Grassroots Symposium Success!
This October 70 Great Lakes advocates
gathered on the southernmost Lake Erie
shore in a little town called Lakeside, the
“Chautauqua on Lake Erie” for the 2005
Grassroots Symposium. It was an
empowering experience to be meeting
on the shore of Lake Erie, once the most
polluted and desecrated Great Lake.
People enjoyed break-out sessions and
visits on the Lake, a visual reminder of
the very resource we strive to protect.
Our communications theme was the
focus of the Symposium. We kicked off
the weekend with sessions to introduce
us to Lake Erie.We dove into our theme
with Jeffrey Potter’s Values Based
Messaging workshop.
People spoke about how grateful they
were to practice drafting effective
messages. Kelly Dardzinski energized the
group with her introduction to our 2006
theme, Stormwater: From Runoff to
Renewal.
For many, the most important and useful
piece of the 2005 Grassroots Symposium
was networking with other people
struggling to protect the same
resources, fighting on behalf of the earth
and future generations. This was
accomplished through conversations
over meals, walks on the shore and
|strategy sessions helping each other
develop messages. There was also time
to network specifically with others from
one’s basin.
The Symposium ended on a
perfect note Saturday evening.
We were privileged to present
the first two Grassroots Citizen
Advocate Awards. Then we
were entertained by a Great
Lakes Advocate of another sort,
the author and storyteller
Jerry Dennis regaling us with
stories from his book
“The Living Great Lakes:
Searching for the Heart of the
Inland Seas.” In closing, Jill Ryan
asked that we each take our
water glasses, and ponder a
moment the wonderful and
invaluable resource to which
we are so intricately attached. The group of advocates, who fight passionately for a
resource that is so utterly important and literally joins all of our lives, all raising their
glasses in appreciation,was truly inspiring.We hope you’ll join us next year!
Disclaimer:
The interpretations and conclusions presented in this newsletter represent the opinions of the individual authors. They in no way represent the views of the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, the C.S. Mott Foundation, subscribers, donors, or any organization mentioned in this publication.
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