Reporting Meeting of April 28, 2008

(For Distribution May 5)

- Laura told us about the 4H Walkathon and updating our onion sales. We are up to 80 bags.

- Mary told us about the Europeans coming to visit us and all the work Garry has done to make this happen. She shared a picture of the visiting group.

- Steve told us how an amazing group of Rotarians took on the “Closet Disaster of 2008” and turned it into a state of the art facility including flag racks and customized shelving. Our thanks to Harold Townley, Ken Crotty, and Dick Arthur.

- Bob Youmans told us about another group of Rotarians that anchored the activities on the town clean up. These included Harold, Sandy and Greg, Jim and Susan, and Ginni and Rey. Thanks for weighing in.

- Peter told us about a June 4^th conference at Hudson Valley Community College entitled “Careers and Education for the Second Half of Life.” One of the sessions will be on giving back to your community.

- We were also told that our own Dan Stec will be the next District Governor. Congratulations Dan. Remember to key those “extracurricular activities” to a minimum.

Ron introduced Sue Johnson and her organization “Seeds for Peace.” Sue said she got involved in gardening at the age of 5. She started her gardening business when she got older. One day she saw a story on the conditions in Bosnia and decided she could help. She ordered seeds to be sent over there and “grew” her organization from that time on. Seeds for Peace now provide seeds to communities in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Uganda, and Tutwiler and Waveland Mississippi. She partners with the American Friends Service Committee, the AIDS Orphans Education Trust, the Tutwiler Community Education Center and the Giving Circle. Last year they sent 150 pounds of seed to Bosnia and 300-500 packets to Uganda.

Through her connections, they were also able to send leftover Halloween candy to Tanzania. Kids who have never had chocolate were able to try it for the very first time. Sue shared pictures of the kids with us. She talked about how special it was for the kids who made baskets of candy to be sent over and then to see pictures of these kids in Tanzania with their baskets. Of course, Steve Cain was very interested in finding out about Sue’s goodies.

Sue talked about some of the problems that are particular to regions. In Bosnia you had to be extremely careful since they have the most land minds of any European country. In Uganda they don’t want flower seeds for a cash crop because they need to use whatever land they have to grow food. Her biggest head ache these days however is the increased cost of shipping.

Through her work and through the work of the network Sue has brought together former adversaries in Bosnia to work in community gardening. She has helped to create gardens in Brooklyn, involving former convicts. She has helped communities throughout the world come together and to become more self sufficient. All the while she has gotten all of us to remember how fortunate we are to have food security and to know that we can make a difference in the world one seed at a time.

Sue will be going over to Bosnia for 8 days this summer and is having a fund raiser at Gaffney’s this June. She hopes to visit us again when she returns.

We all wished her well and shared our happy dollars and warm thoughts with her and, after a quick song, the bell clanged at 7:28pm.

Reported by Peter Sawyer