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    Home » KSB’s Native Plant Workshop Features Michael Spielman as Keynote Speaker
    Sedona

    KSB’s Native Plant Workshop Features
    Michael Spielman as Keynote Speaker

    March 22, 2019No Comments3 Mins Read
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    logo_ksbSedona AZ (March 22, 2019) – Michael Spielman will be keynote speaker at Keep Sedona Beautiful’s 40th annual Native Plant Workshop, to be held on April 6.  His presentation is titled “Backyard Homesteading in the High Desert.”

    Michael Spielman arrived at Verde Valley School (VVS) five years ago when the school was at a crossroads about whether to continue gardening in the science teacher’s backyard or seriously take on sustainable desert farming that could feed boarding school students and staff year-round.

    When asked how growing food, even organically, fits into a workshop attracting Arizonans who want to learn how to wrangle their landscapes into something low maintenance and, preferably, beautiful, his answer was surprising.

    photo_MichaelSpielman“Where do you want to draw the line? Or when”? His point was reminiscent of efforts to keep only Verde Valley native plants local and eschew Phoenix vegetation. A fellow nature writer once challenged: “Well, how do you keep one seed this side and another that side of the boundary?”

    Verde Valley School has been here 71 years. (To get to the April 6 workshop, drive down its namesake Verde Valley School Road and turn left just before reaching the end of the pavement.) Michael’s questions continue to surprise. Should VVS grow what was native 71 years ago? Or 100 years? How about 1000 years ago? And 75 million years? So many seeds and plants have been introduced by decades and millennia on our ever-changing planet, everyone can draw a different line.

    Though Michael did not have extensive experience in gardening, he’d always had a dream of designing and building a field. The VVS mission of how the school could benefit and serve the community was a serendipitous toolshed. Both saw the garden as a laboratory for the vision and goals of the school.

    VVS has an International Baccalaureate (IB) track. It’s called IB + dirt. Students get into the field to work as well as to find experiments they would like to conduct, such as learning about ancient medicinal uses of plants and making tinctures. Since students come from around the world to VVS, Michael thought it would be brilliant to grow something each student would recognize as a “native” food plant. The test is: Will it adapt to this environment? It is global gardening international. They’ve developed Native American tribal connections, Hopi contacts and are excited about their new melons from Africa. Two of the April 6 breakout sessions will delve more deeply into this.

    At his Native Plant Workshop session, Michael will touch on native plants as well as agriculture. Currently, as you can learn in other breakouts, increasing pollinators is key. Ultimately the test is: What works? What works in harmony with the current climate, which will be different in 20 years? We all need to find a plant population that will adapt and grow with a changing eco system to carry us to the future.

    Their next goal, should you have tools to help, is how to get off the grid in terms of water.

    To register for the April 6, 2019 40th annual Native Plant Workshop, please go online to https://keepsedonabeautiful.org/.  Doors open at 7:45 at which time complementary coffee, tea and savories will be served while attendees bid on silent auction items donated by the community.  This event will be held at the Verde Valley School, 3511 Verde Valley School Rd in the Village of Oak Creek.

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    Paid Political Ad Paid For by Samaire for Mayor
    Paid Political Ad for Samaire Armstrong
    Paid Political Announcement by Samaire For Mayor

     THE MOMENT IS UPON US

    Dear Sedona,

    The moment is upon us. The time for a united effort to shift the focus back to our community is now.

    The ability to thrive in our community, our environment, our workforce, and the tourist industry, is entirely possible because we have all the resources needed for success.

    Still, we need a council that isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions, that makes decisions based on data and facts, and through discussion, rather than moving and voting in group unison as they so regularly do.

    This is my home. I have been a part of the Sedona community for 28 years. I witnessed the road debacle, the lack of planning, the city circumventing the local businesses ability to thrive, while making choices to expand the local government and be in direct competition with private industry.

    I am a unique candidate because unlike the incumbents, I don’t believe the government should expand in size, nor in operations, nor would I attempt to micromanage every aspect of our community.

    City government should stay in its lane and allow the competitive market of local private industry to prosper. And it should defend our community from corporate takeover and infiltration of our town.

    I do not agree that we should sign onto International Building Codes and regulations by signing Sedona up to the ICC. It is imperative that we remain a sweet, rural community.

    Where are the arts? Where is this organic thriving element that we allege to be animated by. Where is our culture? Where is our community?

    The discord between the decision making process and the desires of the community have never been more clear. It has been nearly a decade in the making.

    It is time for a new era of energy to take charge. An energy that is reflective in the ability to succeed rather than be trapped in out of date consciousness.

    It has been a great honor meeting with each of you. I hear your concerns over the insane and out of control spending and I echo them. A budget of $105,000,000 in a town of 9700 residents is completely unacceptable. A parking structure (that looks like a shoe box) originally slated to cost 11 million, now projected to cost 18 million, is incomprehensible. Especially, considering there is no intention of charging for parking.

    For those who are concerned that I lack the political experience within our established system- that is precisely what Sedona needs… Not another politician, but instead a person who understands people, who listens to the voices within the community, and who will act in service on their behalf with accountability, for the highest good of Sedona. What I am not, will prove to be an asset as I navigate the entrenched bureaucracy with a fresh perspective. Business as usual, is over.

    Creative solutions require new energy.

    Every decision that is made by our local government, must contemplate Sedona first.

    • Does this decision benefit the residents?
    • Does this decision benefit the local businesses?
    • Does this decision actually help the environment?
    • Will this decision sustain benefit in the future, or will it bring more problems?

    What we have now is a city government that expands to 165 employees for 9700 residents. Palm Desert has 53,000 residents and 119 city employees. Majority of our city department heads are not even in town. I find this problematic.

    Efforts towards championing in and courting new solutions for our medical needs are imperative. We are losing our doctors. We must encourage competition with other facilities rather than be held hostage by NAH, who clearly have their own set of dysfunctions.

    We must remember that so many move to Sedona for its beauty, hiking, and small town charm. Bigger, faster, and more concrete does not, in broad strokes, fit the ethos of Sedona.

    The old world must remain strong here in balance, as that is what visitors want to experience. Too many have noted that Sedona has lost its edge and charm.

    As Mayor I will preserve the rural charm of our community, and push back against the urbanization that is planned for Sedona.

    As mayor I will make it a priority to create opportunities to support our youth.  After school healthy, enriching programs should be created for our kids, and available to the Sedona workforce regardless of residency and regardless of school they belong to.

    As Mayor, I will create an agenda to deliberately embody the consciousness of our collective needs here, allowing private industry to meet the needs of our community rather than bigger government.

    I hope to have your vote on Aug 2nd. I am excited and have the energy to take on this leadership role with new eyes, community perspective, and the thoughtful consciousness that reflects all ages of the human spectrum.

    Thank you deeply for your consideration.

    Sincerely,

    Samaire Armstrong

    Sedona elections
    Armstrong vs. Jablow: The Main Event
    Ready to Rumble

    By Tommy Acosta
    In the Blue Corner stands Scott Jablow and in the Red Corner of the ring stands Samaire Armstrong, ready to rumble to the bitter end in their fight to become the next Sedona mayor. Jablow weighs in with 1,137 primary election votes (36.13%) under his belt, having wielded his advantage as sitting Sedona City Council vice-mayor to his favor. He brings his years of serving in that capacity into the fray and waged a solid fight in his campaign to make it to the run-off. Armstrong, however withstood a blistering smear campaign from the other opposing candidates and their supporters to make it to the final bout with 967 votes under her belt (30.73%), an amazing feat for a political newcomer. Unfortunately, for the other two candidates, Kurt Gehlbach and sitting mayor Sandy Moriarty, neither put up enough of a fight to make it to the championship bout. Read more→
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