Student Climate and Conservation Congress

The Student Climate and Conservation Congress (Sc3), held June 28–July 3 at the National Conservation Training Center, was a partnership between NCTC and the Green Schools Alliance (GSA). Some 90 students between the ages of 14 and 18 from 20 states were nominated by their schools to attend. Thirty adult leaders from GSA member schools and the Fish and Wildlife Service served as mentors and leaders throughout the event. The five-day program was designed to equip the students to become the next generation conservation leaders, with hands-on training, outdoor activities, and the opportunity to hear from voices in American conservation today.

A major goal of Sc3 was to provide the GSA Student Fellows with new skills and a greater understanding of the interrelation between human economies and the natural environment, making them an even stronger force for sustainable change in their local community.

Speakers included historian Douglas Brinkley, environmental attorney and advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., USGS Nobel Laureate Dr. Virginia Burkett, FWS Science Advisor Dan Ashe, Architectural Professor Mitchell Joachim, and Pulitzer Prize winning Journalist Andrew Revkin.

S’Town Library News

Summer Reading Program. Kids are invited to pick up a reading log in the library’s children’s department, and borrow library books. Read 36 picture books or easy readers, or at least 350 pages of chapter books. Kids who can’t read yet may listen to a total of 36 books that someone reads.

Here’s what awaits kids who turn in a completed reading log: a free homemade ice cream cone from Alli Kat and Moon Dogs, a $5.00 gift certificate to spend at Four Seasons Books, and a free ticket to a Hagerstown Suns baseball game August 14—including fireworks! The deadline to pick up tickets to the Suns’ Summer Reader Night game is August 13. Otherwise, the deadline to return completed reading logs is September 30. For information call the library, 304-876-2783.

The project is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in West Virginia by state librarians, with additional support from the Friends of Shepherdstown Library.

Fine-Free Week. Shepherdstown Library will be closed for maintenance August 17 through August 22, reopening August 24. No fines will be charged for overdue items returned while the Library is closed.

Green Drinks of the Eastern Panhandle

Green Drinks is an informal worldwide network for people working in environmental fields (or who are interested in them). It’s built around simple and relatively unstructured events at local watering holes. “Our goal is to unite the community to embrace responsible, local, and environmentally sustainable lifestyles,” say organizers Karen Valentine and Chad Gauthier. Green Drinks are informal gatherings; no advance registration is required—just show up. Green Drinks gathering are the third Thursday of each month. To subscribe to an email notice of the location, contact Chad Gauthier at pinnacleenterprisesllc@hotmail.com.

DVD Explores Universal Healthcare

Confused by the myriad proposals about healthcare reform? Sick Around the World, a Frontline documentary, is now available for loan from the Shepherdstown Public Library as part of the Human Rights Video Grant collection. The film explores how five capitalist democracies provide healthcare for all their citizens at a fraction of the amount we spend in the United States—and with better outcomes.

As Congress grapples with proposals to provide some level of healthcare to the more than 47 million uninsured people in the U.S., the DVD offers insights gleaned from the experiences of Britain, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland to help inform opinions.

For example, after studying other countries, Taiwan, in 1995, decided to model its program after our Medicare, but covers all citizens. Healthcare is publicly funded by a single government entity and delivered through private providers. Every citizen has a smart card that bills the national insurer and includes the patient’s medical history.

What do the five countries have in common? Healthcare is considered a human right, not a market commodity. All spend considerably less per person than in the U.S. Healthcare is affordable—no one goes bankrupt from medical expenses.

Speed Dating for Non Profs

The United Way of the Eastern Panhandle and the Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation are offering an opportunity for community members to match their leadership skills with local nonprofit organizations. “Board Speed Dating” will be held August 27, from 8:30am to 10am at the Purple Iris in Martinsburg.

The purpose of the event is to bring together nonprofit organizations that are seeking board members with individuals who want to serve on boards. The event allows individuals and the organizations to learn about each other quickly and efficiently by meeting for five minute sessions.

At the end of the event, all of the nonprofits and the individuals will complete an interest form to indicate which individual or organization meets their interest. The next day, all participants will receive a list of their “matches.” A match indicates a mutual interest between an individual and a nonprofit organization. Everyone is given contact information for matches and is responsible for follow-up.

There is no cost, but interested individuals must complete and submit a registration form. The form is available on the United Way website at uwayep.org/announcements.html.

For information, contact Trina Bartlett, uwepdci@comcast.net or 304-263-0603 ext. 224.

See Meteors, Hike With PVAS

Cranesville Hike. The Potomac Valley Audubon Society is sponsoring a hike into the Cranesville Swamp Preserve in Preston County, W.Va., August 9. The two- to three-hour hike will be led by naturalist Kevin Dodge, who directs the Natural Resources and Wildlife Technology Program at Garrett College in McHenry, Md.

The Preserve is an exceptionally large (1,600-acre), high-altitude wetland owned by The Nature Conservancy. Surrounded by 2,800-foot mountains, it constitutes a natural “frost pocket” that evokes an Ice Age landscape; the mountains trap moisture and cold air that foster a habitat normally found much farther north in Canada. A significant number of rare and endangered animal and plant species can be found there.

Much of the wet bog plant community is co-dominated by Sphagnum moss, Speckled Alder, Roughish Arrowwood, Glade St. John’s-wort, various sedges, and grasses. Many interesting bog species such as round-leaved sundew and narrowleaf gentian can be observed from a quarter-mile boardwalk over the swamp. The preserve also includes an exceptional acidic conifer swamp forest with tall eastern hemlock and red spruce, and local patches of dense great laurel and mossy ground cover.

The event is free, but space is limited and registration is required. For information, contact  Peter Smith, 304-876-1139 or pvsmith@frontiernet.net.

Meteor-Watching Party

PVAS will host its third annual meteor-watching party in Berkeley County August 11. The event is timed to catch the peak of the 2009 Perseid meteor shower, which is expected to be at its height that night.

For this FREE event, participants will gather at 10pm at Trinity United Methodist Church’s Orchard House at Trinity Center, at 4599 Shepherdstown Road (Route 45) about half way between Martinsburg and Shepherdstown.

The center is surrounded by farm fields, offering excellent views of the night sky. Viewing of this year’s Perseid shower will be complicated by a nearly full moon that will rise just after midnight. But some meteors should be visible before that time, and there are indications that this year’s shower will be strong enough that there will be bright meteors visible even after the moon rises.

Bring your own lawn chair or lounger, blankets, insect repellent, and snacks. Meteors are best observed with the naked eye, so binoculars and telescopes are not recommended. Bathrooms will be available at the center. The event is contingent on the weather, and will not be held if the sky is fully obscured by cloud cover.

For information contact Ellen Murphy, 304-676-8739 or pvasprograms@comcast.net.

Berkeley County Tire Collection

The Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority, in cooperation with the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection, hosts its annual used tire collection event August 7–8, from 9am to 5pm at the South Berkeley Recycling Center, 637 Pilgrim Street in Inwood. Residents with a valid West Virginia drivers license showing a Berkeley County address may dispose of up to 10 tires per valid license free of charge. The tires do NOT need to be off the rims. Only car and light truck tires 17 inches or less will be accepted. Waste haulers, non county residents, and businesses are not allowed to participate. Each tire will be inspected by staff prior to determine whether it is acceptable. For information, 304-267-9370 or Mike Parks of WV-DEP at 304-940-0258.