Archived Calendar Events

Transition

Westchester

From oil dependence to local resilience

Calendar of Past Events

2nd Quarter General Meeting of Transition Westchester

Date: Monday, April 23, 2012
Location: Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Road, Pleasantville, New York 10570
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

What you probably won't hear about at Earth Day events - Why are gasoline prices high and what you can do because of it.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
Planning a Vegetable Garden for Beginners

Where: South Presbyterian Church, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, New York 10522

Date: Sunday, March 25th

Time: 1 - 3 PM

Have you always wanted to grow your own food? Come and learn how, it’s easier than you may think.

Pauline Schneider, Bronx Botanical Gardens Certified Landscape Designer and life long gardener will go through the steps of planning a veggie garden, from tool selection, site prep, seed/plant selection, sketching out the site, dealing with pests and varmints, to what resources are available to budding new gardeners to help increase your chances of success!

There will be some hands on instruction on how to begin designing your own future garden site, so bring a photograph or sketch and measurements if you have them of the location that your garden may be in. You will sketch the basic outline of the garden. No previous artistic talent or green thumbs necessary!

Please R.S.V.P. to this event by clicking here.

Presented in cooperation with Roots and Wings.
Tool Care Workshop and Seed/Tool Swap

Where: Sprainbrook Nursery, 448 Underhill Road, Scarsdale, N.Y. 10583 [map]

Date: Saturday, February 25th

Time: 10 AM - Noon

As old American folk wisdom puts it; if you want to do a job well, sharpen your axe first. Join Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County Master Gardener Pamela Davis as she presents how to get those shovels, hoes, loppers and other gardening tools back up to their best after a long (mild) winter . No only that, but this is an opportunity to ask her other questions about these apparently mundane but critical tools. There will also be an opportunity for hands on practice for those that are interested, so bring those tools and sharpening implements.

This event will also have a seed/tool swap, so bring the seeds and tools you wish to trade or give away. Maybe you'll go home with those marigold or tomato seeds that you have been looking for! Please R.S.V.P. to this event by clicking here.
January/1st Quarter General Meeting of Transition Westchester

Date: Monday, January 16, 2012
Location: First Unitarian Society of Westchester, 25 Old Jackson Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
Time: 7:00 - 9:00 PM

Meeting starts off with a celebration of Transition Westchester becoming the 106th official Transition Initiative in the United States. Then:

2012 - Are You Ready? A realistic conversation about the year ahead

This first meeting in 2012 will discuss concerns about the year ahead. In a recent survey, nearly 80% of Americans agreed that 2011 can't end soon enough. But how much better will 2012 really be? What will be the environmental and economic realities of 2012? How will we find ways to become stronger, happier and more resilient than we were in 2011?

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.

UPDATE: For minutes of this meeting, click here.
A Sea Change

IMAGINE A WORLD WITHOUT FISH

Winner of the NOAH 2010 Environmental Hero Award Majestically filmed, a Grandfather's Odyssey of learning how Acidification is affecting our oceans-- and our children's future.

Reception and Q/A with filmmaker Barbara Ettinger and narrator Sven Huseby

Location: The Ossining Public Library Budarz Theater 53 Croton Avenue, Ossining, New York 10562 914.941.2416

Date and Time: SATURDAY JANUARY 7, 2012 2-4:30 P.M. SNOW DATE JANUARY 14, 2-4:30

Sponsored by St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Scarborough, Briarcliff Ossining Ministerial Association, and Transition Ossining
December General Meeting and Holiday Party Potluck

Date: Sunday, December 11, 2011
Location: Please RSVP to get location
Time: 3:00 - 7:00 PM

Come celebrate the holiday season with Transition Westchester at this wonderful home. This event will be a potluck that will start off with a brief meeting. There will be great discussions and delicious food. Bring a extra white tee-shirt, Transition Westchester logos can be put on them.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here and let us know what you are bringing.
November General Meeting of Transition Westchester

Date: Monday, November 14, 2011
Location: Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Rd, Pleasantville, NY 10570
Time: 7:00 PM

We will be talking about the what happened at the recent ASPO-US (Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas) meeting and the Bill McKIbben anti-pipeline march, both in Washington D.C., what's happening with Transition Houston and other things.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
The Economics of Happiness

WHEN: Wednesday, November 9th at 7:00 PM

WHERE: Ossining Public Library Theater, 53 Croton Avenue, Ossining, NY

Both hard hitting and inspiring, ‘The Economics of Happiness’ demonstrates that millions of people across the world are already engaged in building a better world – that small scale initiatives are happening on a large scale. ‘The Economics of Happiness’ features a chorus of voices from six continents calling for systemic economic change. The film shows that countless initiatives are united around a common cause: rebuilding more democratic, human scale, ecological and local economies – the foundation of an ‘economics of happiness’.

"It is good news indeed to find so persuasive an explanation of our ailing world as ‘The Economics of Happiness.’ This film connects the dots between climate chaos, economic meltdown, and our own personal suffering stress, loneliness, and depression. It presents the localization movement as a systemic alternative to corporate globalization, as well as a strategy that brings community and meaning to our lives." (Joanna Macy, author World as Lover, World as Self)

For more information please email or visit www.transitionwestchester.org.

Sponsored by Transition Ossining
October General Meeting of Transition Westchester

Date: Monday, October 17, 2011
Location: Community Markets, 173 Main Street, 3rd Fl., Ossining New York 10562
Time: 7:00 PM

Meeting details to be announced.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
Harvest Bountry

An afternoon of traditional "food arts" workshops on Saturday, October 22 at South Church in Dobbs Ferry

Learn how you can eat healthier, save money and find more satisfaction in your life at Harvest Bounty, an afternoon of "food arts" workshops. Saturday, October 22 from 12:30 – 5:30 PM at South Church, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY. Fee: $15 each or $35 for the whole afternoon, includes three workshops, choose any you like.

Harvest Bounty is sponsored by Roots & Wings, the sustainable living initiative of South Church. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Registration required at skillsoffthegrid.com. More info: Cameron@SkillsOfftheGrid.com
Building Resilient Communities in Uncertain Times - The Transition Movement
A Presentation by Tina Clarke of TransitionUS

Date:   Thursday, October 27th
Time:   7:00 - 9:00 PM
Place:  The Ossining Public Library Theatre, 53 Croton Avenue, Ossining, NY 10562

The Transition Movement is a vibrant, grassroots movement that seeks to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis. It represents one of the most promising ways of engaging people in strengthening their communities against the effects of these challenges, resulting in a life that is more abundant, fulfilling, equitable and socially connected.

The vision of the Transition Movement is that every community in the United States has engaged its collective creativity to unleash an extraordinary and historic transition to a future beyond fossil fuels; a future that is more vibrant, abundant and resilient; one that is ultimately preferable to the present.

Tina Clarke has been an advocate, educator, consultant, and director of nonprofit programs since 1985. She was recently a consultant with Bill McKibben's global 350.org initiative and the Sustainability Institute.

Sponsored by Transition Ossining
To RSVP, click here.
There be a Training for Transition course in Marbletown, NY near New Paltz on the weekend of September 24th and 25th. If you have ever wanted to learn more about Transition or want to start a Transition Initiative in your own community, then you should take this training!

Tina Clark, with whom I took my Training for Transition course, is teaching it. The organizers of the course have worked very diligently to keep the cost for the course down. I hoping that a number of people from Westchester are able to go to this training.

There is a free public talk about Transition by Tina on Friday evening, September 23rd, in Marbletown.

To download the flyer for the course, click here.

To download the flyer for the free presentation, click here.

To download a registration form, click here.
Rivertown Chickens

Date: Thursday, September 8, 2011
Location: South Presbyterian Church, 343 Broadway, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
Time: 7:00 PM

Program

*   Introductions

*   Show video by Susan Rubin and Nicola Coddington "Chicken Flick: Backyard Chickens for All"

*   Discussion with Film Makers Susan Rubiin and Nicola Coddington

*   Presentation and Discussion with Lenore Lelah and Eric Sweeting on raising backyard chickens

Presented by Roots & Wings

Registration Required: Program Free and Open to the Community For more information contact Kathy Pokoik at kpokoik@verizon.net or 914-693-7389
How to Boil a Frog - An Eco-Comedy

Date: Thursday, September 15, 2011
Location: Budarz Theater, Ossining Public Library, 53 Croton Avenue Ossining, NY 10562
Time: 7:00 PM

A comedic documentary about overshoot: too many people using up too little planet much too fast. Yes, it's taken the kind of material that makes people jump off bridges, puts it in a blender, and churns out a Smoothie o’ Fun that gives you the Big Picture of what the hell is going on with our so-called civilization, and tells you what you and I can do about it that will not only actually make a difference (no light bulbs!) but also make our lives better right now! More fun! More friends! It’s a bargain. From a review on the Movie Review website: "How To Boil A Frog markets itself by claiming to “[save] civilization with comedy” – and, in my humble opinion, it does a pretty good job at that. The film is quirky, cheeky, and well narrated. (I promise that I won’t spoil the ending and tell you whether or not you actually learn how to boil a frog)."

Presented by Transition Ossining
September General Meeting of Transition Westchester

Date: Monday, September 19, 2011
Location: The Greenburg Nature Center, 99 Dromore Rd, Scarsdale, NY 10583
Time: 7:00 PM

Many exciting things have happen over the summer - the backyard chicken documentary, member participation in the Tar Sands Action protests, and the beginning of the first local Transition Initiative! Come join us and find out what has been happening.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
The Need for Magic in an Age of Depletion

Time: Sunday, July 17th, 2011 at 10:15 am

Location: Community Unitarian Church, 468 Rosedale Ave., White Plains, NY 10605

The Sunday service at this Unitarian Church has a talk by John Bell, founder of Transition Westchester, about the spiritual aspects of our post peak oil existence. The talk builds on ideas first put forth by John Michael Greer in his blog The Archdruid Report.
Transition Westchester and Jacob Burns Film Center Presents The Backyard Chicken Movie

Time: June 16th at 5:00 PM

Location: Jacob Burns Film Center’s Media Arts Lab, Pleasantville, NY

The Jacob Burns Film Center’s Media Arts Lab invites you to a screening of short films made by participants in Reel Change for Nonprofits Thursday, June 16 5:00 pm at the Media Arts Lab

Reel Change for Nonprofits is a program that teaches nonprofit organizations the tools of advocacy filmmaking The following organizations participated in the spring 2011 Reel Change for Nonprofits:

Foodbank for Westchester
Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm
Green Building Professionals Corporation
Transition Towns Westchester

RSVP Theresa Dawson at tdawson@burnsfilmcenter.org
405 Manville Rd, Pleasantville. NY. 10570
Transition Westchester at the Clearwater Festival

Time: Jun 18th and 19th

Location: Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Transition Westchester will share a booth in the Activist Area at Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival with Skills Off The Grid. Come to the festival to hear great music, see and buy wonderful crafts items and learn what happening in the world of Transition and other critical activities for our future.

We would also be delighted if you wanted to volunteer to help man our booth for a hour or two on either day. Please email John Bell at Transition Westchester.
June General Meeting and Picnic

Time: Monday, June 20th, 6:30 pm

Location: Environmental Center at Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Parking should be free after 5:00 PM unless park policies have changed. As you come to the main parking lot stay to the right and drive up the hill. There is separate free parking at the Center. (Northwest corner of the park) If there is bad weather we will use their indoor facilities.

Three local environmental groups have been invited to join us. There are standard wood picnic tables behind the center for the event.

The picnic will be a pot-luck. Meeting and picnic is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here and let us know what you are bringing.
A Crude Awakening

Date: May 12th, 2011
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Place: The Theatre at the Ossining Public Library, 53 Croton Avenue, Ossining, NY 10562

A 90 minute documentary on the planet's dwindling oil resources produced and directed by award-winning European journalists and filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, tells the story of how our civilization’s addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with geology. Compelling, intelligent, and highly entertaining, the film visits with the world’s top experts and comes to a startling, but logical conclusion – our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.

You needn’t be a conspiracy theorist to see a connection between America’s current obsessions with the Middle East and national security, and the world’s looming oil crisis. The frenzied search for alternative sources of energy now being pursued by the largest multinational energy corporations makes it clear they also believe a crisis is fast approaching. Each day’s headlines, whether the subject is Libya or Japan, sheds new light on the issue.

There will be a Q&A session after the film.
May General Meeting

Time: Monday, May 16th, 7:00 pm

Location: Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Road, Pleasantville, New York 10570

Updates on our exciting workgroup projects.

Planning for events in the summer is also on the agenda, including the Clearwater Festival.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
Transition Movement in the U.S.

From Oil Dependence to Community Resilience.
Speaker: Michael Brownlee, Transition Colorado

Date: Monday, May 2, 2011
Time: 7 to 9 pm
Cost: No cost. Donations are welcome
Place: Genesis Farms, Blairstown, NJ - approximately 1.5 hours west of NYC
Introduction to Deep Transition

Date: April 28-May 1, 2011 (Thursday to Sunday)
Time: Thursday, 7 pm - Sunday, 4 pm
Cost: $285. Meals: $62.50 (3 lunches, 2 dinners). Limited lodging available; $55/night, includes breakfast.
Place: Genesis Farms, Blairstown, NJ - approximately 1.5 hours west of NYC

The Transition movement has emerged over the last five years with both practical and principled responses to these questions. A network of imaginative and locally-focused Initiatives, the Transition movement supports local leadership efforts to engage people to take the far-reaching actions that are required to mitigate the effects of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis and to build community resilience.

This program provides a comprehensive overview of the Transition model for decreasing oil dependency and building local resilience - its premises and practices, along with an experiential introduction to the "head, heart, and hands" of Transition.
April General Meeting

Time: Monday, April 18th, 7:00 pm

Location: Community Unitarian Church at White Plains, 468 Rosedale Ave. White Plains, NY 10605

Updates on our exciting workgroup projects.

Planning for events in the summer is also on the agenda.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here.
March General Meeting

Time: Monday, March 21, 7:00 pm

Location: Office of Community Markets, 173 Main Street, Ossining, NY

Cameron Kelly, of Skills Off the Grid, will give a presentation on her recent trip to Cuba to continue her study of the Cuban's use of Permiculture in feeding themselves.

Further planning for events in the spring is also on the agenda.

Meeting is ope n to all, but please R.S.V.P. here. You will be sent instructions on how to find the office.
February General Meeting

Time: Monday, February 21, 7:00 pm

Location: Office of Community Markets, 197 Main Street, Ossining, NY

Time to start planning how Transition will happen in Westchester County and what we can do in 2011.

Meeting is open to all, but please R.S.V.P. here. You will be sent instructions on how to find the office.
Celebrate Imbolc with a Brunch on February 5th!

Time: Saturday, February 5. 11:00am - 2:00pm

Location: TBA in Ossining, NY

Imbolc, a.k.a. Candlemas, a.k.a. Groundhog Day - It doesn't matter, just come celebrate the first glimmering of spring and the first steps in starting that beautiful garden and bountiful harvest with a potluck brunch on Saturday, February 5th from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at a wonderful house in Ossining.

Bring a breakfast/lunch dish AND a pack of seeds, for we will have a seed exchange as well. This will be a time to share with others those winter plans for the garden that will start to come alive this spring. Great food, conversation and seeds, what more could one ask? To get directions, please R.S.V.P. here, and tell us what you are bringing.
The Economics of Happiness

Time:        Thursday, January 27 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location:   The Great Hall, Cooper Union
                30 Cooper Square (7 East 7th Street)
                New York, NY 10003

The film will be followed by a panel discussion with producer Helena Norberg-Hodge, Judy Wicks, co-founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), acclaimed writer Gloria Steinem, and Stacy Mitchell, author and senior researcher with the New Rules Project. Organizational partners: The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design, Grace Communications Foundation / Sustainable Table, Slow Food NYC, Brooklyn Food Coalition, New Economics Institute, New Economy Network, New Rules Project of The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and Awakening the Dreamer ~ Changing the Dream Symposium. $15 suggested donation (no one turned away for lack of funds)

The film will also be shown on Wednesday, January 26th at The Garrison Institute, Garrison, New York. The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30pm, event begins at 7pm. No reservations required, but we ask that you RSVP so we can anticipate attendance. For more information or to RSVP, please call 845.424.4800.
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