Mount Vernon Downtown Association
MVDA/Skagit NextTech

First Thursday Social

First Thursday Social Hour, This Thursday!Please join us for the inaugural Mount Vernon "First Thursday" event, this Thursday, May 2nd at 4:00 pm at Trumpeter Public House. Come as you are, no dress code, no agenda! What: First Thursday is a social event sponsored by the MVDA Economic Restructuring Committee and Skagit NextTech.  Come and meet your downtown Mount Vernon neighbors - the business owners, county and city workers, lawyers, accountants, and restaurateurs at a low-key, no agenda social event.  We hope to have a First Thursday event at a local downtown Mount Vernon spot the First Thursday of each month. There will be a cash bar available, or you can certainly enjoy the regular menuWhen: Thursday, May 2nd from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm (or until the last person leaves)Where: Trumpeter Public House.  416 Myrtle Street, Mount Vernon WABonus: Come and drop your business card in a bucket and win a $50 gift card to Gretchen's Kitchen! Drawing held at 530pm.We hope to see you there, and look out for more information on future First Thursday events!

Greenwood Tree, a Waldorf-inspired coopera-tive school, offers classes for families with children 2-14 years old (early childhood, pre-school, and homeschool enrichment), as well as seasonal festivals and parent education. 

Saturday, Apr. 27 
1:00 - 4:00 p.m. 
500 W. Section St., Skagit Unitarian Hall 
Mt. Vernon (by the Post Office) 

Bring the whole family for kids’ activities, demonstrations, crafts, music, puppetry and sto-rytelling. Learn more about Greenwood Tree’s programs and alternative education in the area. 

Throughout the day: 

• Vendors tables and information, used curriculum sale 
  
• Snacks available 
  
• Displays of children’s work 
  
• Crafts, demonstrations and hands-on activities 
  

Schedule: 
1:00 Bread Baking 
1:30 Storytelling 
2:00 Puppet Show 
3:00 Music performed by students 
3:15 Raffle drawing 

www.greenwoodtreecoop.org 

 Come along and learn how you can turn your garden into a haven for hummingbirds, butterflies, and people - learn about all of the benefits of gardening for wildlife, including water quality benefits to local streams, rivers, lakes, and marine waters.  The event is free, however, pre-registration is requested by by April 26th (just send me an email or call me at 428-4313).  "Gardening for Wildlife Workshop,"  is scheduled for Tuesday, April 30th from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Glenhaven Lakes Clubhouse in Glenhaven (2997 Glenhaven Drive, Sedro-Woolley, WA) 
The event is being hosted by Friday Creek Habitat Stewards and Skagit Conservation District. Happy gardening!

I will be sharing my book of papercuts, Seeds for a New Day and explain my inspiration behind it.  Publicly sharing what matters to me most will put me a bit outside my comfort zone...Hope to see some familiar faces.
Please come and be part of the discussion and share your positive vision for our community. 
Thanks,
Sarai Stevens
Market Lady and Chuckanut Transition Initiating Group Member

Greenwood Tree's Open House and Homeschooling Fair will take place on April 27th from 1-4pm with kids crafts, baking, storytelling and talking with teachers.  Greenwood Tree is located behind the Post Office in downtown Mount Vernon: 500 West Section Street, Mount Vernon.  Folks can check out http://www.greenwoodtreecoop.org/index.html for more information or email greenwoodschool.info@gmail.com.

I attached the flyer with all of the information.

Thank you!
Shelley

We will be showing "Do the Math" for Earth Day at the Lincoln Theater for free this Sunday night at 6:30 p.m.  It is a short film about fossil fuels and climate change, intended to inspire communities across the country to action.  Please join us, and bring a friend!  Also, please forward this e-mail to other friends and environmental groups you are involved with who might be interested, and post it on your Facebook pages.  I will be there with Power Past Coal information, and yard signs for anyone who has a good location to post one.
A big thank-you to the Lincoln Theater for hosting this--we are so lucky to have such a great resource in our community.
Thanks!
Tracy Montaron

Friends,On Sunday, April 21st -- what we’re calling “Earth Night” -- 350.org will premiere a film about our work and our growing movement.

It features the big tour we did across the country last fall, and so the film is also called “Do the Math.” The trailer for the movie was just released a few minutes ago -- check it out: 
On the night of April 21st, people will gather in hundreds of living rooms and libraries across the country for the premiere of the movie. Meeting in person is the lifeblood of our movement, and we hope that gathering to watch this snazzy film can be an opportunity to connect with new people and grow the movement locally.I’ve already had a chance to preview the movie; it is an inspiring, beautiful, and fast-paced story that shows the power of the growing climate movement. It clocks in at 42-minutes -- and it packs a lot in: from the cross-country tour we did last year, to the latest dispatches from leaders in the fight to stop Keystone XL, to the campaign to divest from fossil fuels.We also have a page that answers a lot of questions you might have about the movie -- check it out here:

You won’t want to miss it. Click here to watch the the trailer and join (or create!) an Earth Night gathering in your community.

www.350.org/mathOnwards,Anna for the whole 350.org teamP.S. April 21st is one day before the end of the State Department's public comment period on the Keystone XL pipeline -- so we'll make sure folks can collect and submit comments at local events.

Invite from Jan Woodruff of Transition Fidalgo and Friends:

Transition Fidalgo & Friends hosts “Ocean on the Edge” at Seafarer’s Park (601 Seafarer’s Way, Anacortes) on Sunday April 21 from 1p to 5p

Highlights include:

• A waterfront rally and walk to highlight ocean acidification and sea level rise. You are encouraged to bring signs, costumes, etc. relevant to climate change impacts on the ocean.
•  Keynote speaker Nick Bond, Washington State Climatologist, will discuss climate change in the Pacific Northwest.
•  A Discussion Panel with experts’ insights about current and future Salish Sea climate change impacts. Speakers include: Brooke Love (Shannon Point Marine Center, WWU), Roger Fuller (Nature Conservancy); Ed Knight (Swinomish Climate Change Initiative); and Skagit County Commissioner Ron Wesen.
•  A “Call to Action” encouraging individuals to take action to reduce climate change impacts in our region.

To help minimize our carbon footprint, we encourage people to carpool to the park and to bring a personal water bottle. Snacks will be available. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about “Ocean on the Edge,” please visit www.transitionfidalgo.org/specialevents.