The River Valley Current May 6, 2014
No. 379
All the time a person is a child he is both a child and learning to be a parent. After he becomes a parent he becomes predominantly a parent reliving childhood. -Benjamin Spock
School Calendar
The students & faculty of River Valley Waldorf School invite you to attend
This Week Tuesday, May 6
8th grade Parent Meeting
7 pm
Wednesday, May 9
Sun Room Parent Meeting
7 pm
Friday, May 9
Grandparents Day - Music Assembly
Saturday, May 10 Mayfaire
Looking Ahead Thursday, May 15
5th grade Pentathlon at Kimberton WS School Tour 9 am Board Meeting 6:30 pm 8th Grade Projects Presentation 11:00 am & 7:00 pm
Saturday, May 24 EC Workday
9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Monday, May 26 No School - Memorial Day
Saturday, May 31 RVWS Auction
How to Contact Us
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Calendar Change Reminder!
These are the last calendar changes due to the over-abundance of weather closures from this past winter: June 12 is now a FULL school day and June 13 is an added FULL school day Upcoming Workday for Early Childhood families Saturday, May 24th, 9 am – 12 pm
Grandparent’s & Special Friend’s Day This Friday, May 9th, 2014 Guests visiting early childhood students please arrive at 11:30am for picnic on the back playground, followed by an assembly at 1:15pm. Guests visiting grade students (1st –8th) please arrive at 12:45pm for a reception, followed by an assembly beginning at 1:15pm. We look forward to sharing the day with you!
THIS Saturday is Mayfaire! We are coming in to the homestretch for Mayfaire! Please bring in your pocket fairy items. And be sure to sign up for a work shift and set up or clean up shift. The sign up board is in the lobby. Email your classroom coordinator if you are not able to come to school to sign up. We will need lots and lots of flowers! Look for collection buckets outside the lobby doors on Friday. If you cannot find wildcraft flowers then many grocery stores sell 3 bunches/$12 or so. Set up will be both Friday after pick-up and Saturday morning, starting 8 - 8:30 AM. Garland Making begins at 10:00 AM Please come early so that the children have plenty of time to adorn their headbands with flowers before the Maypole Dances, which should start at 11:00. Lunch tents and activities will open when the Maypole dances are over, 11:45 – noon. Activities will close at 3:00 and Farewell games will start running until 3:30 or so. We aim to be all cleaned up with tables and chair transport complete by 4-4:30. Look for more Mayfaire details inside in From Parent Council.
AUCTION GALA MAY 31st
Attached with today's Current is the Parent Packet of auction information; with your help in generating two item donations per family and your attendance at the May 31st Gala, we will certainly enjoy a wonderful evening of music, friendship and fundraising. Invitations have been mailed, so please RSVP as soon as possible. A table with your friends and family is a great way to celebrate the night and our mission at River Valley. Buy a table and save – 8 people $400, 10 people $500. Here are some of the great items we will bring you: Design your own flavor at OWowCow! Wine tasting and hor d'oeuvres for 20 at your location! The outstanding Cabo San Lucas resort stay! A Meal a Month from the First Grade! The Board of Trustees Halloween Ball! The Third Grade Amazing Race Scavenger Hunt! Plus all of the wonderful Student-made Classroom Items! Plus a great night of dining, laughter and live music with Kira Willey, Kevin O'Hara, Amanda Kelly and Kevin Kelly! Won't you please join us on our special night? The Auction Team thanks you! River Valley Waldorf School, 1395 Bridgeton Hill Road, Upper Black Eddy, PA 18972 610-982-5606
www.rivervalleyschool.org
From Administration Screen Free Week On May 5 - 11, 2014 people around the country (and world!) will turn OFF TV, video and mobile games, and other screens they use for entertainment, and turn ON the world around them! Join the fun! Time to Sign Up for Summer Camp There are still spaces left in all of our summer programs, but they are filling up. If your child would like to come to Summer Camp, please use the form attached to this week’s Current to register.
For Sale One ladies cut Secret Garden t-shirt, size small, $15. Contact Carol Diven (
[email protected]) if you are interested.
Exciting News from Miss Diana Diana Stoycheva was a nursery teacher here at River Valley for many year and sent us this note: Dear River Valley Friends and Faculty: I hope I find you well on this beautiful Spring Day! Justin and I are very well and enjoying our little homestead very much. We actually have some wonderful news to share with you. We are expecting our first child! Our little one is due to arrive on St. Michaelmas Day…I wonder who this little being is? I hope this long anticipated spring brings each of you as much joy as it has us. I miss you and think of you often. With much love, Diana. Congratulations Diana and Justin. We can’t wait to meet your little baby!
Opening for Marketing and Outreach Support River Valley Waldorf School is accepting applications to fill a part-time Marketing and Outreach Support position starting in July or August 2014. This person is responsible to research, design, prepare and place display ads, press releases and postings of upcoming events in calendars and to distribute event postcards and flyers. This person provides logistical support to the Outreach Enrollment Coordinator’s initiatives in the community; assists the Admission Coordinator with parent teas and school tours and provides internal support for school-wide events such as the Holiday Bazaar, Winter Fair and Mayfaire. The position is approximately 20 hour per week. If you are interested, please contact Brian Wolff
Thank You Thank you to Lizette Tynan for stopping by the office and offering your help. Your volunteer spirit is much appreciated.
From the Faculty WHAT ARE THE CHILDREN LEARNING? First Grade: Arithmetic Second Grade: Math Third Grade: Building and Shelters Fourth Grade: Math/Fractions
Fifth Grade: Ancient Civilizations – Greece & Persia Sixth Grade: European Geography Seventh Grade: Physiology Eighth Grade: 8th Grade Projects
Saturday Circus Club The River Valley Circus Club meets Saturday mornings from 10:30 to 12:00 in the All-Purpose Room for children in 1st grade and up. Parents may participate or drop off their children and leave. Come any week. Suggested donation is $5 to $10. Open to those totally new to circus and those with experience. Call Mr. Friedman at 610-847-8749 or just come.
Schuhplattler and After-School German Beginning the week of May 12, there will be a final four week round of After-School German for grades 2 and up. Kids may sign up for the Tuesday, Wednesday or (advanced) Thursday class, all of which run from 3:15-4:15 and include conversation, tongue twisters, songs, a little Schuhplattler, and a German style snack. There will also be a final four week round of Schuplattler classes on Monday afternoons beginning May 12, from 3:15-4:15. The class will be putting together a new schuhplattler dance for possible performance at a fair in the fall. Kids will be outfitted with lederhosen but will need to bring shoes or sneakers that are appropriate for dancing. A light snack will be served about 15 minutes into the class. Parents are welcome to drop in and watch any of these classes. Contact Mr. Ray at
[email protected], or 215-794-5816.
Exciting News from Seventh Grade Seventh graders have been training to run a 5K race since the beginning of the year. Every Monday (except during the coldest winter months) they have been dutifully running on the towpath and other loops getting themselves in shape. Now the time has arrived. On Saturday, May 18th at 8:30 am they will be running a 5K in Hellertown. An entrance fee of $30 will support American Cancer Society. Any RVWS runners, adults and children, who would like to join them are welcome. The more, the merrier. If you register by Wednesday, May 7th you will also receive a free t-shirt. To register, go to: http://www.raceit.com/search/event.aspx?id=26303
From the Board Auction Gala Raffle Tickets Available at Grandparent's Day and Mayfaire! Great Prizes to Expand our Eurythmy Program! Beginning this Friday at Grandparent's Day and Saturday at Mayfaire, auction raffle tickets will be available to help fund additional classes for next year's Eurythmy program. Tickets are $10 each or 6 for $50, with the drawing taking place at the May 31 Gala at Hunterdon Hills Playhouse. Look at these outstanding prizes! 1st: Wine Tasting Party for 15 - $600 2nd: Family Photo Session - $250 3rd: Eyes of the Wild Birthday Party - $285 Thank you in advance for helping us expand Eurythmy in our curriculum this coming school year!
MAY 17 - DAY OF SHINING LIGHT ON RIVER VALLEY WALDORF SCHOOL Please join us for our first ever Wellness Event at RVWS! Part of this year's auction, all proceeds go directly to support our school. Please join us for this pioneering event. These wonderful sessions come at outstanding prices and are investments not only in the wellness of our school but in the wellness of you and your family. The Three Reiki Masters 10:00am-1:00pm -Our three Reiki Masters Felicia Holtz, Sabine Rahman and Molly Watson channel energy to inspire the self-healing of your body, mind and spirit. $25 for a 30 minutes session. River Valley Circus Clinic 10:00am-1:00pm -Our gifted teachers Ken Friedman and Christine Boston share their love of the circus arts to bring the joy and skills of the circus to your children. $10 per child. Musical Family Yoga- 1st Grade and Older 3.00pm -Yoga teachers Kira Willey and Felicia Holtz deliver this yoga event based on Horton Hears a Who by Dr Seuss and grounded kids yoga. Learn how to best align yourself for deep listening. Come share your Light! $15 includes one parent and one child; $25 includes whole family. To reserve your spot in any part of the day, please sign up by contacting
[email protected]
From Parent Council Mayfaire Schedule of Events Friday 5/9 - Set up after Grandparent’s Day We can set up tables and canopies and anything else that needs to be done before the festival. Feel free to come and help with general set up if you can! We can always use help with the tables before and after the festival. Saturday 5/10 9:00 Set up continues. 10:00 - Garland Making opens ~11:00 - 12:00--Procession and Maypole Dances Please come early so that the children have plenty of time to adorn their headbands with flowers. 12:00 - Cafe and Activities open ~2:00 EC Puppet show 'Featherlight' 3:00 - Activities close and Games begin 3:30 - 4:00 - Clean up.
Family checklist for Mayfaire: 20 Pocket Fairy items Yarn for Jump Rope making Having lots of fun! Help to prepare your class craft or activity Sign up for work shift Sign up for a Set up OR Clean up shift Bread dough for the outdoor oven 3 bouquets of flowers. These may be wildcrafted like ferns or flowering bushes or purchased BYO plates and utensils and water bottle. picnic blanket if desired
Breakdown of Activities Each Class will “hold” for Mayfaire: Moon - Garland Making Star – Parking 1st Grade – Scavenger Hunt 2nd Grade - Cafe: Dessert, Drinks and Smoothies 3rd Grade – Silk Dying 4th Grade - Jump Rope Making 5th Grade – Ticketing 6th Grade - Music Stage and Sound; Trash too 7th Grade - Cafe (Desserts, Drinks and Smoothies) & Pocket Fairies 8th Grade - Pocket Fairy and Volley Ball game There will be pony rides too!
Flowers Needed The flowers are for Garland Making and can be anything from daisies to roses to ferns and any flower growing around your property. The grocery store can be an easy and relatively inexpensive place to get flowers…usually $12 for 3 bunches. If you are inspired, you can see if your local florist/grocer may donate on their throw out day. They are to be dropped off in front of school this Friday (5/9).
Bread Oven Mr Santiago has graciously agreed to start the oven for Mayfaire and we are inviting the whole school to make dough for buns to place in the oven for baking. If any parent is curious about the oven and would like to learn how to start it, let Clare Brunell (mother of Lily, G-2) know and come early (about 7:00-7:30 am).
B.Y.O.P (Bring your own plates!) In an effort to cut down on garbage we are asking the community to supply their own plates and utensils. Café will have some on hand in case someone forgets or it’s inconvenient but let’s do our best to make a difference in the amount of waste we create! Please call or email us if you have any questions at all and a big thank-you to all of you! Your participation is really appreciated by the Mayfaire committee, the school and especially the children. We, the parents, make magic come alive for our children in our festivals. The magic of spring will enliven us as we come together! Your Mayfaire Committee: Clare Brunell, Kymm Phibbs, Jennifer Saltmarsh, Tracy Fly and Jill McMullen
Alumni News Our very own John Smith (Class of 2012, brother of Julia, G-8 and Dylan, G-4) plays on the Mercersburg Academy Baseball team. The team traveled to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL and John was quoted in the Mercersburg Academy paper, “St. John Smith ‘16 gave his thoughts about the trip: ‘The opportunity to go to Florida and compete in the ESPN spring training program through Mercersburg was a great experience for me and my teammates. We practiced in ESPN’s Wide World of Sports during the day and were able to get out during the evening hours and have some fun in the Disney parks. Although we did not win as many games as we would have liked, I believe the trip provided us with time to get to know each other and bond as a team. I look forward to next year’s trip and the new team that the baseball program will bring together.’
John sliding into home plate at a recent home game.
From the Community For Sale
Help wanted…
3-in-1 Wood Superyard/Corral (for a baby). Can be wall mounted or free standing (circular). Taken out of box but never used (believe it or not). Complete with directions and wall mounting fittings. Asking $150.00. Please contact Amanda Blanco at 267.733.8005
For light yard work ASAP (primarily picking up sticks, raking, assorted overdue spring clean up tasks). Ability to discern weeds from desirable plants a plus but not necessary. 7th or 8th graders looking for extra pocket money would be fine too. Location: our home in Bethlehem, PA. Please call Jean Tuma (parent of 1st grader at RV) at 484-226-5395 if interested. Thank you!
House Needed by June I am looking for a rental home with an option to possibly buy. I would like to be in the Tinicum area. I am hoping to find people who might have leads for a rustic style home on 3-5 + acres with at least 3 bedrooms, fireplace, updated kitchen/ baths, nice garden space, peaceful, wooded natural setting ideally near creek, close to river, on a quiet street, closer to River Valley, in Palisades School District. If you know of a place, please contact Pamela Hobson (mother of Oriah G-5 & Olivia G-3)
[email protected]
Hill Top Retreat for Rent 59 Honeysuckle Lane, Milford,NJ 08848 Stately 3 bedroom, 1 bath home for rent on semi‐secluded 4.5 acres. Walking distance to town with NJ’s first brew pub, post office, market, health food store, shops, library, eye doctor and several great restaurants and coffee shops. Refrigerator, washer, drier, dishwasher, public water supply. $1900 per month plus utilities. 1.5 months security. Please call, text or email John Carlton: 908‐319‐5992 or
[email protected]
Scholarships Now Available AAA Scholarship Foundation is granting scholarships to cover private school tuition for low income families. Applications are open for a limited time. Apply Now! First completed, first awarded. For more information Visit www.aaascholarships.org or call 1888-707-2465.
Free to a good home Top bar type beehive is ready for its next hive! Please contact Patrick Schretlen to arrange a time to pick it up (near Stockton, NJ)
[email protected] or 609213-3638
Summer Rental Wildwood Crest, NJ Oceanfront May 31 to June 7 or June 7 to 14 2 Bedroom, have the beach to yourself! Perfect for young families, homeschoolers or empty nesters. Relax in the sun and sea without the crowd. Call today to book. Heated pool! Lynn Freeman 267784-2152 $800.00 either week + security deposit. Can't get away for a whole week? Give me a call and we can work something out!
A Helping Hand from Mrs. Dringus For parents in need of a little extra supervision of their children I'm extending my services to you. I'd like to be a help to our community and provide any needed care before school or after school, as well as care for full days when the faculty have their in-service, full days during parent teacher conferences and full days during the work week when children are off from school. Starting September I'll be offering care for your children in the times needed in the convenience of my little cottage home only minutes from school. Located at 1584 Chestnut Ridge Rd, I am a short 10 minute walk from our school's campus. I have a beautiful little house with a fenced in yard and plenty of activities to keep any aged Waldorf student happy and content, plus plenty of nature to explore on our 6 acre property. Space is limited so please do not hesitate to ask or inquire for more information or to sign up for the coming school year. As we all have varying needs my rate is on a sliding scale of $4 to $10 an hour. I will not refuse anyone, so please talk to me if you feel other arrangements could be made. I can be reached at 484-888-4535, or of course, around school on the days I'm teaching or substituting. Gratefully, Thea
Woolies for Sale I have some wooly under clothes that I am interested in selling. 2 short sleeves, 1 tank top style, 1 leggin pants and 1 back lava. Would fit preschool- 1st or 2nd grade depending on size of child. $10.00 each or best offer. Contact Pamela Hobson
[email protected]
Frenchtown Poets Open Mike Friday May 9th at 7:30 pm. All are invited to come and read their own poems or a works by another. You can also just come to listen and enjoy Held at Yoga Loka, 34 Bridge Street in Frenchtown NJ For more information email
[email protected]
Heads up friends! The new sewing teacher who is teaching the handwork sewing block to the 8th graders is none other than the multi-talented Natalie Carabetta, a former Golden Circle mom of daughter Grace. You may recognize her from our Holiday Bazaar as the creator of the gorgeous doll clothes. She also "takes in" work--she is happy to tailor, repair, hem all manner of clothing, sew/hem curtains, tablecloths, and the list goes on. Give her a call, 215-257-2890.
Ottsville Traditional Arts Events Velocipede in concert on Wednesday, May 28th at 7:30PM $10 Adults, $5 kids under 12 Velocipede will also lead OTAC’s weekly jam session on Wed, May 21st at 6:30pm – potluck at 6pm. Contradance and Workshop with Coracree Friday May 30th 5:30-7:00PM Music Workshop ($20 Adults, $10 Kids) 7:00PM Beginning Dancers Workshop and Dance 7:00-10:30PM Dance ($9 Adults, $5 kids & workshoppers) Thanks for your support! Tasty food fundraiser by River Valley Waldorf School students runs all night. Come join us for dinner! Also, please note there will be no jam session this week. Wednesday evening Jam Sessions on May 14th with Daniel Hawkins and May 21st with VELOCIPEDE! Potluck at 6, jam at 6:30pm; find out more here. Ottsville Traditional Arts Center, 250 Durham Rd. Ottsville, PA 18972 Learn more at ottsvilletradarts.weebly.com
Events at Linden Hill EVERY FRIDAY 4-7 pm The Ottsville Farmers' Market May 10 & 11 is our Mothers' Day Tea weekend Stroll the gardens and have a cup of tea with your Mom. No registration necessary- just stop by! Saturday, May 25 or Sunday, May 25 at 10 am - Plant your own Succulent Container Sign up for this fun workshop and plant a beautiful, easy care succulent combination container. The cost is $15 and includes soil and instruction. All plants and containers are extra. Attendees can choose between tender and hardy succulents to create their planting. Friday, May 30th 6-8 pm - LADIES NIGHT in the Garden - Wine, an evening stroll and a special surprise!
WALDORF WEEKENDS and EURYTHMY AND THE GROWING CHILD Summer Series at Sunbridge Institute, Spring Valley, NY - 2014 Workshops Open to All This summer, expand your knowledge of Waldorf Education. Two experiential workshops -- one brand-new, the other already highly popular -- are just the thing for teachers, parents, staffers and everyone! WALDORF WEEKENDS June 20-22 / July 18-20 These lively workshops on the foundations and fundamentals of Waldorf Education are designed especially for: New and prospective Waldorf teachers, Waldorf parents, Waldorf subject teachers, Waldorf community staffers and board members, Anyone interested in education and exploration. Experience an exciting journey into Waldorf Education! Our Waldorf Weekends are designed to provide an in-depth and experiential survey of Waldorf Education from early childhood through high school, with a particular emphasis on the elementary school years. Through presentations, discussion and hands-on artistic activities, you'll explore the highlights of the Waldorf curricula, discover anthroposophy and Rudolf Steiner's insights into human development and examine ways in which Waldorf Education supports the developing human being. With lots of time for Q&As. Schedule Friday: 7pm registration. Session runs from 7:15-9pm Saturday: Session runs from 9:30am-6pm, with time for breaks and lunch. Sunday: Session runs from 9:30am-1pm. Fee Options $205 when taken alone, $105 when taken as an add-on to any 3- or 5-day Summer Series offering NEW SUNDAY AFTERNOON WORKSHOP - Eurythmy and the Growing Child: How does Eurythmy Support and Enhance the Waldorf Curriculum? June 22/June 29/July 6 Eurythmy is essential in order for Waldorf Education to fully serve the child. But what is eurythmy? What does it actually do for the child? How does it fit into the Waldorf curriculum and what is its contribution and impact? This highly experiential workshop will deepen your understanding of why eurythmy is so essential to the Waldorf pedagogy and allow you to experience for yourself elements of the eurythmy curriculum from kindergarten across the grades. Schedule Sunday: 3:15pm registration. Workshop runs from 3:30-5:30pm Fee Options $35 when taken alone, $25 when taken as an add-on to any other Summer Series offering Questions? Contact Ayla Dunn, Admissions & Summer Series Coordinator:
[email protected] or 845-425-0055 x20 or go to: www.sunbridge.edu
Writing and Reading Brighten Your Mind! 2014 Young Writers/Young Readers Summer enrichment for children and teens Our 30th summer!!
A camp for kids who LOVE to write and read! Staffed by experienced teachers who are Fellows of the National Writing Project Sessions at West Chester University and selected sites in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, and in West Deptford, New Jersey. The summer Youth Programs are sponsored by the PA Writing & Literature Project (PAWLP), West Chester University (WCU), select area school districts, and several private locations. Classes are small, averaging 13 - 15 students. Students are grouped by age and grade level, and our teachers are prepared to teach multi-age classes. All students contribute self-selected writing to a literary anthology. PAWLP is a professional network of teachers who promote student achievement through quality instruction. All directors, site coordinators, and teachers are Fellows of the National Writing Project as well as experienced classroom teachers. This link will take you to a PDF brochure that lists all of the programs: https://www.wcupa.edu/_academics/writing.prj/documents/YouthBrochure2014-April_000.pdf Third grade parent, Lynn Freeman will be teaching the course at Groveland Elementary School July 14-24. Lynn has taught it before and it is great fun! Feel free to contact her with questions. For more information contact: The PA Writing & Literature Project, Mary Buckelew, Director e-mail:
[email protected]. Summer Youth Co-Directors: Karen Pawlewicz and Deborah Neves - 210 E. Rosedale Avenue, West Chester University, West Chester, PA 19383. Phone: 610-436-3089, Fax: 610-436-3212. View a video of the Young Writers/Young Readers program on our website at www.pawlp.org
Ipad for Sale iPad 3, 32GB storage space, iPad 3 WiFi, 2048x1536 pixels screen resolution, Color: white, Screen protector pre-installed, Green rotating case included, $300, iOS 7.0.4, Jailbroken- can be restored to default if desired, AirDrop enabled. Contact
[email protected] if interested
FIT Frenchtown! Adult softball teams are forming in both Frenchtown and Milford!
Babysitter Available
The games will be played on Old Frenchtown Field at Harrison and 12th street. These games are part of the Frenchtown Mayors Council on Wellness.
My name is Marcella Harvi. I am in 7th grade and 13 years old. I have taken the American Red Cross babysitters course. I am available for babysitting or mother’s helper work on most weekdays and some weekends. I charge $5 an hour for 1 child and $1 per additional child per hour. You can reach me at 203343-2500.
There will be a non-competitive family softball game played on Saturday, May 10th at 2:00 pm. All are welcome to come with their gloves and bats. Please bring a picnic lunch and donation for the food bank.
For more information email
[email protected]
BUCKS COUNTY Regional Household Hazardous Waste or Electronic Collection Program All collections are held on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. unless noted otherwise, rain or shine. Your waste hauler does not want hazardous waste mixed in with your household trash. Therefore, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Regional Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program is for you. The intent of the program is to provide an environmentally responsible way to dispose of hazardous materials and to provide residents with information on how to produce less hazardous waste in the future.
ELECTRONICS ONLY - June 28, 2014 Palisades Middle School (4710 Durham Road, Nockamixon Township) ELECTRONICS ONLY - July 26, 2014
Central Bucks South High School (1100 Folly Road, Warrington Township) At the ELECTRONICS ONLY events residents are encouraged to bring All Sizes and Types of TVs, Answering Machines, Blenders, Camcorders, Cell Phones, Copiers, CPUs, Electric Typewriters, Fax Machines, Gaming Consoles/Controllers, Keyboards, Laptop Computers (All makes, models, and peripherals), Mice, Microwaves, Monitors, Peripherals (Including cords, power supplies and cables), Printers, Radios, Rechargeable Batteries, Remote Controls, Scanners, Stereo/Tape/CD Players, Telephones, Toasters, Vacuums, and VCR/DVD Players. If you are unsure of an item please call (215) 345- 3400.
HAZARDOUS WASTE ONLY - June 21, 2014 Upper Bucks County Area Vo-Tech School (3115 Ridge Road, Bedminster Township) HAZARDOUS WASTE ONLY - July 19, 2014
Central Bucks South High School (1100 Folly Road, Warrington Township At the HAZARDOUS WASTE ONLY events we will accept Household Batteries- All Button Types, Lithium and Re-chargeable; LeadAcid Batteries from Car, Marine, Motorcycle, and Truck; Caustics like Ammonia-Based Cleaners, Household Lye, Oven Cleaner, Drain Cleaner, and Metal Cleaner; Flammables such as Oil-based Paint, Spot Removers, Gasoline, Kerosene, Gas/Oil mixture, and Heating Oil (in nothing larger than a 5 gal container and not more than 220 lbs.); Pesticides such as Chlordane, DDT, Malathion, Sevin, and Rodent Poison; Common Household Toxics like Photographic Chemicals, Pool Chemicals, Weed Killer, Antifreeze, Rust/Paint Remover, Mercury, and CFLs (fluorescent lamps). If you are unsure of an item please call (215) 345- 3400.
The COMBINATION events will accept any item from either list above, and are: Hazardous Waste and Electronics - August 16, 2014
Quakertown Community High School, 600 Park Avenue (Rear Lot) Residents may bring a maximum of 25 gallons or 225 pounds of material to the appropriate collection event accepting that specific item. Do not bring: large appliances, biological waste, explosives, radioactive waste, or tires. Guidelines for safely transporting household hazardous waste to the collection sites include: Place all materials securely in a box, to prevent spilling. Keep all products in their original containers with labels intact. Keep all caps and lids on tight. Wrap leaking containers in newspaper and place in a plastic container for transport. Do not mix materials. Do not leave loaded vehicle in a hot unventilated area for prolonged periods. Do not smoke near the chemicals. If you have LATEX PAINT avoid the lines at the collection and dry it solid and place in your regular trash. LATEX PAINT is not hazardous and can be disposed of normally once dried. The program is for residents only; no material will be accepted from businesses, industry or institutions. This is a regional program as the counties of Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia are working together to make the program more convenient to the residents in southeastern Pennsylvania. As a result, the residents of Bucks County are welcome to take their household hazardous waste or electronics to one of the neighboring county collection events if that date or location is more convenient. Please verify the details of the Non-Bucks events; some will also only be taking paints or only be taking TVs and electronics. All collections are held on Saturday’s from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. unless noted otherwise, rain or shine.
Christmas in May?
M i c h a e l m a s
No, Donner the reindeer was not at River Valley to deliver presents. His presence is what was enjoyed by all of the children last Thursday. Sixth grader Ava Smith who can be seen leading the reindeer is doing a report about Finland for her European History Main Lesson Block. She and her mother arranged for a visit from a reindeer as part of her project. It was a rare opportunity for everyone to see and even pet this beautiful animal.
Yearbook Order Form Name: _______________________________________________________ Class: _________________________
# of copies: ______________
Phone #: ______________________________ $30 per yearbook if pre-ordered by May 13th. All orders received after May 13th will cost $5-$10 more depending on order size. Please make checks out to River Valley Waldorf School. Attach payment to order form and drop in the Yearbook Folder at the office.
Earth Day and Anthroposophy by John Beck Some recent history of the struggle to balance a materialist science of nature with the mature fruits of the human mind and spirit I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil,–to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society. I wish to make an extreme statement, if so I may make an emphatic one, for there are enough champions of civilization: the minister and the school-committee, and every one of you will take care of that. —”Walking” (1862), from Excursions, by Henry David Thoreau Earth Day was born on April 22, 1970. It is often called the beginning of the modern environmental movement, and the twenty million people who participated in this day of “teach-ins” inaugurated by Wisconsin US Senator Gaylord Nelson certainly constituted a movement. So the 40th Earth Day was celebrated with much hoopla in 2010. As with everything else, however, there are starting points behind the starting point. 2012 brought the 50th anniversary of the book Silent Spring, by the American biologist, writer, and ecologist Rachel Carson. Her carefully documented critique of the wholesale use of pesticides created the specific consciousness shift out of which the Earth Day movement was born. Rachel Carson’s work was crucially supported by a lawsuit brought a few years earlier by biodynamic farmers Marjorie Spock and Polly Richards. They had objected to heavy DDT spraying on Long Island, New York, and while they lost their suit and appeal, they developed much hard evidence and shifted the grounds for governmentsponsored intrusions into the environment. Biodynamic agriculture was born in 1924, so its 90th anniversary comes next year. It was the last great initiative launched by Rudolf Steiner before his death in 1925, and he had been implored to go to agricultural East Prussia to advise farmers who were finding that artificial fertilizers and other “modern” farming techniques were exhausting the soil. “Modern” farming in Germany had been given a strong push by the blockade of Germany in the Great War of 1914-18, when scientists urgently sought artificial substitutes for resources no longer available by trade. The BD Association in the USA is now 75 years old. Rudolf Steiner had begun to formulate his whole field of activity as “anthroposophy” in 1913, just a century ago, and an Anthroposophical Society was first formed then which received and followed up on his research activities into the inner worlds of consciousness. Steiner’s picture of the human being reminded us that while we might be physically separate from the rest of the world at any given moment, our life activity is totally interwoven into the whole planetary life which further involves the Sun especially, but also the Moon and planets and fixed stars. And Rudolf Steiner’s consciousness of nature had been vastly stimulated by his meeting at age 18 on the train to Vienna with one Felix Koguski, a nature mystic and herbalist who retained the last elements of an ancient wisdom about healing plants and the beings invisibly involved in the life of the planet. But why had human beings ever lost their feeling for the depth of Nature and our own participation in it? Steiner notes the artificial creation of urea in 1828, the first time an organic substance – something produced by a living organism – was produced artificially from lifeless chemicals. Urea is a powerful source of nitrogen for fertilizers as well as a foundation for polyurethane and the whole world of plastics. With this 1828 accomplishment, the life science of biology began to be annexed to the lifeless science of chemistry. And if we would push things back a bit further, we can mention the work of René Descartes in the 1640s when he distinguished material body from immaterial mind and laid the foundation for seeing the whole of Nature as a great machine with neither life nor consciousness. And if Nature is just a great machine, it is ours to control and manage as we please with no understanding required beyond the sphere of mechanics…
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Rachel Carson & Marjorie Spock Which is where Rachel Carson comes in, and Marjorie Spock who became her informant and friend. First, about Marjorie, her obituary says: The Spock family was prominent in New Haven, as her father was a corporate lawyer there and her older brother, Dr. Benjamin Spock, was later a world-renowned pediatrician… and known for his work against the Vietnam War. At 18, Marjorie went to Dornach, Switzerland, to meet and work with Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. This had deep significance for her life, especially her study of the dynamics of human movement, through Eurythmy. After her final return to the U.S., she received her BA and MA degrees from Columbia University at the age of 38. During her studies, she began a prominent career as a teacher and the head of the Dalton Middle School and teacher at the Fieldston Lower School, both progressive schools in New York City. She also taught at The Rudolf Steiner School in New York City and The Waldorf School in Garden City, Long Island. With her deep understanding of nature and as an avid Bio-Dynamic gardener, Marjorie’s work took on an added dimension when, in the area where she and her friend Polly Richards lived, on Long Island, New York, the government began aerial spraying of DDT against the perceived gypsy moth epidemic. She and Polly, who helped finance the legal action, brought a case with 10 other people against the United States government for the continued DDT spraying. Marjorie and Polly were formidable leaders for this commitment to the health of the earth. Organic, Bio-Dynamic food was a life-saving matter for Polly, who was in ill health. For Marjorie, the concern was for her friend’s health, and the constitutional right as a property owner to keep her land, as she wanted it, free of government infringement. This team was brilliant, committed and erudite. According to Marjorie, the “government ran roughshod over anyone who got in the way of the new technology. They brushed us off like so many flies.” The federal judge, appointed by President Eisenhower, threw out 72 uncontested admissions for the plaintiffs and denied their petitions. From the summer of 1957 to 1960, when the case reached the Supreme Court, Marjorie wrote a report to interested and influential friends of each day’s progress in and out of court, each evening after work. Rachel Carson heard of this and soon got these daily briefings because she realized that the testimony from the experts that Marjorie had found, would be valuable for her own research. This case, along with a massive bird kill on Cape Cod, was the springboard for the writing of Silent Spring. The trial took only 22 days, and toward the end, Rachel Carson asked for the transcript. They became close collaborators and friends. Though the plaintiffs lost the case, they won the right to bring an injunction in court, so that prior to a destructive environmental event, a full and proper scientific a review had to be made. Marjorie always described it, saying, “We lost the battle but won the war.” This became the germinal legal action for the environmental movement in the United States. There has been continuous interest in this case since that time… After the case, Marjorie…worked closely with Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, the renowned soil scientist, and compost and farm adviser for Bio-Dynamic movement… In 1965, Marjorie moved to Maine, where she lived and worked for the next 43 years as an inspiring teacher, eurythmist, author, Bio-Dynamic farmer, translator and mentor to the many people, young and old, who came to see her. A Grim Struggle Linda Lear, author of Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature, quotes a letter (p.318) from Spock to Carson during the legal struggle: “I think you know how grim this struggle with the U.S. government and the whole chemical industry is bound to be. We have marshalled some pretty solid scientific men and data, and are feeling confident.” Lear goes on to describe Marjorie Spock as “a woman of enormous courage, integrity, and indefatigable spirit who soon became one of Carson’s inner circle of friends and the central point of her original research network.… Raised in a large, boisterous, and erudite family in New Haven, Connecticut, she was creative and intellectually independent…” Marjorie Spock described Rachel Carson (p.331) at their first meeting in Maine: “Upon landing we went to meet her at the inn’s parking lot. As we approached it, a slightly built woman came around the bend walking unhurriedly. Seeing us she smiled, but did not change her pace. When we knew Rachel better, we realized how typical it was of her to keep to her own way in everything. Neither at this nor further meetings did she strike us as an exuberant, outgoing nature. But there was no heaviness in her somewhat grave demeanor, no lack of warmth in her reserve, or unease in her incapacity for chit-chat. Rather did she seem to disciplined to concentration, so given to listening and looking and weighing impressions as to be unable to externalize.” (Continued on next page)
Carson had written successful books and articles: Under the Sea-wind (1941), The Sea Around Us (1951), The Edge of the Sea (1955), and “Help Your Child to Wonder” (1956). Now she turned to the problem of human beings’ unhappy interventions into nature with synthetic poisons. The next book took a while to find its title: “The Control of Nature,” “At War with Nature,” and “Man Against the Earth” reflect her concerns; the final Silent Spring is of course immeasurably more potent. Not only was the science solid but the book would make a qualitative appeal to the American housewives who were then in the spirit of progress applying insecticides to their gardens as their husbands might to the crab-grass. Carson suffered a series of illnesses including breast cancer while writing the book. Suffering from an inflammation of the iris that left her temporarily almost blind near the end of the writing, she was cheered by a phone call from the great editor William Shawn of the New Yorker, who told her (Lear, p.395) that her manuscript was “a brilliant achievement” and that “you have made it literature, full of beauty and loveliness and depth of feeling.” “Suddenly,” Carson wrote, “I knew from [Shawn's] reaction that my message would get across.” Humanity Challenged to Self-Mastery Just before Silent Spring appeared the US was spared—by the resistance of one regulator, Dr. Frances Kelsey of the FDA—a wave of birth defects caused in Europe and Canada by the mild sleep-aid thalidomide. This brush with disaster woke Americans up to the danger of side effects, the shadow of our vaunted technological fixes. President Kennedy gave Dr. Kelsey a gold medal. And the Kennedy administration soon provided a real champion for Carson’s concerns in Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. On the negative side, Carson’s book was held to be damaging the economy, threatening abundant food production; and of course there might be a conspiracy behind it somewhere. The nastiness of the attacks on Carson was set at a very high pitch. Question: “Why a spinster with no children was so concerned about genetics?” Explanation: she was “probably a Communist.” Beginning with The New Yorker, however, and Houghton Mifflin, and Audubon magazine, and the Book of the Month Club—a tremendous line-up fifty years ago—much of the media stood up for her book and brought the message home. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas endorsed it as “the most revolutionary book since Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” a comparison made repeatedly to another unexpected book by an American woman which had aroused her country against slavery over a century earlier. “But many in science, government, and industry…recognized Silent Spring for what it was: a fundamental social critique of a gospel of technological progress. Carson had attacked the integrity of the scientific establishment, its moral leadership, and its direction of society. Holding up before them their irresolute carelessness of the natural world, she dared to make their sins public. The fury with which they attacked her reflected the accuracy of her moral charges. Since her facts were essentially irrefutable, they disparaged Carson as the agent of a message that had to be suppressed. “Over the course of the controversy, it became clear to her enemies as well as her allies that Carson had forced a public debate over the heretofore academic idea that living things and their environment were interrelated. It was the central theme of everything she had written before, and so it was at the core of Silent Spring as well.” (Lear, p.429) Carson also got to speak in defense of her book, and her calm manner reinforced her facts. On CBS Reports, April 1963, she said, “I truly believe that we in this generation must come to terms with nature, and I think we’re challenged as mankind has never been challenged before to prove our maturity and our mastery not of nature, but of ourselves.” (On a Farther Shore: The Life and Legacy of Rachel Carson by William Souder, p379) After a final series of radiation treatments, Rachel Carson died April 14, 1964 of cancer, aged 56. Marjorie Spock died age 103 in 2008, one of the last people then living who had actually worked with Rudolf Steiner. John Beck is editor of being human magazine from the Anthroposophical Society in America. This article originally appeared at anthroposophy.org.
