| Work with LESEC in East River Park (9:00 am)
Got plans for Earth Day weekend? Want to get active in your local park and brush up your gardening skills? The Lower East Side Ecology Center is looking for local stewards to help us during a volunteer work day in the park: Saturday, April 21st East River Park (meet near the Grand St. Fireboat House, 9:00-3:00. On this day, volunteers will be coming from all over the City to work in our park and perform basic gardening, weeding, painting and general upkeep jobs in the park. We need YOUR HELP to make them feel welcome, show them around, and guide them through these projects. All ages and skill levels are needed! .
North People News
Winfield S. Smathers IV, a 1990 graduate of Dickinson College and a member of the 1989 and 1990 men's golf teams, was honored recently by the Dickinson College Sports Hall of Fame committee. He lives in Pine. Tracey Cima, a teacher at Ingomar Middle School in North Allegheny School District, will be featured in "2006/2007 National Honor Roll's Outstanding American Teachers." Donald Green has joined the board of directors at Glade Run Foundation. Dr. Green is the executive director of Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania. Trooper Frank Cichra, of Troop D in Butler, has been certified by the International Association of Chiefs of Police as a drug recognition expert. Glade Run Lutheran Services' therapeutic horticulture program was selected from more than 650 kids' gardening programs nationwide to receive a Youth Garden Grant from the National Gardening Association.
Cumbrian firm strikes new distribution deal
THE UK's leading natural stone producer, Furness based Burlington, has appointed Brett Specialized Aggregates as its primary distributor for its decorative garden mulch in the UK. Forming part of Brett Landscaping and Building Products and the larger parent Brett Group which is one of the largest independent construction and building materials companies in the UK, Brett Specialized Aggregates is stocking Burlington's blue/grey and Westmorland green slate mulch in two sizes, 30mm and 40mm. The Cumbrian firm says it is as an ideal, low maintenance garden mulch. Brett Specialized Aggregates will be supplying the Burlington product through a chain of distributors that takes in builders' merchants and other specialised suppliers of garden and landscaping products. Burlington's joint managing director, Malcolm Hatch, said: “We are understandably delighted that Brett Specialized Aggregates has now assumed responsibility for the distribution of one of our most popular mulch products.
A recipe for greening our village
As Earth Day approaches, it's worth recognizing that global warming and other environmental issues are on our national radar screen as never before. As we face a crossroads regarding our nation's role in the global environmental predicament, will Oak Park emerge as a bold leader that other communities look to for guidance? In that spirit, here are some thoughts on key ingredients that might push Oak Park to the front of the pack.
1) Develop criteria for ecologically effective development. If we use the natural world as a model, growth is good. Let's avoid philosophical positioning that pits growth against the environment, and instead develop criteria for ecologically effective development in Oak Park. Let's build on Oak Park's strong energy efficiency building codes and create a broader Oak Park standard for development that incorporates ecologically effective community design and green building principles.
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