So, What are You doing On Monday at 1:30?

Edited to add: Council meetings are in the Council Chambers at City Hall, just to the left inside the main doors. You can bring your letter along and drop it at the reception desk, to the attention of Patti Bridal, the city clerk.
There are several opportunities here:
Sam Zaharia (fellow homeschooler) has been very active in our community around food security and has started lobbying the city of Vernon to change the bylaws so that we'd be able to keep a few chickens in our backyards, like the cities of Victoria, Seattle, New Westminster, Burnaby and Nanaimo. On Monday, March 9, at 1:30 pm Sam appears before council to give her 5 minute summation of her case. HERE'S A GREAT CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE by showing up and showing your support for a fellow homeschooler and ultimately for food security in our fair city. As cities around the world face drought and food scarcity, it's time for us to take a stand for the right to raise as much food as we can in our own backyards. Chickens are an excellent educational way to turn food scraps into compost, eliminate pest problems in the garden (cherry fly and slugs disappear when chickens are present -- they even help keep mice populations down!) and provide fresh eggs all at the same time! We're allowed to have rabbits, which can cause all kinds of environmental problems, dogs which we all know can be noisy (and their excrement can be a real environmental problem), cats which are difficult to contain and are a very real threat to bird populations, but not chickens, the most helpful pet around! Studies show that chickens raised free-range have virtually no risk of spreading avian flu (as opposed to chickens raised industrially) yet many industrial chicken lobbyists are using that inaccurate fear to keep us from having the right to raise our own eggs and meat.
ALSO, Sam is looking for a good, loving home for two breeding pairs of Auracana chickens. This means you'll get eggs and the possibility of watching while your pair raises a flock of babies! What an educational treat! Here are her details:
BREEDING PAIR (possibly two pairs) of Auracana cross. The hens lays nice blue-green eggs. The roosters are gorgeous, show all the standard traits of the breed, show very well, have won ribbons at the IPE. We love these birds and are forced by the city to give them up so they must go to a good home, not on the dinner table!!! Must go soon. Email Sam at mumpy5@shaw.ca if you're interested.
ALSO, writing a letter to council stating your own concerns about food security and how you see having backyard chickens could be a partial solution to that would be EXTRA helpful.
HOPE TO SEE YOU ON MONDAY!

Lunar Eclipse Coming soon!!!!

This is from the Science Centre:
On the evening of Wednesday, February 20th, the full Moon slides through the Earth’s shadow to create a lunar eclipse that is visible all over North America. There won’t be another total lunar eclipse visible on this continent until 2010. The eclipse starts just as the Moon starts to rise in the eastern sky around 5:40pm. When the Moon enters the Earth’s shadow, it will appear to change colour, becoming orange/red at full eclipse. This should last about an hour giving you plenty of time to get a good look and maybe snap a few photographs.
For more detailed information, visit the NASA eclipse page at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEmono/TLE2008Feb21/TLE2008Feb21.html

Earth Savers Club

I read Rhiannon this article that Mary Sue posted in the village and we were talking about how plastic is everywhere and how we need to do our best to not buy anything plastic and generally talking about the article and the grossness of what is happening. She turned to me and said, "Mom, we have to start the Earth Savers Club right now". The name comes from a Berenstain Bears book "The Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute Anymore". But her thought is to get some kids together and pick up some garbage (with gloves on, Mom). I would really like to encourage her in taking action.

Anyone else game? I'd really like to follow through and set a date and DO IT!

Andrea

100 Mile Diet Talk

Hey, this has crept up awfully quickly, hasn't it?
Thursday, April 26
Schubert Centre
7 to 9 pm
With: Jen Gamble (Shuswap Eat Local Project) Sarah Clark (Slow Food Movement) and Wendy Aasen (Food Action Coalition)

Anyone going? I sure want to but have to find a way to get my barn full of garage sale items over to Lynn's that night as well...