Annual Forest Friends Board Meeting Will Be June 9, 2008

The Annual Meeting will be held at Cynthia and Ralph’s house:

It begins with a potluck at 6PM.

Current Forest Friends Board Membership:

Term expires June `08:
Sarah Marquardt (will do a 2nd term)
Pam Heggie
(Richard Fuller has been nominated to replace Pam, as her term is ending. )

Term expires May `09:
Ellen Seagren (eligible for 2nd term)
Lyn Egolf Grider (eligible for 2nd term)

Term expires May `10:
Ralph Jacobson

Agenda of Board meeting

1. Reports from officers
   1. President
   2. Treasurer
   3. Secretary
2. Choosing new Board member and officers
3. Officer selection: President, Treasurer and Secretary.
4. Do we want to continue to be registered in Wisconsin, as well as Minnesota?
5. The Treasurers’ Team recommends filing only the new, low-impact 990-N. Approve?
6. Approve a continuing resolution, such as: “The Board authorizes the officers to open or maintain bank accounts and to conduct the routine business of FF Inc. between annual meetings.”
7. Do we agree to plan the next annual meeting at or temporally near Northern Yearly Meeting Gathering in 2009?

Kids plant Trees: A fun celebration of spring and the future! Sunday May 18th

Kids plant Trees: Sunday May 18th, 12:30pm until 4 pm

• Kids will plant trees with adult support.
• Lunch will be a potluck picnic
• There will be games on the lawn (weather permitting)
• And a special visit from the Gaia Troubadour
  who will lead a spring tree dedication.
• Also, solar powered ice cream – from Izzy’s!!

Please bring finger food for the potluck
and a shovel to dig with (if you have one).

Drinks and ice cream provided.
Where: Newman-Heggie’s Backyard, 3 blocks from TCFM, in St. Paul.

Last-minute Maple Syruping Details

So here’s the plan for the weekend of April 4-6, 2008:

(And here’s how to get there.)

Friday April 4
Three of us will go out to Sandhill with Richard’s camper.
We probably won’t know till that day what time we are leaving town.
We will get the boil-down rig set up, the fire started and the sap beginning to boil, and have a simple supper.
And boil on, `til “Quaker midnight.”

Saturday April 5 Weather Forecast: Cloudy, low: 40, high of 60.
At Sandhill
Before breakfast, it’s up to the sugar bush to rekindle the fire. Then, for breakfast, oatmeal made with boiling sap and cut fruit bits.

In Saint Paul
Saturday morning in Saint Paul, a car-pool group will gather at the Bartoo-Jacobson’s house at 8:30, leaving at 8:45 in as few cars as is convenient.

As we fill cars, we’ll take into account when people need to return. You should be able to arrange a ride back into town that suits your needs. Otherwise (gasp) you can just drive yourself, within the caravan.

People are welcome to drive on their own, as well. Come and go when it suits you. Use the maps on the website.

Lunch
Saturday is BYO lunch and maybe a bit of snack to share. Hot beverages available.

Supper
Cynthia is making chili and brownies for a 5PM supper. You can bring bread or cheese or fruit to share as a supplement.
RSVP to Cynthia, if you’d like to have part of the chili.

Any hardy soul who wants to try some late-winter camping is welcome to stay overnight.
(Next year maybe we’ll clear out part of the wood-drying shed for you.)

Sunday April 6 Weather Forcast: 40% chance of showers, low: 30, high of 45.
At Sandhill
A repeat of Saturday morning, for those who spent the night.

In Saint Paul
Again on Sunday morning in Saint Paul, a car-pool will gather at the Bartoo-Jacobson’s house.
8:30?! Probably! Better call between 7:45 & 8AM to make sure. (Phone # above.)

Lunch
Sunday is BYO lunch, again, with hot beverages available.

At least Cynthia will be leaving Sandhill at 3PM, on Sunday.
The boil-down will probably wind down shortly after, although we might go into extra innings, running even until dark.

Come, be a part of the scene, maybe take part in one of Ralph’s impromptu guided tours of the land, and also feel free to take some time walking by yourself, or with one or two others.
If you want to harvest firewood, do. We’ll be accepting donations for chili & firewood.

This is our dream for QCF outings: folks take the opportunity to be on the land and to reconnect with the living earth. They spend some time helping with the group effort, which we understand as “spiritual refreshment in community.” They also feel free to take some time for spiritual refreshment with one or two others, or alone.

Maple Sap Boil-down: April 5, 2008

Come to the woods north of Menomonie in western Wisconsin! We’ll be boiling maple sap and tromping through the woods as winter melts into spring!  It’s a great time, we’ll have a warming trailer and hot maple sap–makes great cocoa! (We’ll be there some of Friday and Sunday too.)

Here’s what to expect, generally.

When we have more information about the particulars of this year, we’ll post it here.

Notes from Twin Cities Quaker Community Forest 3/3/08 Meeting

Notes from Twin Cities Quaker Community Forest 3/3/08 Meeting:
Present: Cynthia Bartoo, facilitating; Frank Wood, Ralph Jacobson, David Grider & Richard Fuller, recording
Regrets: Pam Heggie, Lyn Egolf Grider, Sarah Marquardt, Rhoda Gilman, Ellen Seagren

The Annual Meeting of Forest Friends Inc,

Presumably this will be at the NYM Gathering, May 23-26.
Current Forest Friends Board members who will be available for an annual meeting at NYM:

Expect to be there: Cynthia, Ralph,
(Not currently on Board, expecting to attend: Frank, Richard)
Maybe: Ellen, Lyn
Not: Pam Heggie, Sarah Marquardt

The FF Annual Meeting Agenda is planned to be like past years
There will be reports from the officers: President, Treasurer and Secretary (or Assistant Secretary, Richard)
Richard will be nominated to replace Pam as her term is ending.

—————-Current Forest Friends Board Membership:
Term expires May `08:

Sarah Marquardt (will do a 2nd term)
Pam Heggie

Term expires May `09:

Ellen Seagren (eligible for 2nd term)
Lyn Egolf Grider (eligible for 2nd term)

Term expires May `10:

Ralph Jacobson

—————-

Upcoming Events

Maple Syruping
The attempts to combine QCF Maple Syruping efforts with David Houghton’s desire to hold a workshop on Climate Change with teens appears to be coming to naught. One of several obstacles is that we don’t know the name of the convener of NYM Children & Youth Committee.

We discussed possible syruping dates. The original plan of Saturday, April 5 for the big community boil-down day seems like it might be too early, given how cold February was, and the way March is starting. The following Saturday, April 12, may be preferable. We will see how the weather develops and then decide.
Once a date is set, Cynthia will send announcements to the local meeting announcement sheets. Richard will send an email and post it on the website. He will also put up a poster in TCFM.

Pam Marguerite, Sarah and Richard hope to join Ralph when he taps the maple trees. He will let them know when he plans to go out.

Tree Planting at Pam Heggie & Nancy Newman’s house
Pam has offered to host a kid-friendly gathering at her house, on the occasion of planting a tree or two in their yard.
Perhaps we could document the event, with a picture of kids with the trees, with the plan of making follow-up pictures over the years, somewhat in the manner of Student Groves.
It also seems like a fine occasion for the appearance of the Gaia Troubadour with the Gaia Acupuncture Needle. Cynthia will call Pam about next steps.
A QCF Presence at NYM
Ralph and Richard will offer an Interest group to explain what we are up to.
Richard will send Ralph the materials they used for their presentation at NYM.
It would be nice if, at that QCF orientation we could announce an upcoming event people might attend, perhaps something at Sandhill, like berry-picking or watching the Persied meteor shower. Or perhaps another retreat at Wood’s cabin, like the one we did last year.
Richard will remind us, as we prepare for the May 5 TC-QCF meeting that we want to offer things like these at the NYM gathering.

Forming A Sandhill Project-Planning Committee

Ralph is reserving time on a future agenda to discuss forming a Sandhill project planning committee.
Ellen Seagren and Mina Leierwood have expressed interest in learning prairie-burn techniques and then putting them to use at Sandhill, keeping the southern field area from becoming more wooded.
Other Sandhill projects Ralph would like to see undertaken are the creation of a deer-exclusion fence around an area with white pine seedlings, and an upgrade to the syruping operation.
Projects like these would be good foci for outings at Sandhill.

Our next TC-QCF meeting will be the first Monday in May, May 5

Notes from Jan 7, 08 TC-QCF Meeting

Present: Cynthia Bartoo, Frank Wood, Pam Heggie, Rhoda Gilman, Richard Fuller (recording), Sarah Marquardt. Regrets: Ellen Seagren

February Family Retreat
We discussed our options for the Feb Family Retreat, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 16th.
There is a good youth-oriented program on animal tracks at the Elm Creek Park Reserve in Northern Hennepin County.
Concern was expressed that this might be too far away (perhaps an hour’s trip, with children) despite being in the Metro area.
There certainly are parks closer to where we live, in St. Paul and Minneapolis, but none of them have Saturday programs, and neither Cynthia or Richard felt prepared to offer programs out of their own knowledge base.
We considered other members of the community who might be prepared to offer program and agreed to check with one.
In addition to program, having some indoor space available seemed crucial to a good winter outing.
Sarah agreed to research closer-in parks, including the MN Valley Refuge and the Richardson nature center, to see what is available.
Based on the information she gets, Cynthia will decide the week following our meeting if it is a go, and will alert Tom Stoffregen, TCFM First Day School and the rest of us about the details.
[The event was postponed, due to several complications. --RF]

Treasurer’s Report
Sarah presented three reports, a profit and loss, a balance sheet and a financial analysis. They were approved, with the minor touch-ups.

Adding Teen Activities to Maple Syruping on Weekend of April 5?
The target date for Maple Syruping is Friday April 4 through the Sunday of that weekend.
This is because that is the weekend NYM Executive Committee is scheduled to meet in Menomonie, Wisconsin.
This opens up the possibility that teens might be driven from all over the NYM region by Exec Committee attenders, and that they could participate in the syruping.
While we do not currently have enough energy within QCF to sponsor a retreat, we know there was considerable energy at the last NYM gathering to increase the number of children and youth activities. We discussed several elements that might be brought together for a satisfying weekend.

• David Houghton wants to do presentations on Global Warming.
• Maple syruping-related activities
• We can imagine combining the syruping activities with tree-planting and supporting activities like discussing with teens:
  • Planting to take into account changes resulting from Global Warming
  • Planting for wildlife food and habitat.

We were not sure if there was more we would do at this point to get things going. Cynthia has already started preliminary conversations with David Houghton and Dave French, long-time teen coordinator, and we will probably wait to see if these develop.

The Next TC-QCF Indoor Meeting Will Be March 3rd
Which is the usual date, the first Monday of an odd-numbered month.
We’re planning that the time and place to be as usual, as well.

Final Arrangements for Early Winter Harvest, 12/8/07

If you think you might come to this year’s Early Winter Harvest, please let Cynthia know.

This is because we are uncertain enough about the weather that we want to know how many to prepare for, especially children, and also how long we should stay out there, to welcome latecomers.

The carpool will gather at Richard’s house, just east of Lexington, in Saint Paul,

Here’s a Map to Richard & Betsy’s house. Our address is marked with the red star.

Arrive at 8:30. We’ll pack ourselves and our gear into as few cars as possible and

Depart for Sandhill at 8:45.

If you come, but don’t carpool, here are directions.

Mostly, it looks like we’ll be going for walks. There’ll be some firewood cutting from the trimmed birch logs we have kept off the ground, and harvesting boughs and Xmas trees. Bring a hand saw if you have one. And loppers.

Bring your own lunch. We’ll have a stove, cider and tea.

We will have a warming “room,” the poly tipi.

December Happenings + plans for January & February

The Twin Cities QCF meeting will be Monday December 3, 7PM.
Except for being postponed a month, all the details are the usual ones.

---

The November 10 Buckthorn Brigade numbered 14, + infant.
A great success.

---

Early Winter Harvest, Saturday, Dec. 8.
We’ll be gathering on Sandhill, 40 acres owned by Cynthia Bartoo and Ralph Jacobson for almost 30 years, north of Menominee, Wisconsin. Join us anytime between 11AM & 3PM. Harvest quirky Jack Pines for Xmas trees or cut yourself some firewood. Donations accepted. Or get away on a tromp through woods and prairie. (Snow sports? With some snow, there’s nice cross-country skiing through mixed forest & prairie environments, and there’s a little downhill sledding.)
Check out the re-growth from the “three acres of logging for tax-breaks” that happened in 2004.
Hot cider. Kid friendly: warming tipi & porta-potti available on site. Call Cynthia Bartoo, 651-647-0758, for more information, maps and car-pooling connections. (It’s about a 90 minute drive from the Twin Cities.)
Plus:
*Talk about the Quaker Community Forest vision and our hopes for this land.
*Discuss and implement some of Ralph & Cynthia’s DNR-approved forest maintenance activities.

---

We are looking ahead to a February 16 “family day.”
Some ingredients are: Indoors & outdoors activities, lunch, a bonfire and hot cocoa, easy driving distance for Twin-Cities-area folks. Please talk to Cynthia if you have ideas about preferable weekends, good locations, and fun activities.

---

Oh yes, and
our next indoor TC-QCF meeting is scheduled
for the regular “first Monday evening of an odd-numbered month,”
January 7, 2008.

2 Responses Requested To Some Notes From a Non-meeting

The QCF-TC talking heads meeting was postponed from November 5 until December 3 (we think. See below.)

However, Cynthia and Richard got together for lunch on 11/5 to think about what we would have thought about at the 11/5 meeting.

1. We decided we really should have a planning meeting before 2008.

If you could come to a meeting on Monday evening, December 3, 7pm, TCFM, please let Richard or Cynthia know.

 

2. We are trying to get a head-count for buckthorn-busting this coming Saturday.
We want to be able to tell the McCutchans how many to expect for lunch. So far, we are expecting Ellen, Rhoda, Jim, Cynthia & Richard, from the Twin Cities area, with four others we know of who are actively considering. Please confirm with Cynthia or Richard if you plan to come from the TC area. Or be in touch with the McCutchans.

3. Plans for Early Winter Harvest at Sandhill are developing.
Ralph, Cynthia and Richard will be going out Friday, to spend the night, so we aren’t planning the usual “rendevous-at-Roblyn-car-pool.” If someone else would offer their address as an AM rendezvous point, that would be wonderful. Or if someone is planning to come and has an available seat in their car, Cynthia might know of someone who would like to fill it.
We’ll get serious about details AFTER the 11/10 Buckthorn event is behind us.

4. We are looking ahead to a late-January-or-early-February “family day.”
Some ingredients are: Indoors & outdoors activities, lunch, a bonfire and hot cocoa, easy driving distance for Twin-Cities-area folks. Please talk to Cynthia if you have ideas about preferable weekends, good locations, and fun activities.

TC-QCF Meets Monday 11/5

It’s another of our usual “talking heads” meetings.

We’ll be looking forward to Buckthorn Busting at McCutchans, 11/10,
and to
Early Winter Harvest, 12/8,
and more.