Mark your calendars, it’s EARTH GAY!
We are thrilled to announce that Earth Gay 2012 will be Sunday, April 22nd!
Last year we had an amazing event in Seattle with 175 volunteers making a fabulous difference in our community (check out pictures HERE). This year will be the best yet, and we’d love to see you come out for sustainability at the Seattle Earth Gay.
Not in Seattle? Want to host an Earth Gay in your city? We’re looking for event organizers who will make this event go global! If you would like to plan Earth Gay, please contact Gerod or Melanie for more information.
Gerod Rody, Board President
gerod@outforsustainability.org
Melanie Coerver, Board Member and Earth Gay Committee Chair
Board Retreat Recap
Our OUT for Sustainability Board met for a two-day retreat last month and emerged with some exciting new ideas, as well as a higher level of cohesion between our passionate board members. Here are a few highlights:
Our core mission is ever being refined, with several shared themes emerging
- OUT4S provides a model of strengthening the integrity of the community you’re in and the world around you
- OUT4S creates a community network of LGBTQ folks working for change
- OUT4S guides the LGBTQ community into an active leadership role in defining and building a sustainability world
- OUT4S aggregates individual action for community change
OUT4S is now managed in 8 different committees, 1 one which is shared by the whole board, and the other 7 with a single point person with support from at least one other board member, and volunteers from our community! Very exciting, more to come on this next month after working plans are approved.
To learn more and get involved, email gerod@outforsustainability.org.
What (Queer Youth Space) Believes
OUT4S loves that others in the LGBTQ community are rallying around sustainability, through their own lens. Here is what Queer Youth Space has to say about what they believe:
“Queer Youth Space values accessibility and sustainability.
We believe accessibility is the availability of community, the ease to understand
one another, and the ability to communicate friendly with an aim to welcome.
We do this by producing all-ages cultural events because we believe you should
not only be able to find community, solidarity, and support if you are over 21.
Likewise, we believe that people should be welcomed in community
We believe sustainability is the ability to maintain, uphold, nourish, and mitigate
problems with pragmatism and innovation. We do this by creating queer youth
solidarity, and by utilizing a 3D view with how environmentalism and anti-
oppression tactics go hand in hand. We also combine vocational training with
service deliver, so we sustain and build on the power and solidarity in our
community.”
Coming Out Local - Quick Recap
Coming Out Local was a phenomenal success again this year, taking the community building event, and OUT for Sustainability, to a whole new level. The volunteers, particularly our chefs led by the remarkable Zephyr Paquette, made Coming Out Local the engaging, authentic, tangible expression of our mission to mobilize a greener LGBTQ community.
Thank you Sally and Louise for your wisdom and humor. Thank you sponsors of all forms including Dockside Co-op, Cynthia Buhr, Poco Wine Room, and Wilridge Vinyards. Thank you farmers like Baird Orchards and Taylor Shellfish. And thank you to our friends, old and new, who brought your spark to the event. I know you’ll come out local and through that, build a more diversely sustainability world for us all.
The possible menu for Coming Out Local, subject to change based on the freshest ingredients and last minute inspiration. Buy your tickets for this Thursday at brownpapertickets.com/event/194058
Incidentally, vegans and vegetarians should come away quite satisfied, don’t let the pork scare you ;)
Coming Out Local Profile: Chef Joe Randazzo
Joe Randazzo is a former tap dancer, the chef at Solo Bar & Eatery in Lower Queen Anne, and a current 5th quarter culinary student at Seattle Culinary Academy.
He spent his previous life as a motion graphics designer and an editor, creating pieces for many local clients including Three Dollar Bill Cinema’s various event.
Recently returned from a trip to the Quillasascut Farm School, he’s newly inspired and ready to help be part of a delicious and sustainable food community.
Out Ventures Excursion
OUT for Sustainability is happy to connect with Out Ventures going forward to highlight some of their nature excursions. Here is one such opportunity.
Description
The Columbia Gorge is a beautiful natural feature in Eastern WA. Steamboat Rock is a basalt butte that rises 800’ above the surrounding waters of Banks Lake of the Columbia. We will camp in the group campsite. Saturday we can hike to the top, a more intermediate level hike (there is some steepness). The top is 600 acres with fabulous views of the Gorge and surrounding scablands. Other near-by areas to visit while there, maybe on Sunday, are the Grand Coulee Dam and Dry Falls.
I am planning this for late October. By then there should have been frost and the cottonwoods should be a beautiful gold.
Both nights we can have an appetizer/dessert social, so bring something to share.
When
Friday, October 21, 2011 2:30pm to Sunday, October 23, 2011 1:00pm
Categories
Camping, Hiking, Social
Difficulty
Easy
Location
Near Grand Coulee, WA on the Columbia
Meeting Place
Steamboat Rock
Party Size
20 – 50
Trip Length
2 1/2 days
Costs$4/night
Permits/Fees
WA State Parks Pass/vehicle
Equipment
Hiking and Camping gear
Skill Level
Easy
For the group site they need a minimum of 20 people and can have up to 50.
Please RSVP so that they can get a count. rvermillion@mac.com
For more information download an information sheet from http://files.me.com/rvermillion/p12e6m
