June 17, 2011 at 1:45 am (Bad River Reservation, Environment, Mother Earth Water Walkers, water)
Tags: Bad River Reservation, Butterflies, Ceremony, Freighters, Grandmothes, Hills, Insects, Lake, Mine, Mother Earth Water Walkers, Mountaintops, North Country Trail, Opposition, Recycled, Running, Running Shoes, Runnoff, Stream, Swimming, Upson Lake, water, Water Ceremony, water contamination, water is a human right, water is a social issue, Wilderness, Wisconsin
by John Schneider, June 12, 2011
I watched the ceremony on the Lake Superior shore yesterday of the convergence of the Water Walk. Luckily I got there early and had time to run along the beach and soak and meditate in the lake before I ran up the road from the beach and caught up with the group coming down to the lake. I was tuned into the experience from the point of view of the lake, and from years of running daily
in the wilderness and swimming in lakes and rivers. And from the point of view of opposition to the mine that would send runoff and bring bilge spewing pollution from ore freighters on that beach. And level mountaintops (nearly weathered by time to hills) to feed industry, industry that should already feed from recycled metal first, but doesn’t. And be powered by Lake Superior ind/wave
power melting and recycling materials with zero carbon pollution in the atmosphere and no acid rain in the rivers and lakes.
But thanks to a Facebook friend I never met before, and her guide to the ceremony, a young native girl, and several kids swimming and wading in the mother lake. And several moms comments….but especially a 6 year old who was barefoot and remarked as I was putting my running shoes back on after swimming, “Oh I should have brought my shoes down too..” I realized the point of view of
my childhood again, I had camped in that very same area with my family as a kid, and still I think that trip is in my dreams.
Mother Earth Water Walkers Bad River copyright Jennifer
Dream on… this is looking through their eyes, the children and their mothers and grandmothers hopes for them…And then!! The great moment for me.. a small thing, but I happened to be right there where the boats would land with the Water Walkers.. the grandmothers….A man stepped up and asked if I would help pull the boats up. A great honor.. a few of us pulled together. Wonderful experience I will meditate on for years… Then I went to the North Country Trail at Upson Lake to explore the Penokees where they would be effected by mining run off. These mountains are wonderful. Their waters are beautiful; I meditated
beside a stream on the trail, watching the intricate insect life. I saw butterflies sucking moisture from mud on Upson Lake boat landing, now to explore this whole area via the trail and get others there too. We need to draw inspiration to fight the mine and fight for those precious waters feeding our very lives and the life web we inhabit.
Leave a Comment
September 16, 2010 at 11:51 am (Argumentative Writing, Civic Responsibility Writing, Donations, Happy Tonics Butterfly Garden, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, Palos Verdes blue butterfly, Volunteer)
Tags: Argumenative writing, Butterfly, Civil responsibility writing, Environment, Fawn, Happy Tonics, Insects, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College, Mary Ellen Ryall, Monarch butterfly, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, Pollinators, Shell Lake, Tabitha Brown
Last week the Monarch Butterfly Habitat received bad press from a woman who did not understand the purpose of the habitat. Here is a response from Tabitha Brown, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College, Hayward, Wisconsin, USA.
Letter to the Editor, Washburn County Register:
In regards to the letter sent by Laureli Anderson from Cumberland, I would like to say VOLUNTEER. Happy Tonics is run by volunteers. No one is paid and it is run off of donations and grants. If you want to make a difference do something about it that is constructive. Happy Tonics butterfly Garden is a nonprofit run by volunteers and if you want to make changes to it then volunteer time or make a donation. That “nice pergola” you mentioned was a donation, and so were those benches begging to be sat upon. As a volunteer I tried to find local artists to donate artwork to add to the sanctuary. Maybe you would be more successful?
Some of the grants used to run the gardens have strict guidelines. Grants by the DNR or the Forestry service have stipulations where only certain plants can be used at the sanctuary. Why is that you may ask? Because the plants used at the Garden are Indigenous to the area and these plants are what local wildlife need since people destroy their natural habitats by planting “cute little gardens.”
A natural habitat does not look like your manicured garden. It is wild and beautiful in its own way if you take the time to study and appreciate it. I volunteer at the Butterfly sanctuary. I study plants and wildlife at the Lac Courte Oreilles Community college. Prairie habitat has been reduced to 1% of what it once was less than 100 years ago. People mow it down for their gardens, homes, and farms. The wildlife that once called it home is being destroyed. Did you know the habitat of Palos Verdes blue butterfly was reduced to the size of a baseball field? Guess what that town did to the habitat? They turned it into a baseball field. Now that butterfly is extinct in the wild.
Shell Lake is taking huge steps towards environmental awareness. The Organization that supports the Butterfly Garden in Shell Lake also provides festivals, seminars, and education on environmental awareness issues. They promote sustainable living. So next time you visit the habitat keep that in mind. You can also ask for a guided tour and learn about the plants and maybe once you know what they do you can appreciate them as much as I do.
Sincerely,
Tabitha Brown
Leave a Comment
September 3, 2010 at 11:35 pm (Corey Bradshaw, Metal Sculpture, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, Native forbs, Native grasses, Native Wildflower and Butterfly Garden, Nibi Wabo, Rain, Restored Remnant Tallgrass Prairie, Stonelake Garden Club, William F. Colburn)
Tags: biodiversity, Corey Bradshaw, Environment, Happy Tonics, Insects, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, Native forbes, Native grasses, native wildflower and butterfly garden, Nibi Wabo, Tall bluestem
AUGUST 2010
August 12 – Stonelake Garden Club came for a tour of the habitat. There were 33 women from the garden club and they enjoyed learning about forbs and grasses. The tall bluestem grass is over 6 feet tall and it is like walking through a tunnel in some areas where the rain drenched earth produced tall stands in the wettest part of the sandy prairie.
The week of August 9 – 14 so very hot that we didn’t work in the habitat. The temperature is supposed to cool next week. Looking forward to placing the sculpture art in the habitat.
August 18 – The sculpture art is still not in. It has been raining quite steadily for at least two weeks now. I don’t mind. Matter of fact, I do a Nibi Wabo Water Ceremony to bless the tears of the sky. The habitat is happy with singing crickets. I believe I heard a frog out there this early evening as I walked through area two.
I was happy to see monarch caterpillars on several milkweeds throughout the habitat today. I feel we have an incubator this year because the adult females have found that the habitat is for them. I love to see the waving and pollinating grasses dressed in dripping gold and yellows dangling from the flower heads waving in the breeze. There is nothing quite like it as I pause to gaze at ground covering purple Prairie dropseed, what might be a little bluestem and one beauty I still haven’t identified.
The plant ID plaques are nearly all in place. The hand-made large standing bird house is looking good in area three. Brennan Harrington placed a wooded stand under it so it now stands a little taller than the split rail fence.
August 23 – I agree with Corey Bradshaw, Conservation Biologist in Australia. Limited monitoring of species does not give the big picture to show any pattern of species biodiversity, one needs to look at the long and broad view. Please read his article at http://conservationbytes.com/2010/08/24/long-deep-broad/
None the less, we are making minute monitoring observations at least. I felt it was important to document what we are seeing as an environmental education organization. I wanted to show and tell what is happening to biodiversity of animals and plant species in the Restored Remnant Tallgrass Prairie which is a Monarch Butterfly Habitat in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, USA.
Leave a Comment
January 31, 2010 at 4:07 pm (Agriculture, Brighter Planet, Bumble Bee, Climate change, Community gardens, Environment, Food Safety, Grant, Happy Tonics, Honey Bees, Monarch butterfly, Monarch Butterfly Habitat, National Geographic, Native Bees, Soil, Sustainable Agriculture)
Tags: Bumble Bee, Climate change, Community gardens, Happy Tonics, Insects, local food supply, Mary Ellen Ryall, Monarch butterfly, Native Bees, Native Crops, Native Wildflowers, organic gardening
Please take a minute to REGISTER AND VOTE at http://brighterplanet.com/project_fund_projects/100
Happy Tonics needs your VOTE to help us do our work. Officers and Board Members give of their time to educate and implement programs to adapt to Climate Change by promoting Sustainability of Native Plants, Monarch Butterfly and other pollinator habitat. Our mission is: Sanctuary for the Monarch Butterfly and Food Safety Issues.
Native bumble bee on autumn sedum
small square foot garden
We are a small grassroots nonprofit that needs your help to WIN our Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden Shell Lake grant proposal.
This is not Happy Tonics first attempt to bring Adapting to Climate Change into national awareness.
We were honored to participate in the Green Effect grant process with National Geographic sponsored by Sun Chips in 2009. Although other worthy causes won, we believe that each of us must do our part to bring the message of adapting to climate change home. (National Geographic, Green Effect Winning Ideas for a Better World, November 2009, insert after pg. 6.)
Plant native wildflowers for drought conditions
Won’t you help us now? Please SIGN UP AND VOTE at http://brighterplanet.com/project_fund_projects/100
Thank you.
Leave a Comment
January 25, 2010 at 6:02 am (Brighter Planet, Climate change, Grant, Monarch butterfly)
Tags: Adapting to Climate Change, Brighter Planet, Environment, Grant, Insects, Monarch butterfly, Native Crops, organic gardening, Pollinators, Social Media
Brighter Planet Logo
The week of 18 January 2010, Matt Vaughan, of Brighter Planet, in Middlebury, Vermont, called to let Happy Tonics know that our grant proposal for Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden in Shell Lake, Wisconsin, was selected by Brighter Planet as a project for funding via the social media nonprofit organization. We are honored that our project is being sponsored.
We need your VOTES in order to win a grant of $999. Register at http://brighterplanet.com/ to VOTE on Climate Change Native Habitat and Community Garden Shell Lake grant proposal between February 1 – 15. There are not that many days before the VOTING begins. Please get ready now. We will remind you again starting next week.
Conservation begins with action. Thank you for playing a part in helping species besides ourselves survive in a world that is changing because of Climate Change.
Art work by Elaine DeAnn Brevitz Brown
Happy Tonics, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) environmental education organization and public charity in Shell lake, Wisconsin. We ask that you tell all your friends to VOTE for us too.
United we can do anything from the Grass Roots movement upward.
Bumble bee on blazing star copyright Cindy Dyer
Let’s make this world sustainabile from the earth up in the midst of climate change. Future generations of people, plants, animals and pollinating insects will thank us. Yes, even the bees can buzz their affection.
Thank you for your help.
Leave a Comment
January 16, 2010 at 2:29 pm (EVENTS)
Tags: Environment, II Annual Winter Environmental Film Festival, Insects, Pet therapy, Pets, Senior Housing
Happy Tonics, Inc. is sponsoring the II Annual Winter Environmental Film Festival in Washburn and Sawyer County, Wisconsin. USA.
Life is a mystery in the understory.
The first host site was Lakeland Manor. The senior housing residence showed MicroCosmos a film produced in France. The movie shows the little seen world of insects in the USA and the rain forests of Latin America. Beautiful closeup photography. Event took place on 15 January 2010.
Darling Gretal goes to the movies
We had a good turn out of residents and guests. Oh yes, our little pets enjoy being with us during film viewings especially when cookies are served.
Buddy was more interested in the cookies that were served.Little Gretal goes to the movie
Leave a Comment
December 29, 2009 at 8:35 pm (EVENTS)
Tags: biodiversity, Butterflies, butterfly migration, EVENTS, II Annual Winter Environmental Film Festival, Insects, water contamination, water is a human right, water is a social issue, water privitization
II Annual Winter Environmental Film Festival – JANUARY 2010
January 28 – Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College, 13346 Trepania Road, Hayward. Local fresh caught fish to be served at NOON day meal. Speaker from Red Cliff Reservation will share update on toxic waste dumping in Lake Superior at 12:10 p.m. Gladyce Nahbenayash speaks at 12:30 and film at 1 p.m. Environmental film Flow to be shown. Film addresses global Indigenous water rights, water purity, privatization and pollution. College students plan to go ice fishing on January 22 to catch the main course. American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) will cook the fish for the pot luck meal. Guest speaker Gladyce Nahbenayash will speak on the sacredness of water. FREE. Open to the public.
Silver Lake
Leave a Comment
