It’s the Spring Share Faire!

Lucie Stern Community Center, Fireside Room and Patio, Sunday, March 15,  11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Bring stuff to share – garden produce, books, clothes, crafts, toys, etc., AND learn new skills.

Plus fun activities for kids!

We’re excited to be holding our first Share Faire at Lucie Stern Community Center.  The Fireside Room will give us some wonderful indoor space (and a place to hide from the rain, if only!).  The Patio will allow us to spread out, holding many skill shares and sharing lots of goods, as usual.

We’ve had quite a few teachers approach us, some who’ve shared skills before and who have new things to offer, others who are first timers.  You’ll want to spend a little time visiting them all.  And there’s certainly room for a couple more:  if you have a skill to share, let us know and we’ll see if we can fit you in.  Send an e-mail to Peter Ruddock at PeterRuddock@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Confirmed skill shares so far:

• Cecile Andrews, author of Living Room Revolution, will stir up a little Patio Revolution.  She will lead a Conversation Circle about Conversation and Community!
• Tom Kabat will help with bike maintenance, chain oil and adjustment etc.  Bring any parts you want to install (e.g. new brake cable, brake pads, inner-tube etc.)  Experienced bike fixer / ergonomic adjuster available to work with you.
• Emily  Rosen CMT, will facilitate massage, working with people in pairs. Sooooothe and connect.. Partner up with a friend and learn some great techniques for 10 minute seated massage.    We could all use some TLC! 
• Amanda Kovattana will demo simple shoe making skills using readily available hand tools and instructions. As a student shoe maker in her second year, she will speak to her successes and failures and show shoe samples of both.
• Nick Turner of deep nature gardens will offer pre-sprouted “eco-packs” – small pots containing a variety of interesting plants, many of them not available in nurseries, and he will demonstrate how to create them using planting mix, a pot, and the special “eco-mix” seed mixture. People can make up an eco-pack of their own and take it home for sprouting. There will also be eco-mix in small bottles, useful for boosting the diversity of any nature garden, plus more cool stuff as available.
• Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN) will be providing some give-a-ways and sharing information about their programs that benefit the community. NHN has a Backyard Program for Gardeners-Beekeepers-Coopsters.
  Come see their backyard garden program display, receive seeds and more.

Transitioners from the South Bay joined thousands of other people from around California at the Anti-Fracking march and rally in Oakland February 7.  The weather cooperated, with just enough rain to put smiles on drought-weary faces,  but not too much to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

The event could have been entitled “Jerry Brown, listen up!” It was a personal message to the governor, who has positioned himself as a leader on climate policy, but has so far resisted efforts to ban the practice of hydraulic fracking in California. Major concerns about the process include contamination of groundwater from the chemicals involved and the amount of water involved in the extraction process.

Here are some pix from the march. And there are plenty of ways to get involved. Check out the Sierra Club and 350.org.

Pix from the march:

This month we’re delighted to bring back one of our all time favorite Films of Vision and Hope. A Convenient Truth shows how creative and forward-looking urban leaders in Curitiba, Brazil transformed their city, fashioning innovative solutions from major problems. And the work in Curitiba continues to influence urban planners around the world. It’s a good time to take a new look at the film, because one of the major innovations it highlights is bus rapid transit (BRT),  which is now a hot topic on the Peninsula. Learn what Curtiba did to make a difference, including why dedicated BRT buses and lanes are so important for increasing ridership and better serving the community. We’ll also hear from folks active in pushing for BRT locally.

Don’t miss it!

Friday February 27
7:30pm (come at 7:15 for social time)
Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto Fireside Room
505 E Charleston Rd, Palo Alto, CA 

All ages welcome
$5 recommended donation – no one turned away for lack of funds