The International Festival, an event that started in 1997, is a well-known mix of international music, dance and food that brings participants and visitors from throughout the Mid-Atlantic. This year’s event, which will continue to build on the theme, ”Celebrating CommUNITY,” will also place special emphasis on marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and remembering the victims of the Japanese tsunami.

“We want people to think about the fact that every ripple, every wave is felt by us all,” said Vaunda Brown, one of the event’s coordinators.

Also taking place on Saturday is Moving Planet, a world-wide event that seeks to put emphasis on reducing carbon emissions and pursuing alternative sources of energy. The date for Moving Planet was established by 350.org, an organization whose goal is to reduce the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere to below 350 parts-per-million, an amount that scientists say is crucial to help slow our climate crisis. Around the world local organizers will tailor the event to their individual communities.

Moving Planet – September 24th, 2011: A Day to Move Beyond Fossil Fuels

Harrisonburg’s Moving Planet will begin at Ralph Sampson Park with several speakers addressing topics from local environmental issues to national concerns, like the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Then participants will move across town in a mass bicycle ride that will end at the International Festival’s location at Hillandale Park, uniting the two events. The local groups represented will man informational booths at the Festival’s Green Village area.

“Our goal is to get the whole community involved,” said Ryan Bowen, a JMU senior and one of the event’s organizers. “Typically there is a divide between JMU students and members of the community and we’re seeking to help unite the community and bring both of those aspects together.”

The International Festival will take place in Hillandale Park from 12 to 6 p.m. For more information and a schedule of events see the Festival’s Web site. Parking at the park will be limited to vehicles carrying four or more people and those with disabilities or special needs. Everyone else is encouraged to walk or bike to the festival or use shuttle services, which leave from the parking lot of Westover Park (305 S. Dogwood) and from JMU’s Memorial Hall (the former Harrisonburg High School).

Those interested in participating in the Moving Planet can meet at Ralph Sampson Park at noon before moving to Hillandale Park by bicycle to join with the International Festival.

Photos by Holly Marcus courtesy of the Harrisonburg International Festival.

Related Links

Culture in Motion: Fest Showcases World Dance

International City

The decision to stop publishing on a regular basis was reached after years of searching unsuccessfully for a more sustainable model for a community-run local news organization. It’s an issue of not enough time and money (but mostly not enough time or interest).

I hate to end it now, but five years is a good run. When I started hburgnews in July 2006, I wrote:

It’s my hope that enough people in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County will take an interest in informing neighbors online, that this blog site will become more community-run, rather than operated by one guy (me) who really doesn’t have the time to post stories on a daily basis.

That never materialized to the degree I had hoped it would. Currently, the handful of other writers and I simply don’t have the time necessary to update hburgnews on a daily (or even weekly) basis.

I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in the Harrisonburg community over the last half-decade. With very few resources, we covered breaking news, asked questions that the local media weren’t, crowdsourced money for in-depth reports, and were able to focus on local elections in a way that the local media wouldn’t.

I hope to see a newer (better) site to pick up where hburgnews is leaving off. I’m encouraged by the stories in the HHS Newsstreak, as well as the level of activity on CommonPlace.

We still have the ability to post new local-interest stories if you send them to us.

Thanks for reading!

As part of the festivities store general manager Steve Cooke cut the ribbon, officially opening the store to the public. Hundreds of co-op members and individuals from the community shopped in the new grocery store, while The Steel Wheels, Olivarez Trio and The Dish Dogs entertained the crowd with music outside. Families tye-died reusable tote bags, children took part in a co-op scavenger hunt and participants sampled many of the fine products on offer from the co-op’s vendors.

The event was truly a celebration of the hard work that so many in the community have done to make the Friendly City Food Co-op a reality.

Photos and Text by: Aaron H. Johnston

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. with Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Matt Lohr, Harrisonburg Mayor Richard Baugh and representatives from Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance and Friendly City Food Co-op.

Free demos and food samples include:

● Shenandoah Growers— Free fresh local herbs

● Homestead Creamery— Free locally-made ice cream

● Golden Angels Apiary—Free local honey tasting and live bee hive (enclosed)

● PULP—Free smoothies

● Local Chop & Grill House—Food demo with Chef Ryan Zale

● Equal Exchange— Free fair trade coffee and chocolate

● Dave’s Taverna— Free homemade pizza

● Local massage therapists—Free massages

Children’s activities will include a “chalk-a-thon” and scavenger hunt hosted by Friendly City Food Co-op and CommonPlace Harrisonburg; tote bag tie-dying; fruit and veggie face painting; and photos with Freddie the Friendly Carrot.

Local favorites The Steel Wheels, Dish Dogs, and Olivarez Trio will provide live music.

In addition, raffle tickets win prizes including yoga classes, massages, local restaurant gift certificates, local foods gift baskets and a kids’ swimming pool full of groceries.

Friendly City’s 4,000-square-foot facility is a full-service grocery store where everyone can shop and anyone can join. Friendly City’s membership includes 1,400 households, far surpassing its 1,300 goal by opening, said General Manager Steve Cooke.

Friendly City recently became the newest member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), a business services cooperative serving 120 consumer-owned food co-ops nationwide.

Bill Freehling reported on fredericksburg.com:

Capital Ale President Matt Simmons said the success of the Fredericksburg location [currently one of four in Virginia] affected the decision to expand the business, which also has three Richmond-area restaurants and bars. He said Capital Ale didn’t ask for or receive any incentives to go to Harrisonburg.

Harrisonburg City Councilmember Kai Degner remarked on his blog that “[this] marks the only non-locally owned chain restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg since (I think) the Daily Grind had a coffee shop on Court Square.”

Capital Ale House plans to begin renovations on July 12, with a projected opening in October 2011.

UPDATE 6/21

The Daily News Record reported today that Cally’s partner and brewery manager Eric Plowman is closing the restaurant to focus on making beer. Doug Manners reported:

The languishing economy didn’t factor much into closing Cally’s, according to Plowman, who added that business was on the upswing this year. “The biggest concern was the fact that we were running out of space for the brewery,” he said. “I decided to go ahead and focus 100 percent of my efforts on beer and beer production.”

Plowman is scouting locations for a “substantially bigger” brewery, but hasn’t found a new home for the brewing business yet.

NCGA, founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops nationwide. The association’s 120 members and associate co-ops operate more than 150 storefronts in 33 states, with combined annual sales over $1.3 billion.

Friendly City’s 4,000-square-foot facility on East Wolfe Street is slated to open in early June. A grand opening will take place July 9. Friendly City’s membership includes more than 1,220 households, a number expected to grow in the weeks and months ahead, said General Manager Steve Cooke.

Friendly City, a consumer-owned grocer co-op, integrates local and sustainable food systems, cooperative business values and environmental stewardship into a lively community marketplace, said Cooke. “Area residents committed to sourcing healthy foods, quality goods, and local products have been developing the Friendly City Food Co-op for nearly 6 years,” Cooke noted. “We’re thrilled to become a member of the National Cooperative Grocers Association. As members of NCGA, we will have access to national support, tools, data and competitive pricing for our members and customers.”

Cooke previously served as general manger at Atlanta-based Sevananda Natural Foods Market, one of the Southeast’s largest food co-ops, before joining Friendly City.

NCGA is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence in recognition of the application of cooperative values and principles to drive cooperative and business success. “Co-ops born out of community demand for local, organic and healthy foods—like Friendly City Food Co-op—not only provide shoppers with delicious food but also help influence the way we eat and produce food in this country,” said Robynn Shrader, CEO for NCGA.

Photo by Jon Styer/Eastern Mennonite University.

The New York Times reports:

Stephen A. Privett, the president of the University of San Francisco, said he decided to award the degree after reading about Ms. Castillo in the On Education column in The New York Times earlier this year. He said the university wanted to “underscore the fundamental unfairness of our denying a path to citizenship to some of the most motivated college students in the country.”

Castillo, a graduate of EMU, has been actively involved in advocating for the DREAM Act, which would give legal standing to unauthorized immigrant college students whose parents brought them to the country illegally when they were children. She has received national attention after leading rallies, organizing a march on Washington and staging a sit-in protest at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office, which led to her arrest in July 2010.

The degree will be conferred this Friday, May 20, on the USF campus during graduation ceremonies for undergraduate students in art, architecture, performing arts and social sciences.

Plans to establish a “consumer owned, democratically run” (according to the FCFC mission statement) food store in Harrisonburg have been nearly five years in the making. Currently 1,199 people have signed up for $200 memberships, which give them part ownership in the store and a voice in how things are run. The store, which is in the same location that formerly housed Mick-or-Mack grocery, will feature fresh and frozen foods, natural health and cleaning products, many sourced locally, which will be open to both members and non-members. The plans are for the FCFC store to open the first weekend of June with a grand opening on July 9.

Out of the 45 new applicants that the program received, 21 communities received awards. Harrisonburg
was given a bronze‐level Bicycle Friendly Community designation. This designation comes after
Harrisonburg had been recognized with an honorable mention in 2010.

To date, the League of American Bicyclists has received 452 applications and designated 179 Bicycle
Friendly Communities in 44 states. The BFC program recognizes communities that promote bicycling and
provides technical assistance in the form of a roadmap to help cities build great communities for
bicycling. The League has identified projects, policies, programs and plans that most effectively improve
cycling conditions and make up the foundation of a bicycle‐friendly community.

“The City of Harrisonburg has made great strides in becoming more bicycle friendly,” said Pubic Works
Planner Thanh Dang. “The fact that we moved from an honorable mention to a bronze level designation
speaks to the commitment not only of the city, but of many members of our community who are part of
making Harrisonburg a truly bicycle friendly place to live.”

The Bicycle Friendly Community, Bicycle Friendly State, Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly
University programs are generously supported by program partners Bikes Belong and Trek Bicycle’s One
World, Two Wheels Campaign. To learn more about building a Bicycle Friendly America, visit

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/

The League of American Bicyclists promotes bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation, and works
through advocacy and education for a bicycle‐friendly America. The League represents the interests of
America’s 57 million bicyclists, including its 300,000 members and affiliates. For more information or to
support the League, visit www.bikeleague.org.

For more information about the City of Harrisonburg’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan, visit
www.HarrisonburgVA.gov/bikeped.