News of 1999 - 2001
3rd Anniversary Celebration
November 17. Our big Sunward Family had a wonderful time on celebrating our 3rd year of living together in community and reflecting on the past 12 months. Katie led a drum circle which sent out a great rhythmic sound to gather the clan for the annual family photo. Margaret, Donna, & Michael read Haiku for the 12 folks who departed and 11 new arrivals. Karen asked us to speak our appreciations of things accomplished and done for the community. A round of singing our hearts out preceeded a grand potluck which was enjoyed by all. Hilarious skits provided after dinner entertainment. A lantern walk in the dark foggy night led down to the fire circle where Jim S raised a great bonfire to send our thoughts and wishes upward with the ash. A Euchre game lasted late into the night. Somewhere above the fog the Leonoid meteors made a great display in the heavens.
2000
Great Lakes Radio Consortium feature
September 18, 2000. Sunward's environmentally friendly design approach and values were featured on NPR in a Great Lakes Radio Consortium piece by Lester Graham entitled, "Communities Build With Greener Blueprints."
Introduction to Sustainable Systems Design for Your Home and Community
May 12-13, 2000. Lead by Internationally known Permaculture Designer and Instructor Jillian Hovey, we had a weekend workshop on Permaculture principles, philosophy, and ethics: energy efficient planning; the influence and complexity of the natural environment; how to design sustainable systems in one's life.
1999
National Town Meeting
May 4, 1999. Sunward Cohousing was a featured stop on the Southeastern Michigan Sustainability Tour today. This was part of the program of the National Town Meeting for a Sustainable America in Detroit. Vice President Al Gore gave the keynote address with a few Sunward members in attendance.
"Green Building in Action"
March 1999. Sunward was featured in an article by Rachel Shaw in "From The Ground Up" published by the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor. The article is entitled, "Green Building in Action: Case Study 2: Sunward Cohousing Builds for Energy Efficiency, Walkability, and Greenspace" by Rachel Shaw.
Blizzard!
January 1999. The first weekend of the new year brought very heavy snow to Sunward. While Airports shutdown across the Midwest, Sunwardians came together in a remarkable way to dig ourselves out and keep our people moving. We were aided greatly by our newly purchased Bobcat skid-steer loader which made efficient work of moving mountains of snow from our pedestrian paths, parking areas and unplowed township roads.
News from 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001...1999, 1998, 1997
“The person who says it cannot be done, should not interrupt the person doing it.” -Chinese proverb