The theme that threads through today's frontpage is conservation. Recently, more than 50 members of the Northeast Organic Farm Association visted Proctor's organic garden to study the no-till bed system and composting methods that distinguish this prolific plot. Nelson Lebo writes with obvious pride: "What five years ago was a jungle of crab grass, rag weed, knot weed, chick weed - and any other weeds you can name - has been transformed into a thriving garden that has: supplied the school’s kitchen with hundreds of pounds of fresh vegetables and herbs; been used to educate hundreds of students in classes ranging from the sciences to foreign language; inspired some of these students to pursue organic farming after graduation; and been a model of success that has drawn teachers from other schools to visit."
Nelson continues: "The no-till bed system eliminates the need for roto-tilling, and all food is delivered to the school kitchen across campus in a garden cart or on the bed of an industrial tricycle. In an era when it takes industrial agriculture 5 to 10 fossil fuel calories to produce 1 food calorie, the Proctor garden actually turns a net energy profit. This zero emissions garden is the best example of sustainability being actively practiced on the campus. It has inspired students and teachers alike to refocus on community and ecology. With dirt under their nails and hope in their souls, those students most involved in the garden enter the world after graduation with a sense that they can be agents of positive change in a world that needs them more than ever before.
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A year ago this week, a page entitled Green Lightening introduced alumnus Graham Cullen '01 who was back working with Brian Kellogg on an electric motorcycle. Today he's back fabricating a bio-diesel processor that will transform cooking oil from the kitchen into fuel to power Maintenance Department vehicles.
The matching grant of $750,000 arrived this week from a generous benefactor toward the renovation of the stone chapel for music programs. The project is well underway, and new slate is being laid over thick insulation on the 95-year-old structure. The old slate is being saved for future projects, and ceiling material from the first floor is being installed in the Wilson Forestry Building, which is also being renovated.
Skiers who don't catch a ride to Proctor's Blackwater Ski Area can ski there by crossing Carr Field and the Blackwater River using a suspension bridge which was designed and built by the same Bob Wilson after whom the forestry building is named. This spring, a snag (a heavy, half-sunken log) became lodged under the bridge, rose up with rising flood waters, and damaged the 29-year-old span. A team of teachers and friends spontaneously initiated repairs Tuesday. Below, Derek Mansell tends to one of several minor scratches and bruises from the ordeal:
This page will next be updated Wednesday, August 10.
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