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The New Revolutionaries are at work in Ohio
by Annie Warmke
August 29, 2007

COLUMBUS Ohio. There is a quiet revolution happening in Ohio and the impact that the revolutionaries are having is about to be felt quite loudly this Labor Day- September 3. Five business people and a handful of dedicated volunteers – secretaries, chefs, business owners, farmers and teachers – came together on a cold fall day last year to talk about their dream of bringing green living out into the open for Ohioans. They walked the fields of the Flying J farm – fighting off the cold wind as they surveyed the picturesque lake and thought about how they could use one organic farm near Columbus to grow an interest in green living among Ohioans.

The original dreamers-turned-organizers were no ordinary folks. Richard Jensen, owner of the Flying J came from a background as an OSU college professor turned organic farmer – and a successful one at that. The Flying J Farm is known in the central Ohio area for first-rate grass-fed beef and organic produce. Annie and Jay Warmke, owners of Blue Rock Station, a green living center established in 2004 is the home of Ohio’s first Earthship, a home made of tires, cans, bottles and straw bales. This year 3,000 people will have visited their place in rural southeastern Ohio to learn how to build sustainable buildings, cook healthy fast food or just to walk with their llamas. Their previous life included running a large engineering association and a women’s fund. And then there are Margaret and Tim Chavez, operators of a parking lot management business in downtown Columbus. They also own the website www.anythingsolar.com.

These five people had a dream of creating a venue that would bring together anyone who was interested in living a greener life. They mapped out the plan. First they wanted a website to create visibility for the businesses and organizations that are working on green living. Then they wanted to demonstrate that green living is fun, comfortable and affordable so they decided to support the Chavez’s efforts to build a bigger solar stage presence at Comfest – working to reach urban dwellers. But their biggest effort was to create the Ohio Green Living Fayre Labor Day at Richard Jensen ’s Flying J Farm. The proceeds from the event will be given to the Ohio Education Farm and Food Association (OEFFA) and Simply Living of Columbus.

The volunteer effort has snow balled into a large committee of volunteers from around the state who are organizing more volunteers and rallying support for green living. The organizing committee of the fayre voted recently to form a non-profit organization to grow the revolution of green living in Ohio, including future green living fayres.

The Labor Day Fayre is to be held at Flying J Farm and will serve as the premier event for anyone interested in greening Ohio’s part of the planet. There will be workshops on weaving, solar energy, rain gardens, healthy pets, climate change, composting, green cleaning and health (eating well and taking care of yourself). There will also be vendors selling food and useful items for green living. The rest of the venue will have children’s games, Irish folks music, demonstrations, a mini-film festival, horse-drawn wagon rides, the OEFFA organic farm tour (1 PM) and much more. Or visitors can arrive earlier in the holiday weekend to watch the construction of the straw bale-composting outhouse.

A horse-drawn hay wagon will provide old-fashioned transportation from the parking area on the day of the fayre. Cost of admission is only $5 per person. Parking is plentiful and free. Bring along a lawn chair for listening to music or people watching. Volunteers are welcome and in exchange for a minimum of two hours of help at the fayre they will receive free admission and a $5 food voucher.

The keynote speaker will be Jeremy Gedert, the chef at Luce's in Dublin. He will demonstrate preparing fast healthy food – fresh from the Flying J Farm. The rest of the program includes speakers in the areas of fun, health, renewable energy, and simple living.

In addition, there will be a mini-film festival, with movies on global warming, issues surrounding food production, trends for the future and mistakes from the past highlighted and explained. For more information, check out the web site at www.ohiogreenliving.org

Pre-fayre activities for people/building construction watching include: Aug 25-26th - workshop Build a Tire Foundation for the Straw Bale privy. Stop by to watch folks learn how to build an 8'x8' foundation and frame that will hold a straw bale privy built to house the Sun-Mar composting toilet. This project will then remain on the Ohio Green Living Fayre grounds for years and years to come. Everything begins at 9 AM and finishes by 5 PM.

Then on Sept 1st-2nd spend an hour or the day watching the building of the straw bale walls for a Straw Bale Privy. It’s the modern-day version of al old-fashioned barn raising, except you’ll see folks sewing together straw bales, and plastering with mud. Find out more about the straw bale build at www.bluerockstation.com.

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