Calendar: Archive

The free movie showing is a joint effort by First Unitarian Church of Omaha and Second Unitarian Church’s Social Justice Committees.  The DVD was provided (before its release in stores on November 21) by the Interfaith Power and Light’s The Regeneration Project. The IPL campaign is “a religious response to global warming,” with over 4,000 congregations across the nation showing An Inconvenient Truth during October 1-8. To learn more about IPL’s effort, visit their website at www.theregenerationproject.org/inconvenient.htm.

While we don't have mountain or oceans in Nebraska, we are blessed with beautiful tallgrass prairies. And one of the best features on the prairies are the native wildflowers.

Join us for a presentation featuring the Prairie Wildflowers of Nebraska with UNO Professor Emeritus David Sutherland, a botanist and flora expert who has spent 40 years studying the plants of the Nebraska prairie. While David's special expertise is grasses, this program will feature his slides of flowers, such as prairie clover, yucca, scarf pea, gentian and the sunflower family. Additionally, David will show pictures of most of Nebraska's cacti, and some of the rarer plants, such as blowout penstemon. David has studied prairies throughout the state, and he has just completed writing a book, with Robert Kaul and Steven Rolfsmeier, entitled Illustrated Flora of Nebraska, which is due to be published this fall.

Sierra Club programs are free and open to the public. For more information contact Mary Green at megreen4@cox.net, or 556-1830.

This community meeting, co-sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Nebraska Judicial Networking Coalition, is the first in the four-part Robert M. Spire Rights and Responsibilities Lecture Series. The lecture is titles “Battle for the Courts,” speaker to be anonounced.

This meeting has been cancelled.

Lunch will be available.

Find out if you have high levels of mercury in your body. This event, co-sponsored by the Sierra Club and the Matt Wayne Salon in Dundee is free to the public, however appointments are required. Testing kits are limited, so call today. To make an appointment contact Cammy 551-9480 or camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org.

Note: We regret that all appointment times have been filled. However, home testing kits can be ordered online at www.sierraclub.org/mercury.

Keep Omaha Beautiful, Inc. together with the Papillion Creek Watershed Partnership will be hosting a fun and educational event for the whole family. The festival will include many children's activities including science experiments, animal demonstrations, art projects, games and a fishing casting clinic. Free lunch will be provided to the first 500 attendees. Speakers and informational booths will be available for adults. Cub Scouts and Brownie Girl Scouts can participate in badgework sessions available at the festival. There will be prizes, drawings and even canoe rides for families on the lake!

If you have questions about the Festival, contact Kendra Sullivan, Keep Omaha Beautiful Inc.’s Education/Program Director, at 850-4996 or kendra.sullivan@cox.net.

Join us for pizza phonebanking and postcarding! We have to get prepared for the mercury hair testing event and we need your help!

Volunteers are needed to help at the 3rd Annual Stream and Lake Cleanup.  We will be cleaning the Keystone trail along the Little Papio Creek. The trail is a highly used trail so there is a lot of litter. Margaret Mainelli will be meeting people for the cleanup.

Come help us keep Omaha beautiful and get a nice workout at the same time! If you can help, please contact Cammy at 551-9480 or camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org.

The Sierra Club is hosting a showing and discussion of the critically acclaimed documentary An Inconvenient Truth at the Dundee Theater, with discussion and free appetizers immediately following the film at the adjacent Noodle Zoo. If you have already seen the film or cannot make the showing at 5:00, feel free to join us at the Noodle Zoo at 7:00 anyway, then catch one of the later showings at 7:30 or 9:45 p.m. Tickets for the screening are $6 for the 5:00 show and $7.50 for later shows; seniors and students (with valid ID) are $6 at all times.

If you have questions, please contact Cammy at camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org or 402-551-9480.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, The Future of Food examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world's food system. The film also explores alternatives to largescale industrial agriculture, proposing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.

Following the screening, a question-and-answer session will be led by Evrett Lunquist, an organic farmer, an independent organic farm inspector and a member of the Nebraska Sustainable Agriculture Society.

Snacks (provided by Whole Foods) served at 6:15 p.m. Movie starts at 6:30 p.m.

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Bill Moore will be speaking on energy and transportation issues.

Earth Day 2006 features speakers, booths, music and events for people of all ages. This year’s featured speaker is Jim Motavalli, environmental writer, editor of E Magazine, and an expert of transportation issues.

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Join the Earth Day Omaha Coalition at Whole Foods Market for an evening with Jim Motavalli, co-author of “Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth.” Jim will be signing copies of his book and talking about the future of transportation in America.

More information on Jim Motavalli.

To RSVP Call Cammy Watkins 551-9480 or email earthday.omaha@sierraclub.org.

The Earth Day Omaha Coalition would like to thank Whole Foods for sponsoring this event.

Bill Moore will be speaking on energy and transportation issues.

Sierra Club President and Omaha native Lisa Renstrom will speak at the University of Nebraska at Omaha at a forum for Environmental Studies and Business students. This will be a free evening event hosted by the University and open to the public.

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Renstrom will present her thoughts on the roots of Nebraska 's conservation ethic and its future in building a sustainable energy vision. The venue for this event will be a dinner hosted by the Nebraska Chapter of the Sierra Club, with dinner provided by the Forte Banquet and Conference Center's renowned chefs.

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Want to volunteer for the Sierra Club, but aren't sure how to start? Sierra Club 101 can tell you how. Please call 551-9480 to RSVP a space by March 4.

With over a thousand newsletters to be mailed out each month, we can always use a hand. This is an easy way to help out the MVG!

The Omaha Planning Board is scheduled to vote on approval of Wal-Mart's plans for a super store on South 72nd Street, at the site of the old Ranch Bowl.

Larry Burks will share a video of his experiences cleaning up Pascagoula, Miss. after Hurricane Katrina.

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If you enjoy volunteering and meeting new people, please join us for our activist nights.

Join us at the annual banquet of the Sierra Club for dinner, Nebraska Wildlife Federation’s Duane Hovorka, and a fundraising silent auction.

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Werner Fornos, president of the Population Institute, will speak and lead a discussion on the problem of global overpopulation and how it affects present and future generations.

Paul Johnsgard will be the presenter. Everybody is invited to this free program sponsored by the Wachiska Audubon Society. For further information call the Wachiska office at 486-4846.

Come learn about the fight to protect Yellowstone's grizzly bears and the lands and wilderness they call home.

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Pizza, Pop, and Mass Mailing! If you enjoy volunteering and meeting new people, please join us for our activist nights.

Spread the word – help us go door-to-door and talk to our neighbors. Ask people to sign a postcard encouraging Senator Nelson to protect Nebraska’s air and water. Meet up at the Sierra Club office at 2:00 pm. For more information, call 402-551-9480 or email camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org.

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Building Environmental Communities Omaha presents “Asthma Among Our Children,” a panel discussion about the what, where and why of the childhood asthma risks in Omaha.

Panelist Include:

Dr. Brett Kettelhut, Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Associates
Kathy Poehling, Asthma Activist
Jon Traudt, Health and Energy Company

For more information or to RSVP, call 402-551-9480 or email camellia.watkins@sierraclub.org

If you enjoy volunteering and meeting new people, please join us for our activist nights!

In addition to the normal reports we will hear a report from delegates to the recent Sierra Summit. A budget discussion has also been tentatively scheduled.

MVG Chair Karen Rock and Vice-Chair Candy Bless were delegates to the Sierra Club Summit in San Francisco September 8-11 and will discuss their experience there.

Full announcement

Reports

Join people worldwide in this effort to promote alternative modes of transportation by not starting you car on this day. Walk, ride or take the bus to your destination instead! For more information, see www.worldcarfree.net.

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Come help pick up litter along the one-mile segment of the Kennedy Freeway in South Omaha between Q Street and Chandler Road. No experience necessary! We furnish the trash bags and safety vests, participants are asked to wear gloves and good shoes. Participants under 16 must be accompanied by a parent. To sign up or for more information, please call or e-mail Alan Vovolka, at 402-344-3988 or alan.char@cox.net.

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If you enjoy volunteering and meeting new people, please join us for our activist nights!

This will be a nice chance to meet both new and old Sierra Club members and enjoy a summer evening together. Bring a dessert to share, and your own beverage. You may want to bring a folding chair as well. We will provide plates and utensils. After sharing dessert, we will take a short walk along the trail by the lake.

This is an area of the lakeshore that the Omaha Parks Department is seeking to restrict access to by closing Rainwood Road to the public. However, the proposal, slated for discussion at the March 15 City Council meeting, was postponed indefinitely. It is likely that it will come up again in the future.

To reach Cunningham Lake, take 72 nd Street to Rainwood Road, just north of I-680. Head west on Rainwood Road. Continue on Rainwood Road past 84 th Street, and it will curve up to the right and end in a circle. We will meet at the picnic shelter at the end of Rainwood Road, rain or shine. For more information contact Clyde Anderson at 932-7225.

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This outing will be to the Halsey Unit of the Nebraska National Forest at the proposed Dismal River Wilderness Area. Participants will cut cedars and monitor wildlife on Saturday, take a float trip on the river on Sunday. Contact James Howe for details at (402) 580-1179 or goejames@alltel.net. Call 551-9480 to coordinate car pooling.

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Bring your own picnic food and beverages. There are plenty of picnic tables, or bring your own blankets and/or folding chairs if you wish.

In case of rain, the picnic will be cancelled.

Tom Dolphin of Omaha’s Backwoods store will demonstrate and display new equipment and clothing available to the outdoors enthusiast. Tom says backpackers hiking the Appalachian Trail these days are carrying 25-pound packs, as extremely light backpacking equipment has come on the market. Tom will show us some of what’s available in backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, and clothing.

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A summer Sierra Club Missouri Valley Group project has been initiated, prompted by inquiries from a parent who wanted something to occupy his daughter over the summer, and Conservation Organizer Cammy Watkins hopes that more parents will have enough interest in the project to help out.

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Service Outing to clean up trash on Missouri Valley Group’s adopted stretch of the Kennedy Freeway in South Omaha. We furnish the trash bags and safety vests, participants are asked to wear gloves and good shoes. To sign up or for more information, please call or e-mail Alan Vovolka, at 402-344-3988 or alan.char@cox.net.

Report

Is Nebraska's air getting dirtier? Are recent Bush administration policies of allowing power plants to buy and sell pollution credits, rather than reducing emissions, going to create "hot spots" where certain areas expose local residents to unsafe levels of mercury? Are power plants doing anything to reduce the air pollution in our community?

More... (MV Sierran article)

Did you know that Omaha is a leader in fuel cell technology? Outside of Anchorage, Alaska, Omaha has more fuel cells in one spot than anywhere else in the world. Omaha's First National Bank installed four fuel cells to supply power for its downtown data center. Fuel cells can be counted on to produce super-reliable power, which is important for businesses that cannot afford to go down during a black-out for even a few seconds.

Dennis Hughes, Director of Property Management at First National Bank, is the person who found the system and brought it to Omaha. He says theirs is a phosphoric acid cell that uses natural gas purchased from MUD, and produces electricity, heat, and clean water. As an added bonus, the fuel cells will produce enough heat to keep the whole building warm in the winter and melt snow around the building using special coils built into the sidewalks. Join us as Dennis explains the technology behind this green source of power. We'll learn the advantages and limitations of this system.

The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) wants to build a high-voltage power line along the Keystone Hiking-Biking Trail near Ak-Sar-Ben. The NRD Board will be discussing and voting on whether or not to approve OPPD's proposal on January 6th and 8th, 2004.

I would like to invite everyone to attend a public meeting I'm hosting to hear public opinion on this proposal. Join your neighbors for desert, beverages, and open discussion regarding this important NRD vote which will set the precedent for future use of our hiking-biking trails in Omaha. Please come and voice your opinion on this proposal. As this project is in my NRD Sub-District, it's important that I hear your concerns on this proposal.

If you can't attend this meeting please e-mail your opinion to me at ma.gardner@cox.net, or call me at #402-933-5792. I will present your opinion to my fellow NRD Board Directors and also to the Douglas County Board members, who will also need to vote on approval for OPPD's proposal.

Indian Cave State Park Exploratory Day Hike
Nov. 7th, 2009  11:00 A.M.
http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/nebland/articles/parks/indiancave.asp

Background: Indian Cave dates back several thousand years to the Archaic or possibly Woodland Periods.  It is an exposed bluff of Pennsylvania Sandstone overlooking the Missouri River in Southeast Nebraska.  This is a park for those who long to walk hilly and tree-shaded terrain, a rarity in the midwest.

Itinerary: Hikers will meet at Trailhead 4 at 11:00am.
We will hike about 6-8 miles from the Backpack Parking Lot near trailhead 4, head in the direction of Rock Bluff Run, loop down to the river, and back up to where we started.  We’ll stop for lunch at the Adirondack shelters overlooking the river.
We should return to the trailhead by about 3:00pm.

Weather Alert: The hike will be rain or shine, so come prepared for fall’s unpredicatable weather: rain coat, sun block, insect repellent, and a hat.  If the weather turns into a thunderstorm warning or worse, then we will reschedule the hike.

Clothing/Gear: Hilly, muddy terrain requires sturdy, ankle covering shoes.  Hiking poles, a sack lunch, and plenty to drink are also needed items.

Directions:  I-80 to 75 South (Bellevue, Stratcom), Rte. 62 East to Schubert OR I-29 South to Rte. 136 West to Brownville, then Rte. 67 South to Schubert.  Follow Signs.
Carpool arrangements can be made on an as needed basis

RSVP to jamesphernetton@me.com or 402-319-2322 with your name, phone number, and email address.  There is a $1:00 donation collected to support the outings progam.

See you on the trail!
James Phernetton, MVG Outings Leader

Sierra Club Bike Outing

Sunday Nov. 15th 22 Mile conditioning bike along the Steamboat Trace between Nebraska City and Brownsville.

maps of trail

Description: Sunday November 15th, 2009-Come bike one last time before putting your “baby” away for the winter. We will leave Wohlner’s Grocery Store. 72nd and Center, at 9:00 A.M. I will have a van with a bike hitch for any who need to carpool. I can loan you a trunk rack if you’ve no way to transport your bike. I have one extra medium sized mountain bike for anyone who needs a bike to borrow. Although I am familiar with the basics of bike mechanics, please bring your own flat repair kit, sparetubes, and tools. I will bring a pump for any last minute tire issues. Lunch in Brownsville and a quick walk through the Lyceum and Antiquarian Book Stores are planned. There is a Club Outing fee of $1.00 per person to support the continued training of Outings Leaders. Also, there may be a day use fee for the trail (similar to the Wabash).

Dress for the current weather conditions and possible weather changes that day. Wear layered clothing and bring a wind shell, rain gear, hat, and two liters of water and a lunch. As this is a crushed limestone trail, mountain bikes or Hybrid Style Bikes with wider tires are recommended.

Address: Nebraska City, NE. Directions: I-80 to 75 South towards Bellevue. Drive on 75 until you reach Nebraska City. There is a “beltway” that swings to the south of town. Cross over Route 2, stay south on 75, and look for signs pointing east (left) for the Arbor Station Trailhead on OPPD County Road “K.” Scroll down to see map.

Please RSVP with first and last name, phone number, and email so you can be called in case of cancellation: Thank You. Bob Goetschkes, MVG Outings Chair bobbygoetschkes@hotmail.com day: 402-614-4788 cell: 402-326-1775