President’s Message 2012

Many of us are already in 2012 garden-planning mode, but we left 2011 behind only four short weeks ago! As Bolton Local enters its fourth year, this is a good time to stop and reflect on where we’ve been and start thinking about what lies ahead, beyond our gardens.

Last year Bolton Local brought to the community a number of different programs designed to educate and inform about large issues that could impact our lives, and to inspire discussion about pathways to action. Our monthly Bolton Local nights at the library offered not only food for thought, but also refreshments and an opportunity to meet and chat with other like-minded people. We’d like to thank the library for partnering with us to make these monthly programs possible.

Our programs at the library included:

• A presentation on peak oil by Harvard Local’s Bill Blackwell.
• The film “Power of Community,” about how people in Cuba worked together to overcome the hardships brought on by the Soviet Union cutting the country off from oil imports in the 1990s.
• The PBS documentary “Growing Greener Schools”—how schools across the country are working to promote and educate about sustainability.
• The movie “In Transition,” about communities all over the world that have turned their focus to living more sustainably, in the face of an impending peak in worldwide oil production.
• A presentation by Transition Town trainer Tina Clarke.
• The documentary “No Impact Man,” about writer and environmentalist Colin Beavan, who vows to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year.
• A presentation led by Bolton Local gardeners, “Composing, Plain and Simple.”
• A talk about the potentially harmful chemicals in our environment—and in our own homes.
• A screening of the movie “Tapped,” which examines the role of the bottled water industry and its effects on our health, climate change, pollution, and our reliance on oil.
• A talk by Dave Nolton of Nashoba Analytical on what’s in our water—at home, in public, and in bottles at the store. We were able to subsequently arrange a group discount on home water testing.
• A presentation on emergency preparedness in Bolton and in our own homes.

Our Community Garden continues to be a great success, with gardeners learning and helping each other along the way. We started off 2011 just as we started 2012 this month—with a “garden chat” and plans for a group seed order with Fedco Seeds. As the Community Garden and gardens around town came to fruition last year, we arranged for excess produce to be donated to the Hudson Food Pantry and to the monthly WHEAT Community Services food drop-off in Bolton.

When we organized the “Coop Scoop” chicken chat and a tour of Bolton chicken coops last summer, we discovered there is a large community of chicken-lovers out there! Some were just getting started and looking for ideas; others were “old hands” at it, there to offer advice and support.

Besides our monthly programs, we also helped promote the yearly Town Cleanup championed by Mary Boyd, and organized the second annual Townwide Yard Sale, which by all accounts was a huge success—and a lot of fun!

Speaking of fun, we also enjoyed a summer get-together at my house, where we visited with each other, enjoyed delicious potluck dishes, and also did a little work—brainstorming about things we could be doing better. We capped off the year with a delightful holiday party at the home of Bolton Local Vice President Laura Kischitz. No work this time—just visiting, sampling more great food, and getting to know one another a little better.

So what’s in store for 2012?

We’ve already been busy with programming. In mid-January we sponsored the internationally-acclaimed Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, which was attended by close to 30 people—some from as far away as Lexington, Arlington, and Needham. Our first movie screening of the year was “Hooked on Growth”—a real conversation-starter! Up ahead we have a bread-making workshop on Feb. 11, and the movie “Food Matters,” on March 15, to be followed by a discussion led by Bolton nutritionist Beth Colon.

Beyond that, we plan to continue with our successes:

• The Townwide Yard Sale
• The Community Garden, and the donation of excess produce to those in need
• More “Coop Scoop” chats
• Enhanced monthly programming that will not only educate about global/regional issues, but will also focus more on pathways to action

We also plan to embark on new and exciting ventures designed to support local businesses and to help people understand what this Bolton community of ours is all about. We plan on:

• A “Buy Local” campaign, complete with a directory of local businesses
• A cable TV talk show, looking at and talking about Bolton’s past, present, and future—and the challenges and opportunities before us.

Our Yahoo discussion group is growing, and we continue to see new faces at our events. We hope more people will join us in pursuing our mission of building “a strong, self-reliant community culture made up of people committed to living sustainably on the planet in a way that inspires, builds friendships, and offers a hopeful vision for the future.”

—Lynda King, president, Bolton Local

For information on upcoming events and programs, stay tuned to this website!