Thanks to Mary Beth for putting this together. Summary followed by details.
100Grannies for a Livable Fossil Fuel Free Future
2015
Educate, Advocate, Agitate
SOLO ACTIVITIES – ONGOING
| · Snit-ins | · Democracy School (8 weeks) |
| · Lecture Series | · Book Discussion: This Changes Everything (8 weeks) |
| · Film Series
· Story Time ICPL |
· Paul Cienfuegos, Introductory Workshop on Community Rights |
| · Environmental Awards | · Paul Cienfuegos, We the People, 3-day workshop on Community Rights |
| · Monthly Meetings | · Special Events: Anniversary Celebration (April) and Stone Soup Supper (December |
LOCAL COALITION ACTIVITIES
- Global Divestment Day with IA PSR, 350.org, Iowa City Old Capitol Mall
- Prairie Preview XXXII
- Earth Day Book Discussion ICPL on This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein
- Family Fun Fair Earth Day, Bandaging the Earth with IA PSR Iowa City, City Park
- River Call with ICCSD schools, Hills
- March Against Monsanto with New Pioneer Co-op, Iowa City
- Global Village, The Maldives with Iowa City Arts Fest
- Paul Doffing Concert, Iowa City
- Pride Fest Parade, Iowa City and 4th Fest Parade, Coralville
- Nonviolence Communication Workshop with Peace Iowa, IA VFP, and IA PSR, Coralville
- Johnson County Fair with Peace Iowa, IA VFP and IA PSR, Iowa City
- ICCSD School Board Candidate Forum with Ecopolis, Backyard Abundance and New Pioneer Soilmates, Coralville Public Library
- Rally to Support Iran Accord with IA PSR, Iowa City (Loebsack’s office)
- National Day of Climate Action with IA PSR, League of Conservation Voters, IC Climate Advocates and IC chapter of Sierra Club
- Global Climate March on eve of COP 21 with IA 350.org, Cedar Rapids and in Iowa City on bridge over Riverside Drive with only 100Grannies
- The Women in Green, a non-fiction documentary of 100Grannies with the University of Iowa undergraduate film class
REGIONAL AND NATIONAL COALITION ACTIVITIES
- org Meeting, Madison, Wisconsin
- CCI Lobby Day, Des Moines, Iowa
- Tar Sands Resistance March, St. Paul, Minnesota
- Grandparents Climate Action, Washington DC
- Iowa Utilities Board – Public Forum, Boone, Iowa
DETAILS:
100Grannies Year in Review
2015
JANUARY
- 27 – CCI Lobby Day at the State Capitol in Des Moines. Grannies Pat Bowen, Linda Quinn, and Mary Beth Versgrove attend. Over 200 gather to hear speakers Eric Tabor, Deputy Attorney General and Bill Stowe, Des Moines Water Works before meeting with representatives of the Iowa Utility Board to discuss the proposed Bakken Pipeline project. Lobbying with representatives and senators on issues of People and Planet First in Iowa.
- 29 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
- 30 – Snit-in at Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville.
FEBRUARY
- 9 – 100Grannies Lecture Connie Mutel, Writing Climate Change, The Center, Iowa City.
- 13 – Global Divestment Day at Old Capitol Mall, Iowa City. Grannies Becky Hall (organizer), Carol Buchmiller, and Mary Beth Versgrove join members of Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility and 350.org to secure signatures asking the University of Iowa to divest in fossil fuels.
- 21/22 – 350.org Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. Four Grannies attend: Barbara Schlachter, Becky Hall, Miriam Kashia, and Becky Ross.
- 23 – 100Grannies Lecture Miriam Kashia, My March for Climate Action, The Center, Iowa City.
- 24 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
- 27 – Snit-in at Coral Ridge Mall, Coralville.
MARCH
- 2 – 100Grannies Lecture, Liz Christiansen (for Ferman Milster), The University of Iowa’s Biomass Fuel Project, The Center, Iowa City.
- 9 – 100Grannie Lecture, Cindy Spading, The Impact of Food on the Environment, The Center, Iowa City.
- 12 – Prairie Preview XXXII, The Importance of Native Prairie at the Celebration Barn, Iowa City. Grannies table – Maureen Arensdorf, organizer.
- 13 – Movie Cowspiracy at Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City. Grannies tabled.
- 23 – 100Grannie Lecture, Jerald Schnoor, Sustainable Systems, The Center, Iowa City.
- Bakeless Bake Sales at the Lecture Series – Over $250 raised in February and March used to purchase copies of Buried Sunlight, How Fossil Fuels Buried the Earth by Molly Bang and Penny Chrisholm for each of the grade schools in the Iowa City Community School District.
- 24 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
- 27 – Snit-in at Old Capitol Mall, Iowa City.
APRIL
- 100Grannies partner with UI Student Environmental Coalition on the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall to distribute handmade cloth bags.
- 9 – Story Hour at Iowa City Public Library Grannies Donna Rupp and Linda Quinn read Abbey and Grandma Go Green to preschoolers and their parents.
- 9 – May 28 Democracy School at Trinity Episcopal Church Library. 100Grannies convene an 8-week lunchtime viewing of on-line recording of Democracy School produced by Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. Discussion follows each 30-minute video presentation.
- 22 – Earth Day Celebration in Iowa City 100Grannies participate in book discussion at ICPL on This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, Naomi Klein. Snit-in at Yotopia on the Ped Mall in Iowa City; table at showing of Damnation at ICPL.
- 22 – Environmental Award presented to Yotopia by 100Grannies Bag Committee.
- 26 – Family Fun Fair – to help us Bandage our Wounded Earth, City Park, Iowa City. Grannies Mary Beth Versgrove. Barbara Schlachter, and Becky Hall join Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility for a fun afternoon. Dr. Seuss’, The Lorax is read to children and adults, complete with Cricket, the Brussels Griffon who resembles the Lorax.
- 28 – 100Grannies Anniversary Meeting at Carol Christensen’s home in Iowa City. Steering Committee members Ann Christenson and Maureen Arensdorf retire; new members Donna Rupp and Mary Beth Versgrove accept appointment. A style show of ‘recycled’ fashions, song, and poetry follow a delicious potluck dinner.
May
- 19 – Resolution to City Council at their meeting in Iowa City by Granny Becky Ross on behalf of 100Grannies to ban single use plastic bags in Iowa City at the cash register.
- 19/20 – ICCSD River Call event in Hills, Iowa. Grannies Molly Stroh, Becky Ross, Becky Hall, Dawn Jones, Deb Schoelerman, Mary Beth Versgrove, Maureen Arensdorf, and Georogiane Perret spend the morning with grade school students and staff from Hills Elementary demonstrating Who Polluted the Iowa River project.
- 23 – March Against Monsanto with members of New Pioneer Co-op, 100Grannies members demonstrate to oppose Monsanto and contamination of food supply.
- 26 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. The 100Grannie Bookcart makes its debut. Granny Barbara Schlachter acquires a mobile cart to house books, DVD’s and other resources pertaining to climate change, food issues, environmental concerns which may be circulated to the group. Donations are ongoing.
- 28 – Conclusion of Democracy School. 100Grannies form a Community Rights Task Force to discuss and perpetuate activities related to community rights as a means of effective activism. Work begins on how to use this new found knowledge to resist the Bakken Pipeline.100Grannies Community Rights Task Force is formed.
- 29 – Snit-in at Pedestrian Mall, downtown Iowa City.
JUNE
- 6 – Tar Sands Resistance March, St. Paul, Minnesota. Grannies Becky Ross, Jan Stephan, and Mary Beth Versgrove joined about 5000 marchers to rally against pipeline and fossil fuel infrastructure projects that would accelerate development of the tar sands oil fields in Canada. Speakers included Bill McKibben (350.org) and Winona LaDuke.
- 7 – Global Village, Artfest, Iowa City. 100Grannies entry: Life in the Maldives includes hands-on activities for kids and parents including beading craft activity, flag making, books and resources on Maldives as well as a water activity simulating the effect of rising ocean levels on this remote chain of islands as the result of climate change.
- 13 – Paul Doffing Concert, The Bicycling Troubador, UI Pentacrest, Iowa City. 100Grannies co-sponsor with Eco-Iowa, The Bike Library, Sierra Club, and Iowa City Climate Advocates.
- 20 – Pridefest Parade, Iowa City. Granny Linda Quinn creates great Climate Justice signs and other Grannies join her in the annual parade through Iowa City. A new addition is the “bag cape” designed by Donna Rupp to discourage single use plastic bags.
- 23 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. Presentation by Granny Chris Vinsonhaler on Represent US.
- 26 – Family Fun Fair, Bandaging the Wounded Earth, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility activity, co-sponsored by 100Grannies, Iowa City City Park.
JULY
- 4 – 4thFest Parade, Coraville. Nine Grannies participated as part of the People’s Coalition for Social, Political, and Environmental Responsibility with an entry of music, brochures, bracelets, candy, and the now famous “bag cape”. The crowds on the parade route love us!
- 22 – Non-Violent Communication Workshop at Coralville Public Library. Grannies attend a workshop on non-violent communication sponsored by Peace Iowa to prepare for upcoming public activity at the Johnson County Fair.
- 28 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
- 27 – 30 Johnson County 4-H Fair, Iowa City. Twenty Grannies volunteered for 30 shifts at the People’s Coalition (100 Grannies, Veterans for Peace, Peace Iowa, and Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility) exhibit. The main feature at the exhibit was a Straw Poll/Corn Counter created by Granny Donna Rupp that tabulated fairgoers’ priority for their federal tax dollars. Other 100Grannie features included a petition against the Bakken Pipeline, hand-outs on plant based diets and an opportunity to take a pledge to “Ban the Bag” by not using single use plastic bags for shopping. Collectively the Coalition created a list of questions for presidential candidates related to social, political, and environmental issues which were shared with the public for bird-dogging.
AUGUST
- 100Grannies partner with 3 undergraduate students in a UI Film class to produce a non-fiction documentary describing the work of a community organization.
- 13 – Story Hour at Iowa City Public Library. Green caped and masked Grannies Donna Rupp, Becky Hall, and Jan Blake read to preschoolers, share a video and teach them to be Climate Heroes.
- Time and Talent Survey created by Steering Committee member Donna Rupp is sent to all members of 100Grannies to update data and determine interest of members. Modification of committees is goal of the Steering Committee to involve more new members.
- 25 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. Paula Sanchini gives 100Grannies a great presentation on Citizens’ Climate Lobby Carbon Fee and Dividend proposal.
- 28 – Snit-in outside New Pioneer Co-op in Iowa City. 100Grannies Bag Committee will present New Pi with an environmental award for their recent decision to eliminate single use plastic bags at the check-out counters.
SEPTEMBER
- 1 – ICCSD School Board Candidate Forum Beyond iPads or IPM: Sustainability and STEM in our schools, Schaub Auditorium, Coralville Public Library. 100Grannies join with Ecopolis, Backyard Abundance, New Pi Soilmates and Farm to School to discuss opportunities for candidates to bring STEM, ecology, and a sustainability focus to ICCSD.
- 3 – 100Grannies representatives meet with Karen Mason, curator at the Iowa Women’s Archives and leave a first installment of 100Grannies history for repository.
- 3 – Rally at Representative Dave Loebsack’s office, Ped Mall, Iowa City to support the Iran Accord and diplomacy. Grannies gathered to support Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility who spoke and organized the rally
- 9/10 – Grandparents Climate Action Day, Washington, D.C. Grannies Barbara Schlachter, Becky Ross, Becky Hall, Marcia Shaffer, Paula Sanchini, Jan Stephan, and Mary Beth Versgrove drive to D.C. for a day of inspiration from Dr. James Hansen and Lynn Twist as well as training by Citizens Climate Lobby representatives on bringing the call for carbon fee and dividend to our legislators. Meetings are held the next day with Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst and Representative Dave Loebsack. 100Grannies co-sponsored this activity as part of Elder Climate Action.
- 9 – November 17 – Book discussion on Naomi Klein’s book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, Eastside Recycling Center Community Room, Iowa City. Granny Miriam Kashia moderates a weekly discussion spawned from the Earth Day discussion of the same novel.
- 22 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
OCTOBER
- 5 – 100Grannie Film Series, Disruption, The Center, Iowa City. First in the fall series, a look at the devastating consequences of inaction to climate change.
- 7 – IC City Council Candidate Environmental Forum, City Hall, Iowa City. 100Grannies a co-sponsor of this forum along with Environmental Advocates and Iowa City Sierra Club.
- 12 – 100Grannie Film Series, When the Water Tap Runs Dry, The Center, Iowa City. This documentary explores potential water shortages in the United States and possible solutions.
- 14 – National Day of Climate Action, Iowa City. 100Grannies joined forces with ECO Iowa City, Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility, League of Conservation Voters, IC Climate Advocates and Iowa City Sierra Club to promote a letter writing campaign to Governor Branstad on Clean Power Plan and phone calls to Congress on carbon fee and dividend, showing of Merchants of Doubt at ICPL and lecture on global climate change by UI Professor H.S. Udaykumar.
- 17 – Paul Cienfuegos, National Community Rights Educator presents Introductory Workshop on Community Rights, Schwab Auditorium, Coralville Public Library.
- 19 – 100Grannie Film Series, Standing on Sacred Ground, The Center, Iowa City. Witness by Indigenous peoples around the globe as the unheralded guardians of our Earth.
- 26 – 100Grannies Film Series, Years of Living Dangerously, The Center, Iowa City. Celebrity investigators and well-known journalists travel the world to interview experts and ordinary people affected by climate changes.
- 27 – 100Grannies General Meeting at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City.
- 28 – Environmental award presented to Aldi’s in Iowa City by 100Grannies Bag Committee.
- 100Grannies polo shirts created for debut at the IUB Hearing in November. These bright lime green polo shirts have 100Grannies on front upper right and the mission: Educate, Advocate, Agitate on back.
NOVEMBER
- 5 – Story Hour at Iowa City Public Library, Iowa City. Grannies Becky Hall, Donna Rupp and Maureen Arensdorf read their collaborative book, Granny Green’s Thankful Book, to children and their parents, along with sharing the classic Charlie Brown Thanksgiving video.
- 12 – Iowa Utilities Board Open Hearing on the Bakken Pipleline, Boone County Fairgrounds, Boone, IA. Ten Grannies are among more than one hundred who present 2-minute opposition statements to a crowd of hundreds assembled. Members of 100Grannies not traveling to Boone hold a vigil for those who are providing statements.
- 13 – 15 Paul Cienfuegos presents We the People Are More Powerful Than We Dare Believe, A Weekend Workshop on Community Rights, ISU Extension Building, Johnson County Fairgrounds, Iowa City. 100Grannies sponsored this advanced workshop on community rights that was attended by 35 people from Iowa City and surrounding communities.
- 28 – Global Climate March, 100Grannies join IA 350.org members for a march in Cedar Rapids to raise awareness of the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground just prior to December 12 COP21 conference in Paris, France.
DECEMBER
- 1 – 100Grannies General Meeting and Annual Stone Soup Supper at Trinity Episcopal Church, Iowa City. A delightful presentation by Donna Rupp of her recent trip to Africa to see the “big animals” in the wild was preceded by sharing of Granny Green’s Thankful Book, a collaboration of Grannies Maureen Arensdorf, Donna Rupp, and Becky Hall.
- 3 – UN Climate Summit Banner Brigade by Grannies Miriam Kashia, Linda Quinn, Janet Forrest, Becky Hall, Donna Rupp and Becky Ross on the bridge over Riverside Drive during the morning commute in Iowa City.
- 5 – Film Screening of Women in Green, by UI undergraduate students Madeline “Maddy” Groschen, Allegra Sweeney and Jake Markowitz at UI Communications Building, Iowa City. This is the culmination of collaboration between the students and 100Grannies for non-fiction documentary project.