In order for EWU and the greater community to be sustainable, we’ve gotta connect with all the like minded folks in our region; so after meeting the awesome Taylor Weech, coordinator of the Spokane Youth Sustainability Council(YSC), at last weeks incredible Spokane Peace and Justice Action League conference, I decided come to one of YSC’s weekly meetings over at the Peaceful Valley Community Center (every Thursday, 4pm).
YSC will be hosting a forum entitled "Thoughts on The Law" March 31, 6pm
The meeting was in an ecletic room complete with funky old couches and aburned out old cathode ray T.V. that probably screened the Kennedy-Nixon debate to an entire neighborhood. We started out the meeting with everyone introducing themselves and explaining why they like their favorite musician – this welcome introduced me to alot of musicians I didn’t know about including Alexander Rybak (violin and folk), Jack White (forget what), Star F***king Hipster (political lyrics), and Old Crow Radio Show (bluegrass) were scribbled down in my notes as definate ones to seek out. About 11 folks were in attendance and when another two others showed up a few minutes late we quickly did the rounds again to introduce ourselves. Taylor had an agenda set up for the meeting and after reviewing with the group what was on her list, asked if anyone else had other things to add to the agenda, and thusly the meeting began!
First off, the YSC is putting in a garden in a few weeks over in the Pleasant Valley Neighborhood – a whopping 19 beds, including two for Food Not Bombs and two for 2nd Harvest! They’ve already planted 400 starts, seeds included varieties of heirloom tomatoes! The YSC is looking for additional places to get starts growing – I mentioned that the EWU greenhouses might be a possibility.
Second, the Curriculum program for the Gardens. The YSC will be training 30 high school students age 14-24 in gardening, and is currently planning the curriculum for the garden. YSC members will teach the program whenever possible, and bring in experts when its just not possible for YSC folks to learn enough of the subject in order to teach it to others. Ideas include programs about gardening techniques, animal husbandry (field trip to Tolstoy!), and the history of the Spokane Tribe (including ethnobotany?!). If young folks from Sustainable-EWU would like to get involved in planning a curriculum, meet over at the Community Building 25 west Main Street, in the Community Minded Enterprises Office at 4:30 this Tuesday, March 29.
Youth Sustainability Council is seeking submissions for their upcoming Arts Extravaganza!
Third, YoSpo! YoSpo is a Young Spokane art event happening April 15 at the Old Music City Building 1011 W. First. So folks who are under 25, send in your submissions – art, video, and some music samples if you’d like to perform by April 3rd to the YSC website. There will be space for installation art and also human movement art in the store-front window (mimes, dancing, gesture art).
Fourth! The Grow Show installation. Essentially its like the Sister Cities project but even better — instead of exchanging students or just solidarity, Portland, Spokane, Olympia, and Tacoma are exchanging… shopping carts filled with food producing and native plants, and lots and lots of multi-city love. Check out a write up about this event by Black Magic Rabbit (BMR is a local Spokane art group that is dedicated to bringing to light current issues and providing solutions that are rooted in community, sustainability, creativity, and cultural equity). For folks interested in helping to make the cart, the YSC cart’s theme is around growing new life out of trash, so bring your trash that is able to be fashioned into a container to grow plants in — especially needed is colorful trash. Join in making the YSC cart over at the Peaceful Valley Community Center at 3:30 this Monday, March 28.
I’ve gotta say, this was one of the best meetings I’ve been to in a long long time – great people, incredibly creative ideas and so much enthusiasm! I’m glad to be living in Spokane County!
The University of Idaho regional Sustainability Symposium is next week! Sustainable EWU will be blogging about Bill McKibben’s speaking event Wednesday night and the Workshops and Skillshares on Thursday and Friday so if you can’t make it, we’ll be filling in everyone back here at home.
And now for some Old Crow Medicine Show…
