers Market), the East Lansing Food Co-op, and restaurants in the Lansing area.
About CSA’s
You can find out more details about this concept at this link: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ but a CSA is basically a great way for people to directly connect with local farmers in order to get the freshest, healthiest produce possible while supporting local economies and farm ecosystems.
What to Expect
Buying locally grown food means learning to eat seasonally. For example, spring is mostly lettuce, spinach, greens, peas, fava beans, beets, green onions, etc. Summer is all the traditional farm veggies: tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, carrots, celery, beans, summer squash, cucumbers, melons, broccoli, cauliflower, etc (too many to list), and then fall is storage crops like onions, leeks, cabbage, carrots, beets, winter squash, and more lettuce, spinach, and greens. Recipes will be available with your produce each week. It’s a great way to learn to cook with veggies!
Logistics
As the consumer, you pay us $300 up front, or in installments, and you get around $12 (often more than that) of produce each week from mid-May through the end of October. Pick up is available at the farm (day TBA later) or at the Allen St Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays from 2:00pm-6:30pm. My goal is to have 75 members signed up by April 1st. To sign up please visit our CSA website at http://cbisgivingtreefarm.wordpress.com/ or if you don’t have internet access just call the farm at 517-482-8885 and ask for Melissa Hornaday.
7) MOBILE FOOD PANTRY
City of Lansing HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT & the Mid-Michigan Food Bank ANNOUNCES the distribution of FREE, fresh, non-perishable food items:
When: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 9am until 11am
Where: St. Casimir Catholic Church, 800 W. Barnes, Lansing, MI 48910
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 the City of Lansing HRCS at (517) 483-4477
8 ) Potter Park Zoo hosts world renowned Wolf Expert
On Sunday, March 28 at 2:00pm, Potter Park Zoo will be hosting world renowned wolf expert Dr. Rolf Peterson. He will lead the audience through the wild life of the wolves of Isle Royale National Park and the important predator-prey research taking place there.
Tickets are $15. For more information please visit our website http://www.potterparkzoo.org
9) The Michigan Recycling Coalition’s Master Business Recycler Training Program is coming to Lansing.
On Tuesday, April 6, 2010 local businesses will have the opportunity to take advantage of this beneficial workshop. Participants will receive a training manual and other valuable materials. See attached flyer for details and/or please feel free to contact Lori at the City of Lansing at 517/483-4599 or lmiller@lansingmi.gov.
10) Fenner Spring Volunteer Orientation
Message from the Fenner Volunteer Coordination Team
We’d like to invite all returning and new volunteers to our Fenner Spring Volunteer Orientation! Please join us Saturday March 13th from 10 am-noon for meet, greet, and treats and to start the official kick-off for the upcoming schedule of volunteer activities. In addition to taking care of some of the necessary formalities (bring your emergency contact info!), join us for an informal tour of the center and park (weather permitting). We’ll look back with some history of Fenner as well as look forward to the exciting future at the Center. Thanks in advance for your attendance and participation!
PLEASE RSVP (reply including name and email or phone to fennernature@lansingmi.gov or call 517-483-4224). If you are unable to join us this time, we look forward to seeing you at a future scheduled Volunteer Orientation.
