WILPF ANNUAL PEACE CRAFTS FAIR
Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Fresno City College Cafeteria, near the corner of East Weldon and College Ave. See details below.
WILPF BUSINESS MEETING
Next business meeting January 12 (second Thursday of each month), 7-9 p.m. at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 1584 N. Van Ness Ave. Meetings are open to all members.
WOMEN IN BLACK
December 7 (first Wednesday of each month) at noon at the Fresno County Courthouse; come at least once a year, perhaps during the month in which your birthday falls. Wear black, bring a sign if you wish and stand in silence for peace.
STIR IT UP – WILPF – ON KFCF 88.1 FM (LISTENER-SUPPORTED FREE SPEECH RADIO FOR CENTRAL CALIFORNIA)
December 28 (4th Wednesday of each month) at 3 p.m. Jean Hays conducts outstanding interviews on subjects involving WILPF interests and activities. Let Jean know if you have ideas for a program. Tune in!
RAGING GRANNIES
Meetings on selected Mondays at 7 p.m. Call Ellie at 449-1817 for details.
FAQS ABOUT THE WILPF CRAFTS FAIR DECEMBER 3 AT CITY COLLEGE CAFETERIA
The annual WILPF Community Peace Crafts Faire will take place on Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Fresno City College cafeteria complex, near the corner of East Weldon and College Avenue.
WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
- We have a new venue! The City College cafeteria is spacious, with plenty of room for vendors and shoppers.
- City College has plenty of free parking! If mobility is not an issue for you, please use the huge parking lots that face McKinley and Van Ness. Passengers may be dropped off on East Weldon where it makes the turn to College Avenue. (Most street parking is reserved for residents of the neighborhood.)
- We don’t need to run the kitchen! All the food will be prepared and served by the very helpful City College staff, following soup recipes and other requests that our committee members have given them. WILPF volunteers will be able to concentrate on staffing our own table, running the silent auction and raffle, and providing support to the vendors.
- The Faire is the FIRST Saturday in December. We have experimented with other schedules and have (re)settled on the first Saturday.
WHAT WILL BE THE SAME THIS YEAR?
- Vendors! Many of your favorite vendors are joining us in the new location, and you’ll also find some new faces.
- Music! Linda Dryden has put together a full day of entertainment for you to enjoy while you shop and have lunch.
- Soup! We won’t be making the soups ourselves this year, because of Health Department regulations. But the soups WILL be made from recipes we have provided, and they will be served, as usual, with bread, desserts, and drinks.
- Silent auction! Gioia Frank is already working on organizing the popular silent auction.
- Raffle! Your donation earns you a chance at Pat Wolk’s array of raffle items.
HOW CAN I HELP?
The Crafts Faire is a wonderful community event, and it is also WILPF’s major fundraiser that supports our programs all year. Consider donating or volunteering:
Crafts Faire volunteers needed! Please consider volunteering for a one- or two-hour shift at the Crafts Faire between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 3. Volunteers are needed at the WILPF table, the Silent Auction area, and the food ticket sales area.
Volunteers are also needed the day before (Friday) from 4 to 6 p.m. for set-up. If you’re available and enjoy spending time with other members of the peace community, please contact Kyla at (559)346-8253 or kyla.noelle@gmail.com.
Silent auction items needed! Art pieces, interesting costume jewelry, dishware…anything you care to donate that might interest our shoppers will be welcome. Contact Patty Bennett at patriciajb@aol.com or 225-9511 to arrange to drop off your donation or have it picked up. If possible, we like to organized the donated items in advance.
VENDOR SPACE IS STILL AVAILABLE! If you know anyone who might be interested, please let them know. Potential vendors should contact Jay Hubbell at (559) 292-4905 or at his new cell phone # at (559) 903-7904 or by email at jayhubbell@comcast.net for an application and cost list.
REPORT FROM THE DAKOTA ECOGARDEN
The Dakota EcoGarden opened in 2013 with the support of WILPF as part of our Building the Beloved Community effort. The Dakota EcoGarden is a transitional housing facility on Dakota at Hughes that was started by WILPF member Nancy Waidtlow in collaboration with Art Dyson’s 501(c)3 Eco Village organization. There are many WILPF members on the Eco Village board, and many who regularly provide help to the project in many ways.
DEG news: We had a happy potluck/open house event recently, with Jemmy Bluestein and Jacinda Potikian providing lively music. Watch for news of the next one, maybe in January. The winter garden (edible pod peas, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, carrots) is thriving with the cooler weather, and we have had some great help from students from the Edison High School Key Club and from a Fresno City College social work class.
We will have a booth at the WILPF Crafts Faire December 3, with our computer and solar guru, Jeff Adolph, demonstrating our use of technology to improve the comfort of the tents and eco shelter. We may have some resident-made craft items also, as our master woodworker, James, has some ideas, and we have a resident who makes beautiful jewelry, some out of avocado pits. We also have a new resident who is considering what she might be able to do.
Gerry Bill has been working nearly every day on the second Art Dyson-designed eco shelter, with wonderful help from CSUF construction management students. This is the one that will rotate for best use of solar heat, and will be made with a skeleton of curved bamboo. Thanks to Jemmy Bluestein for the giant bamboo! The model, looking like a green dinosaur egg, was on display at the WILPF anniversary exhibit in the CSUF Madden library. You can come see both the model and the real thing under construction at the DEG. Remember our front page picture in the Fresno Bee showing young people from Temple Beth Israel carrying away a tent to make room for the new eco shelter? We gratefully remember the Temple raised $5000 for materials for this new structure.
We pride ourselves on supporting this project on the proverbial shoestring, figuring it costs about $100 per month per person. But it would be great to be able to put in a solar system for the house, and perhaps replace the short-lived tarp/canopy covers over the tents with metal roofs, or have enough money for many bus passes and/or help with bicycles to facilitate transportation. We have a new idea that residents could be encouraged to save for their next life step by receiving matching funds for anything they manage to save. So, if you need some place to put a charitable contribution, thus avoiding sending your money to Washington to go to causes you don’t believe in, please remember the Eco Village Project/Dakota EcoGarden. An email or call to nancywaidtlow@gmail.com, phone 224-1738, will get you any help you need in making a contribution.
Also contact Nancy W If you would like to volunteer to help with this project, have items you think we may be able to use, or have a paying job (small or large) for a resident. Or maybe you have a room you could rent out for low rent as a Dakota EcoGarden annex. Or if you are in need of a place for yourself or someone you know and need information about possible residency at the DEG, call, email, or come by. We can take adults only, and potential residents must be able and willing to work together and do their share to maintain the facility. At the time of this writing, we are at capacity (12), but this is a transitional living facility, and people do move on, leaving space for others.
