2013 08 29

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Sopris Carbondale’s community

supported, weekly newspaper

Volume 5, Number 29 | August 29, 2013

Celebrating the win

The “End of the Dam Affair” party in Redstone Park on Aug. 25 attracted more than 100 folks who sipped beer, socialized, listened to acoustic rock & soul and took in two or three short speeches explaining why they were there. The Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association and other groups organized the party to celebrate the West Divide Water District’s relinquishment of its water rights on the Crystal River, which pretty much relegates a 56-year-old proposal to dam the river at Placita to the dustbin of history. Now, the groups are investigating Wild and Scenic designation for the river. For a brief history on the whole dam affair, please turn to page 7. Photo by Lynn Burton

Fighting hunger at home – can you dig it? By Sue Coyle Sopris Sun Correspondent

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n a YouTube video made last April, El Jebel resident Kim Doyle Wille speaks excitedly in front of Carbondale’s Third Street Center and gestures towards several brown, seemingly lifeless garden beds behind her. The spring wind buffets the microphone and tries to drown out her words, but Wille is nothing if not determined. Today that determination is stronger than ever, and the bare dirt beds have been transformed into abundant vegetable gardens. Wille is founder and director of Plant a Row to End Hunger (PAR-TEH) a philanthropic enterprise providing fresh, organic

produce to those who could not otherwise afford it. The network of gardens stretch from Aspen to Rifle, Gypsum, Eagle and Paonia. One of the largest plots is part of the Good Seed Community Garden at the Orchard Church in Carbondale. These gardens provide food for Lift-Up as well as other food banks and residents of western Colorado. “I feel like I was put on this earth to do this project,” said Wille. That sense of purpose is contagious, as hundreds of volunteers have contributed in large and small ways to the project. Seeds, many of them precious heirloom seeds, were donated by a variety of individual and commercial contributors. Topsoil

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and compost were delivered by Pitkin County Landfill. But the most important resource is the hundreds of helping hands that have dug in the dirt, hauled rocks and soil, planted, weeded, watered and tended the garden plots throughout the summer. According to Wille, 1,200 packets of herb and vegetable seeds were distributed to over 200 gardens, and 35 plots were built and planted in only 30 days. Campers and staff from the Extreme Sports Camp, a summer program for autistic young adults, pitched in to build rock borders, plant seeds, lay recycled cardboard under the wood chip paths and contribute whatever labor was needed. Students from Diane Alcantara’s summer

ESL (English as a second language) class have done the same, as well as speaking about their gardening experiences on the Andy Zanca Youth Empowerment program on KDNK. A recent visit from The Sopris Sun to the Good Seed Garden joined Diego and Genesis, two young volunteers from the ESL program who have stayed on after summer school was over. Wille calls them “my regulars.” They showed off the “broccoli forest,” which was planted by a Sunday school class from The Orchard and is exactly what it sounds like. With the help of Wille, the kids hunted for ripe squash and collected mounds PAR-TEH page 15

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