WELL NEWSLETTER – July 5, 2006
Calendar of WELL Events
Monday, July 10 – Speaker Event: “Elders Speak”
6:30 - 8:30pm Little Lake Grange Hall – 291 School St.
Come listen to stories addressing traditional values and agricultural practices here in the Little Lake Valley. This event will be co-sponsored by the Little Lake Grange.

Saturday, July 22 – Special Meeting: “The Future of WELL”
9:30am – 4:30pm – Willits City Council Chambers
This all day meeting will culminate in the adoption of WELL’s Membership and Governance structures and the Strategic Plan. Subcommittees have been working hard on drafts, which will be widely available by mid-June. Please come to this meeting to give your feedback, work on incorporating changes, and, to VOTE on accepting these documents. This is the culmination of months of work and visioning.

I have again attached all three documents for your convenience. Please – print out these documents, read them carefully, take notes. There are also copies available in the office for anyone who is interested. You may give your feedback prior to the meeting by contacting WELL (contact information is at the bottom of the newsletter) or, you may come to the meeting and give your input directly. However, it is critical that you take the time to absorb the voluminous amount of information in these documents – PRIOR to the meeting and that you make your comments in writing.

Schedule:
9:30 – 10am – arrive, settle in, tea and coffee available
10am – Introduction to the days work (we will begin promptly at 10)
10:15am – Presentation of Membership document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
10:45am – Presentation of Governance document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
11:15am – Presentation of Strategic Plan document, clarifying questions, straw poll, written comments
noon – Lunch break
1pm – Break out groups for each of the three documents (each person attends one group) These groups work together to incorporate all the written comments submitted and agree upon a final draft to be ratified.
2:30pm – Short break, then reassemble as large group
2:45pm – Membership document re-presented, vote to ratify 3:15pm – Governance document re-presented, vote to ratify
3:45pm – Strategic Plan document re-presented, vote to ratify
4:15pm – Closing
4:30pm – End

The day will be facilitated by Marc Grail and Spring Senerchia. The break-out sessions will each have facilitators and members of the committee who drafted the document will be available to answer questions.

It would be helpful to know who plans to attend – just so we can get an idea of the size of our group. If you plan to come, please let us know using the contact information at the bottom of the newsletter. It is critical that you bring your comments and suggested edits in writing.

Saturday, July 22 – PARTY
6-10 pm, at the Bradford home – 284 Redwood Ave.
Join us to celebrate this day’s hard work and all of WELL’s progress. More details to come.

Saturday, July 29
10am – Noon, 130 Tuttle Lane, Willits
Free class at the demonstration Medicine Chest Garden, with special guest, KC Chamberlain who will regale us with the wonder of lavender. We will tincture some fresh lavender also. Bring a chair and a sunhat.

Look for our August/September schedule coming to town soon.

Our schedule is intentionally light this summer. We suspect that people will busy with travel plans, gardening and general warm weather frolicking. The events we have planned should be FUN, as well as informative. It is also our sincere hope that folks will take time to carefully read the documents that our three hard working committees – Strategic Planning, Membership and Governance – will be distributing soon. Broad, carefully considered input is welcome and vital in this process. We hope that by the end of the summer we will have a lot of these details agreed upon and in place, allowing us to turn our attention to further projects – large and small alike.

Past Events

Project update meeting
On June 12 there was an energizing WELL meeting where current projects were discussed and attendees had the chance to be updated on progress. There was recently a very good article in the Willits News, which you can read here: http://www.willitsnews.com/localnews/ci_4014439

Other Events

“An Inconvenient Truth” There have been a lot of good reviews of Al Gore’s film, which relates to topics that concern WELL. This film will be showing in Willits Friday, July 7 through Thursday, July 13. There will be three showings per day. Call the Noyo Theater – 459.6696 - for prices and times. To learn more about the film, go the website: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

On Wednesday, July 12, WELL participants will moderate a discussion of the film, directly following the 7:10pm screening, in the theater. Everyone is welcome to participate. Thanks to the Noyo staff for this special opportunity to respond to the facts, images and feelings in this ground breaking film.

Audiences everywhere respond to An Inconvenient Truth with spontaneous applause and standing ovations. That’s because An Inconvenient Truth gives voice to a crisis that impacts us all: global warming. The facts are chilling and galvanizing individuals. Reversing global warming is not a political issue. It’s a practical and realistic proposal. It’s our civic responsibility. If we, our children, and our children’s children want to continue living on Earth, it’s an imperative.

Bring your self, a friend, especially young people.

San Francisco Oil Awareness
Please help San Francisco Oil Awareness spread the word about the upcoming hearing on July 28 at City Hall regarding Peak Oil and the ramifications it could have for our city and region. If you have relatives in the San Francisco Bay Area – encourage them to attend.

This event will be both a press conference and an opportunity for officials and the general public to learn more about Peak Oil and the ramifications. The attached Acrobat file provides further details regarding the hearing, and the press conference scheduled in advance of the hearing – this attachment is short and worth the read.

Do you like to EAT? FOOD News
C'mon Home to Eat, Eat Local Month
Mary Zellachild sent this in and is offering to help spear head this effort. PLEASE contact her to help so we can join this effort.

We have received a letter from Sara McCamant of the Anderson Valley Local Foodshed, saying they are hoping the rest of the county will join them in organizing a county wide "C'mon Home to Eat, Eat Local Month" this October. Anderson Valley did one last October and it was a great success. It would be a good way for us to start to get the issues and ideas around local food out there.

Some of the things they organized last year: A pledge for people to eat local (within 100 miles) that month; worked with local restaurants to highlight what’s local on their menus or have a local food special; asked stores to let them put tags on what was grown within 100 miles; taught canning classes, using local restaurants; did outreach with schools; put up local food displays at the farmers market and in stores; printed a local food guide (they’d like to have input from our area); and did radio shows and newspaper articles.

It would be good to make some effort here in Willits to be part of this. It will take a lot of ideas, follow through, and people willing to work on it to make it happen. Sara says it takes about 2 months, which means we would need to start in August.

What We Need to Carry This Out
(The number of activities that will actually happen during the month depends on the response received.)
• A planning committee (at least one other person besides me) to coordinate activities and gather information to be distributed
• Media/Publicity group to distribute information
• A group to help plan a “Local Harvest Festival” – potluck or catered meal with local foods to end the month
• Liaison for school activities
• A liaison for stores and restaurants
• Someone to organize and/or teach harvest processing (canning, drying and/or freezing)
I see the first 3 of these to be the minimum needed for us to do this project. . Anyone who is interested in helping with this, please contact me at 459-3963 or maryzel@saber.net

Eat Locally Guide
Julie Honegger, of the Anderson Valley Foodshed Group’s Eat Locally Guide Committee recently sent us this:

To Willits Friends:

The Anderson Valley Foodshed Group is amping up its effort to create the Eat Locally Guide. We just received a grant to help fund the project, and now we really need to push to find the information to fill the guide.

Attached is an updated version of the food survey with cover letter. Please fill out and/or send this survey out to food producers in your area; at this point we only have 3 completed surveys and we need more! Due to the difficulty in obtaining the completed surveys, we've also decided to go visit food producers at the Farmer's Markets in order to expedite the process =) You'll see our smiling faces around the county at the markets in the next couple of weeks.

Please help with this effort by passing on the food survey and making sure it gets filled out. I have attached it here, or you can contact me for a copy.

100 Mile Menu
The Hopland Inn “epicenter of Hopland” recently reopened and Executive Chef and inn co-owner Shaun Behren says much of the new menu, and the ideas behind it, were designed around the local community. "The community wants to be here," Behren said.

This excerpt is from the Ukiah Daily Journal. The full article is informative and worth checking out. You can read it here: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/features/ci_3963170

"The dinner menu, which will be available in the entire restaurant, includes both seasonal appetizers and entrees made from local fare.

I'm trying to do a 100 mile menu," Behren, who graduated from the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, said. This means all ingredients come from within 100 miles of the inn. In addition to the number of herbs and greens Behren grows on site, local items include grass-fed beef from 60 miles away, produce from Sonoma and walnuts from Lakeport. "If I've got to pay $10 for hazelnuts that come from Oregon, why not pay $3 for walnuts to come from Lakeport," Behren explained. "A nut is a nut." Buying locally also saves the customer money on freight charges and is better for the environment, according to Behren. As a result, the inn throws out less packing materials.

Because Behren uses only local items, both the dinner and bistro menu will change seasonally.”

Meat processing and packing, in Ukiah?
Els Cooperrider sent this news to us:

Sam Golberger from Marin is looking to put a meat processing and packing plant in Ukiah. His vision is for a multi species plant- everything from buffalo to goats. Also included could be an educational component.

This is just what we need. If the EL groups can support this project it will really help 'localize' the meat scene.

Please contact Els – els@ukiahbrewingco.com or Sam - 415-435-1107 or tirmidi@mac.com, if you can help with this project.

Get Involved
Barn Raising – this Saturday
Saturday, July 8, from 9 to 1, we will be working at the community garden located at 221-D S. Lenore (on at the corner of E. Valley and Lenore) among the WISC (County) buildings. We will meet at there at 9 am, warm up a bit and get to working on moving wood chips, weed eating and some test digging.

Bring any of the following, if you have them: labeled weed eaters, wheel barrows, shovels, rakes, knee pads for weeding, hat, gloves, study shoes, water and your own eating utensils.

We can use some cooks to volunteer! Bring food at 1 pm for lunch.

Questions? Call Diane at 456-9086.

Happy Summer! Let's get together to further this important garden.

P.S. Due to Medea Benjamin coming on August 11 & 12, there will be no barn raising in August.

Willits WELLness Network update:
Willits WELLness Network goes to the garden!

As most of you know, the Willits Wellness Network has been meeting monthly since March of 2005. We are ready to move into a new phase so we will be gathering at the old Creamery, 475 E. Valley Street, on Sunday, July 9, at 9 am to beat the heat. We will gather herbs for a luscious tea to serve the following evening, June 10 (at the WELL 'Elder Speak' event, 6:30 pm at the Grange). We will be identifying the herbs growing there at the 'pharm' and networking.

We can pick some food to eat or you may like to bring some food - ideally local - for a potluck lunch at noon. Come for any or all of the time. There are green houses to rehabilitate. Let's evaluate the property for needs and value.

Summer is here and things are growing. It is time to get out in the garden and get our hands dirty. This is where the rubber meets the road, to use a hopelessly outdated metaphor.

Let's begin to make the Herbal Apothecary a reality. Prophessor Ping Pong (P3) has generously offered his property at the Creamery as a place to identify the volunteer weeds, cultivate herbs, start seedling in the greenhouse and process the herbs into medicines for the people of Willits and for trade. Here is a list of what is growing already:

mint, passionflower, comfrey, shou wu, fennel, feverfew, rose, elecampane, mullein, blackberry, raspberry, hops, valerian, calendula, poppy, horehound, licorice, honeysuckle, burdock, red and white clover, chicory and others!

It is a place to grow food, as well. Come and find some plants that are your allies to care for. We envision a cooperative of people who develop and carry out a plan to steward the herbs and prepare them for use as medicines. We like the idea of a barter system for the exchange.

All Grateful Gleaners and food growers are invited to network with us as there is ample food growing and processing space at the Creamery as well.

Bring your ideas and energy. See you on the 9th. Questions? Call Diane Smalley at 456-9514.

The Medicine Chest Garden
Congratulations to Donna D'Terra who applied for and received a modest grant from the Ukiah Co-op that will help make the Medicine Chest Garden project a reality in 2007.

Come to our next free class at the demonstration Medicine Chest Garden, 130 Tuttle Lane, Willits, on Saturday, July 29, from 10 to noon. Our special guest, KC Chamberlain will regale us with the wonder of lavender. We will tincture some fresh lavender also. Bring a chair and a sunhat.

For further information, phone Diane Smalley, 456-9514

Important Liason Team Forming Now
Keeping tabs on our local government bodies and communicating WELL's opinions to them is vital to accomplishing WELL's goals. In recognition of this we have formed a Liaison Team (as described in the Draft Governance Document) in advance of the July 22 Future of WELL meeting.

Mary Zellachild and Ralph Pisciotta have committed to this effort and we would like a few more volunteers as well. What we want is a group who can commit to this effort, and plan and coordinate strategy to be certain that we are communicating effectively. This committee will pay attention to all of the issues that arise, and coordinate with the governing body of WELL so that they can truthfully represent themselves as being the Voice of WELL to our local governments.

Ralph will be attending the Elders Speak event at the Grange on July 10 and would like to hear from anyone interested in committing to this important task. You may also contact Mary Zellachild - 459-3963 or maryzel@saber.net - or Liam UiCearbhaill – macamergin@yahoo.com

Job Opportunity
You may have seen the following add running in the last few editions of the Willits News. If you’d like to apply, call today as hires are being made presently.

REDI – Renewable Energy Development Institute Introducing 250 Willits homes to HELP, a new Energy Efficiency Program that will provide hands-on, direct assistance to all income levels. HELP is hiring:
Data Coordinator Set-up Excel; Enter and process Survey and Audit data; Produce summaries. $12/hr 12 hours/wk flexible M-Saturday 9AM-4PM June 19 – Oct 27
Household Surveyors Door-to-door; Assist interested households with survey questions. $10/hr 6-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Thurs 6-9PM; Sat 9AM-4PM July 1 – Aug 12. Training provided.
Energy Auditors Conduct household Energy Audits. 10/hr 12-18 hours/wk; flexible; M-Sat 9AM-9PM; July 10 – Sept 15. Training provided.

Contact George at REDI – 459.1256

Office Note:
If you would like to be taken off this mailing list, please let me know and I will gladly oblige.

spring@redinet.org
Spring Senerchia, Office Manager
Willits Economic Localization - WELL
Renewable Energy Development Institute - REDI
75 N. Main St. PMB 234
Willits, CA 95490
707.459.1256