By Dick Williams, Creation Care Team Co-Lead
Earth Day along the sidewalks of Memorial was marked by two colorful Planet Earth 22” Bubble balloons tethered to hand railings. The idea included marking our W. Lafayette and Rectory entrances for neighborhood and other visitors who might be unsure of where to enter for Tom Pelton’s presentation at Liturgy & Living.
Or, in the Rectory meeting room, for Lisa Schroeder’s pre-show reception and talk about some important projects at Parks & People Foundation which also included JoAnn Trach Tongson’s and my presentation about the butterfly micro-habitat/garden classroom at Mount Royal Elementary/Middle School.
In case you missed Tom Pelton’s presentation, his talk about the Bay and environmental regulations brought cheers and a standing ovation for his work. Yeah, true! A great turnout by Memorial’s tree huggers. Many bought one or multiple copies of Tom’s new book, The Chesapeake in Focus: Transforming the Natural World. I have a few copies that I’d sell to you at $20/ea. with all proceeds going to our Creation Care restricted account at Memorial. Incidentally, I recommend you add Tom’s “The Environment in Focus” weekly radio show on WYPR to your list of news sources. I find it valuable.
Lisa Schroeder talked about 6 new parks built by Parks & People in neglected East and West Baltimore, meant to help reconnect neighbors with one another. Beyond the ubiquitous swing sets and the like in neighborhood parks, she told us surveyed residents wanted chess boards. And, that’s exactly what’s been provided. She described 8 Equity Goals of the foundation. Goal #8 was important to me: “…implementing a performance management process that includes developing outcomes, indicators for success and program evaluation methods.” While the turnout was small, much deeper networking among people who do green in Baltimore City was afforded. My expectations are high for results from the networking.
Thanks to all of you who attended one or both presentations! Much learning about Creation Care was offered.