The Corps Messenger Vol. 2

CAC AMERICORPS UPDATES

PLANT AND STAMP

(by John Gardner via City of Knoxville)

Plant (trees)and Stamp(invasive species) Event on the Third Creek

CAC AmeriCorps volunteers and the City of Knoxville are

organizing volunteers Saturday, December 4th from 10am to 2pm to plant trees along Third Creek in Tyson Park and remove invasive species in the restored section of Third Creek. Everyone in the community is welcome to lend a hand improving our local environment. Please prepare for the weather. All tools and equipment will be provided.

Support for this project comes fromt he City of Knoville Storm-Water Engineering and

Parkes and Recreation departments as well as CAC AmeriCorps.

For more information or to RSVP as a group or individual, please contact John Gardner

at JRgardner@cityofknoxville.org

CAC AMERICORPS RECEIVES

ORCHID AWARD!

(from THE CORPS MESSENGER vol 2)

Awards have been presented to Knoxville and Knox County's most beautiful commercial properties since 1979. On October 26, 2010 CAC AmeriCorps received this prestigious award for their environmental community service! The Winners were announced at the annual Orchids Awards Dinner held at The Foundry. Nominations are submitted by the public and a nominating committee. Properties may be nominated in one of several categories. A property can win only once except in cases of major renovations. Private residences are NOT considered for this award. A panel of independent judges selects the winners. Past judge panels have included architects, commercial builders,realtors, landscape architects, historic preservationists, community leaders and former awardees.

The other CAC AMERICORPS affiliated sites that won an award: Ijam's Nature Center & Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge

SEGAL AMERICORPS

EDUCATION AWARD

(by Julia Lepping)

In the past, the only schools that accepted the Segal AmeriCorps

Education Award were listed as Title IV by the Department of Ed-

ucation. The Serve America Act opens up use of the award at ad-

ditional learning institutions that accept the G.I. Bill. What

does this mean? There are more opportunities for using the

award than ever, including trade schools and overseas schools,

as well as apprentice programs with government agencies such as

police departments.

To learn more, visit http://nationalservice.gov/resources/edaward

and type in the terms "G.I. Bill" into the search box or explore

the information under the "Schools" tab.

MAKE A DIFFERENCE DAY (MADD)

(by Various CAC AmeriCorps members & Affiliates)

Tribe One's MADD by Amy Staffaroni

"Tribe One was thrilled to be a site for the 2010 Make A Difference

Day on Saturday October 23rd. We had a team of twelve working with

us to expand our Urban Garden. There were several goals for the day

including building a new raised bed, expanding three existing beds,

constructing a new compost bin, and installing a netting on the roof

to deter pigeons. Through much hard work we were able to finish the

new raised bed, build a new compost bin and came very close to com-

pleting the bed extensions and pigeon netting (which will be finished

today). The group faced a couple of challenges that included working

with very un-level ground to build bed on and not having all the proper

tools. We also had some difficulties disassembling the raised beds for

the extensions. We were able to overcome these difficulties by working

as a team, by putting our different ideas together and trying new ways

to solve problems. There were a couple of things that I learned by plan-

ning and participating in the event. I learned that it is very important

to think ahead and thoroughly plan, but I also learned that you cannot

be prepared for everything that might happen. Obstacles will come up,

and you need to work as a team to overcome them. I also learned a lot

about building raised beds and what tools and materials you need to com-

plete them. It was great to be part of the Make A Difference Day, the

garden at Tribe One is now at it's growing capacity thanks to very hard-

working and helpful volunteers!"

Knox County Recycling MADD by Erin Sullivan

Yes, I believe that I made a difference of Make A Difference Day because, basically, I along with my fellow road-clean-up crew clean a whole lot of trash from the road. It was disgusting. I mean, really, really horrible. There were literally parts of cars that we found. Like, bumpers and head lights. There were old pop and beer bottles dating back probably 25 years. I mean it. They don't make labels like that anymore. I found a shoe box filled with...trash. Who does that? Seriously. And it made me feel like I was making a difference so that down the time road of life, some archaeologist who finds some kind of cultural significance on Crippen Road won't have to sift through all this crap to get to something more important OR see how disgusting so many of our citizens live our lives. Basically what I'm saying from this rant is that I do think I and the crew made a difference that day by not keeping the remnants of Knox County denizens' total lack of interest in the land around them, therefore we discarded their discards. Hopefully those people who ZOOMED by us saw us cleaning up, posibly, their leftovers off the side of the road and took thought into how they treat their community and maybe took a little shame with them.

CHILI COOK OFF

(by Jennifer Linginfelter of Knox County Solid Waste Dept)

The Chili Cook Off is a fundraiser for Second Harvest Foodbank. Knox Recycles acted as a sponsor to handle all the recycling during and before the event. During the morning prep, we recycled all plastic film, cardboard and steel/aluminum food containers from the vendors. We also collected and recycled single stream materials generated during the event, which included miscellaneous paper products and plastic bottles and cups. Second Harvest expected over 4,000 attendees at the Cookoff, and featured 22 teams of chili cookers.

NOV. 6th 2010

BEARDSLEY FARM

Friday, November 5 · 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Community Television of Knoxville
808 State Street

CTV's November First Friday event will feature footage taken at Beardsley Community Farm. Come join us in watching the show and having some good times.

Weekend Workday -
Beardsley Community Farm
1719 Reynolds Ave.
Saturday, November 13 · 9:00am-12:00pm
Every third Saturday of the month, Beardsley Community Farm holds a volunteer day for everyone who is interested. This will be our last volunteer Saturday before the new year, so come on out to lend a hand!

IJAMS

Saturday, November 6th 9am-4pm, Ijams Property Unveiling

Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave, is unveiling its new property this Saturday. The Ross Marble Natural Area adds 100 acres to the ever-increasing Ijams property. The ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled for 11am, at the "keyhole" at Mead's Quarry (a slight jaunt down the road from the visitor's center). The ceremony will be followed by a cookout with live music at 12:30pm. Guests with special transportation needs should RSVP by calling (865) 577-4717 ext. 23. The Ijams staff welcomes volunteers for the event from the hours of 9am to 4pm, contact Laura Marsh at (865) 577-4717 ext. 27 if you are interested in helping.0


WATER QUALITY & EARTH FLAG

Saturday, November 6th 9am - 3pm , West High Outdoor Classroom Cleanup
Under CAC AmeriCorps member supervision, West High School (3326 Sutherland Ave) students will be constructing raised beds in the garden behind the main building, moving rocks in the pond, and improving their compost bin for their outdoor classroom. This project is managed by Josephine Chu & Tony Bell, call Mr. Bell for more info 314-583-3560.

KEEP KNOXVILLE BEAUTIFUL

Saturday, November 6th 10 am to 2 pm

Knoxville’s America Recycles Day (RAIN OR SHINE) at the Earth Fare in Bearden which is located at 104 North Forest Park Blvd.

SEEED

Saturday, November 6th 7pm - Until, The Rocky Top Comedy Contest Finals

SEEED & 90.3 The Rock are hosting The Rocky Top Comedy Contest finals, at the Relix Variety Theatre. The RTCC has already had four great shows, where hundreds of fans watched 36 comedians battle it out for a chance to win the $500 Cash Prize, and they expects the finale to be nothing short of spectacular! The Doors open at 6pm, and the contest begins at 7pm. The Relix Variety Theatre's address is 1208 N. Central, Knoxville, TN. Tickets for the event are $10 and can be purchased online @ www.rockytopcomedy.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOV. 8th 2010

TRIBE ONE

Monday, November 8th 3:30pm to 5pm

FREE TACO's from the TACO BOY TRUCK!!!

Rev Food Taco Truck from Charleston, SC is coming to Tribe One on Monday 8th to feed kids free tacos!! If you know students or are able to bring a kid, you are welcome to come and join in; they will be located at 2112 E. Magnolia Ave from 3:30 to 5pm, and should be able to feed up to 60 people!

RSVP with Amy Staffaroni via Tribe One, 865-546-4131