Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society
Restoring and promoting the health of all life in the Chesapeake Watershed
through education and action projects organized by volunteers
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Happy Thanksgiving 2015
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With events around the world seemingly taking a turn towards increased tragedy and violence, and as we turn toward Paris-- both in mourning and in hope for the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference-- the need for profound Healing comes to our hearts, This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the gift of my own ability and that of all the earth to still heal. In the article below Joan Clement shares her insights and reflections on the Silent "H" in CHEARS. She states "Healing is curricular and inclusive." 
One of the things that I am most grateful for is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ adopted by the UN General Assembly meeting in Paris on December 10 1948---- which grew out of the need for HEALING from the unfathomable terrible violations of human rights in World War II. The UDHR is celebrating its 67th anniversary on December 10th (Human Rights Day). Chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt representing the US, and the only woman of the group, the 9 persons serving on the UN Committee to draft the UDHR in 1948 represented: Lebanon, Russia, China, France, England, Canada, United States, Australia, and Chile.
CHEARS is supporting an event planned for Dec 10th at Montgomery College (see below) "Human Rights, Justice, Climate Change, Syria and National Security: Connecting the Dots"--all are encouraged to attend.
Reflecting my own personal need for healing, I'm grateful for the support folks are giving for healing at the troubled fields of Wild Meadows Farm (WMF) and of the Farm co-op of which I have been a member for 23 years.
Hopefully something positive can come out of the conflicts that have left the fields in need of regenerative healing (all are asked to hold WMF in the light)--see below for details.
Finally, I'm grateful for the healing power of the arts in restoring our spirits and in uniting our community.
Pictured below are folks gathered around the Wise Owl and Well Fed Woodchuck sculpture by Joe Stepping Jr. carved from a 200 year old white pine ---dedicated on Nov 14 in the Springhill Lake Three Sisters Garden-West. If you need a healing lift of your spirits come visit the recently installed public art in the Three Sisters Gardens--Center, East, and West.
Thanks for all you do!
Happy Thanksgiving to all from
Maggie Cahalan, CHEARS Volanteer Newsletter Editor, and the entire CHEARS board of Stewards.
If you have questions about CHEARS or would like to volunteer, contact any of our board members!
The Chears Board of Stewards (Convener, Carolyn Lambright-Davis, [email protected]; Vice Convener, Bob Cahalan, [email protected]; Treasurer, Kate Prager, [email protected]; Secretary, Joan Clement,[email protected]; Doron Antrim, [email protected]; Maggie Cahalan, [email protected]; Bill Davis, [email protected]; Mary Ellsworth, [email protected]; Marcia Freeman, [email protected]; Eugenia Kalnay, [email protected]; Bennie Smith, [email protected]; Chandra Taylor Smith, [email protected])
CHEARS is always in need of donations to support our projects . To make a monetary contribution, Click Here to go to the CHEARS website and then Click on the donate button in the lower left corner to make an online donation or send a Check to:
CHEARS
PO Box 1841
Greenbelt, MD 20768
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Visit the calendar for a full listing of our events.
Did you know...you can update your contact information and CHEARS eNews preferences? Click here!
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...or text CHEARS to 22828
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We Invite You to Gather with us in Spirit on Saturday November 21--12 to 4PM
in Giving Thanks, in Protest, and in Healing for the Troubled Fields of
Wild Meadows Farm
Potluck Lunch, Mindful Farm Walk, and Visioning for the Future
Wild Meadows Farm
456 Smith Road
Schellsburg, PA 15559
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Volunteering Around the Watershed
Thanks for All You Do!
Thanks to University of Maryland Integrated Life Science Honor Students and the Earth Squad for the hard work helping the Springhill Lake Gardens and Food Forest to get ready for the Dedication of the art sculpture. Pictured above they are having some fun after working all morning on Nov 14
America Recycles Day-On Saturday, November 14, 2015, 30 volunteers and 2 City Staff cleaned up 300 pounds of recyclables and litter from the shoreline at Indian Creek!
A special thanks to Lorenzo John Burleson for photographing the event. Sponsored by the City of Greenbelt Public Works Department, CHEARS, America Recycles Day, American Rivers, REI and Starbucks.
Thanks to Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP) for donating time and energy to build educational games that were used at Schrom Fest on October 24! Over 50 festival-goers were educated about climate change and zero waste. A total of 2 pounds of compostable materials were delivered to MOM's of College Park BiobiN. Another thanks to the festival-goers who participated in a compost demonstration behind the Three Sisters Demonstration Garden at Schrom Hills Park.
Thanks to Volunteer Maryland for protecting 6 trees from beavers and removing invasive species from the shoreline at Buddy Attick Park on Friday, October 30!
Thanks to the Greenbelt City Council who on October 19 approved a request of the Memorial Legacy Committee to have the Peace Pole installed at the site of memorial benches and trees celebrating the lives of Greenbelt peacemakers, and environmental and social justice activists
(Esther Webb, Bob Auerbach, Bert Donn, and Doug Love). The Peace Pole was a gift to the Citizens of Greenbelt in 1987 in recognition of their efforts to work for better relations with Citizens of the former Soviet Union (now Russian Federation) through the Sister City Project.
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Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) Nov. 24 Webinar:
Defining U.S. Role in Int'l Climate Negotiations
Join UCS
Date: Tuesday, November 24
Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST
Register today to learn more about this critical international climate meeting. You can register at the UCS webpage below
As the climate negotiations, known as the 21st United Nations climate conference (COP 21), draw near, UCS experts will answer questions like: What has the U.S. role been in the negotiations? How have U.S. climate and energy actions paved the way? What can we expect from the Obama administration post-Paris? The U.S. Role in International Climate Negotiations
Date: Tuesday, November 24
Time: 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST
Speakers:
* Ken Kimmel, president, Union of Concerned Scientists
* Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy, Union of Concerned Scientists
* Rachel Cleetus, lead economist and climate policy manager, Union of Concerned Scientists
* Don Anair, clean vehicles research director, Union of Concerned Scientists
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Human Rights, Justice, Climate Change, Syria and National Security: Connecting the Dots
Universal Human Rights Day in Rockville
December 10, 2015
7 pm to 9 pm
Montgomery College,
Music Building, Recital Hall,
50 Mannakee Drive,
Rockville, MD 20850
What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights offer us 67 years later?
Three panelists intend to answer that question by focusing on the various local and global consequences of our failure to protect human rights in the world. There will be a special focus on Syria and the refugee problem that war has generated - and a linkage to the report by the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance released in June by The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the Stimson Center.
Preliminary AGENDA
Opening ceremony: Dawn Avery, Professor at Montgomery College. 2012 US Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Introductory remarks: Chuck Woolery, Former Chair, UNA Council of Organizations.
Speakers:
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Former US Ambassador for War Crimes Issues, Stephen Rapp, Board of Advisers, American Bar Association Center for Human Rights. or Christopher "Kip" Hale, Senior Counsel American Bar Association Center for Human Rights
- Tad Daley, JD, PhD, Director, The Project on Abolishing War at The Center for War/Peace Studies, Washington and New York;Author of the book APOCALYPSE NEVER: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World from Rutgers Press; former policy advisor and speechwriter for U.S. Senator Alan Cranston and Congressman Dennis Kucinich.
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A Washington DC representative of Human Rights First.
Audience participation: Questions/Answers/insights:
Closing remarks:
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Celebrate the Darkness and Entice the Light
Saturday December 19th
Please join us for this 10th annual CHEARS Winter Solstice Party. We reach into the darkness together with a mindful walk around Greenbelt Lake followed by celebrating the return of the light with potluck food, a fire circle, music, and song as we renew our commitment to support and appreciate each other in our work for a healthier planet.
Mindful Walk around Greenbelt Lake starting from Eugenia's house at 5:30 followed by a Potluck Shared Meal at 6:15 Music, Song, a Warm Fire, and Good CHEARS Among Friends!
Saturday December 19 2015
5:30-8:30
Where
Eugenia Kalnay's Home
56 Lakeside Drive
Greenbelt, MD 20770
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Trees for Sacred Places
This ambitious program offers houses of worship the following:
- Educational workshops on the importance of tree planting in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
- Hands-on training for tree planting and maintenance
- Spiritual workshops to explore the faith teachings on stewardship along with the spiritual meaning of trees and water in faith traditions
- Crew leaders to guide the houses of worship volunteers on the planting day
- And, of course, FREE trees!
The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay received funding from Maryland's Department of Natural Resources. For more information contact:
Kolya Braun-Greiner, M.Div.
[email protected]Trees for Sacred Places Program Manager
Trees are Earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.
- Rabindranath Tagore
Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake
501 6th Street, Annapolis, MD 21403
www.interfaithchesapeake.org
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Is the "H" in CHEARS for "Healing"?
By Joan Clement
I am one of the three CHEARS co-founders, along with Maggie Cahalan, an education researcher, and Bob Cahalan, a research scientist. We chose the name CHEARS - The Chesapeake Education Arts and Research Society - with interrelated goals - one goal for each letter, except the first letter was CH.
At some point, I realized that we didn't capture the part about this work that touches me most - Healing - of Nature's wounds, our personal wounds and our culture's wounds.
My focus on healing through reconnecting with Nature began in 2000, when I participated in a weeklong workshop at a Quaker gathering in Blacksburg VA. The workshop was called "Spiritual Renewal Through Reconnecting with Nature", and what it was really about for me was healing. My criterion for choosing the workshop was that it met outdoors, was experiential, and included the teenagers (called Young Friends). I was hurting from a painful work situation and burned out. Connecting with Nature all week through various exercises brought me back to life and reminded me of my childhood experiences living near lakes in Connecticut. Nature has healed me many times. When I'm hurting, Nature is my balm.
CHEARS could change its name without changing its acronym - to the Chesapeake Healing, Education, Arts and Research Society. This would make our already long name even longer, but maybe it would be worth it. After all, our mission is to heal the Chesapeake for all who share it. Our first fundraiser was called the "Art of Healing the Chesapeake", and when we honored our elder, Tom Wisner, the event was called "The Art of Healing the Chesapeake - a Tribute to Tom Wisner."
In the early years, Beverly Winterscheid and I co-facilitated several "Mindful Walks." Every year at our Winter Solstice party, we walk silently around Greenbelt Lake at dusk. Our recent permaculture classes talked about regenerating life. The Green Man Festival was a source of healing for Jean Newcomb, who saw the forest behind her house decimated by herbicides. And for Tom Goodridge, who saw his NYC school garden bulldozed to make room for a new development. Green Man images came to both Jean and Tom. Jean Newcomb and Richard McMullin and other Greenbelt artists started the Greenbelt Green Man Festival, and Tom became a Green Man figure who visits schools and faith communities and helps children discover the joy of being in Nature. Every year people come to the Festival to feel Nature's gift of new life, celebrate spring and feel hope.
Giving Thanks and Healing Wild Meadows Farm
Soon some of us will be spending some time at Wild Meadows farm, sensing into the recent destruction of its organically certified fields caused by the spraying of herbicides and pesticides on a (likely GMO) corn crop this year. We will be envisioning healing for these fields and all non-organically farmed fields. We will be silently communicating with the fields - asking Nature to release blockages and distribute the field's growth energy where it is needed, asking Nature to orchestrate each field's inner parts, systems and functions to play in harmony, and asking Nature to bring the field's life force into greater connection with other ecosystem members where it lives. These silent requests (adapted from
CooperativeBioBalance.org and
TreeWhispering.com) can be sent to any part of Nature in need of healing. We will be trying a form of communication that leads from the heart, not the head, and this will be a wonderful new challenge for some of us!
Healing is circular and inclusive.
Nature is our teacher. Efforts to heal Nature and heal our connection with Nature are related. It's a balancing act - feeling connected with the Oneness of Creation, and at the same time watching our tendency to become so attached to our opinions that they drive a wedge in our relations with others, creating the illusion of separation. I've been studying with a spiritual teacher, Thomas Huebl (sounds like "who-bull") who translates "mystical principles" in plain English (or German - he's from Germany). He and others say that we are at a point in our evolution where we need to learn to give up our attachment to our opinions. This has been a touchstone - noticing whether my opinions are fixed or held in a larger space of awareness, and recognizing the greater flow of energy when I have more space for sensing and hearing the thoughts and feelings of others. I feel humbled by how difficult this practice is.
We are invited to stay with the present moment, being mindful and noticing body sensations, emotions and thoughts, while being aware both of our past - our ancestral wisdom and energetic inheritance, and our future
- where we are increasingly conscious and in touch with our unique soul's purpose and more able to manifest it. Higher consciousness courses abound these days, inviting everyone to be their best self in service of planetary healing. The old dichotomies of activist and contemplative seem to be merging into sacred activism, with all causes finding common ground and creative ways to provide mutual support. Kindness and peace are at the heart of these efforts - creating the new human - who we need to be to transform our relationships with each other and with our planetary home.
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GCAN UPDATE
MEETINGS
Our next GCAN Meeting is on
Wed, Dec 2, 7:00-9:15 pm. The topic is
"Renewable Portfolio Standard & Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act" with Brooke Harper from CCAN. It will include a Lobby Training, geared specifically for us in District 22. You will receive a separate email with more details in late-November.
DISCUSSION CIRCLES
We just finished a six-week circle on "Sustainability & Resilience for Greenbelt Newcomers" . We plan to start a new discussion circle, as soon as we get enough interested participants. We will choose between two topics:
"Transition Streets" or "Change is Our Choice". For more info, visit
http://transitionus.org/transitionstreets and
http://www.nwei.org/discussion-course-books/climate/. If you are interested, please let Lore know what nights of the week work best for you.
GCAN "ACTIVISTS"
We continue to have a broad-spectrum focus.
CITY: Join us on
Monday, Nov. 23rd at 8 pm as GCAN petitions the City Council to write a letter to President Obama, regarding the Paris Climate Talks, taking place Nov 30-Dec 11.
http://www.cop21.gouv.fr/en. We continue to support the city's Green Team Zero Waste Circle, headed up by Susan Barnett.
COUNTY: This fall, we are working with CCAN and PG-Sierra Club on a
Prince George's County Ban on Fracking. GCAN Members attended a county hearing on Oct 29th, met with County Councilman Todd Turner on Oct 30th, and attended a listening session with Mel Franklin on Nov 9th. Please email
[email protected], if you would like to join our special Advocacy Team.
GCAN is also working with
"Clean Air Prince George's" to fight 5 new Gas Power Plants in the county and two new gas pipelines.
STATE: This fall, we are also working with CCAN on the re-authorization of the
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act (GGRA). We had a table at the October 24 Climate Expo in Suitland, and will devote our December meeting to this topic.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
Our
Greenbelt Time Bank is up and running with 114 members and 684 hours exchanged. The next Orientation/Training is
Wed, Dec 9, 7-9 pm at the Greenbelt Makerspace. To RSVP, visit
www.greenbelttimebank.org or email
[email protected].
The
Greenbelt Cooperative "Incubator" Group continues to meet. Current coop ideas are an Early Learning Center in Franklin Park, a Composting Co-op to make organic soil, A Worker Co-op for the Old Greenbelt Theater, A Kids Co-op to do printing and copying, and an Edible Landscaping Co-op. Our next meeting will be on
Sat, Dec 19, 2-4 pm, in a private home. Contact
[email protected] for more info.
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Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society
P.O. Box 1841 | Greenbelt, MD 20768
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