Peace Vigil with Cindy Sheehan and the Tour de Peace Riders in Greenville, IL

THIS Sunday ... come join us!

To learn more about this event, we invite you to check out our May 2013 issue of the Owl Creek Gazette via our Current Issue page!

A Revisit to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage with Elizabeth Gombos

An Ecovillage Week by Week Review with Elizabeth Gombos

Elizabeth Gombos served as an Intern at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, MO, during the summer and shared the following weekly updates about her unique experience with the readers of the Owl Creek Gazette.  

My First Week in an Ecovillage
by Elizabeth Gombos

First of all, I have to say that the people I have met here are so caring, so nice and helpful toward myself and each another. People connect here. Really connect. Since the village is still growing and under construction, there are quite a few people who temporarily live in tents, including work exchangers like myself. Twenty-seven structures built within fifteen years may not sound like very fast progress, but dreams --and eco-houses-- take time. Part of my experience the first week has been adapting to life in a tent. Cool nights, hot days, and something creepy making noise outside of my tent in the middle of the night! After a few days it's not so bad, and the local bunny rabbits keep me company - hopping around my campsite even while I swing in my hammock. They don't seem to have any reason to fear the humans here.

The guests of the bed and breakfast, however, get to experience the best that Dancing Rabbit has to offer. This week Mandy --who is running the Milkweed Mercantile while the owners are on vacation-- has been teaching me how they run an eco-bed & breakfast. We pick fresh flowers for the rooms, and fresh berries for the food --including mulberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries-- that grow all around the village! Almost every meal is made entirely from organic or local food.

As I mentioned in the June print issue, the toilets here are no flush, but to be more precise, they are composting toilets. Yes, they use to compost but no, they aren't spreading it all over their gardens on the food they eat! It composts for at least three years and by the time they use it around fruit trees and ornamental plants it looks --and smells-- just like plain old dirt.

Also, while the village is pedestrian based, there are roads built to accommodate the construction equipment that is bringing in materials and shaping the land. Members of Dancing Rabbit are not allowed to have vehicles, but there is a bio-diesel vehicle co-op, consisting of a truck and two cars. Surprisingly enough, they manage the sharing of these vehicles quite well.

As a temporary accommodation, propane is allowed for cooking use only. Some kitchens use wood stoves for cooking, and/or sun-ovens --which collect heat from the sun similar to a greenhouse. Eventually they expect to find alternative sources for cooking once the village is more complete. Rain water is collected in cisterns, wells, barrels, and buckets, then filtered to become potable.

Song circles, swimming at the pond, dancing, and plenty of other social activities are scattered throughout the week as well.

The people here definitely take pride in all their hard work, their organic and local food, and the bonds they share with each other. I look forward to more interaction with, and learning about, sustainable lifestyles.

Read my blog next week to find out more about what I am learning here at Dancing Rabbit!

___________________________

My Second Week Living at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
by Elizabeth Gombos 

I’m helping to plant fruit and nut-bearing trees -like walnut, mulberry, and cherry -which involves quite a few people in the process, doing multiple tasks over the course of several days. Yes, we’re planting a lot of trees, folks!

First, there are people who “dibble”, which is just a wedge that makes a hole in the ground deep enough for the baby tree roots; after that there are people who plant the trees; then somebody else comes along to bury the roots. Next, somebody drives a stake into the ground, then somebody else comes along with tubes to protect the newly planted trees, and zip-ties the tube to the stake. The last steps include somebody (who has carried a bucket of water from the barrels near the pond) waters the area and somebody else makes a neat little nest of mulch around the whole deal.

So there is a hole in the ground with a tree in the hole and a tube on the tree and a stake on the tube and the mulch on the ground, and the green grass grows all around, all around, the green grass grows all around! :-)

I also started some beautification projects around the village this week. I managed to chop down quite a bit of tall grass with a scythe. For anybody that does not know, a scythe is a long curvy handle with a huge curved blade at the end (like the grim reaper carries!) made for cutting tall grass. Nobody here has a riding lawn-mower. It’s either scythe, use a rotary push mower, or even plug in an electric push mower, but honestly, most people just walk through the paths of tall grass! As a result, my legs have a few scratches and bug bites, but nothing a little anti-itch cream can’t handle. After I got some of that tall grass cut down, I did some landscaping around the visitor’s entrance sign, hopefully preventing the grass from taking over in that area again.

Every week on Tuesday is potluck dinner. This week it took place at Sandhill Farms, an egalitarian community about three miles down the road from DR. Some people walk, some people bicycle, and some people like myself hitched a ride in the co-op truck (when you have to drive, ride-share!). Quite a few times I’ve found myself filling my plate with food that I had no idea what it was, or what was in it, but then find that most of the food is delicious and have no problem cleaning my plate and grabbing seconds of “the stuff with rice in it”, or “the stuff in the green bowl”, haha.

Every week on Thursday is pizza night at the Milkweed Mercantile. This is more my style of food, but better because of the ingredients used! Kathrine, a worker at the Milkweed, comes in to the kitchen in the afternoon to make the pizza dough from scratch. She separates the dough into pizza-sized portions, and leaves it to rise until later that night. She also makes homemade sauce, and I arrive in time to help prepare the twenty-four(!) toppings available. We’re grating fresh mozzarella and feta cheese to order, and slicing and dicing all the toppings ahead of time. There’s the normal toppings you would expect, like pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, onions and peppers (most of them being local and/or organic). Then there’s toppings you might not expect available for pizza, like smoked jalapenos (from a local source), capers, eggs (local), and corn (organic). Personally, this is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had! It blows any franchise pizza out of the water.

The environment here is fertile for people new to sustainable living. I would highly encourage any person to spend a weekend at the eco-inn, order a pizza on Thursday night, stay for the tour on Saturday(every second and fourth Sat. of the month), and learn something new about living sustainably. For those of you who cannot make the trip, keep reading my weekly blog to learn more about my experiences living in an ecovillage.

______________________________

Week 3: A Short Snippet 
by Elizabeth Gombos 

The best thing to happen this week didn’t come from Dancing Rabbit per se, it came from my ingenious family. My mom Gina (of Trimmerz), my uncle Steve, and my grandparents Joyce and Darrell sent my girlfriend Mallory along with a special package when she came to visit over the weekend. They put their resources together and sent me: two car batteries wired in a parallel circuit, an extension cord cut and spliced onto the battery’s posts, a twelve volt drop light, a twelve volt fan with alligator clips on the cord, and a solar panel originally sold as a vehicle battery maintainer. What does all of this mean? It means I have solar power in my tent! Yes ma’am, yes sir, I have solar power in my tent. I’m plugging in my light at night, and my fan during the day. When I leave my tent in the morning I just hook up the solar panel to the batteries to charge.

“The Great Garlic Harvest of 2012“ was also underway this week. At least a thousand heads of garlic have been pulled out of the ground recently. We pulled ‘em out, and strung ‘em up to cure. Garlic is hanging everywhere. I might stink, but the bugs aren’t biting me anymore! No vampires around here either.

I got to pick several pounds of blueberries for making jam. We de-nailed reclaimed wood. We finished making and planting a few flower beds around the front of the village, and started on another two in front of the common house. A timber-framing work party arrived to help build a house for some members of Dancing Rabbit. After they leave, the straw-bale work party will arrive to begin that process.

More interesting news to come! If you enjoy reading about my ecovillage experience, or want to know more, make sure to check out the Owl Creek Gazette on Facebook and tell us what’s on your mind.

____________________________


Week 4 at Dancing Rabbit 
by Elizabeth Gombos 

This week I got my hands dirty doing a little bit of everything. We harvested and hung more garlic, this time at Skyhouse (skyhousecommunity.org) . We dug trenches for pipes coming from the gutter at the commonhouse, to control water run-off in the courtyard. Cleaning inside the Milkweed Mercantile happens every week, all the time! It is quite the place to be, considering it is the only place in Dancing Rabbit to sell cold drinks in the hot summer. People are in and out every single day, so we’re always cleaning the concrete floor and the bathrooms, remaking guest rooms, taking out the recycling, sweeping the porch, and all that good ol’ shop-keeping business.

On my day off, I went shopping for locally produced treats for Father’s Day care packages. I bought sorghum (from Sandhill, a sister community down the road from Dancing Rabbit) and cards here at the Mercantile. Then I went into Rutledge where a local Mennonite family runs a store and cafe. I bought peanut butter brittle, licorice, fresh lemonade (for me!) and Elk jerky that were all made in Missouri (mostly Northeast MO). I took all my goods to the post office across the street. The lady that works at that post office was the nicest person on the other side of a service counter I have ever met! She had extra newspaper to wrap my breakables in. She had a smile on her face that said she was glad to help me, and even priced different packages to see what was the best price. She really made me feel welcome in their small town post office. Rutledge has a population of about one-hundred, and I’ll bet she knows almost everybody’s name.

This week we started to screen-in the front porch at the Mercantile. It looked good already, wrapping around three sides with plenty of room to feed twenty people out front, sitting around separate tables (it felt nice outside and we were cleaning inside so we ate lunch outside Tuesday). We’re using the reclaimed wood we denailed last week to frame the porch in a way that we can put screen around the front and the south side. Yeah, when we’re done you’ll be able to sit on this big beautiful porch, in the shade, protected from bugs, with a nice breeze all around while you sip some sweet iced tea. What a life! Building things is a passion of mine and in two days I got most of the framing up around the two sides that we’ll be screening. On Saturday, we had to quit early because of the rain.

And finally, we got some well deserved rain. And we got most of it all at one time. It started sprinkling, and I had time to walk back to my tent and zip it all up. Once I left my tent to return to work though, I heard the wind turbine make a zapping sound as it was hit by a wall of wind and rain. Heavy, heavy rain. An moment later I was blown sideways and soaked to the bone immediately. It felt amazing. Once we cleaned up all the building materials and equipment I walked around in my squishy boots, walking through every mud puddle and tiny river in my path. Just like when I was a kid in Old Ripley, I stood out in the rain and soaked up every drop I could. No cell phones or car keys in my pockets to get wet. It didn’t rain very long. The sun was back out in no time. Every leaf, every branch, every blade of green was weighed down by residual rain drops, and washed of the dust. Now the air smells crisp and clean.

____________________________

My Week 5 Update
by Elizabeth Gombos 

Sorry for the delay, folks. I took the weekend off to visit home, and since I got back I’ve had a bad bug. I guess eating all that garlic and healthy food still can’t always stop a fever.

Feeling a bit better now, so here’s a little something to keep everyone updated:

The “Done” List:
-Made 4-5 raised garden beds in Sam’s garden.
-Weeded the Sunflower garden.
-Moved the mailboxes so the post office lady can reach them without getting out of her Jeep.
-Weeded in front of the Common House and made two new flower beds.
-Watered the poor dry plants and flowers!
-Deep cleaned the kitchen at the Mercantile
-Made a burn pile out of scrap laying around (bonfire soon!).

The “To Do” List:
-Finish plaster Moonlodge (a private residence).
-Make two new picnic tables for the courtyard area.
-Make a bicycle rack to go outside of the outdoor kitchen.
-Finish screening in the front porch of the Mercantile.
-Tie down relocated grain silos.
-Make new street signs/informational signs for around the village.

In other news, a new visitor session started this week. One family even drove up in a huge RV. Not eco-friendly in any way, considering it got only 5 mpg. We were happy to show them the way we live here, and were sad to see them go only a few days after arriving. They said the heat was too much for them, which I could believe, if they weren’t staying in their air-conditioned RV, haha! They were a very nice family though and I wish they would try to come back another time, perhaps when it’s not so hot outside, and give it another shot.

Also, the timber-framing workshop ended over the weekend. Here is a link to a Dancing Rabbit member’s blog, and the pictures taken while building for their new home (small-scale.net/yearofmud/) . In a few more weeks, they will start the strawbale workshop.


_________________________________

Week 6: An Interview with a Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage Co-Founder, Tony Sirna
by Elizabeth Gombos

Since I was sick last week, I wasn’t able to go out and learn a lot of cool new stuff to blog about. I did, however, have the opportunity to interview Tony Sirna, a co-founder of Dancing Rabbit. Enjoy!

Elizabeth: What it is like to be the only founder still living at Dancing Rabbit?

Tony: Well there were six or seven of us originally, and I still consider Rachel Katz as a founder since she has been around since the beginning. She has left and come back and she’s still here now. There are also several people who have been here for quite a while. They may not have been a “founder” per se, but they’ve been here long enough that we all bring different energies of the past. Sometimes it’s hard. I miss the shared passion, connections, and experience that we all brought together. Dancing Rabbit has done a good job of empowering people to take key roles so the founders aren’t holding the place together. The foundations of this place go beyond any “core group”. I think it’s very valuable and important that there is a shared process, that there are many people carrying the work load. There is a certain amount of turnover, because some people experience it then move on.

Elizabeth: Do you think a lot of people experience Dancing Rabbit (DR) and when they move on they take that experience into the world with them?

Tony: I’ve actually sent out e-mails to quite a few people that have been here before; work exchangers, previous residents, etc. and the feedback that I got was that a lot of people are touched, moved, connected, and inspired by this place long after they leave. There is a tangible and lasting effect.

Elizabeth: What would you want people outside of DR to know about intentional community and sustainability?

Tony: I would say that intentional community is rewarding, there are a lot of connections, and it has an intensity that usually isn’t present in the wider culture. It’s a lot of hard work, but a valuable tool in creating social change. Like, sometimes you have to relate positively to other people, even when you don’t agree, ya know? (I do agree, and we laugh). Sustainability, well it sometimes gets lumped together with self-sufficiency and survivalism. People just trying to get away from the corporations or wastefulness, but it’s not all that, or sometimes not that at all. To me, it’s really about making sustainability work in my life and in the world. It’s about living by example. I don’t do anything that I can’t working for other people in other places. At DR, we use less electricity, and drive less, and share resources. But before we could switch to solar electricity, we reduced the amount of electricity that we used. Before we started using a bio-diesel vehicle co-op, we reduced our need to drive so much. The systems and the culture have to work together.

Elizabeth: Back where I come from, you pretty much NEED a car to be able to get to work. I’ve been asked several times by curious friends and family about what people do here for a living? 

Tony: Well there are various types of jobs people do around here. Some people have, you know, actual “computer” jobs like web design and stuff. Some people don’t necessarily have computer jobs, but they have jobs that can be done on a computer, or online. Some people here are retired; some people are living on savings; there are quite a few people that work construction, like building their homes or helping somebody else build their home. We have midwives, nurses, teachers, massage therapists, chiropractors. A lot of people grow their own food. Most people here have several part time jobs to get them by, instead of one full time job like what is often the case in the wider culture. We’re working for each other and with each other, to directly provide for ourselves.

Elizabeth: What are relationships like with people in intentional community?

Tony: Similar to in the wider world, a person here might have a handful of people close to them, usually best friends or family. But in the wider culture, they might not know their neighbors at all. In intentional community, your neighbors are like extended family; but because of our rural location, there is not a broad pool of acquaintances or strangers. Acquaintances are a good thing because they can be a pool of people that have the potential to become your friend/partner. I’m excited for DR to expand into the intended community of 500-1,000, just so that there will be so many more opportunities to go out and make more friends, maybe with somebody you don’t know so well, ya know?

Elizabeth: Do you think people have less “stuff” living at DR, or do you think maybe it’s the same amount of “stuff”, just different, or organized in a smaller amount of space?

Tony: Well DR certainly has a larger concentration of scythes than most any place, haha. There are some things that we certainly have less of. Like children’s toys for example. Not every kid has their own play room full of brand new toys they will hardly use. The commonhouse has a play room and tons of toys that all the kids can play with, and those toys get good use. We like to share. Personally I do not feel “deprived” because I share my stove and my fridge with other people. In fact I like it, because I only have to cook for myself like once a week. That’s one refrigerator and one stove instead of seven different houses with seven different refrigerators and seven different stoves and seven sets of washer and dryers. Sometimes a smaller space means less stuff, but it’s really more about just getting rid of stuff you don’t really need. I would say that there is at least one computer for every adult here, but hardly anybody has a smart-phone. We just don’t need “that new shiny” thing, or the “latest and greatest” items.

Elizabeth: I’ve heard a lot of rumors about solar power before I came here. That it costs too much and isn’t very reliable? What’s the truth about solar panel technology?

Tony: Well the price of solar technology is dropping rapidly. Right now I would say that the price of solar energy vs. fossil fuel energy is about the same, but that’s just the financial part of it. At one point it cost us about $8/watt and now it’s like $3/watt to install a solar system. Wind energy is one step up, with an energy return of 15-20x the original amount it takes to produce. Micro-hydro-electricity is the best, it costs less and is pretty much reliable because of the constant water source. Here at DR, we hope to have a fair amount of wind powered energy, as well as solar. They make a good pair because usually when it’s sunny out, it might not be windy so the solar panels gather more energy; but when it’s cloudy, chances are some wind might pick up for the wind turbines. Some of it just has to do with making a personal choice not to use energy made from fossil fuels or nuclear energy like most power companies.

Elizabeth: If you could tell the readers of this interview, or anybody not living up to their sustainable potential anything, what would it be?

Tony: You can do it. You can live (more) sustainably. You can change your life. You can inspire people.

Elizabeth: So you’ve done it, you’ve convinced some people to make their lives better. What do they do now?

Tony: Well they could visit DR. They can go meet their neighbors, and get to know the people in their community better. They can do things to create community. They could try to go a week without something or without buying something. Do research to find out more and empower themselves; give themselves confidence. It’s different for every person. They could check out www.ic.org (ic stands for intentional communities) that has a various lists for different types of intentional communities. Even a geographical list so you can find intentional communities close to where you live.

___________________

Week 7 at Dancing Rabbit
by Elizabeth Gombos

This past week was all about hydration. The heat has been breaking records 'round these parts too. I’ve been drinking a LOT of water, and going to the swimming hole every chance I get.

Besides trying to stay alive, I’ve been working on quite a few projects. I built two picnic tables in one day (from reclaimed, de-nailed wood) for the courtyard area, where potluck and community dinners happen. More room for people to sit down and eat with one another = more room for a growing community.

On “Help-A-Rabbit Wednesday” we worked with DR residents, April and Ziggy, who are building their new timber-frame house, named Strawtron (people here name their homes). I posted a link to pictures of a timber-framing workshop they hosted in an earlier blog, and in two weeks they host a strawbale workshop. We did some de-nailing of reclaimed wood and built a box for them to throw scrap wood/fire wood into. Thursday was my day off, but I accepted an additional wainscoting project at “Moonlodge” (another name for a home). For those of you that don’t know, wainscoting is a type of paneling that involves interlocking pieces of wood, usually around the bottom of an already existing wall. Friday and Saturday we kept working on screening in the front porch at the Milkweed Mercantile. We’re making our own trim around each little section in the porch. It will only add to the existing beauty all around!

Also, we got a private world premiere of Within Reach, a movie about a couple’s journey to find community. Two residents of Dancing Rabbit bicycled over six thousand miles, visited one hundred intentional communities, video taped the entire thing, and made a documentary film out of their experience! The movie was truly inspirational. Ever heard of Greensburg, Kansas? I believe that Greenville, IL is potentially one natural disaster away from coming together and rebuilding in sustainability like Greensburg did. You gotta see this movie to really know what I mean. I encourage you to request a screening in Greenville! Visit www.WithinReachMovie.com.

Editor's Note: Great idea about hosting a screening for the movie, Within Reach, here in Greenville, Elizabeth. Don and I will begin checking out the specifics of doing so. -- Jan

________________________________

Weeks 8 and 9: A Combo Update from Dancing Rabbit
by Elizabeth Gombos

I made it through the heat. I finished the wainscoting project at Moonlodge. Together with Zak (the other wexer at the Mercantile) we almost completed all the paneling and trim around the porch for the wrap-around screening. It was sad for me to think that I would be leaving without having finished the entire project, but I made a difference, and that counts for something in my heart.

I also started to help on another project that won’t be ready to finish until long after I’m gone: Dancing Rabbit community signs. Street signs, pathway signs, directional signs, and even some signs for buildings (like the Common House). We came up with signs we needed to have, or should have, but the signs must be approved by the community before they can make them.

I worked with April and Ziggy again on their timber-framed, straw-bale house, called “Strawtron”. They gave me a chisel, and a wooden mallet/club and let me chisel out post and beam joints for the last few beams of their house. I know it may sound odd because I was just straddling a wooden beam and chiseling like a Neanderthal (cave man) with a wooden hammer, but I had a blast. I love working with wood and learning new skills. I just chiseled away with my wooden mallet, wood chips flying every which way! The only downfall was that these beams were out in the sun. Shade isn’t always available, and I totally got a sunburn, but I say it was worth it.

While I was chiseling away in the sun at Strawtron, I did not realize that I had not washed off well enough the day before, after coming into contact with poison ivy. After my skin stopped glowing from the sunburn, it started itching. The next thing I know I have rashes on both arms, then on both hands. After a day or two, I had poison all over my body. I mean ALL OVER, including, but not limited to: both hands and arms, my wrists, my right shoulder blade, the right side of my rib cage, my lower back, the tops of both feet, my left ankle, behind my left ear, and even in my belly button! I tried to rub as much ointment on it as I could, but in the end I had to go to the local doctor’s office and get a shot of steroids. They said it was going to give me energy, but it made me feel like my body weighed twice as much. The rashes started to clear up pretty quick but still itched. I was down for a day or two with the “poison ivy and steroid shot blues”.

As soon as I felt well enough to work again, it was time for “Help-A-Rabbit-Wednesday”. This week it was at Ironweed. The job: mix and lay earthen sub-floor. What the job entails: 3 parts sand to 1 part clay slip (clay soaked in water for at least a night), all dumped onto a large tarp on the ground. Remove sandals, and begin stomping! Once we mixed up the sand and clay fairly well, Ted (Ironweed is his house) added just a little bit of three year old cow manure. Yep, cow manure. Apparently, the way cows digest their food, leaves only a fibrous glue when they are “done” with it, lol. So we stomped around in that with our feet for a while, mixing all the ingredients, then Ted gradually added some shredded straw, then some water, then some more straw, and some more water. I had sub-floor mixture in-between my toes, under my toe nails, up my ankles, and some splashed up on my legs and shorts. We flipped the tarp around, stomped some more, and when it reached just the right consistency, we put it in 5 gallon buckets to dump on the floor inside. When we took a break for lunch, I washed the best I could, but I could still smell the manure! Back on the job, and inside the house, we used a trowel to pack it all down and smooth it out to a certain level, because the finish floor had to go on top of this sub-floor. It was dirty, but fun. As soon as we were done, I went straight to the shower! I scrubbed my entire body from head to toe, and yes, it did get rid of the smell, haha.

I tried to stay busy on my last week, to keep my mind off of the fact that I was going to leave this wonderful place and all of these amazing people with compassionate hearts and minds. I also thought a lot about home, and all the people I missed. Since my departure is required to be announced at the weekly meeting, everybody who saw me expressed their sadness in my leaving. I even had to laugh off a few comic threats about not letting me leave. It was hard to say goodbye, especially to those that I developed close friendships with.

My dad’s side of the family came to pick me up (since I had left my car in Old Ripley to get the power steering fixed while I was gone). My step-mother, Rose, my two younger half-siblings, Alyse and AJ, and my dad, Frank, all came. Once we got all my stuff packed into the vehicle, I took them on a little private tour of the place, and they really liked it! Rose kept taking pictures of the various art that adorns the entire community. The ride home was interesting, to say the least. They had the A/C on, I was sharing the back seat with my brother and sister, both of my parents smoke in the car, and I had not even been in a car for any longer than twenty minutes for about a month. I got a little car sick for the first time in my life! Had to roll the windows down for me to stick my head out of the window. I felt better almost instantly.

There is so much more to say about my experience at Dancing Rabbit and the wonderful people that call it home (even temporarily). So be on the lookout in the September issue of the Owl Creek Gazette for the final take on my experience.

In community and compassion,

Elizabeth

Cindy Sheehan and the Tour de Peace are Coming to Greenville!

We are pleased to announce that Cindy Sheehan and the Tour de Peace will be in Greenville, IL on Sunday, May 26th to join us for our monthly Peace Vigil on the corner of 4th and Franklin Streets from 1pm-2pm -- Everyone is welcome to join us for this event!

For more information on the Tour de Peace and Cindy's insightful words on Matriotism, check out page 9 in the May issue of the Owl Creek Gazette via our Current Issue page.

The May 2013 Issue of the Owl Creek Gazette ... Hot off the Press and Ready for Reading!

To read the May 2013 issue of the Owl Creek Gazette, visit our
 Current Issue page

Here's What's in the MAY 2013 Issue of the Owl Creek Gazette:

Page 2: From The Editors’ Desk

Page 3: In Our Readers' Own Words

Page 3: Owl Creek Gazette Books and More Club 

Page 3: Second Saturday Series
Page 4: These Kids are Priceless
Page 4: Temple Grandin’s Gift

Page 5: Female Research

Page 6: Herbs for Health Series: Especially for Her

Page 7: Beekeeper’s Corner
Page 7: Perfect Socks

Page 8: National Bike Month: Riding for a New Personal Beginning

Page 9: Cindy Sheehan: Riding for an Ongoing Movement Toward Peace
Page 10: The Research and Reality of Fibromyalgia

Page 11: Inside the Outside: “The Prachadile"

Page 12: The Reality of Life and Death on Piney Woods Ranch
Page 12: Camping on a Budget 

Page 13: The Business of Brewing and Benefits of Self-Employment

Page 14: Owl Creek Gazette Community Calendar

Page 14: Storm Preparedness
Page 15: NEW! Owl Creek Gazette  Classified Ads

A Cute Chicken Coop with an Accompanying Story to Boot

Gotta love this cute chicken coop built by Yvonne Mattson and her husband, Steve.

We think you'll also enjoy the article Yvonne wrote about the building process titled, "10 Things We Learned on the Way to Chicken Success, which can be read on page 6 of the April 2013 issue of the Owl Creek Gazette!

Check out the April 2013 Issue of the Owl Creek Gazette

The April 2013 issue of the Owl Creek Gazette is available via our
 Current Issues page ... we hope you enjoy the read!

Here's What's in the APRIL 2013 Issue of the Owl Creek Gazette:

Page 2: From The Editors’ Desk

Page 3: Mountain Man Under Attack

Page 3: Owl Creek Gazette Books and More Club 

Page 4: For the Owlets: Violet Jelly, Earth Day and Arbor Day 

Page 5: Life Rocks!

Page 6: 10 Things We Learned Along the Way to Chicken Success

Page 7: First Aid Kit for Pets 

Page 8: A Day in the Life of Piney Woods Ranch

Page 9: Temple Grandin Comes to Greenville 

Page 9: Inside the Outside: Beetle Spin Lures

Page 10: Herbs for Health Series: Oils and Ointments
Page 10: Dry Skin Brushing
Page 11: Good News for April 15th (and mushroom lovers)!

Page 12: Beekeeper’s Corner: Beeswax

Page 13: What’s Up With Blood Pressure

Page 14: Genealogy: How to Start Finding Your Information 

Page 15: Owl Creek Gazette Community Calendar
Page 16: Second Saturday Series

Peace Vigil in the Spring (and the snow)!

Spring may have sprung ... but someone forgot to tell old man winter.

We braved the weather for a good 25 minutes on this March 24th for our monthly Peace Vigil ... and then called it a day.

We invite area folks to join us next month same time, same place and (the 4th Sunday of every month on the corner of 4th and Franklin St. in Greenville, IL) as we stand united in our desire for peace! -- Jan and Don