Before we could print the newsletter, we had to get paper. This time we used mixed Kenaf and recycled paper, getting the paper from visionpaper.com. Kenaf is a row crop plant that produces fiber at three to five times the rate of southern pine trees, and it can be grown without pesticides.
The first people to help with the mailing were the Duperaults, who brought over these great Valentines Day cookies Thursday evening when they came to help. The three of us stuffed 494 newsletters, which I mailed the next day. The only problem was that I forgot to take pictures of Fred and Lois for this page. However, I did manage to get the cookies before they went the way of all yummy delicacies. Bernadette, who helped the next day, came in, stuffed 360 newsletters, and left in a sparkle of cheerful efficiency before I remembered to do this project. Sorry guys, drop by and I'll correct my ways.
Cameron brought us up to date on his favorite soap opera, the spam wars. He also printed the address labels and put a prodigious number of newsletters together.
Valerie was the first to show up on Saturday and the last to leave. That woman has hands that fly at close to the speed of sound. She used the 51 bus to get here, which dropped her off at the top of my street.
Eric mentioned that he had ushered in both Millenniums (the real one and the other one) live on the radio, as the DJ at KKUP for New Years Eve 2000 and 2001. He also gave us an update on the Millennium rock group, which put out a couple of records in the late 1960s, and has had one released recently in Japan.
Charlotte had just come back from Brazil, where she had attended the World Social Forum as a Global Exchange delegate. She said that they spent a lot of time at that event talking about water issues.
Gerry was looking forward to his trip to Surprise, Arizona to see his cousin who is visiting from Australia. He left after four or five hours of stuffing to catch the Greyhound bus to Arizona, an 18 hour trip. He was the only person who came by bike to the stuffing party. Day in and day out, Gerry uses less energy than most of us. He could have flown to Arizona, but that would have used much more energy.
Cindy made some great spaghetti for us Saturday evening, which was much appreciated by everybody. She also roped Greg into helping.
Jody didn't want her picture taken, but she did want people to see her ring. She stamped many envelopes. She also came by train, a respectable achievement.
Shiloh and Dan set up a cooperative assembly line. They would work like tornados for a few minutes and then sit back and look into each others eyes and relax for a while. Then they would repeat the process. They got a lot done, and had a good time in the process. Without Shiloh as the editor, this party would not have been possible.
Stephanie showed up after everybody else had gone to go through the stack with me and QA the project. We also did the paperwork.
Somehow, we managed to stuff 5478 newsletters in one weekend.
Not shown here are the 494 that we did that first evening, Everybody else's newsletter is a brick in this wall, so to speak. Every Green Party member in Santa Clara County had one made for them this weekend. We, the volunteers that made it happen are very proud of that fact.
Tian Harter
2/19/2002