Transition Training 2014

January 17th - January 19th

After arriving back to school from a long winter break an extremely diverse group of 18 individuals committed to immersing ourselves into the Transition Network. A great mix of current RC students, RC Alumni, local transitioners, and of course,  our professor! 

Environmental Transition Inc. (a consulting firm consisting of a few awesome Roanoke College Alumni) coordinated with Transition US to host a 'LAUNCH! Training for Transition' course on the RC campus. The course was an intensive weekend event, we logged over 15 hours in 3 days. I speak on behalf of the whole group, when I say that that this weekend was stimulating and a success. Although we were exhausted by the end of the weekend together and the session was over, we couldn't wait to carry on conversations with the people in that room and start spreading our ideas to those outside. 

Transition focuses on creatively working as a community to bring your locality from oil dependence to local reliance.

The two certified Transition Trainers engaged us in the curriculum of Transition and shared a variety of their own personal experiences working with Transition initiatives from around the globe. 

The Seven Guiding Principles of Transition:

1. Positive Visioning

2. Help People Access Good Information and Trust Them to Make Good Decisions

3. Inclusion and Openness

4. Enable Sharing and Networking 

5. Build Resilience

6. inner and Outer Transition

7. Subsidiarity: Self-organization and decision making at the appropriate level  

 To read more about the Transition Network visit http://transitionus.org .  

The Bittle Tree

RC Electric

We went down to the garage recently to fix the bumper brackets and to finish painting the floor boards and the rims for the car so that they'll be ready for graduation. The headlights are finished long with the tail lights. We are planning on installing a grip tape on the running boards. Paint that was accidentally sprayed on the dash window and the door frame has been removed and the car was wiped down. We are hoping to acquire wood from the  Legendary BiddleTree of Roanoke College tree for the construction of a steering wheel and shifter knob in memory of its footprint on campus.

RC Electric

We will be attending Oliver's Garage tomorrow to work on installing the chrome trim hopefully with the grills, running boards and installing the white walled tires. We recently had contact with alumni stating that their is a good chance we may be able to obtain bumpers as a donation for the vehicle. We are still struggling to find the noticeable "Silver Streak" piece that is important to the full appearance of the car.

Last Week Until Elizabeth Campus Tree Planting!

Things are coming together nicely for the tree planting! We will have representatives from our capstone class, Earthbound, alumni from the Lutheran Orphanage, and grounds crew present at the event. All interested students and faculty are also encouraged to come help out with the planting!

Save the date:
Saturday April 20th at 12pm
Meet by Elizabeth Hall. 
Snacks and drinks will be provided by Earthbound!

As for recent updates:

• We presented our poster on the project at RC's Showcase of Research and Creativity on Friday, April 16th . The poster was a success, with students and faculty showing interest in the project. 
• We were also lucky enough to have our project covered by the PR department! They did a great job with the article, check it out here.
• We have received the last of our tree orders, two copper beech trees that will frame Elizabeth Hall nicely. 

Staunton Review

I do believe that a BIG "Thank you" is due to ALL of those who traveled to Staunton to help with the Community Garden Work Day!

The trip was nothing short of a huge success! The community garden, which originally had three raised beds, was successfully expanded to THIRTEEN raised beds. 

The members of Transition Staunton and the Community Garden Organizers were very appreciative of all the work we could contribute to their cause. 

We also paid a visit to Sunspots Glass Studio. There I was able to share the fantastic experience i had last semester with everyone who was with me. Our gardening group soon became as enthusiastic about the trip next semester as i am.

THANK YOU all again for making this trip such a success!

Lets get ready to GAAAAAaaaarden! In Staunton!

The building of the lasagna beds in Staunton Virginia at the community garden site is ready to finally begin! This Saturday, our environmental capstone class will join the heads of the Transition Staunton organization and begin the construction and filling of the raised lasagna beds. Our class is also fortunate enough to be able to provide the Transition Staunton group with a modest monetary donation that will now allow the number of the beds to double from the original amount, four, to between eight and ten. This is excellent news as this will now allow them to implement their Noon Lunch Program, which according to Lindsay Curren, one of the leaders in the Transition Staunton organization, “is a free weekday feeding program for the hungry”. We are more than pleased to hear that this is program, for the benefit of the less fortunate, is being sped up due to the generosity and efforts put forth by our class and Roanoke College.

Joseph Lombard, of the Local Food Task Force in Staunton, has been working on the Elizabethan apple planting project, which are still scheduled to be planted on April 9th. Additionally he has been aiding us in gathering food waste from venues in downtown Staunton to supply the beds with organic material. We are more than pleased to be a part of this amazing project in this transitioning town. Thank you to Lindsay Current for all her assistance as well as Joseph Lombard for giving us the Staunton perspective and acting as a liaison between our class and our Staunton associates! Can't wait to go garden on Saturday!!!