December 31,2010 "A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other's lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for eachother, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves." — Wendell Berry With Our Warmest Wishes for a Happy, Safe, and Prosperous New Year IN THIS NEWSLETTER: · 2011 Membership Renewals · January 10 WMSBF Meeting – RSVP by Wednesday, January 5. · WMSBF Speakers’ Bureau Survey – Please complete by January 14. Contact us with your questions, comments, or requests for information on membership. Lisa Locke, Administrator, llocke@wmsbf.org. ** Special thanks to Randy Olinger and the Bioeconomy Institute for hosting and presenting at the December meeting. 2011 Membership Renewals As part of our own ongoing sustainability efforts, renewal letters/invoices were sent by email to representatives of our member companies this year. Please help us prevent the need for stamped, hard copy follow-up reminders by ensuring this gets forwarded to the appropriate person for timely processing. – Thank you!! January Membership Meeting Monday, January 10, 2011 :: 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm Habitat forHumanity of Kent County, 425 Pleasant SW, Grand Rapids. Chris Hall, Mary Buikema and team will present on the Wealthy Heights Partnership Project, a collaboration of over a dozen organizations. Habitat will gut rehab five homes, build 4 new homes and construct a community garden. The centerpiece of this development will be Habitat Kent’s first Net-Zero Energy home. A tour of their new headquarters will be offered. Parking is available on site but carpooling is encouraged. http://www.habitatkent.org/BuildingGreen/WealthyHeightsPartnershipProject.aspx Space islimited. If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by email at info@wmsbf.org by Wednesday, January 5. Cost of attending is $10, payable by cash or check at the event. Credit card payments may be made prior to the event through Google here. A $1 additional processing charge is included for credit card payments. Announcements Speakers’ Bureau Survey –If you are currently a WMSBF member, interested in participating in a Speakers’ Bureau, and did not receive the email with a link to complete this survey, please contact Lisa Locke, llocke@wmsbf.org. Please complete by January 14. | 