Things to Do This Weekend!

Readers, April is a difficult month for posting because there's so much going on. In fact, there's so much going on, that I thought I'd post the entire list, here for your perusal. All events are free unless otherwise specified:

Thursday, April 22
EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
11am – 2pm
Hodson Hall Commons and Cater Walk
An open community event for students, staff, faculty and friends of the college featuring foods from local farmers on our menu. We will be hosting a farmers market along Cater walk and showing the film "2 Angry Mom’s" in the Center Stage.
Fee to general public for lunch buffet $6.00

Friday, April 23
"Nourishing Traditional Diets for the 21st Century", a talk by Sally Fallon
7PM
Author Sally Fallon Morell exposes the dangers of low-fat diets and urges a return to traditional food choices and preparation techniques. She will speak in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, Washington College. Sponsored by the Anthropology Department and the Center for Environment & Society.

Saturday, April 24
Mutt Strut & Earth Day Festival
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Fountain Park & Memorial Row
Chestertown

The Kent County Humane Society, the Town of Chestertown, and Washington College's Center for Environment & Society will present the annual Mutt Strut & Earth Day Festival in downtown Chestertown on Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Festivities begin in Fountain Park with the Farmers' Market, live music, and registration for the 13th annual Mutt Strut. The dog parade starts at 10 a.m. and winds through Town, finishing at the Courthouse where Shelter Associate Courtney Phelps presides over a series of "pawsitive" pet tricks, canine competitions and agility contests. There is a $10 registration fee for Mutt Strut, while Earth Day and pet fair festivities are free and open to the public.
Earth Day features eco-friendly exhibitors, crafters and vendors; free paper shredding; free recycling of fluorescent bulbs; free recycling of rechargeable- and alkaline batteries; environmental education, and opportunities for kids of all ages to learn why it is important to take care of Mother Earth's air, land and water. "The social, environmental and economic choices we make today have real consequences for the planet," says Mayor Margo Bailey.
For more information, call 410/778-7295 or visit ces.washcoll.edu and www.kenthumane.org.

* 8:00 AM - Farmers' Market opens in Fountain Park
* 9:00 AM - music begins on Memorial Row
* 9:00 AM - dog walkers register in Fountain Park
* 10:00 AM - dog parade begins
* 10:30 AM - dog agility contests begin in Fountain Park
* 1:00 PM - festival ends on a happy note

Mutt Strut & Earth Day is a community event sponsored by the Town of Chestertown, the Kent County Humane Society, and the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College.

Sunday, April 25
Taste of the Town
Featuring sampler plates of the signature dishes of 15 of Chestertown’s finest restaurants and caterers, including the beneficiary of the event, the Culinary Arts program of the Kent County High School.

Participating restaurants and caterers range from nouvelle gourmet to those famous for regional classics such as Maryland Crab Soup.

The tented event will take place from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m in Chestertown’s waterfront Wilmer Park.

In addition to food, Taste of the Town will offer beer, wine from the local Cassinelli Winery, beverage stations, a cookbook sale, raffles for restaurant gift certificates and
a live auction of select premier items donated by restaurants and sponsors.

"Skipjack: America's Last Sailing Oystermen", Christopher White and the Watermen of Tilghman’s Island
5pm – 6pm
Decker Theatre, Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts
Join us for a powerful discussion about the decline of the oyster harvest and the future of the oystermen's way of life. The event will include a talk by Christopher White, author of the critically-acclaimed new book, Skipjack: The Story of America's Last Sailing Oystermen, and a unique public conversation with four legendary senior skipjack captains: 89-year-old Arthur Daniels, Jr. and his son Stan Daniels, both of Deal Island, and Wade Murphy, Jr. and Stanley Larrimore of Tilghman Island.
You are invited to "Meet the Captains" at the post-program Oyster Reception and book signing. Attendees will also have an opportunity to explore a remarkable exhibition of skipjack-inspired art, including photography, paintings and models by Chesapeake masters Marion E. Warren, A. Aubrey Bodine, John Barber, Carolyn Egeli, Tim Bell, the CBMM Modeling Club, and many others.
The event is co-sponsored by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience and the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College.

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The End of the Long Summer

So last night the environmental author Dianne Dumanoski gave a talk at the college. If you missed it, and I bet you did, then you missed quite a discussion. You can read all about her book, The End of the Long Summer, over at her website, www.diannedumanoski.com.

Dumanoski started by pointing out a fundamental flaw of the environmental movement, and one I’ve pointed out several times on this blog. We aren’t particularly honest with ourselves when we discuss our goals, if we discuss them at all. We talk about saving the planet, but this is an act of pure hubris- the planet will get on just fine if there’s climate change. There has been climate change many times in the past, and species have died back and rebounded in new and astounding ways.

What we’re really doing is saving the planet so we can still live on it. We can talk about saving whales and trees and rare species of butterfly, but let’s face it, we’re really talking about saving ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing immoral about wanting to preserve your own species so your potential grandchildren can keep on trucking. Well, metaphorically- trucks may be extinct by then. But you get the idea.

In her book, and in her talk, she attempts to look beyond the symptoms of “planetary distress” to the actual cause. It was a refreshing talk in that she didn’t just ramble on about climate change- a frequent topic, among lecturers, and one she certainly brought up- but addressed the likelihood that we are in fact actually past the point of no return. Climate change, according to most research, is now inevitable. There’s no going back. We can mitigate the effects of climate change, certainly, and so there’s no reason to throw our hands up in despair and stop pursuing cleaner energy sources and things of that nature. But we also have to think beyond those mitigating efforts. If climate change is indeed upon (and it seems that it is- it is only the when and where and to what extent that are up for debate), our planning should be for how we handle the changes that will occur.

This isn’t a momentous idea. Most people, with only a cursory knowledge of human history, will agree that things change. Things aren’t the same now as they were 100 years ago. And yet we tend to act as if things are never going to change. Our economy is based on this notion of exponential growth, without taking into account that at some point there will be no more possibility of growth- we live in a limited environment (presuming we don’t expand into space, and the very thought makes me roll my eyes). Our food system is based on fossil fuels. Our communications (and most of our economy) are all based on a very fragile system that could fall apart with a few well placed keystrokes. And our heating and cooling is all based on electricity, as is our access to water. If these things are taken away- if something were to happen to disrupt public water systems, for example- would any of us know what to do?

These things are rarely taken into account. Dumanoski argues that we’re asking the wrong questions. We’re trying to “green the status quo”, a phrase that I love, because it so accurately describes efforts to find a technological fix for everything. On one of the green blogs I subscribe to, I am daily barraged with tips on “greening” everything from hair dryers to toothpicks to vacations to gym memberships. But there the question of whether we should continue to pursue all these avenues is never, not a once, brought into light.

The common law among environmentalists is that we can never, EVER, mention the dirty words “maybe we should just give that up.” No, we cannot question consumption. We can never, god forbid, question the mandate of constant economic growth, or the desire of people to own private jets. People will never subscribe to environmentalism if we’re so negative.

But Dumanoski’s call to action is not for us all to go around crying that the sky is falling. Rather, she simply suggests we be honest with ourselves, that we in fact must be honest with ourselves, if we hope to survive as a species. If we don’t prepare for climate change, how can we possibly face it? Wouldn’t the worst catastrophe be if climate change occurred, and very abruptly as scientists are predicting, and we all just stood there with a big “oh [insert four letter word here]” sketched on our faces?

She pointed out that the answers are in fact just in front of our faces. The planet organizes things in such a way as to be resilient to catastrophe. There are multiple species doing the same job, or similar, so that if one is killed off there are others to take their place. The college does this as an emergency planning measure- if one person is out, we are all required to have a second and third person trained to do our jobs so things don’t come to a grinding halt. Ecosystems are also modular- connected, somewhat, but not to the point where if one collapsed there would necessarily be a chain reaction wiping out all the others. But we in our global society are all very specialized- and all very connected- so that if oil reserves run out, for example, pretty much all of us are screwed. But that’s a topic I intend to write more about later.

During the Q&A the topic of hope came up- what is there to give us hope that we can face the momentous task of preparing for climate change, when we neither know when it’s going to occur or what form it’s going to take? Dumanoski responded that we can’t have hope unless it’s honest- unless we are willing to face the facts about what lies ahead, and realize that the “long summer” we’ve enjoyed will not and cannot last forever. She suggests large scale social reorganization as one of the only ways of becoming more adaptable to change- which is of course one of the things our society is most resistant to. She also pointed out that we’re currently educating for a future that doesn’t exist, and this is key. Even here at the college we’re still educating under the assumption that things will be more or less the same down the line when our students are facing the real world.

I think she’s partially right about the honesty- we absolutely have to be honest about what’s ahead. There is far too much unfounded optimism running around where “saving the environment” is concerned- and far too much despair. But I think we have something to be optimistic about. From what I’ve seen, when faced with the honest truth, most humans are able to step up to the challenge. When given a problem and asked to solve it, we have the creative capacity to find solutions- if only we are taught that we do have that capacity within ourselves, if only we are educated to approach problems with enthusiasm and an eye for the experimental, the untried path, the unconventional- and that it doesn’t take experts to save the planet for people, but people with the passion and dedication to be entirely honest with themselves and each other, and jump off that ledge into an unknown future armed with just their wits and one another.

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Earth Day '09

The winners for the 2009 George Gets Ingenious competition was also announced at Earth Day. Congratulations to Nicolas Bash '10! You can view his entry and all the other great ideas for sustainability here.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, gratuitous puppy photos from this year's Earth Day and Mutt Strut in Fountain Park. To see the rest of the photos, check out the CES website. Click to enlarge! And please excuse blogger's inability to line up pictures.

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Just a friendly reminder to our many readers

The third annual international Earth Hour is this weekend! On Saturday, March 28, at 8:30 pm, join millions of individuals and organizations throughout the world as they switch off the lights in their homes and businesses for one hour. The action is a symbolic stand against global warming.

Click here (and here) to see some amazing images of the impact Earth Hour has had.

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Recyclemania

For the fourth year running, Washington College is participating in Recyclemania. This is a national competition among colleges to encourage campus recycling and waste minimization. We are participating in the Per Capita Classic competition, along with rival colleges from our athletic conference including Gettysburg, Dickinson, McDaniel and Hopkins- all of whom are currently beating us except Hopkins- so get recycling!

You can help by using the recycling bins around campus, and encouraging your hallmates to put out their green county bins every week. If you don't have one, ask your RA to contact the recycling coordinator at recycling_coordinator@washcoll.edu.

You can keep updated on the results here.

You can find out more information about campus recycling at George Goes Green

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Living in Ctown

I’m more or less a Baltimore native. We lived in a suburb, however, so my friends and I spent plenty of time whining and complaining about how there was nothing to do- a common activity among teenagers. Even when I lived in Savannah, Georgia, a city similar to Chestertown but about twelve times its size with at least that many more restaurants, bars, clubs, and things to do, we used to sit out on the street on many a Friday night complaining of the lack of options.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t until I moved to Chestertown that I found I was never without something to do.

I know, from having been a student here myself and from the students (and staff) that I still hang out with, that many (most, all) of the people at WC have at one point or another complained about there being nothing to do. And yes, it does sometimes seem as if on a Friday night the option is, sit at home watching movies, or go out and get trashed for the 27th time this month. However, I’d like to take a minute and be an advocate of making your own fun. Not only is this more green than driving to Annapolis, Dover, Philly or DC, but at the root of sustainability (in the opinions of myself and many others) is a love for the place you ARE. When you are invested in one place, and put down roots, and I don’t even mean a specific city so much as a general area, you find that you will do anything in your power to protect it. Think about it this way: Native Americans, even when they were nomadic, were absolutely dedicated to their land, and as a consequence, were much less likely to abuse it.

Plus, its much more fun. You’d be amazed and astounded to learn how many things there are to do in Chestertown, once you get over complaining about it and running away to a “city” every weekend. When I have visitors from out of town, I find I can never fit everything I want to show them into the amount of time my visitor is staying. I still haven’t even explored all of the nooks and crannies myself. It took me years to find a place I loved, but now I’m happier than I ever have been before. This place speaks to me. And I will defend it against all comers.

So, here’s a (brief) list of the things I usually do when I have visitors:
-Walk through town at night.
I absolutely love walking through town at night. It is so, so quiet, and so mysterious and beautiful. Especially the water, with all the ducks all asleep under the dock and the bridge all lit up. The fountain is also amazing (and kind of creepy) at night.

-Walk through town during the day.
A completely different experience. If you haven’t done it, wander through College Heights, and make sure you walk down Queen Street where it becomes Byford Court. Some of my favorite houses in Chestertown are there. The bottom of Queen Street (incidentally where I live) is one of my favorite spots: the houses all have steps down to the street, and this somehow reminds me of a fairy tale. Maybe I just have an overactive imagination. Or walk down Cross Street to Wilmer Park, and make sure to check out Stepne Manor across the street (horses!).

-Sit on the porch (preferably during a thunderstorm)
This is what my friends and I do during most of our spare time. It may sound boring, but this is what I mean by making your own fun. We always have the best, rambling conversations on the porch. Or we sit and watch the stars. Have you seen the number of stars visible over Chestertown?

-Check out the farmer’s market
Open every Saturday morning from March to November, the Farmer’s Market features everything from produce to fresh bread to preserves, homemade soaps, flowers, and crafts. I make a habit of walking to the Chestertown Natural Food store on Cannon first, getting an all natural ginger ale, and drinking it while doing my shopping (and usually munching on a muffin from Sam’s or a croissant from the bread guy).

-Go to First Friday
On the first Friday of every month, the shops downtown open their doors and provide free wine, food, and usually music, all available while you browse the work of local artists. If you aren’t 21, this is slightly less exciting, if you are, I don’t think any more needs to be said than “free wine.” Make sure to hit Antiques on Cannon and the Art’s League next door. My favorite part of this experience is running into so many people I know.

-Visit any of the multitude of events that happen every week
The college campus is packed with events. There are free movies, every weekend. There are free lectures, almost every night. The Students Events Board has been going crazy bringing comedians and musicians to campus. There are musicians at Andy’s and O’Connor’s almost every weekend. The Prince has a constant run of plays, music, and other entertainment. Plus, the town goes all out every few months for a packed weekend of events- this coming weekend is Downrigging, where you will find free films, a chance to board the tall ships (including the Amistad, the one they made the movie about), and fireworks, in addition to all the Halloween related events. chestertown.com for details.

I could go on. And on. And I probably will, in a later entry, but for now, take this as a starting point. Make your own fun!

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Puppies (Why our jobs are awesome)

I can't resist, really. This year we partnered with the Kent County Humane Society for their annual Mutt Strut and Pet Fair, and our annual Earth Day celebration. We all gathered in Wilmer Park for a day of sunshine, puppies, eco-exhibitors, tons of food, music, and more puppies. When the Mutt Strut arrived in the park and we were suddenly swarmed with about a hundred adorable excited dogs at once, I really thought I was going to die of joy. Here's just a taste of the excitement:









Awwwwww. For more pictures, check out the CES webpage.

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