Activism Tag

Last weekend (October 6), I went to Washington DC to join hands with 12,000 concerned people to send President Obama a message that we care about the future of the earth and the future world our children are inheriting. People came together from all across the country and Canada and formed a circle around the White House four people deep. We were asking Obama to deny the permit for the Tar Sands XL Pipeline, over which only he has the final say on whether to approve it or not.

There is now a new trail head for the Florence Nature Preserve, a 600-acre preserve off of highway 74A in Gerton. The preserve is owned by Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy and is a special treasure in the upper Hickory Nut Gorge. The property was donated to CMLC by Dr. Tom and Glenna Florence, but access to the trail system was along a private property right-of-way. To improve this access, Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community is transferring 26 acres to CMLC, so they will have more vehicle parking and a scenic route of entry. Hikers can also use this trailhead to access the Hickory Nut Gorge Trail System which extends down through the gorge.

Today we had 25 people of all ages out in our organic apple orchard, Honey Bear Orchard, shaking trees and picking apples. We had a great abundance of apples this year, and we wanted to find a way to share this with people in need in the surrounding community. The Society of St. Andrews came out with all of these volunteers to gather apples from our trees. They are an organization that does gleaning, which is the gathering of fruits and vegetables from farmer’s fields at the end of the season that would normally go to waste. They then distribute the food free to hungry people in their community.