1. "How can I help? " is the question I hear the most.
You can write a letter or send an email to be received by July 15, 2008 to:
Lease Committee
c/o Barbara Schlichting
735 University Ave.
c/o Barbara Schlichting
735 University Ave.
Sewanee, TN 37383
PLEASE, only send serious messages. We want to make a change, not bother Barbara with funny, irrelevant or harassing correspondence. If you want your opinion to be considered by the lease committee, you must give your name and address - not that you'll be contacted, but I want to stress the fact that this is not the place to be amusing.
It would be helpful if you stated your relationship to this cause and or Sewanee and the University.
If you want to be funny, post a comment!
2. "What was the complaint?"
Noise. - which no one else in the neighborhood seems to hear.
3. "Who complained?"
I don't think it's appropriate to answer - especially here.
4. "Are you going to be in the 4th of July parade?"
I'm still not sure. I've been very consumed with research, correspondence and this blog and haven't had time to give it much thought. There is definitely interest and some cute ideas. Let me know if you're interested and I'll see what we can come up with. (I'm all about last minute parade prep - remind me to tell you about my brother's rolling wedding reception July 4, 1998)
5. "What's the name of the facebook group?"
Save Sewanee Chickens. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=54313080231
I don't belong to facebook and didn't know about the group, but hear it's growing like crazy!
6. "Do you want a bunch of people to go to the lease committee meeting with you?"
Well yes, maybe - BUT - it is NOT an open metting so only the leaseholders (my parents and I) will go.
Posts
5 comments:
Always with the questions:
is the neighbor that complained aware of this blog?
I wonder if there are any other stealth chickens on the Domain?
Because the neighbor did not complain to me, I did not send him the blog address. This is a small town and a small campus. It's unlikely that he does not know about it.
My chickens were never a secret. And yes, there are other chickens on the Domain.
Good Golly,
I have backyard (and sideyard and frontyard) free range chickens, and it's a big reason why i won't live on the domain. It's not in line with the university's green initiatives to ban backyard bug-eaters and backyard compost-generators, but we do allow people to have 5 or 6 unfenced canines.
Until the leases on campus reflect the supposed ideals of the university respecting sustainability, and stop catering to weekender-mansions and a "gated community" lifestyle, I suppose I'll have to live off campus. If the bottom line continues to be $$$ (to drive up housing costs) professors' families (like mine) with "Sewanee Ideals" will continue to drift away away from campus. Besides, we can't afford it anyway.
Katherine, I'm with you on this one. Feel free to bring over your girls one day for a play date.
--Lydia Boroughs
Hi Katherine,
We sent the following letter to Barbara Schlichting & the Lease Committee:
We recently learned about the chicken controversy in Sewanee. Having spent the last 3 years filming a feature-length documentary entitled Mad City Chickens, which is now being submitted to major film festivals, we feel that we might be able share a couple insights with you to help with the situation.
NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Ann Arbor and Madison are just a few of the US cities that now allow backyard chickens. From Vancouver to Halifax and London to Sydney, backyard chickens are becoming an international phenomenon.
We interviewed chicken experts and urban poultry keepers from coast-to-coast. One expert is Cheryl Long, editor-in Chief of Mother Earth News in Topeka. Another was Dr. Michael Greger, the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States in Washington DC. Both of them state that all the evidence clearly shows that having a small backyard flock out in the sun and wind is the safest way to keep chickens, and they fully support the idea.
Urban chickens are a growing movement and as long as the flocks are small and the conditions are kept up and clean, then there is no reason why a few birds shouldn’t be allowed in one’s backyard. Dogs are altogether louder and produce more toxic waste than chickens, but we don't consider banning them.
A few chickens are one of the easiest ways for people to reconnect with where their food comes from. They make wonderful pets too, and that's how the zoning laws should treat them.
Thank you kindly for your time.
Robert Lughai
Co-Producer of Mad City Chickens, the documentary
Robert - Given your research and passion for the subject, I know you have an idea of how much I value your support and appreciate your letter. I am so pleased to have an expert on this topic involved.
And Lydia - you echo the sentiments of so many people on campus that have talked with me.
Katherine
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