President's Message

Last month we took a trip out to Grand Junction for the VSC Board Meeting. On one hand, we’re holding board meetings across the state in order to get input from all of our members on the future of the VSC. On the other hand, it gives us the opportunity to explore Colorado.

First, we toured an organic bed and breakfast, learned about apricot trees, a bit about irrigation, and hiked in the Colorado National Monument. That was one roll of film. The monument is a fabulous place, and being from the Front Range, it was great to see mesas and mountains in almost all directions from Grand Junction.

I went on the air for the first time in my life. (Except for the time we sat on my dad’s television so we could say we were on TV.) Marian Dorn and interviewed me for the "Vegetarian Stew" Program on KAFM public radio in Grand Junction. Meanwhile, another VSC Member, Brian Cousins, also conducted a great interview with Dr. Marc Bekoff on KGNU. (If anyone taped it, we’re looking for a copy.) We discussed future collaborations between Boulder and Grand Junction’s radio experts as well as solar earth ships.

We took the opportunity to visit a few more VSC members. We saw Carol Lamm’s Community Sponsored Agricultural Farm, picked our lunch straight from the garden, and sampled one of Jeani-Rose Atchison’s recipes. We had a great conversation with her and a couple of her volunteers about the future of Vegetarianism and learned a bit about irrigation.

Next, we went out to Carl Vostatek’s certified organic farm. We strolled through the fruit trees and cut some fresh asparagus for the VSC board meeting and potluck. We learned how to prune fruit trees and a bit about irrigation. Carl told us about how he traveled to Europe to visit relatives and his only photos of those relatives were lost. We finished the second roll of film.

Stephanie took one of our dogs to Moab and Arches National Park because he didn’t like the kennel. Of course, the beauty of "Arches" spent the third roll of film.

At the VSC potluck and board meeting we brainstormed many good ideas.

Our host, Marian Dorn was wonderful. We met our Durango Chapter Chairperson, Paige Newman at Pizza Place, saw Tom’s "edible landscape" and learned a bit about irrigation. Paige will bring a "yet to be announced famous vegetarian expert" to Durango next year and I can’t wait to explore another part of Colorado.

As we watched the sun set over the Grand Mesa, I thought about how many VSC members are operating organic farms, producing radio shows, caring for animals, and writing books. I thought about how many VSC members are in health care professions, or even attorneys, bankers, teachers, and executives. We have a wealth of experience within our membership.

The fourth roll of film was spent hiking up to the Maroon Bells in Aspen on the way home. During the hike, I thought about how we could develop a VSC "network" of experts, and I thought a little bit about irrigation. If you would like to work on a project regarding this VSC Network, drop me an e-mail at Joe@vsc.org.

If our Front Range members ever get an opportunity to visit Grand Junction, I highly recommend it. And if any of our Western Slope members would like to visit the Indian Peaks Wilderness or the Rocky Mountain National Park, our guestroom is always open. (Even though it’s currently filled with VSC Literature and paraphernalia.)

Last week, we got our pictures back from the developer, and one was the wrong roll of film. It was photos of a rodeo and some monster trucks -- a very "wrong roll." The same week, Boulder declared that it’s been the driest in 100 years, and the city will begin to conserve water. I thought a little bit about irrigation.

-- Joe Gierlach