Designing and Building a Sustainable Future
March 2010 Newsletter

Upcoming Natural Building Intensive
We are excited to announce that the 2010 Natural Building Intensive will be our most ambitious yet! This year's students will construct from the ground up a complete single family residence for a young couple and first time homeowners in Middlesex, VT. Students enrolled in this certificate program will handcraft from natural stone, straw, timber, and light clay a local low-impact, multi-functional, efficient dwelling. This program provides the opportunity to develop a range of natural building skills for owner-builders and aspiring professional natural builders alike. Additionally, the Intensive will incorporate conventional building techniques with the most progressive natural building technology for an integrated approach to natural building systems in a northern climate. The curriculum is expanding to include a focus on permaculture, site design, and stone masonry walls.

We have a few spaces left, and will be accepting applications through May 3, 2010. You can apply by clicking here.

Also we are soliciting a client for next year’s project. This person or group should already be considering a small scale building for 2011, be located within a ½ hr drive of Yestermorrow, and could see their project being enhanced by the inclusion of natural building methods. Contact jose(@)yestermorrow.org.

Save the Date!  30th Anniversary Reunion
Yestermorrow will celebrate its 30th Anniversary with a Reunion Celebration the weekend of May 15-16th.  Events will include a variety of campus improvement projects, focus groups, and networking with members of the Yestermorrow community. This will culminate with a big dinner, a Pecha Kucha slideshow, bonfire and music.  We’ll have on-site cabins and camping available on a first come-first served basis.  Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details and how to sign up to join us!

Partnership with Center for Whole Communities
Yestermorrow is partnering with Center for Whole Communities to offer a new course entitled Regeneration of Place. This workshop will explore our connection to land through energy and the impacts that it has on our communities. Starting with our place in New England, we will journey down the spine of the Appalachian mountain range to the coalfields in the Southeast. Through ecology, culture, music and economic development, the story of Appalachia will be told, as one of our country's sharpest examples of the consequences that industrial resource extraction perpetuates on natural and social communities. The class will then focus on the principles of regenerative design and how it can harness the power of visions to develop healthier communities.

This is a residential workshop, taking place at the Center for Whole Communities (CWC), just five minutes from the Yestermorrow campus, in Fayston, VT.   All meals and accommodations at CWC are included in the $300 tuition.
For more information about this class or to register, click here.

Thank You to Mac Rood for 30 Years of Service
We want to extend warm thanks to Mac Rood who has stepped down from  the Yestermorrow Board of Directors after having served for nine years, including the past three as President. Yestermorrow’s 30th Anniversary marks a milestone for Mac as well, as he has taught at Yestermorrow since 1980 and continues in the capacity of instructor, including leading the upcoming Masonry Design/Build class in Italy in July 2010. Additionally we would like thank John “Sucosh” Norton for stepping up to take over as President of the Board, in addition to Kinny Perot, Robin Morris, and Eyrich Stauffer who are taking on responsibilities as vice president, treasurer, and secretary respectively.

Connect with Yestermorrow
Whether you're a long-time alum, or an aspiring student, we want you to stay connected to what's happening here at Yestermorrow. Follow our blog for day-to-day happenings on campus and announcements, our Picasa galleries for photos from classes, our events calendar for upcoming happenings, our news page for recent articles, and you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.