Decks, Puppets, and Veggies- Oh My!

Week two of our workparty is underway! With over 50 volunteers currently here and more arriving, we've been getting an amazing amount of work done! From repairing the deck in the center of the town of Machias (overlooking the waterfalls!) to farming and learning how to build canoes!

If you want to help us to continue to make our work possible, please visit our Kickstarter Campaign! You can also give us cash or check donations at our house (101 court street in Machias), at the Machias Valley Grange & Cultural Center (1 Elm Street). Project collaborators include the Machias Rotary Club and Viking Lumber, which is generously providing lumber at cost.

The Deck project is running smoothly! Soon we'll all be able to dance on the newly refurbished deck in the center of town!

Our week started with a group meeting where we addressed what we hoped and expected from this week of the workparty.

This week we made prison solidarity post cards for our friend Tim DeChristopher who has been charged with two years in federal prison for peacefully disrupting an oil and gas lease auction. Tim actually shed light on the illegality of a rushed auction. Yet during his trial, Tim was was never allowed to tell the jury about the illegitimacy of the auction or about his attempts to raise the funds to pay for the land he had won. We support Tim and send him postcards to let him know that we care. If you want to learn more, please check out The Peaceful Uprising Website.

Writing to folks in prison is an important way to support those who are standing up for environmental justice and facing jail time for it.

The Puppet Theater is well underway and looking beautiful!

We also spend time during our week learning about the Beehive's poster campaigns! Here is Molly talking about The True Cost of Coal poster.

We've been helping local farmers by providing helpful hands!

We're getting valuable farm and gardening training and lots of vegetables in exchange for our labors!

We barely have room to store all our healthy, delicious vegetables!

We've upgraded to an outdoor kitchen in addition to our indoor kitchen to accommodate our all of our lovely volunteers!

Folks took an adventure to learn how to build canoes with Gedakina Inc- a "multigenerational endeavor to strengthen and revitalize the cultural knowledge and identity of Native American youth and families from across New England and to conserve our traditional homelands and sacred places."

The best part about all of our building projects is that all skill levels are welcomed. Lots of people are learning carpentry in real time by making really cool things!

We took a day trip to Fredericton, New Brunwick for an anti-fracking protest- where we cross pollinated between the anti-mountaintop removal movement with our True Cost of Coal banner and the growing global resistance to hydrolic-fracturing.

In preparation for our Anime movie night we learned how to make sushi!

We watched Tekkon Kinkreet and ate delicious sushi! Kawaii! (that's 'cute' in Japanese)

There's tons of hard labor to do- and here at the Beehive we look good while we're doin' it!

We're stacking wood and loving it.

Somewhere between all the work were getting done, we're making time to stop and smell the roses. Here, we went for a short hike on the beautiful Maine Coast!

In our downtime we bike, swim, and hike!

Keep checking back for regular updates on our progress, and don't forget to donate to our KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN... every little bit helps!