Sad news. Recently my partner at Round Mountain, Gabrielle Welford, has been very sick. She's had major surgery and treatments for ovarian cancer. There has been a heartwarming response to all this from everyone at Round Mountain and from Gabrielle's many friends. For more about Gabrielle, email or call me or go to the web site Gaby is maintaining at
http://carringbridge.org/visit/gabriellewelford
Warm regards to all.
King Collins
707-468-5513
king@greenmac.com
P.S. The next event I know of at Round Mountain is the June Bug Hop! on June 12, 2010. Contact Lynda McClure or Steve Smith. For what happened last year, see below.
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Last year a few of us repaired the old stage floor in the big barn. That floor was put in 30 years ago in the time of the Illuminated Elephants and had open holes and rickity stairs. On the stage floor we created a bar and built a small stage.
My role, I hoped, would be to manage the construction and make it possible to have some fun performance and music on the little stage.
At the 2009 June Bug Hop! some of us tried to mingle old traditions with new ideas, and what resulted was a great deal of confusion and some hurt feelings. But there was music and poety and several performances on the stage and various other placess. This year will be back to the familiar traditions with Linda and Steve fully in command.
Gaby and Acorn performing on the new stage.
People's History of Round Mountain?
And all along, I've been intrested in creating a kind of people's history of Round Mountain and, to some degree, of Mendocino County. To that end I have collected and filed a few interviews, photos and documents. We also made some "time lines" from 1978 when Round Mouintain was founded to the present. It is an interesting story in part because there are many sides to it. So many people lived here and had such different experiences. I spent maybe a couple of months trying to get it organized and trying to keep track of the discussions, the photos, the recordings, the "interviews" the scribbled notes. I was somewhat successful, and a 60 page document is available
But alas, all that is mostly on hold. Even I, the most hard-head of optimists, agree that at this time there is not enough support for the cooperative ideas suggested here, neither from the landlord nor from the associated renters. However, the ideas themselves and the practical things that were done are worth noting. There may come a time when these things are more popular than they are now.
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NOTES FROM THE
Round Mountain
Reunion Research Project
The following is a list of some of the ideas was discussed by various combinations of people, including Gabrielle Wlford, Marya Legrand (former resident), King Collins and several other local folks. This is rough list of what has been suggested or done so far:
• Car maintenance coop. What would it cost to set up a well equipped auto shop and hire a mechanic. Doug Smith who has been maintaining some of our cars has agreed to submit a plan. (Doug Smith, KC)>
• Local theater, video, and poetry productions (media): Al Rosen, Barry B., Marya Legrand, KC, GW. We have viewed the video of the Variety Show made by Al Rosen and put some stills from it in the report.
• History of Mendocino County politics and communities like Round Mountain since 1960. An ongoing project. See the current draft, at RM TimeLine(140K PDF). KC is working with anyone interested, including prior residents of Round Mountain. Will contact Norm deVall, Richard Johnson.
• Sustainable Farming: The future of farming in our eco-region and Round Mountain. Can we put more local food on the table? Fran Bluhm suggest we set up a CSA (community supported Agriculture) just for Round Mountain. (Something like this is now being done by Phil, Mathew and Ashley).
• Connecting with the Mexican workers. How can we have less exploitation and more communication. Vivian Power, KC.
• What business(es) could we create to sustain our community and our watershed? In our bioregion, what kind of banks and credit union could support cooperative sustainable production. (Sandy Turner, Larry Sheehy, KC)
King Collins, collaborating with
Marya Legrand and Gabrielle Welford.
1201 Parducci Rd., Ukiah, CA 95482
Phone 707-468-5513
Email: info@greenmac.com
