The Present Situation

December 13, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have contacted all the siblings, and we're going small handcrafted presents for folks this year. Bring on the jam, cookies, and crafty delights!

I have just finished my (crafty delightful) solstice gifts for the Miller-Wielesek-Kuramitsu-Bartlett clan, which require only one (blasphemous) thing (in the casual context of Eugene) on your part: lapels on the 26th. 

Collecting Glass Bottles

December 08, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

In college, I collected slate tiles that fell from the campus roofs during storms. I have half an early twentieth century pipe and match collection. And there are the suitcases. But this is my first bought collection, which will spend a day in the sun this August.

I also had a temporary crown applied to the nub of my tooth last night, after they ground down what was left of it that was good and holy. Nervous about flossing on the first night, I waited until tonight, when bloody popcorn dislodged from my mouth. Remnants of my former tooth? Bits of Greg's wonderful Tuscan soup?  The world will never know. 

Final crunch

December 05, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I returned from a long weekend in North Adams this afternoon to a very sad Gregory, who is holed up on the couch with a looming paper deadline. Thus begins the mad dash towards finals. He is dutifully typing away on early American race riots- always one for cheery paper topics.

The winter is getting fierce, and I'm quickly demolishing my store of brandied pears, drizzled with maple syrup over yogurt. Mmm.

36 mitered corners

November 21, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Yesterday, I took on the challenge of learning to miter fabric corners by sewing new napkins, dish towels, and a tablecloth. Lesson learned: sewing is actually an excercise in precision ironing. I'm pretty happy with the results, and Greg is totally into soft floral patters. Bonus for me.

On another note, Greg's computer is on its last legs. Its fan makes a sound of the exact tone and quality of the opening to Lou Reed's version of This Magic Moment from the Lost Highway soundtrack (honestly. It's an unsettling similarity). Bad news. I think we'll all be giving him Apple gift cards for Christmas to defray the cost of a new machine. 

Wedding Project Two

November 07, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm working on signage for the Walden Bean Farm. Here are my first painted signs, all of which have black chalkboard paint in the middle. That's a beet, a banner, and a growler of beer.

Wedding Project One

November 07, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

After a month adjusting to work, I'm starting to pull together wedding projects. Here are a few mock-ups of centerpieces. 

House Warming, Dress Shopping, Rochester

September 27, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

This weekend Greg and I travelled to Boston for two house warming parties, and took the opportunity to try on a few dresses. Somehow, despite the endless coordination and communication about the wedding, I still went weak when I slipped on the first a-line gown. Stepping (literally) into this ritual costume was much more powerful than I anticipated. Because getting married is a deeply normative and historically oppressive act, sequined by two hundred years of commercialization (as they say, blood diamonds are forever), I thought I'd feel gross about wearing its primary symbol.

But I felt connected. I feel connected to Greg's grandmother when I look at my (and her) engagement ring, and I feel connected to generations of women who were brave enough to choose the person they loved. Especially now, and especially in Massachusetts. Unlike all of the wedding blogs that ensure me that it will be my special, individual day, trying on a white dress was humbling and diminishing. That's what rituals do- subsume personal identity into a collective culture. 

The question for every feminist couple is, how do you situate all the wedding rituals so you're embraced by an open, just, healthy community to help carry you both through the incredibly hard task of staying married? And how do you balance breaking the rituals necessary to create that just culture without diving headlong into the hyper-commercialized individualization of weddings (the wedding industrial complex, as it's called)? Etsy-made hairpieces and hand letter pressed invitations harken to a time when labor was local, but spending thousands on either brings us into that hyper-commercialized space again. 

Many, many men and women that I've talked to bowed to pressure from parents and spent lots of money. It's hard not to- everyone expects a sit down meal and save the date cards. And in this economy, why not invest a little in local services? Even if dresses are made in the Philippines, no one can outsource photographers. But as the center of this preposterous universe, the wedding industrial complex has given me (the very special bride) the power to say no. This can be a false empowerment (no ERA for my soon-to-be married ass), but I have some strategic rights that I look forward to leveraging. And when I finally slip on the handmade dress that Seraph stitches for me, I hope we'll all feel part of a just and locally made labor of love. 

But enough thoughts on the wedding process. I'm off to Rochester to see Lohring, his fiance Ana, Danica, and Ben!

New Job

September 25, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I just accepted an offer at a local college as an operations manager with their experiential education department. It's an easy commute, and we live smack in between Greg's school and my new position. I'm so releived that I can live with Greg, contra dance on the weekends, and finally afford my addiction to Bueno e Sano burritos. After four months of intense searching, I'm excited to roll up my sleeves for more than cover letters.

Jenny is awesome.

September 19, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I talked to Jenny this afternoon, who just lost her job and is taking a well-deserved breath before making the next step. Every time we talk, I'm reminded by Jennifer's incredible work ethic and expert knowledge in her field. Jenny is such a competent professional, I have total confidence that she'll find a new opportunity as soon as she's ready. And in the meantime, it sounds like there is a fourth and ninth grader who will get a little more time with their mom! Jordan sounds like he's doing amazing, and Destin is currently a smart (yet wildly popular) football star. All that moving from middle school to middle school is clearly working to his advantage now, because Destin knows hundreds of students from the entire district. Jordan is as kind-hearted as ever, giving Jenny lots of love during this transition. 

All is well in the Pioneer Valley. We went back to Grafton last night to play a marathon four hours of Cosmic Encounter with our old neighbors. Now that's my idea of the perfect Saturday night.

Dancin' and Pukin'

September 12, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

As you know, Greg and I are fans of clean country living, so I generally don't go out dancing, or at least not in situations that end in vomit. But on Friday night we went to the Greenfield contra dance. Suffering from a dearth of females (Smith and Mount Holyoke just started, so the carpools of small pixie headed ladies have not yet made their way up I-91), I was spun around by so many enthusiastic 60 year old men that I couldn't see straight at the end of the night. We had a great time, but we were both a bit dehydrated the next day, and I got one of those brain crushing headaches and threw up a bunch. Fortunately, I was able to drag on a pair of pants and we got to the Carolina Chocolate Drops show at seven, possibly my favorite concert ever. 

Visiting Greenfield and the Iron Horse in one weekend reminded me of the awesomeness of this area, and I'm going to go to the Sacred Harp singing on Tuesday, something I really wanted to do in college but lost access to when I moved to Williamstown. 

Greg's classes are great so far, and his professors seem genuinely passionate about teaching. But even with four math classes, he's already buckling down with reading.

There will be days like this

September 08, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Just one more engagement photo, which just about perfectly captures our personalities- my cool disregard matched by Greg's kooky grin and excited embrace.

For the last three days, I've woken myself up in the middle of the night from wedding nightmares. Last night, mom remodeled her house with a three story pink mica water feature in the living room, and a classmate from high school was having her wedding photos taken on a sparkly rock outcropping. The basement, on the other hand, was remodeled into a freaky haunted house. The night before that, I was forced to go through pictures of table card style after table card style, ala Clockwork Orange. Being engaged is awesome. But it's also terrifying and infinitely stressful to plan a wedding, because all the collective expectations can so quickly become an avalanche of Martha Stewart terror-fantasies. 

I've started working with a graphic designer and am beginning self-guided meditation. Both seem like good first steps on the road to recovery from early onset wedding anxiety. 

Broken computer, broken internets

September 02, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

This is the first day in two weeks where both my computer and the internet have been functional. During my computer-free time, I made another dress, which I wore for our engagement photos. Sleeves and pockets are two oft-forgotten features in ready-to-wear dresses that I'm really crazy about.

I want to thank all of the wonderful, wonderful people who have sent cards, emails, and called to congratulate us. It is so much fun to be engaged to Greg. I mixed our books together yesterday- what a thrill to have my Lies My Teacher Told Me next to his Sundown Towns!

At this point, we're planning a mid-August wedding on a family farm in Maine. There are many more details to iron out, and we're taking advantage of the last week of our mutual vacation before Greg starts school on Tuesday. He's taking three math classes, a computer science class, and an honors political science class his first semester!

Moving to the Country

August 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

After three weeks of transition, Greg and I are finally settled in our new apartment. The Pioneer Valley is absolutely beautiful, and we can get farm fresh produce and dairy from stands and local stores. Combined with the nearby buritto joint and live music everywhere, we're in seventh heaven.

yesterday, greg asked me a question

August 11, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

And I said yes!

Marshall and McKenna's big project

July 22, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

My project list is on hold while I pack and move this week and next, but I wanted to share a complete house remodel from my dear friends Marshall and McKenna. I'm totally floored by their work, much of which they did themselves!

Their year-long journey is captured with beautiful pictures here: http://wallyfarmhouse.tumblr.com/

Project Four: Wedding Table Cards

July 11, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

One of my college friends asked me to make her table place cards for her wedding next weekend. I think they look a bit like vegetable seed packets.

These are the fronts and backs, all individually stamped. Whew!

Project Three: Peach Melba, Pear Ginger, and Rhubarb Jam

July 11, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

In order to justify packing and moving all of my canning supplies, I decided to fill my jars with jam. I now have peach, pear, and rhubarb jam to carrying me (and most likely a few neighbors) through the winter. Rain came yesteday, calming last week's heat wave. I've been watching my downstair neighbor's animal kingdom, which includes a toy poodle, boa constrictor, fifty gallon fish tank, half dozen hamsters, white feeder mice, and a dozen finches. I'm just glad they didn't liquify from the heat while in my care.

Epic Heat, Epic Shopping

July 07, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Yesterday, for mom and Isabell's final day in Boston, we mapped out and explored every kid's clothing store between Back Bay and Downtown Crossing, from couture to H&M. Despite the hundred degree weather (no exaggeration! Our lieutenant governor is still in the hospital recovering from heat stroke), both of them held up for six hours of relentless shopping. Isabell valiantly tried on every item I pulled off the shelves and brought home her first beloved pair of skinny jeans. Mom also picked up a couple hundred items for other grandchildren. We all managed to stay nice to each other and reasonably hydrated. It was a vacation miracle. 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

June 28, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I sure miss Greg, but it's nice to seize the free time for preserving summer. The rhubarb is from a dear friend's organic farm in Dover.

Ingredients: 4 c. crushed strawberries, 4 c. de-stringed cooked rhubarb, 4 c. sugar, 1 box of pectin

Take a large heavy pot and pour in the strawberries, rhubarb, and pectin. Stirring constantly bring the above to a rolling boil, then add sugar. Return to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat and skim off excess foam. Pour the jam into clean jars, wipe off jar, seal lids, and boil jars for ten minutes. With patience, the jars will seal themselves in the coming hours with a satisfying *pop* sound.

Project Two: Check

June 27, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Dressmaking is not as meditative as I anticipated, but it is an exercise in self-reflection. I know now that I am not a naturally procedural thinker. Technical, non-intuitive directions are challenging for me to understand. This, combined with my bullheadedness and aversion to slip-stitching made this project more difficult than sanding and varnishing outside for three days. On the upside, I have a new dress with a real zipper and pockets. Thanks to my new dress form, it also fits like a glove.

Now for strawberry rhubarb jam!

Project Two: Dress

June 26, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm not actually finished with the dress, but let me say that making things out of fabric is really, really hard. It takes a ton of spatial intelligence that I don't have. But I have finally cut all the fabric, snipped all the linings, and ironed everything into flat geometric pieces.

Greg also has a new project going, his Baltimore blog: http://geepcee.blogspot.com. Yesterday, one of my local farmers called blogging self-indulgent. This from a guy with his own blogspot for kale recipes! Sheesh.

Project One: check

June 25, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I completed my first project, designed to keep me busy while Greg is in Baltimore. It took three days and I got an offer from neighbors to start my own lucrative refinishing business, but they are now done and back in the living room.

Here is the before and after:

Last day

June 22, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Today is Greg's last day in town before orientation at UMass and the summer math/robotics academy in Baltimore. I have a series of projects to distract myself from his absence, including refinishing two chairs, learning proper dressmaking, and making the table placecards for my friend's wedding. I've re-ordered the Netflix cue so all the Richard Prior movies are at the bottom and the John Adams mini-series is at the top. I have a series of coffee dates, the strawberry festival is penciled into my calendar, and there is always the library.

But it goes without saying that Mr. Caswell is irreplaceable.

Grafton Life

June 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg and I moved all of his boxes into storage today in preparation for his summer in Baltimore. We're leaving Grafton after a year here, a place where I sat on the planning board, editorialized for the local rag, and on which I wrote my final policy capstone. Despite this, I have two conflicting reflections: first, that I never felt totally at home, and second, that I didn't do enough to give back- I paid my excise tax, but I didn't pay the community tax.

I wanted my rabble rousing to make the town a little more critical, engaged, and interested in its own preservation. I don't think that happened- the cranky haters still voted three to one for Scott Brown.

So what did I really do? My editorial column ended and I resigned from the planning board. My recommendations for citizen engagement in public planning are in the hands of a town committee. All of the policy and community planning work I was a part of is ongoing (and unfinished).

Of anything that I can look back on and say, that was when I paid my community tax, was the night before my final policy capstone presentation, when our neighbor's apartment flooded into the apartment below. Instead of memorizing index cards, I spent the night filling garbage bags with fallen, bloated ceiling tiles. And because of that night - and many other nights with board games and cookouts and impromptu walks on the track, I think our neighbors will be with us for a long time.

And whoever said paying taxes didn't get you anything, well, they never met Blaise and Lydia.

Amanda and Charles

June 14, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Greg and I returned early this morning from my dear friend Amanda's wedding in Princeton, New Jersey. This was my first prolonged stay in New Jersey, and by all accounts, it is exactly as one pictures it. Princeton itself is beautiful and so steeped in money that investment firms and Ralph Lauren have elbowed out anything locally owned on Main Street. Past the mansions are mega malls and furiously swerving drivers. The miracle is, despite the inequality and superficiality, New Jersey also made two of my favorite people: Carly Bruder and Amanda Milstein. So what is a New Jersey wedding like when the two people getting married are vegetarian egalitarian Marxist Jews?

It's both a little weird and tons of fun. The things that Amanda and Charles obviously controlled- their outfits, the ceremony, and their friends- were awesome. Amanda was beautiful and unadorned, without makeup to veil a huge grin. Their ceremony reflected a deep respect for each other's beliefs and their joy in togetherness. And like Charles and Amanda, their friends are happy, silly, and committed to a joyous practice of Jewish faith and traditions. There was dancing. There were skits. There was a puppet making table. Everything with Amanda's fingerprints on it was thoughtful, bright and funny. 

Amanda and Charles' loud and loving dancing almost overshadowed the un-Amanda parts- the extravagant country club reception and multi-course meal. The older guests were cut from a different cloth, occasionally rude to us ushers and less interested in the incredible klezmer band. But the older generation will not last, and the new generation, stomping and laughing and singing praises, will eventually take over. And hopefully, they will take New Jersey with them!

So, here's to Amanda and Charles, whose sustainable and local three-course meal was its own step toward the world they want to live in.

The Job Search

June 08, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I just want to acknowledge how supportive all of you have been in the last three weeks of post-graduation, full-time job hunting. Thanks for the kind words during what continues to be a stressful time, even with the illustrious degree. 

Our bookshelves are bare and packed boxes line the spare bedroom. Greg is moving to Baltimore at the end of the month, so we'll move his things to Amherst next week. I stay in Grafton until the end of July. That gives me two months to find the perfect job- one that combines service-learning, community partnership development, education, and perhaps a little public policy. And with the help of public speaking podcasts and lots of practice, my high level skills and experience summary was never more concise. 

Here is another beautiful picture of Seraph from her trip east.

Conquering Concord

May 22, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Sitting and listening to the shot heard 'round the world in Concord.

Thanks to all the graduation well-wishers!

Graduation Presents!

May 19, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

Many, many thanks to all the gift givers and well wishers this graduation season! We've especially enjoyed the anonymously given luggage rack, which is used as a base for playing our favorite board game, Cosmic Encounter.

You're graduating!

May 03, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I got this perfect little card from mom and Emma today. Thank you!

Graduation Survival Kit

April 25, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I just got a "graduation survival kit" from one Evil Step Mother, which included copious amounts of chocolate, a mustache (that I wore all night), and miniature versions of everything on my graduation gift list. It made my day.

Editorial No. 5: Championing Community, and Gardens, Too

March 24, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I met Michael Urban at the common, the site of last summer’s farmer’s market that Urban organized and championed. We talked about the transition from being a commuter to a committed townie, being a stay at home dad, and his next great idea for Grafton- community gardens. Michael Urban is a tall, self-effacing man, who refused to see himself at the center of Grafton’s new local food movement. Instead, he talked about support from the Garden Club, mentorship from the Land Trust, and the satisfaction of providing his children with memories of good food.

Sadie: When was the seed planted in your head for the community garden?

Michael: Well, I’ve found things that I’m passionate about that coincidentally fit into the food movement, but I’ve gone to McDonald’s before. I’m a mainstream guy, but I think there’s a mainstream shift- when I went to college, the green movement was hippy tree-huggers. But this town voted to support Pay-As-You-Throw, a strong stand for recycling.  The community garden is available for everyone. I attribute a lot of my engagement to pressure from Ken Web and Ed [Hazzard, former president of the Land Trust]. And I just really like community organizing. I like getting behind an idea and seeing it to fruition.

Being a stay-at home dad, my day is centered around three things: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’m constantly thinking of what to feed them, and I’d like them to eat healthy. While I love to buy pineapple at Stop and Shop and we rely on the global food chain, I think we’ve lost balance with the local food chain. I’d like to shift from thinking of food as a convenience to get to other thing to making it the main event. That’s helped me focus on the local food movement of Grafton.

You can make pasta with local grain and eggs, but my daughter thinks pasta comes from a box! So that’s my goal with my 20 by 20 plot- to grow wheat, harvest it, turn it into flour, and make pasta. And then go over to Ed’s plot and borrow tomatoes, and go to Ken’s and borrow carrots, and make a full meal that’s totally locally grown. I’ve seen it online, and I don’t know anything about the milling process, but I’m just going to wing it [laughs]. Some guys live to fix their VCR, and I’m not that kind of guy.

SM: Why are you drawn to local food production and people growing their own food?

MU: I want my kids to have memories. I think that’s part of my role as a dad. I want Isabel to think back when she’s 36 to that time when she was chomping on an apple at the farmer’s market. And I want Zach to remember running around the community garden, watching Ed and Marian grow basil. I want them to have neat, real memories, not just of Sesame Street.

SM: What have you learned about the Grafton community from your work on the farmer’s market and the community garden?

MU: I’ve realized that the community is ready for these things. The community was ready for the farmer’s market. I think they’re ready for more environmentally friendly practices, whether they’ve come to terms with the cost of conventional practices or the philosophical benefits of going green. The support we’ve gotten from the community is exceptional. Grafton is full of people who commute to work and work really hard, but they haven’t lost site of the value of supporting environmentally friendly activities. 

homemade eggs

March 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I'm with Adam. Nothing says rebirth like boiling eggs in everything you can think of. 

The sun finally came out in Grafton. I just interviewed the organizer of the local farmer's market and community gardens. His exuberance and energy was infectious, and reminded me that greener things are just around the corner.

The cruelest month in New England

March 11, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have found New Englanders to be warm and welcoming once you've stepped into their home. Otherwise, they steel themselves against the bitterness of March and drive, tight-lipped, from one warm place to the other (Greg says, "well, that's because the chowder's on." Rhode Islanders are the worst). 

Ah, but here is this week's column on community planning for the Grafton News:

Toward a more participatory vision of planning and development

In my half year as a Grafton resident, many of my conversations with locals include a longing to slow residential development and rediscover the heart and soul of Grafton. Although Grafton has direct democratic participation through Town Meeting, ordinary citizens feel unable to affect the larger dynamics of community development. Despite many avenues for citizen voice, the rules of development, codified in our zoning by-laws, seem out of reach. Engaged residents soon realize that neither the planning board nor Town Meeting are designed for deliberative problem-solving.

The planning board is committed to abiding by citizen-created zoning laws, but it is the last place to look for broad citizen voice in planning. Simply, the planning board most often acts as an administrative board that implements by-laws, not to incorporate the full spectrum of community knowledge in planning. In a special permit application, notified abutters and interested residents have the opportunity to briefly outline concerns regarding the application; and while the board is obligated to hear public input on planning decisions, it must abide by zoning by-laws, even if they do not follow public preferences.

But residents can always change zoning through Town Meeting. However, zoning by-laws are often written in confusing legalese that may limit access for citizens who are not trained in planning. Zoning attorneys, real estate developers, and planners are more equipped to make zoning changes for Town Meeting, but have a vested interest in particular forms of development. Residents with an interest in community development are less likely to obtain, read, or understand zoning by-laws, and are thus ill-equipped to shape planning decisions by submitting an article to the Town Meeting Warrant.

As a member of the planning board, it’s frustrating to see community residents feel antagonized or sidelined by our current governance systems. Bringing more people into community planning can shift a process from adversarial bargaining between developers and residents to a collaboration between many stakeholders. Such process would not only improve what zoning changes come to Town Meeting, but give citizens the skills and sense of ownership to support comprehensive community development.

How can we make sure our neighborhoods keep their character? First, start talking with other people about what makes Grafton a place worth living. Talking about a place we love is infectious and generative. Second, learn more about what other communities do to create value-driven community planning. For example, Traditional Neighborhood District zoning helps make places diverse, dense, and walkable. Shutesbury created its own flexible rules, Natural Resource Protection Zoning, to protect open space within each new development. The Orton Family Foundation helps small communities “adapt to change while maintaining or enhancing the things they value most.” The more we understand what is possible, the more equipped we will be to make that perfect Town Meeting Warrant. And finally, join a committee. Get elected. In addition to being good citizens and neighbors, we have to do real work, together, to rediscover Grafton’s heart and soul.

Holla... I mean, Challah!

February 25, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I have a dear friend who often invites me over for shabbat. Because she keeps semi-kosher, I can't contribute to the meal. But after a year and a half, I've convinced her to let me make challah. The most I can reasonably do to kosher-up my kitchen is burn it down, so I poured boiling water over everything and put the over on self-clean. Unfortunately, heating the oven made the kitchen smell more like roasting bacon. For someone who considers herself fastidious, having someone ask you to wrap your kitchen utensils in three layers of tinfoil is quite humbling. But the bread looks pretty, and we got to have challah french toast smothered in brandy-soaked apples with the extra loaf this morning. The perfect Purim!

Grafton Civic Life Series No. 2

February 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The Reciprocity of Public Servants and Private Citizens in Pay As You Throw

After decades of organizing slums in Chicago, Kansas City, and Rochester, community organizer Saul Alinsky wanted to take on a new organizing project- the middle class. He explained that America’s suburban “Silent Majority” was neither conservative nor liberal, but “alienated, depersonalized, without any feeling of participation in the political process.” Many scholars and activists have echoed the sentiment that America is steeped in alienation, that our civic life is in a four-decade freefall. The League of Women Voters have given way to professional advocacy organizations. Suburban sprawl demobilizes neighborhood associations. As Robert Putnam argued in his work on the weakening of our social connections with each other, more of us are bowling alone.

As a newcomer to Grafton and student of democratic participation, I was ready to join the ranks of suburban commuters nostalgic for the Grange. Boy, was I wrong. In my eight months here, I’ve seen residents seize Aulinsky’s challenge, advancing towards a genuinely participatory community. Private citizens found farmer’s markets, preserve land, and grow thousands of pounds of organic produce for the Worcester County Food Bank. In addition to private action, and often behind the scenes, our public servants are also investing in citizen voice.

Municipalities need residents to help evaluate and promote policy changes in times of lean. When the town faced a $450,000 budget shortfall, the town administrator and board of selectmen relied on a group of volunteers to half the Town’s second largest budget line- garbage collection. The recycling committee proposed Pay-As-You-Throw, a program that reduced the town’s trash collection from 400 to 200 tons a month in the first six months.

In June 2009, Doreen DeFazio stepped down from her position on the recycling committee to coordinate Grafton’s new Pay-As-You-Throw program. Of the public and private work to advance recycling, DeFazio says, “it takes efforts from many different angles. I take small steps forward, and the recycling committee takes small steps forward, and you look back and say, ‘this is really working.’” Consequently, Grafton has increased the number of households recycling from 12 to 44 percent in the last year and a half. “I look at Groton, and they have a 66 percent recycling rate. That’s where I want Grafton to be.”

Saul Aulisky would call this public-private arrangement cooptation. But DeFazio believes that commitment to civic life is stronger than ever. “I grew up in Grafton as a farm town of 8,500 and when I came back, it was totally different. But often feel its more of a community now.” The difference between Aulinsky’s vision of social change and the social change that is happening right now in Grafton is a commitment to partnership, even in the midst of conflict. “Last week I witnessed 1,500 people patiently cast their vote for a new school,” says DeFazio. “I’m proud to be part of this community. I think people realize that it’s a gem, and they want to be here and be active.”

Grafton Civic Life Series No. 1

February 18, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

The Civic Ecology of Land Preservation

Last Saturday, we saw how citizen engagement in local issues can alter the future of Grafton. The special town meeting is proof that our local governing structure demands local solutions and citizen approval, although policy itself is not made at town meeting. So who really gets things done in town? Do most policy changes come from citizens on boards and ad-hoc town committees, or through voluntary associations? As a new resident and member of the planning board, I became interested in public problem-solving within the context of development. This series is an attempt to understand civic life in a town in transition, where looping subdivisions rub against the pastoral landscape.

Like many towns shifting from rural mill villages to residential subdivisions, Grafton residents have complex and often conflicting values and visions for the future of the town. According to the 2001 Comprehensive Plan, forty percent of Grafton residents surveyed said they were attracted to the Town because of its small-town character. And with the extension of the commuter rail and route 146, commuters can have more bucolic for half the price, and still get to work by nine. That simple cost-benefit analysis got me here in the first place.

But someone’s got to keep an eye on the bucolic while I’m busy with my commute. Anyway, bucolic is the most cost-efficient use of local taxes. Unlike residential developments, open land doesn’t make a family or call the fire department, and uses thirty-seven cents in services for every dollar a town collects from property taxes. For every dollar of revenue a town raises on a residential property, that property uses one dollar and nineteen cents in town services.

Unfortunately, like residential development, land preservation takes a pile of money and a sophisticated understanding of state land use policies. It also requires the technical expertise of town planners to support the Community Preservation Committee and ensure that Land Trust acquisitions are not hindered by subdivision defaults. And tax policies incentivize generous donations from landowners to protect open land.

Because of the interdependence of stakeholders, land preservation is a lesson in civic ecology. Public incentive structures and technical support bolster the work of independent organizations like the Grafton Land Trust. In May 2004, the town and Land Trust worked in partnership to protect the Hassanamesit Woods from development. As Ed Hazzard of the Grafton Land Trust explained, the property captured Grafton residents’ sense of history. Archeologists unearthed cultural artifacts and a cultural identity for a town that is as defined by highways as by its town common. The less visible story of Hassanamesit is the persistence of local residents to preserve citizen engagement and Grafton’s civic identity.

Making Robots for Valentines Day

February 14, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

I am sitting with Greg as he surrounds himself with bolts and flat metal peices and communicates with his fellow robot geeks online. Apparently, many geeks spend Valentines day making sweet robots, not sweet romance. Although my geek make me dutch babies with brandied stone fruit this morning. I'm a lucky lady.

Sorry for my bloggin absence. I'm writing on civic life for the Grafton Times, so my thoughts on exurb life have to be channeled productively and include actual facts and interviews with real people.

Sweet, sweet Eugene

January 02, 2010 by Sadie in Sadie & Greg

It's the crack of dawn and I'm in a borrowed nightgown on mom's thirty year old red velvet couch in cloud-embraced Eugene. Its a good feeling. Our trip was relatively painless, although our bag was lost for about seven hours in San Francisco. I hope it had a nice time there. We have a few things planned, and are trying to branch out from the comfortable eat at Metropol-visit with family-eat at Glenwood-visit with family-sleep schedule. I'd like to see live acoustic music every night, one of the major perks of cheap hippy cities. There's the inking project, which Adam and I have to plan and execute, and there are college visits. After two previous trips, I'm hoping that this is the one Greg and I can call our epic Eugene adventure.