It's ‘old school' for reunion, fundraiser June 23

NEWS OF NOTE

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The FOWS will have exhibits of the historic school and its renovation, Waldorf in its heyday before shopping centers and the mall, classroom photos, FOWS merchandise for sale and other opportunities to support the organization.

At the end of the day, The Greene Turtle will donate 10 percent of the entire day's sales to FOWS and its efforts to continue the preservation of Old Waldorf School, located just north of the U.S. 301/Route 228 intersection.

Call 301-645-5564, 301-843-8624 or e-mail waldorfschl@aol.com.

Support group offers services for needy

Community Support Systems offers a variety of services for low-income families and individuals, including food pantries in two locations, job search assistance and resumé building and help with rent and utilities. For more information, call 301-372-1491.

Buy Local Challenge approaches

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission invites farmers, farmers markets, farm stands, restaurants that serve locally grown food and wine, and related businesses to submit information before July 10 on special events they have planned for the 2009 Buy Local Challenge Week July 18 through 26.

These special events will be featured on the newly launched Buy Local Challenge Web site, www.buy-local-challenge.com, which also has more tools, resources and information about the challenge.

SMADC will be promoting the challenge with fliers and buttons directing people to the Web and the Buy Local Week calendar of events.

"These first few weeks in June are when the organization and planning for the Buy Local Challenge really heat up," Christine Bergmark, executive director of SMADC, said in a press release. "One of the goals of the new Web site is to help those offering special values, demos etc. during Buy Local Week to advertise their events, so that people taking the pledge can find all this information in one place."

The Buy Local Challenge (always the last full week in July) is celebrating its third anniversary this year. It was designed to highlight the environmental, health and economic benefits farms provide. Participants who take the challenge pledge to eat at least one item from a local farm every day during Buy Local Week and agree to include in their meals products from places offering locally grown food and wine, and dine at restaurants that include local farm food and wine in their menus.

The new Web site also includes information on how businesses, organizations and individuals can participate in the Buy Local Challenge beyond taking the pledge, a running tally of those taking the challenge, recipes and sample menus, and a separate online community forum which will be the launch point for expanding the Buy Local Challenge beyond Maryland.

"Several months ago, even before the new Web site went live, we began posting details for a few of the various BLC celebrations, including a kickoff cookout by Gov. Martin O'Malley, which has become an annual event," Bergmark said in the release. "But now it's time to get serious. We hope to have everything in place on the BLC calendar before July 1, when traffic to the Web site really picks up."

"We especially encourage our area restaurants to celebrate Buy Local Week with special menus highlighting fresh and delicious local farm food," she added.

Contact SMADC at P.O. Box 745, Hughesville, MD 20637; phone 301-274-1922; e-mail cbergmark@somarylandsogood.com; or go to www.somdtrails.com.

Trust to expand land preservation efforts

Patuxent Tidewater Land Trust, a Southern Maryland conservation organization, recently won a Janice Hollmann Grant from the Maryland Environmental Trust and the State Highway Administration.

"We'll be reaching out to the community to encourage landowners to protect their local environment by placing conservation easements on their property," Susan Charkes, executive director of PTLT, said in a press release. "There's nothing that can have a greater or more lasting impact on quality of life than protecting our natural and agricultural resources."

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements between a landowner and a land trust to permanently limit development and other activities on the property. The easements can qualify landowners for federal and state tax benefits. Landowners get to keep their properties, can sell them or pass them on by will, and do not have to give the public access. The land is protected forever.

PTLT, a private nonprofit organization, protects land in Charles, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Calvert and St Mary's.

PTLT has already preserved more than 3,300 acres from development through conservation easements, including working farms, forest habitat and riverbank sites.

Volunteers and staff of PTLT also work with landowners to help them manage their land using the most up-to-date stewardship practices. Restoring streambanks, planting rain gardens, using cover crops and other river-friendly practices all help protect land and water from the impact of development, according to the release.