What the H***!?

[Brosia]

i hope everything works out ok with your daugher, mountainman.

google "community garden thefts" and you find a lot of news out there of people stealing the produce after hours. Probably those who feel entitled to whatever they want without having to do the work for it, 'cause that's what society has taught them.

[Oscar Wilde]

[Similar gardens have already been established at Fairmount and Thomas Hart Benton elementary schools as well as Nowlin Middle School and William Chrisman High School.]

Ah, I suspect your problem may stem from the affiliation with the education industry and associated bureaucratic entities ..... such a shame.
O.W.

[TheLastMountainMan]

They enlisted a girl in bulling her, so we are going to talk with her parent. I hear the mom has a chip on her shoulder anyways. So I'm a little concerned how that will play out.

[littleone1]

Good for you LastMMan. How is your daughter doing? I hope she is no longer scared to go to school.

[TheLastMountainMan]

Neighbor called me, and told me that there will be 20 some people there this weekend working in the garden. I'm going and bring my grill and do some BBQ chicken. They can stick that where the sun don't shine.

[lady_banjo]

Sure sorry this didn't work out. The "race card" ploy is something I am so sick of.

[TheLastMountainMan]

This is from local news paper.

By Kelly Evenson - [email protected]
The Examiner
Posted Sep 02, 2009 @ 12:33 AM
________________________________________
Independence, MO —
It started off as an idea to create a community garden less than a block from Bryant Elementary School.

What has transpired, however, are accusations of racism and lack of community participation, poor communication and a change of plans for the Bryant Caring Communities garden.

“I want to apologize to any of the residents who felt like we did something wrong here,” said Nina Falls, Caring Communities site coordinator at Bryant Elementary in Independence at a special LINC (Local Investment Commission) meeting Tuesday. “I have never done a community garden and am sorry if there are any hard feelings.”

Plans for the garden began in March when an empty lot on Cottage St. was donated to Caring Communities. But because of how close it was to the end of the school year, construction was halted until the fall semester began. Similar gardens have already been established at Fairmount and Thomas Hart Benton elementary schools as well as Nowlin Middle School and William Chrisman High School.

The main difference with the Bryant garden was that unlike the others in the school district, it would not be located on school property, but off-site. Plans called for four, 4x12 plots in the garden.

“There was no ground to put a garden at the school, so the site council found some available,” said Bill Rodgers, representative with LINC. “We admit, however, that we did not talk with the neighborhood families as we should have. Now, we have to try to move forward.”

Issues began to arise last week, when Falls was preparing the site for planting to begin. One of the neighbors near the community garden exchanged words with Falls of a racist nature.

It was then, said neighborhood resident Louis Taute, that “all hell broke lose,” including the distribution of a petition against the garden.

“I am the one that lives right next to the garden and would be impacted the most,” Taute said. “I am fine with it and think it is a great idea. If anyone is going to catch the brunt of this, it is going to be me. I am disheartened to see that it now won’t happen.”

The concept of community gardens is not new. Not only does it help lower food costs for neighborhood families, but it also allows children to be involved in the growing and maintenance process.

Because of the controversy surrounding the community garden, the Bryant Caring Communities Site Council has decided to forgo the project at that location and look for another property within the attendance area to move the garden.

Neighbor Dottie Smith said she understands why Caring Communities is backing out. She said, however, she believes it is a “crying shame.”

Caring Communities has the responsibility of bringing the community together,” she said. “But I am upset that the neighbors have chosen this way to go. I think people in the neighborhood need to be more concerned with drugs and meth labs instead of a garden.”

Independence Board of Education member Ira Anders, who lives in the Bryant attendance area, said he spoke with many residents over the last week. He said he never got the idea that racism was the issue, only the lack of communication about what was really going to happen.

“Three scenarios were given to me – that Bryant students were involved in this garden; that individual families would be responsible for the garden plots and that the garden would be open to anyone who lives in the Bryant attendance area,” he said. “I think the problem is that people were concerned about who was going to be coming in and out of their neighborhood and at what time of day and night. When you are going into an area to do something different, there are three important things to remember – communication, communication, communication.”

Independence City Council member Marcie Gragg said she felt like moving the garden is the right thing to do.

“I don’t think you should let this program go,” she said. “I think what needs to happen is to take a look at what available land and property and look at a way to make this work somewhere else. Let this issue rest on this particular street.”

Falls said she has “let go” what happened last week and is moving forward.

“When I thought about this garden, I thought of the kids and the possibility of having the Girl Scouts help, maybe even the people on Cottage,” she said. “I was trying to think broad-community based, but maybe my thinking was too broad. I didn’t have any idea that people on the street wouldn’t want to carry out this plan at all. I was thinking that everyone would want a community garden.”

[TheLastMountainMan]

Well Caring Communities back out from having the garden. Had a meeting last night. Some one pulled the race card out. So the land owner and a few of us are going to continue gardening over there, and everyone is told whoever wants to can. Can't stop the land owner for doing whatever he wants with his property. (long as its legal).

[cwconnertx]

I might go hire a crew of illegals to paint their house safety yellow while they were out of town.... just an evil thought.

[TheLastMountainMan]

Just found out the reason everything was quite is because they filed a petition to close the garden down. They had peoples names on the petition that one never signed the petition and two didn't even know about the garden. But it still closed the garden. How can they do that when it was on private property? I'm pissed. Also my daughter faked being sick yesterday because she was scared to go to school. This is another reason why America is no longer America. The small minded SONS A B***ES. So in 2 to 3 years when the house is paid off we're movin. But first I'm going to plant a garden every year in the front yard, with a scare crow pink flamingos, and paint my house safety yellow, ( the physo b*** gets headackes fro too much yellow) withe safty green trim, safty red doors, and saftey blue railings. Oh and a archery target deer, and a toilet flower pot. Then rent the house out. Ok probably not but I'm pissed, and we will move when we can, and rent the house out to any "BAD SEED" I can find.

[TheLastMountainMan]

Yeah. I was seeing red. Had to go out to the farm and "blow off steam". I was already to do some serious B slapping, if you know what I mean.

[lady_banjo]

Glad things have settled down Mountain Man. Agree with Visinedrops... Sounds like folks at first had an expectation that the community garden might bring in some 'riff-raff'. Glad the situation has changed for the better. Kudos to you for handling the 2 boys incident. I would have been livid!

[TheLastMountainMan]

Things have seem to calm down a bit. Hopefully they looked in the mirror and didn't like what they saw. (doubt it) Handled the 2 boys situation rather well, I think, at least I didn't spend time in jail. Parents beat the shit out of their boys. Would have done it to my boy if he had done something like that, but I taught him better.

[Visinedrops]

It sounds to me as though people are simply frustrated with everything that is happening around them, and as frustration goes, there's never any justification for actions. People are upset at things that are affecting them, and have no recourse to solve the problem, so they lash out at whatever they can find.

This garden, an example of people working together in friendship, will infuriate those who were not invited simply because they feel left out. They may not want to take part in what's going on, but they also don't want others to be happy.

This is clearly a case of misguided frustration due to current economic and social destruction.

[weaver]

Threats?

Two boys threaten one girl?

I would be all over that in a heartbeat!


There is a huge community garden in Historic Bethabara Park, Winston-Salem, NC.

It's been thee as long as I can remember and there has never been any kind of problem.

The neighbors are pointing their anger in the wrong direction.