Jump on this! Free Home Energy Audit for You, $50 to an Important Cause, Your cost: $0.00

Loft insulation (Photo credit: Southend-on-Sea in Transition)

Autumn has finally arrived - it's a great time to think about your home's energy efficiency.

In partnership with Neil Kelly Company and Clean Energy Works Oregon, I'm excited to share an exclusive offer for [Oregon League of Conservation Voters] supporters that will save you money and support OLCV's work. Read on!

Thank you,

Doug Moore
Executive Director, OLCV

The Neil Kelly Company is excited to support OLCV in this important election year. (Voter registration deadline is today [October 16] - please check that you are registered to vote, and if you are new to Oregon or have moved since the last election, don’t forget to re-register!)

As a pioneer in design-build remodeling, sustainable materials, and residential energy efficiency, Neil Kelly Company is a strong supporter of OLCV’s efforts to protect our natural legacy.

Improving your home’s energy efficiency this fall is one of the easiest ways to reduce energy use, while offering you greater comfort and utility bill savings. Last year, we completed 211 retrofits for an average savings of 2.8 tons of carbon per home per year and an average energy savings of 30 percent.

Together with Clean Energy Works Oregon, we’d like to offer you a unique opportunity to save energy while helping OLCV.

Just visit Clean Energy Works Oregon’s website and apply with the special Instant Rebate Code CNNLK222, and Neil Kelly Company will perform an energy audit of your home for free (valued at $500), and give $50 to OLCV.

Clean Energy Works Oregon’s unique program enables you to undertake energy improvements with no out-of-pocket costs, and offers a range of financial incentives upon project completion in many areas of the state. Currently, homeowners in greater Portland qualify for rebates of up to $2,000, while homeowners in other counties (Polk, Marion, Yamhill, Lane, Deschutes) are eligible for rebates of up to $2,000 or $3,000, depending on the county.

We strongly encourage you to act soon, as rebate levels in some counties will change November 30! Just apply at Clean Energy Works Oregon’s website with the Instant Rebate Code CNNLK222. You'll receive a free home energy audit, and we'll give OLCV $50! (Don't forget the code!)

We look forward to seeing you at OLCV's 16th Annual Celebration for the Environment next year, and thank you for your commitment to furthering the work of OLCV.

Sincerely,

Tom Kelly, President
Neil Kelly Company

Related articles

• Conducting a Home Energy Audit - Insulation
• October is the Perfect Time to Lay Groundwork for Energy Savings
• How Energy Efficient Is Your Home? Worth an Audit to See Results

Once and future history of Oregon

One of the greatest gems in this area is Geercrest Farm, a sesquicentennial farm on Sunnyview Road in the Waldo Hills between Salem and Silverton, where GeerCrest Farm and Historical Society is making great headway in preserving and bringing this irreplaceable treasure into the future, providing a place where the future pioneers of Post-Carbon Oregon can reskill and learn how the last generations thrived in the era before fossil fuel farming took over.

Upcoming Events:

"Annotated Cartoons By Davenport"
Book Release Party - Saturday, August 25 – 6:00 pm

The Davenport Project and GeerCrest Farm & Historical Society are pleased to announce a special Book Release Party to celebrate the publication of “The Annotated Cartoons by Davenport.”

This event, set for Saturday, August 25, at 6:00 pm is to honor the many backers of our recent “Kickstarter” Fund Raising campaign, that made the publication possible. Folks who donated $25 or more during the Kickstarter Campaign are the honored guests of the evening. Others may attend for $30 per person. Please do RSVP to the farm via phoneat 503-873-3406 or Email.

During the evening, light refreshments, beer and wine will be available. Gus Frederick, the book’s researcher and compiler will be on hand to autograph copies, which will be available for purchase for $15, a 25% discount off of the cover price of $20, for this event only. Additionally, a short presentation by Frederick will provide some historical context to Davenport, the Gilded Age and how reprographics technology enabled a local country boy from Silverton, Oregon to become the highest paid cartoonist in the world.

In 1898, Homer Davenport published Cartoons By Davenport, a collection of over 80 cartoons which originally appeared in William Randolph Hearst’s New York Evening Journal. It was a large format work, with hardbound cover and an introduction by Senator John J. Ingalls, (R-Kansas).

Over 100 years later, Davenport historian Gus Frederick researched, compiled and reprinted a fully annotated edition of this historic work. The faces and the issues behind Davenport’s witty, satiric caricatures were teased out in a cartoon-by-cartoon commentary.

This revised, expanded edition will number just under 200 pages, and measure slightly over 8 by 10 inches. “Annotated Cartoons by Davenport” will be the first publication of The Liberal University Press, based out of Silverton, Oregon.

Best bet tonight: Confluence Chorus "Classical Melodies"

Confluence: Willamette Valley LGBT Chorus will present...
“Classical Melodies,” on Saturday October 15, 7:30 pm, at the

First Congregational Church, 700 Marion St., Salem

Dear Friend,

Artistic Director Ray Elliott has crafted a special concert of classical music with choral works, madrigals, arias, cello and piano, including composers Rossini, Handel, Donato, Orff, and Benjamin Britten, among others.  The concert is designed to lift your spirits and soothe your soul.

Tickets in advance, online or from chorus members, are $15 General Admission, $12 Students & Seniors.  Tickets at the door are $18 and $15. For tickets online, or to make a donation, go to confluencechorus.org

You Are Invited

…to a special preconcert wine and cheese reception at 6:30 as well a silent auction which includes three separate coast getaways—

one at Lincoln City with a gift certificate to Kyllos Restaurant	another just south of Salishan, within 250 ft. of Lincoln Beach	and a third near Waldport (on the beach and pet friendly).
All three can accommodate from two to six people. A great opportunity for families or groups of friends to pool their  resources and win a chance to spend some time together.

   

A fourth auction item is a  14,000 BTU Sportable Gas Grill, great for tailgating and camping. 

All four auction items will make awesome holiday gifts for friends or family.

---

Your Support is Needed

Confluence recently purchased a cargo trailer that was stolen two weeks after purchase.  Although it was insured, the expenses of the deductible and ongoing secure storage are challenging the nonprofit chorus’s minimal operating budget.  Donations for the trailer are welcome as well as attendance at this concert, which is additional to the regular concert season starting in December. 

Donations may be made any time at confluencechorus.org or on the night of the concert.

---

Questions? Contact publicity@confluencechorus.org

Confluence: Willamette Valley LGBT Chorus
Building Bridges Through Song

Celebrate Earth Day with Queen of the Sun and a local hero

The best movie house between San Francisco and Vancouver, B.C., our own fine gem, Salem Cinema, brings a super-special event to Salem for Earth Day, QUEEN OF THE SUN, along one of the local beekeepers profiled at the 6 p.m. showing on Saturday, April 23:

QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are The Bees Telling Us?

United States. 2011. Directed by
Taggart Siegel. (83 mins.)
Not Rated.

What's all the buzz about? In celebration of Earth Day, please join us for the magnificent documentary QUEEN OF THE SUN: WHAT ARE THE BEES TELLING US?

Jon Betz and Silverton commercial beekeeper Andy Angstrom will join us on Saturday, April 23rd to answer questions following our 6 PM screening!

This wildly entertaining honey of a documentary is a dynamic, fascinating, bee-autiful blend of poetry and science, providing not only an eye-opening education on the collapse of our honeybee colonies and the affect on our earth's fragile ecosystem but the information necessary to prompt action. For the gloriously shot QUEEN OF THE SUN, winner of swarms of awards, Portland filmmaker Taggart Siegel (THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN) made a beeline around the globe to interview some of the world's most gregarious and passionate beekeepers. Their heartfelt, hopeful and focused proposals to inspire sustainable practices take some of the sting out of the vital, alarming message this thoughtful film brings to the hive.

Donate your books now, get great bargains soon

The Friends of Salem Public Library Spring Book Sale is back, and better than ever, because every year there are more and more of us who have spent a year buying and enjoying good books that now need to go to a good home -- and provide itemizers with a tax deduction on the way, while raising money for an outstanding cause, the programs of the Salem Public Library.

So schedule your spring cleaning now -- go through all your shelves and find those great books that you enjoyed but won't read again, and send them on their way to someone else's shelves by bringing them to the Friends Bookstore inside the main library. You can get a tax receipt, and you'll be helping the Friends raise money to support key programs at the most important but underbudgeted resource in Salem -- our library.

Local Hero: Jeff Merkley

Oregon's Democratic Senator, Jeff Merkley, gets some well-deserved props from Kevin Drum (who mistakenly throws some undeserved love at NY's third senator, who married money and suddenly dislikes the estate tax):

The state of Oregon does a helluva job electing senators. We should all be so lucky to have the likes of Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley representing us.

Today I want to highlight Merkley and his proposal to end abuse of the filibuster. Unlike his retiring Connecticut colleague Chris Dodd, who inexplicably decided to use his farewell address this week to produce a defense of the filibuster that could only come from a DC lifer almost comically out of tune with the events of the past few years, Merkley has given the subject some real thought and recently produced some genuinely sharp thinking about it.

For starters, Merkley understands the reality of the modern Republican Party: they don't use the filibuster occasionally to obstruct legislation they feel especially strongly about, they use it "on nearly a daily basis, paralyzing the Senate." What's more, the filibuster isn't just a way of requiring 60 votes to pass legislation. Rather, "the filibuster can be thought of as the power of a single senator to object to the regular order of Senate deliberations, thereby invoking a special order that requires a supermajority and a week delay for a vote."

This is a key point to understand. The modern filibuster requires only one person to invoke it, doesn't require that person to do anything other than announce his intent, and automatically eats up a week or more of time on the Senate calendar even on legislation that's widely popular. Last year, for example, it took the Senate five weeks to approve an extension of unemployment benefits that eventually passed 98-0.

But what to do? There's some question about whether Senate rules can be changed in the middle of a session, but none about whether they can be changed at the beginning of a session. They can be. So in January, if Democrats can muster 51 votes and Vice President Biden is willing to support them by issuing friendly rulings as presiding officer, the filibuster rules can be changed. So what would it take to persuade 51 Democrats to go along?

Merkley's proposal revolves around a single principle: the Senate should always allow debate. So the filibuster should be banned entirely on motions to proceed and on amendments because both are things the promote debate and engagement. Filibusters would still be allowed on a bill's final vote, but it would take more than one senator to launch a filibuster (Merkley suggests a minimum of ten) and senators would have to actually hold the floor and talk. No longer would a single person be able to obstruct all business just by dropping a note to his party leader.

And in return? The minority party would have one of its major grievances addressed: the ability to offer amendments to legislation. Merkley proposes that unless a different agreement is reached prior to a bill coming to the floor, each side would be allowed to introduce five amendments of their own choosing. No longer could the majority leader "fill the amendment tree" or otherwise prohibit the minority party from trying to amend legislation. This fits with his broad principle that debate and engagement with legislation is a good thing. The minority party might choose to offer mischevious or blatantly political amendments, but that's their choice. They also have the choice of genuinely trying to improve legislation and getting a majority of their colleagues to pass it.

Merkley has a few other proposals as well, but this is the gist of it. It's a pretty good plan, and a pretty sensible one. It doesn't eliminate the filibuster, it just eliminates filibuster abuse. And in return, the minority party gets an expanded ability to engage in a positive way with any legislation on the floor. In January, the Democratic leadership, the rank-and-file of the party, and the White House ought to give serious thought to starting the 112th Congress with the long-overdue reforms that Merkley proposes.

Happier notes: Friends of Salem Saturday Market Winter Doings

Greetings Friends,

Hope your holiday season is off to a safe and fun beginning. As we gear up for the winter, Friends of Salem Saturday Market is keeping busy. We hope you'll continue to enjoy our events, and remember that a membership in FSSM makes a great gift!

**********

Holiday Market
FSSM will again have a booth at the Holiday Market, Dec. 11-12 at the Fairgrounds. Here’s what we’ve got planned:

1) FSSM Gift & Coat Valet Service! We will be providing valet service for both coats and gifts, completely complimentary. Shoppers can drop off their stuff while they enjoy the Market.

2) Discounted books: FSSM will be selling great sustainability books at a discount for FSSM members. New titles include "Keep Chickens!", "Naturally Clean Home," "Recipes from the Root Cellar," "Recycled Crafts" for kids, and much more!

3) Find a unique gift: A unique gift idea this year would be to purchase an FSSM membership for your friends and loved ones. We will also be offering "gift membership packs," where the membership is bundled with books and other FSSM goodies. Plus, this year we'll be providing a sheet of exclusive coupons to local retailers when you purchase an FSSM membership.

4) Volunteers needed! Could you help out with our booth? It’s fun and a great way to learn more about FSSM. If you can sign up for a 2-hour shift on Dec. 11 or 12, send an email to info@friendsofsalemsaturdaymarket.org. Thanks!

Check out www.salemsaturdaymarket.com for more info on the Holiday Market.

**********

More FSSM News:

Neighborhood Harvest: It was a wonderful inaugural year for FSSM’s Neighborhood Harvest. Check out www.salemharvest.org for a new blog and newsletter about the project.

Plus, here are some great numbers from our first season:

More than 53,000 pounds of fruit and vegetables were picked by 800 volunteers at 60 harvest parties. Of that, 28,000 was donated to Marion Polk Food Share. The rest was taken home by those eager and generous volunteers. Neighborhood Harvest is another great way to volunteer your time and earn some fresh, local produce! We hope you’ll join us for another great season in 2011.

**********

Zero Waste Zone also had an incredible first season! We're excited to launch a full silverware program next year, thanks to a new grant from Marion County. We'll be looking for some college interns or other volunteers to help operate the program next season. Interested? info@friendsofsalemsaturdaymarket.org.

Check out the amazing results of our first season (from July 24 – October 31):
2,200 gallons of compost
1,280 gallons of recycling
650 gallons of garbage
More than 5,200 plastic utensils
10 bags of deposit cans/bottles

Without the Zero Waste Stations, more than 4,000 gallons of garbage would have been thrown away. Instead, only 650 gallons were. We look forward to reducing that number even more next year! We are grateful to the Salem Saturday Market food vendors who put forth such incredible effort to make this project a success! And you, the shoppers, were so eager and quick to learn this new system. Thank you!

**********

Urban Farmer Certification

FSSM is very excited to partner with Pringle Creek Community and OSU Master Gardener Program to present this new educational course. The “Urban Farmer Certification” will allow you to learn valuable gardening skills while cultivating your own healthy, organic fruits and vegetables. With a monthly class taught primarily by OSU-Extension Service Master Gardeners and local farmers, course curriculum will include garden planning, seed starting, beneficial insects, composting, and chicken keeping, among others. Classes will include both a theoretical lesson and a hands-on component that takes place in our greenhouses and community garden.

Schedule: the last Saturday of the month, January-October 2011. Cost: $60, and FSSM members receive a 20% discount!

See http://pringlecreekcommunity.blogspot.com for more information.

Another look at a local gem and "A Movie a Week" reminder

As a proud film host sponsor through my job (see logo), went to the Salem Film Festival today* with my bride and the crazy neighbor -- saw an excellent trio of short films all connected by the theme of aging and approaching the end of life. Just another day for the Salem Cinema, bringing lil' ol' Salem, Oregon some of the finest films in the world, for peanuts.

(*still going all week -- see you at "Winnebago Man" tomorrow night and "Living Downstream" Thursday night!)

As Salem Cinema owner Loretta Miles quoted some film-maker or other as once saying, "Nobody ever made a movie and said 'Damn, that's going to look great on the small screen.'" And that's exactly right -- TV and DVDs and streaming videos to HD are still nowhere close to the cinematic experience of sitting in a dark, quiet room with other film lovers, all knowing that you're sharing an experience of wonder and discovery together.

Got me to thinking that I wished I had saved all my Salem Cinema tickets since I started going -- but then I realized that Loretta archives all the showings on the website. So here is all the movies I've enjoyed at the Salem Cinema so far. With your help -- your regular attendance at Salem Cinema -- we'll be able to do this again in a year and for many years after that, keeping track of our unbelievable luck to have Salem Cinema and Salem Film Festival bringing us these gifts. (Looking through these archives is amazing -- there are SO many great movies that I missed! My punishment will be having to watch them on DVD, a pale imitation of the real movie experience.)

[Asterisks are my personal rating only, from * (meh) to * * * * *(speechless)]

Young@Heart United States. 2008. Documentary. * * * *

The Counterfeiters Austria/Germany. 2007. * * *

Son of Rambow UK. 2008. * * * *

Then She Found Me United States. 2008. * * *

The Fall United States/India. 2008. * * *

Religulous United States. 2008. * *

Slumdog Millionaire UK. * * * * *

I've Loved You So Long France. * * * *

The Class France. * *

The Great Buck Howard United States. * * * *

The Brothers Bloom United States. 2009. * * *

Goodbye Solo United States. 2009. * * * *

Sugar United States. 2009. * * *

Food, Inc. United States. 2009. Documentary. * * *

Sita Sings The Blues United States. 2009. Animated. * * * * *
(rating is on the big screen --- * * * on a TV)

In the Loop UK. 2009. * * * * *

The Ghost Writer UK. 2010. * * * *

A Town Called Panic France. 2009. Animated. * *

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Sweden. 2010. * * * *

Solitary Man United States. 2010. * * *

Cyrus United States. 2010. * * * *

The Secret in Their Eyes Argentina. * * * * *

Ondine Ireland. 2010. * * * *

I Am Love Italy. 2010. *

Mid-August Lunch Italy. 2010. * * *

The Girl Who Played With Fire Sweden. 2010. * * * *

Get Low United States. 2010. * * * *

Winter's Bone United States. 2010. * * * * *

Micmacs France. 2010. * * * * *

The Tillman Story United States. 2010. Documentary. * * * *

How about you? What is the best film you've seen at Salem Cinema?

Now that you've voted, one more thing

So many beautiful fruiting trees (like this plum) do well in Salem. Image via Wikipedia

You did vote, right? Shameful how few people have. These spring elections are a problem -- low turnout elections create a systematic bias in favor of incumbents, and spring elections create a systematic bias in favor of low turnout. Hmmmmm, no wonder they persist.

Anyway, now that you have presumably voted, there's another bit of community activism to take care of: Sign up with these folks, either to register a tree or vine for harvesting or to take part (and to take some of the haul!).

Neighborhood Harvest of Salem

To volunteer: contact Amy Barr at abarr@salemharvest.org or go to http://salemharvest.org

To register a tree [or grape vine, or berry bushes . . . ]: go to http://salemharvest.org or contact dyates@salemharvest.org with questions.

. . . The program isn't a bad deal for volunteers either because they get to share the bounty they pick. So far the list of volunteers includes five neighborhood leaders and 15 harvesters, but the group is looking for more. Many of the cities with similar programs end up with more fruit trees than volunteers can pick. The Portland group, for example, has 515 trees on its list.

"The number of trees that get registered is astounding," she said.

That's why leadership is critical, Clark-Burnell explained. She helped start the group with friends, and they now work under the nonprofit group Friends of Salem Saturday Market. They need more people who will help organize harvest parties, scout sites and collect the food for the pantries, she said. Harvest parties will begin in July with the start of the cherry season.

What neighborhoods get in return might be more than fruit.

Organizers said the Portland Fruit Tree Project helps build a sense of community where neighbors work together to feed the hungry in their area, care for neighborhood trees and share the harvest. . . .

And major props to the organizers, local heroes all!

More local talent wins recognition--NEN members create award-winning film

Image via Wikipedia

Showing:

Thursday, June 3, CHEMEKETEN, 370-1/2 State Street
(above Cooke Stationery), 7:30-8:00 p.m.,

FISH LAKE & HACKELMAN CREEK PICTURE NIGHT

NEN members Laurelyn Schellin and Susan Watkins are having a special Salem showing of their award-winning Chemeketan Fish Lake & Hackelman Creek naturalist 30-minute film that received first place in "THE BEST OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FILM FESTIVAL 2010" for Best Educational Film.

The film won against entries from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska and British Columbia after being entered in the competition by Salem's Capital Community Television Channel 22 (CCTV), which aired the film eight times.

Fifteen Salem canoeists and kayakers participated in the film which was narrated by NEN member, and Chemeketan paddle chair and trip leader, Laurelyn Schellin. NEN member Susan Watkins was the photographer.

Join us for a paddle trip, to classical music, around a beautiful mountain lake near the headwaters of the McKenzie River. Laurelyn and Susan will attend an Awards Reception in Olympia WA on May 15.

Local Hero

Local hero of local profiled locally.

UPDATE: Speaking of enjoying local food, here's an encouraging story about a way to keep the sprawl monster contained and keep land in use for growing food.