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 Wallace Watson and Shannon Wagner
We learned about EcoVillage from a Time magazine article a few years ago and dropped by for a brief visit. Wallace already was gardening organically, so he was excited about the abundant garden spaces. Shannon liked the communities of homes. Initially, we were attracted to Ecovillage because it is much closer to our Canadian vacation home. However, as we learned more about Ecovillage and Ithaca, we decided that this intergenerational community is ideal for us. As a Quaker, Wallace was already accustomed to consensus decision-making; Shannon is developing a real appreciation for the process and the authenticity of its outcomes. A primary aim is to live in retirement more simply and economically – selling our century-old, 3-story Pittsburgh home and moving into a much smaller space. Already we have distributed many possessions to our children (who apparently accept them willingly), and it already feels good to be less encumbered. Wallace, a retired English professor, is eager to perfect his astronomy skills in the dark skies at Ecovillage. Shannon, a retired attorney, is optimistic about finding a choral group with which to make music. Our children – who know of Ecovillage primarily from our descriptions – are enthusiastic about our big life-style change. Now, if we could only convince some of them to relocate to central NY state.
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Mark Walsh and Ashley Click
We have both been living overseas as teachers in various international schools. Ashley, for the past 20 years, and myself for the past 15. We met while teaching in Abu Dhabi and have been married for 7 years now. Our son, Aden, was born in Abu Dhabi and our daughter, Savannah, was born in Malaysia, where we presently live in Kuala Lumpur. I grew up in Westchester County and went to Hartwick College in Oneonta, where I received a BA in Biology. I have always loved upstate New York and even though the rest of my family is migrating south, I am staying put. Ashley grew up in Augusta, Georgia and received a BFA in Art from the University of Georgia and, later, an MA in Educational Technology from Michigan State University. She considers herself part “Yankee” and part “Southern Belle.”
Since having children, we have been looking for ways to make our way back to the States. Fortunately, we came looking in Ithaca this summer and rented a place for a few days up at EcoVillage. During our short stay, we fell in love with the place. The people we met were extremely friendly, open-minded and intellectually curious. EVI seemed peaceful and cozy – yet very alive! Visiting friends in the States, it has always struck us that the suburban places where they were living seemed like such dead zones, with very little interaction between neighbors. Living in an actual community with a sustainable lifestyle really appeals to us. I have also been very interested in alternative energy. The clincher for us was that we know this will be a fantastic environment to raise our children and we cannot wait now to finally make our way back.
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 Ray Stiefel is a native “northcoaster”.
Ray was born and raised in Irondequoit, NY (Rochester area) along the shore of Lake Ontario. His love of water was nurtured by the many lakes and streams of the Finger Lakes region. After receiving a B.S. in Environmental Biology at Case Western Reserve University he moved to the Puget Sound area of Washington State. His first “working for a living” experiences included running a saw mill, processing fresh fish at a salmon cannery and crewing for two seasons on a commercial fishing boat.
Ray retreated to academia, hands calloused but mostly intact, earning a Master’s Degree in Marine Ecology from Western Washington University. He was chosen to be a member of a small team of field biologists hired to study the effect that the oil industry was having on the plants and animals of the Arctic. Camping and sampling in avariety of remote locations along the Arctic coastline was memorable, but he most enjoyed visiting coastal villages and playing with Inuit children whenever he had a chance. Ray completed his three year stint in Alaska by working for the National Marine Fisheries Service monitoring and documenting fishing activities onboard two Japanese trawlers operating in the Gulf of Alaska.
Returning to the East Coast in 1978, Ray participated in a M.S. program at the Institute for Social Ecology at Goddard College in Vermont. His fieldwork towards this degree included coordinating the programs of the Rochester (NY) Safe Energy Alliance. RSEA promoted safe energy alternatives and worked to oppose nuclear power. As a spokes-person of this grass-roots social change organization Ray had many opportunities to debate the local utility on the dangers of nuclear energy. A particular highlight of the time was working with a group of RSEA volunteers to document that the local utility had used erroneous justifications in its bid for a second nuclear power plant. Their 11th hour efforts were rewarded when New York State rescinded a construction permit previously issued to the utility company.
Ray was able to “walk his talk” in 1982 by working with friends to build an earth-bermed passive solar house for his parents. He now lives in this house which is part of a 105 acre land trust located in Rose, NY. In 1984, Ray worked with Joan Bokaer, Liz Walker and others at the “Project on the Present Danger” in Cambridge, MA. The “Project” developed programs to help a variety of audiences understand the right wing groups promoting the arms race.
From 1985 to 1987 Ray taught physics, math, and peace studies at The Meeting School in Rindge, NH. His interest in U.S. - Soviet relations took a giant leap in 1987 when he helped organize and lead an Interhelp journey to the former Soviet Union. Working with Fran Macy and others the group offered Interhelp “dispair and empowerment” workshops for mental health workers and social change activists in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Tbilisi (Georgian Republic). Ray has gone on to lead a variety of trips to most of the former Soviet Republics.
Currently Ray’s educational travel company, Port Bay Travel, organizes and leads tours for student and adult groups to a variety of domestic and international destinations. He is particularly interested in introducing young people to the joys and mysteries of nature. |
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 Grace Horowitz
I was born in 1938 in Crown Heights Brooklyn, within walking distance and within shouting distance of Ebbets Field. Early in life I was a fanatical Brooklyn Dodgers fan.
We moved to a suburb, Mt. Vernon New York. when I was eleven. I went to public schools in Brooklyn and Mt. Vernon and then went on to Barnard College. I decided that I wanted to be a school teacher so that I could travel around the world and teach. I was most interested in going to India.
So I got a Master of Arts in Teaching from Johns Hopkins and did indeed get a teaching job in India. I was able to travel all around India and meet an Indian man whom I later married. Both of us were able to go Cornell for graduate studies and I got a PhD in Economics.
I taught Economics at Brockport State College, at Merrimack College in the Boston area, and at Smith College. Then I decided that academia really was not for me. I moved to Washington DC and worked for the feds and did some consulting as well.
My agency, the Food and Nutrition Service of the Dept. of Agriculture, moved to a new office building. New office building = sick office building. I became very sick and had to leave on a disability retirement. I'm much improved now, but still dealing with health problems.
Ever since my college days I have been an activist. I was privileged to be young during the sixties and able to join in the Civil Rights Movement, the Anti-War Movement, and the Women's Movement. As an economist I also became active in the Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE). No room here to write more. We'll have time to talk about our lives and our politics as we get to know each other.
Early in 1999 I learned about a new cohousing community starting up in DC, Takoma Village. I joined right away, very early in the planning stages and my life has been absorbed in cohousing ever since. We moved into our new community in November 2000, almost eleven years ago! And I would not want to live anywhere but in an intentional community.
But in the last few years I starting thinking about moving out of the polluted big city and living in a more rural area closer to where the food is grown. I thought that a college town would be just fine, one that would not be too far from my family in the New York City area. Then I remembered about Ithaca, where I studied for several years in the sixties. I heard Liz Walker speak about Ecovillage and I was hooked. So here I am, 73 years old, and raring to go ahead on a new adventure.
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 Liz Walker and Jared Jones
Liz and Jared have lived in the First Resident Group, "FROG", at EVI since the first homes were built in 1996. They love their current home and community! However, they are building a home in TREE so that it will be easy to age in place (FROG homes are not accessible). Until they retire, they plan to rent out their TREE home to some lucky person or couple. "I feel so grateful every day to live in this beautiful place," says Jared. "I can't imagine ever going back to living on our own. It's amazing to have access to 175 acres of land and a caring community, too."
Liz is co-founder of EcoVillage at Ithaca, and has worked full time on developing this "living laboratory" of sustainable community for the last 18 years. She is Executive Director of the non-profit, EcoVillage/CRESP, which continues to develop the overall ecovillage over time, and educates the public through workshops, courses, books, talks, and new programs. Her book, EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Community, (2005, New Society Publishers), tells the human story behind creating and living in this ecovillage, and has been well received both nationally and internationally. She is currently working on another book, Choosing a Sustainable Future: Ideas and Inspiration from Ithaca, NY, about the robust county-wide movement for sustainability in this region, which will be published next year.
She also serves as Organizational Manager for TREE. Liz draws on her experiences of serving similar roles in developing both existing cohousing neighborhoods at EVI. "It's like having a third child," she says. "Each one develops in its own time, and has a distinct personality. So far, TREE is remarkably mellow." Liz is excited that TREE is doing a great job on balancing multiple goals of green design, affordability and aging in place. "I think we're really pushing the envelope in all three areas. This means a lot to me." In her spare time Liz loves to garden, cook, bike and contra-dance. She is a beginning quilter. She loves having her sons (Jared's step-sons), age 23 and 27, come and visit, and they love it too - after all, they were part of the first batch of kids to grow up at EcoVillage!
Jared is one of the few Ecovillagers to have actually grown up in the Ithaca area (Trumansburg) and moved to California in the late 1970s. Introduced to the Cohousing concept in Santa Cruz, he moved back to Ithaca in 1995 to become Liz's partner and join EVI. He has been a registered nurse for more than 35 years, having spent many years working in emergency, hospice and occupational health nursing. He now works for the Early Intervention program at the Tompkins County Health Department as a service coordinator, providing services for kids 0-3 who have developmental delays or disabilities. He struggles with balancing his paid work and his avocations: nature photography, woodworking, bicycling, history, etc. He is trying to create a new model for aging and aging in place at Ecovillage.
At Ecovillage, Jared has been a founding and continuing member of the Village maintenance team, has worked on energy issues and creating special events (e.g. Guys Bakin' Pies, Oafs Bakin' Loafs, Sparkfest, etc) and can often be spotted atop the Village's new tractor. He is also the long term coordinator of the Village Shop. With all the many "ups" and the few "downs" of living in community, he maintains: "You couldn't pry me out of here with a crowbar..."
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 The Ferrills
Well, we're from the South, all born in Texas, now living in Houston, near my (Lenore's) folks. Russ was born in San Antonio, moved to Wyoming when he was 10, studied economics at Stanford and philosophy at Rutgers. He has one sister, who lives in NJ; plays banjo; is a huge francophile; loves to bake, hike, bike, watch movies and dabble with painting.
Lenore (that's me) was born and raised mostly in Houston, studied religion at Vassar, communication disorders at the University of Houston, and massage at the Memorial Hermann Wellness Center. I love music, yoga, waterfalls, gardening, hiking, biking, playing flute and guitar, writing songs, watching movies, painting (my 1st was inspired by Van Gogh), and am a huge francophile (ask how Russ and I met sometime - it involves a French school, where we were supposed to speak only French - we broke that rule a bit!). I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers, and between us, Russ and I have 3 nieces, 6 nephews and 2 terrific children, Carlye and Justin.
 Carlye was born in Houston and is finishing her sophomore year at the University of Oregon, focusing on art. She loves to design and make jewelry, sew, laugh, play music, dance and cook. She also loves Alan, her wonderful fiance, who goes to the University of Houston, studying chemistry. They met in orchestra where they both played violin. Justin was born in Houston and is finishing 8th grade. He loves music - writing it, singing it, playing it, talking about it, discovering new forms of it, tapping it, you name it! He currently plays electric guitar and wants to learn drums. He wrote and recorded his first original composition "J Plays G" earlier this year. He also likes magic (especially card and coin tricks) and math.
We became interested in the EcoVillage at Ithaca because we were looking for a more socially connected, environmentally responsible and sustainable way of life.We feel completely fortunate to be a part of TREE, in the company of our warm, thoughtful, intelligent soon-to-be-neighbors, making a small but vibrant difference in the way people live together.
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 Larry "Mac" Maguire
I was born in 1941, the third of six kids, and grew up in a parochial, literally and figuratively, mostly Irish-Catholic neighborhood in Detroit. In 1959 I dropped out of high school and went into the Army to escape a street culture whose compromising inducements I frankly did not have the character to resist. When I got out of the service I worked part time and went to school eventually earning a degree, but in the end, preferred to make a living doing outside, blue-collar work—20 years on the Railroad being the best of it. Although my wife, Winnie, and I divorced early on, we maintained a cooperative relationship and lived in close proximity as our daughter, Leah, who is racially and culturally blended, grew up. I have two grandchildren, Zoe (12) and Hunter (8), also diversely arrayed in their endowments. I am now, and will continue to be, critical to their daily care for some years to come.
I think my life has been shaped by adapting to the pressures of racial tension and growing poverty in a town, Detroit, which was de-industrializing during most of my adult life. Watching social patterns and values morph tragically under these pressures, left me searching for something more stable and enduring.
Halting experiments at shared living during those years and one intensely communal work experience in Canada as a childcare worker permitted me to at least imagine alternatives. Although I grew up in a challenged family that left me somewhat skeptical of life’s prospects, that one job in an intensely supportive, emotionally transparent home for troubled kids helped me gain a critical perspective that has endured. In that setting I was amazed to see one “kid-with-attitude” after another—not unlike myself—respond positively to a generous, but orderly, home composed of a couple of dozen brothers and sisters of all ages and cared for by a variety of surrogate parents. It was the number of us, the diversity of our talents, and our cohesion around a few life supporting, non-threatening, and easily understandable rules that made it work. In that environment I was able to unlearn some bad habits and to discover that I could care, at least in some relationships, quite deeply and purposefully.
Binding on that experience I have noticed that work and relationships are safer and more fruitful when they support and are sustained by some group or community. EVI seems to be a profoundly conscious attempt to extend the size, diversity and duration of community life to mature and sustainable levels. Its attraction and success is not surprising in that it responds to the visceral need of individuals and families to form into a circle rather than stand isolated against the winds of a frequently dysfunctional, and sometimes insane, world. Knowing that there is one part of the forest that is lush and generous makes this Earth feel more like a home “to where we’re a’goin” and it permits us to hope that our efforts to that end are not vain.
My reasons for joining TREE are obvious from these comments. But I want to add one more reason—one born of a personal failure. Back in the late 60s when my daughter, Leah, was still a child I hoped that by the time she came of age, my generation would have provided her lot with some sturdier and more diverse options for living in America—communal options. That possibility seemed to be in the air at the time and I knew its value from my own experience in Canada. I tried and failed to find or create such a community. I regret that deeply and my inner Buddhist was resigned to deal with it in my next life. Now, from within EVI, I have another shot at the dream. I can work at growing TREE and, supporting its educational outreach, EVI-CSE, help other such living options take root—some, I hope, a bit further down the economic food chain. But most importantly, when my grandkids come of age, they will have at least one option that their mother did not.
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 Sarah Amberge
My family has lived in the area since before the Civil War, and I grew up on Connecticut Hill. I am very grateful that my mother raised me to value life, to eat organic, whole, healthy foods, and to appreciate the value of growing one's own food and living lightly on the land. My childhood was rich with animal companionship, and I have a deep and abiding love of all animals.
I really enjoy Ithaca's diverse artistic community and have been a belly dancer since I was twenty, I am part of a dance troupe that performs at local festivals and other venues. I also practice yoga and Ayurvada. My most recent interest is Kung Fu which I have been studying for close to a year now.
I work as a counselor/advocate with people who have experienced domestic abuse and/or sexual violence. This work gives me a deep appreciation how many problems there are in our society. I really appreciate how living in cohousing in a caring, supportive community is a much healthier, better model for people. I was peripherally aware of Ecovillage for a number of years, but as I became more conscious of the environment and sustainability I looked into Ecovillage and decided to rent in FROG. I loved living at Ecovillage and within a few months I became involved in TREE. I am a JV member and I enjoy giving tours of Ecovillage to show people who we are and what we do, and what we have planned for the future.
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 What are Lee-Ellen Marvin and Diane Maluso looking at?
Between the two of them, Diane and Lee-Ellen have made homes in New Jersey, Maryland, Holland, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Hawaii, and Pennsylvania. Enough is enough already! Both born in the same year (1955) their lives might have crossed a few times before they met on-line in 1993. They moved to downtown Ithaca in 1998 and live there with Gertrude Stein (a very small dog) and three small parrots.
Diane Maluso is a professor of Social Psychology and Women’s Studies at Elmira College. Born and raised in New Jersey, she grew up with a large extended Italian family nearby. She loves fly fishing, canoeing, camping, and woodworking. Diane built and manages the TREE web site.
Lee-Ellen Marvin is a storyteller, folklorist, and arts administrator. She works for Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service as director of the Community Role Players, an interactive, volunteer theatre troupe that addresses interpersonal and social issues. Her storytelling ranges from original adaptations of folktales to creative interpretations of the news and stories of women in peace and social action. Lee-Ellen designed the TREE brochures and print advertisements.
So who are they looking at? Meet their daughter, Rachel Briggs, who is shown here at her high school graduation Honolulu, HI. Rachel will be a first year student at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine in September.
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 Rosalie and Rob Goldberg
Rosalie and Rob Goldberg are planning to move to Tree in EcoVillage from Lafayette, New Jersey. We were both intrigued by cohousing well before we met in 1994 and still find cohousing, especially at EVI, compatible with our goals as we anticipate retiring from our present jobs, allowing us to be close to family, downsize from our present home, live in a less resource intensive manner and pursue old and new interests. Joining Tree brings together important parts of our lives as individuals and partners.
Rob speaking: The move to Ithaca and Ecovillage for me is a return to an area where I have old friends, feel at home, and enjoy close family. Born in the Washington, DC area, I moved to Syracuse NY at age 10, then to near Buffalo, and on to the University of Rochester starting in Engineering and graduating with a degree in History. After a year of graduate school and deciding not go into academia, I returned to Rochester and pursued my interests in social services working at a psychiatric hospital and moving on to graduate school in Social Work at Columbia in NYC. Since graduate school I have worked in New Jersey and New York as a social worker in various psychiatric settings and trained as a family therapist. My professional passion has been working with persons experiencing severe mental illness and their families. About 15 years ago I started and have continued to manage an Acute Psychiatric Partial Hospital (day) Program in Newton, NJ. Having always enjoyed my direct work with individuals, families, and groups, I hope to pursue such work in Ithaca. Another passion has been nature and outdoor activities including backcountry camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking and cross country skiing. I love what time in the wilderness does for my spirit. For many years I was very active in the Adirondack Mountain Club and was president of the NYC chapter and a main club director. Ithaca will be a great place for these interests. An important attraction to EVI is a strong interest in building community and alternatives to our isolating and resource intensive way of living. Being part of EVI and TREE is a way of putting beliefs into action while enjoying an adventure with a great group of people.
Roz speaking: It’s exciting to make this move to EVI. Beside Ithaca’s beautiful and accessible natural environs, its arts/crafts/educational offerings, its wonderful farmers’ market and organically oriented agri-community, moving here represents a number of converging life aims: being part of the movement to evolve a sustainable balance of people and nature, living in community, participating in a socially, spiritually and ecologically aware process of learning and change, and, of course, living in a lively, fun, active neighborhood with dear and interesting folks I have come to know and care about while planning our village..
I grew up in Minnesota with the great gift of six sisters, all still close, attended Marquette and SUNY Buffalo, married, had a daughter and son and started a professional life as a school psychologist that continues to date. I have also worked in emergency mental health for 20+ years. Having lived and worked in Syracuse, NY, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and New Jersey, I have enjoyed many moves and planted many gardens including little colonies of transplants carried from place to place. Recent years have contributed three grandkids, two here in Ithaca. As does Rob, I love traveling, camping, hiking, canoeing ventures, reading, keeping up with the news and family gatherings. I am anticipating more time in “retirement” for nature, environmental issues, creative activities, yoga, other physical doings and really want to keep bees.
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Aubrie and Jim Entwood
 Aubrie and Jim Entwood grew up in upstate New York and moved to Maine in 2000 in search of crunchy community and connection to place. In 2011, with our two boys Skye (age 5) and Oden (age 3), we decided to move back to NY to be close to our extended family. It was a grueling decision to leave behind the vibrant community, the woods, mountains and ocean and the diverse organic agriculture that we had grown part of. It was not until we found Ithaca and the EcoVillage that we realized our dreams of community, place, and family could all come together.
In our ‘traditional’ lifestyle we have struggled to live as sustainably and as socially connected as we’d like to be. We quickly hit financial limits to how efficient we could refit our 90 year old single family home. Socially, even our friends two blocks away would have a hard time getting together more than twice a month, due to getting caught up in our nuclear family units. Living at TREE will allow us to align our lifestyle with our values of sustainability, using the scale of the project to make it affordable as well. Living at TREE will also give us the daily connections to friends and neighbors through shared meals, work teams, and generally living closely with others who have shared interests.
Living in TREE also gives us hope for the future as a place to raise our children where caring, compassion, and authenticity are the cultural norm. Through the history, work, and vision of the community we can instill in our kids a sense of possibilities and hope where the creative potential of people to tackle serious challenges yields practical solutions |
Lisa Ripperton and Family
Despite the blustery weather with temperatures in the single digits that greeted me when I first set foot in Ithaca in February 1968 as a prospective Cornell freshman, I did decide to attend Cornell. After getting an undergraduate degree in Classics, I spent a gap year in Ithaca, taking up gardening and birding with a passion, before doing 3 years of graduate work in Classics. Then veering off in another direction entirely, I headed to South Carolina for computer science training, and see-sawed back and forth between North and South Carolina for a decade before ending up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
For 18 years I combined the raising of children with working at family-friendly software company SAS Institute. A couple years after the death of my husband in 2000, I retired from the corporate world to homeschool my two younger children, found the Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project at mainlesson.com, and start a family business republishing old children's books, aptly named Yesterday's Classics.
My childrearing responsibilities are now nearly at an end. Daniel, the last one at home, plans to head off to college in Fall, 2012. Yet I still have an abiding interest in education, inspired by my years as a parent in various educational settings, including Montessori, Waldorf, Charlotte Mason, and classical. I have even thought from time to time that I might like to establish a children's library with all the books we've collected over the years. My special focus now is on guiding parents of today in providing a wholesome environment for their children: directing them to the best books to read and the healthiest food to eat, encouraging them to get more involved in the natural world and to live in community.
All three of my children are excited about moving to the EcoVillage community, even though they'll likely just be visiting now and then. The lovely rural setting, just a short distance from the vibrant Ithaca downtown, appeals to us all. Nate, currently a bicycle tour guide on the west coast, is already making plans to cycle around all the Finger Lakes. Rebecca, a sophomore at St. John's College in Santa Fe, looks forward to exploring the local literary scene on her vacations home, while Daniel relishes the open space and open minds that he anticipates will provide a supportive environment for his writing and thinking.
As an early subscriber to The Mother Earth News, I've thought about living in community for decades. And now, finally, the time is right! Spurred on by neighbors, I am eager to adopt a more balanced lifestyle by embracing once again activities I enjoyed years ago (gardening, permaculture, hiking, backpacking, singing, concertina playing, knitting, shared cooking), while leaving room for new interests to arise. TREE is going to be a wonderful setting for aging in place!
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 Juliette Corazon
I come from a close-knit family, the fourth of six children, and so I'm used to sharing! It's one of the things that make life fun. I was born in Baltimore, MD of an Anglo Minnesotan mother who was a nurse and a Puerto Rican father who is a physician. Over my lifetime, I have been blessed to walk the very different worlds of Baltimore, rural and urban Puerto Rico, Minneapolis/St. Paul, rural northern Wisconsin, both southern and northern California, and now Ithaca, NY.
I studied psychology and sociology at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, and after working in community health centers in the Twin Cities, left to study public health at UCLA. I moved from LA to Oakland, CA, where I first learned about cohousing, and joined a lesbian cohousing group. Sadly, the group fell apart, but I continued to seek opportunities to build community. When I decided to move East, I aimed for Ithaca because of our Ecovillage.
I have lived in Ithaca for 11 years now, and it has been a very fertile place for me. I helped found Northside's Sustainability Committee/Resourceful Living Group and co-organized Ithaca's one and only Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride event back in 2005. While teaching at Ithaca College, I also discovered a new passion: working with college students. Since 2005, I've worked as member of the advising team in Cornell's College of Art & Sciences. I love the opportunity to focus on supporting incredibly talented students of color and to run Cornell's Latina/o Student Success Office
http://latino.lsp.cornell.edu/advising.asp.
Whenever I’ m not working at Cornell or on TREE projects, I love singing with the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers and playing with friends and family. I also started to learn to fly (although I haven’ t finished earning my license). I am delighted to share Ithacaliving with my beloved, singer-actress sister Sally G. Ramírez http://www.sallyramirezmusic.com/, her equally talented magician husband James Warren http://warrenmagic.com/, and my creative prodigy nephew Nate. I now live in SONG and am excited about the opportunity to participate in TREE creating a caring, sustainable family and community and continuing to revel in Ithaca’ s enormous beauty.
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Parallel Paths meet at TREE:
Pat Pingel and Rich Tosh
We met each other at a restaurant in late August of 2010 – Pat on her way from her then-home in PA to Ithaca for a TREE meeting, and Rich stopping for a cup of coffee after driving from his home in Greene, NY. We discovered that we have many common experiences and interests. We both had supported spouses through their struggles with terminal cancer. We both had recently retired – Pat from her conservation job with PA’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Rich from a long and geographically varied career in the United Church of Christ ministry. Pat had been a member of TREE for nine months at that point, and Rich had been urged by an EcoVillage friend and resident to visit EVI and consider living there. We both like to travel, and in the two-and-a-half years of our relationship have seen many states and a few Canadian provinces. Our spring/summer 2011 trip to Alaska, Canada and northern U.S. states via rail, ferry and Rich’s motor home was a dream fulfilled. We have many photos and stories to tell, should you be interested! We have spent the winter of 2012 in Austin Texas where Rich is volunteering at McKinney Falls State Park, and Pat is fulfilling another long-standing dream of volunteering at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Other shared interests include gardening, music, reading, hiking, non-motorized boating of any kind, just being outdoors, and visiting museums and historic sites. We look forward to living at EcoVillage and contributing to community at TREE.
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Pat Pingel
A former member of my Quaker meeting first told me about EcoVillage at Ithaca, before he and his partner moved there to be part of the second neighborhood (SoNG). When I heard about it, I knew I wanted to be part of it too. Back in the ‘70s, I attended Cornell U. for two semesters to take coursework in fisheries and wildlife management. I loved going to school there and being in Ithaca.
Decades later, my husband and I became members of SoNG for a time as it was being planned, but dropped out for various reasons. Ithaca and EVI never quite left my heart, and when I heard about TREE after my husband’s death four years ago, I eagerly started making the long drive from Reading, PA to Ithaca every three weeks for planning meetings. It’s been exciting to see our group and our vision for the third neighborhood grow!
As a youngster, I spent many happy summers along the Maiden Creek north of Reading, PA at my family’s summer bungalow. There, I was given the incredible gift of being allowed to spend time on my own, as well as with family, learning about and enjoying nature. That led to my majoring in biology at Lebanon Valley College, and then to earning a M.S. in aquatic ecology at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. Amazingly, Syracuse’s incredible amounts of snow did not smother my enthusiasm for Upstate NY!
After school, I returned to PA where, for over a decade, I worked as an environmental consultant, then as a field biologist for a local southeastern PA conservancy, then for PA’s Department of Environmental Protection in watershed protection, and finally in PA’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Office of Conservation Science, where I got to work on a number of interesting programs including one that establishes wild plant sanctuaries on private lands. If I had to describe in one sentence my work over the years, I’d say it was attempting to help the natural world by helping creative people who are dedicated to protecting the environment in their own towns. After retiring in 2009, I moved to a unique rental place just south of Trumansburg, within easy driving distance of EcoVillage, to more actively help with planning TREE.
My ongoing passions include gardening and music, especially Renaissance music. Things I used to do a lot, and hope to get back to at EVI include swimming, cycling, bird watching, hiking, and field botany. I’m looking forward to building a “green” house and living more sustainably at EVI.
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 Rich Tosh
I love to sail but have only been able to sail on others’ boats since I moved from the Connecticut River town of Essex. I am looking forward to the possibility of again sailing my own boat on Cayuga Lake. In addition to sailing I enjoy hiking, back packing and traveling. I am a JV Member of TREE and will be living in one of the flats in the Common House. I began life in Pittsburgh, PA, grew up in Cumberland, MD, and have lived in several places in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, North Dakota, and now live in Greene, NY. I have two grown children, Meagan (Arlington, VA) and Ian (Somerville, MA), and one daughter in law, Melissa (Living with Ian). Ithaca has the advantage of being about equidistant from Boston and Washington, DC.
I have a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College and a Master’s Degree from Princeton Theological Seminary. I have worked for the YMCA at the regional and local level, for the United Church of Christ in parishes and a nursing home, for the University of North Dakota and University of Minnesota as an instructor, and volunteered for hospice and for a nursing home in my retirement.
Living in a community that works to integrate the lives of the residents with their wisdom and with other folk is one of the attractions offered by TREE. Another is trying to live with as little energy usage as is reasonable. |
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 Arlene Hewitt
I am a native of Virginia, and have lived mostly in the southeast (Richmond VA, Nashville TN and Maggie Valley NC). I recently moved to Ithaca, and am a renter in FRoG until TREE gets built. I love living in EcoVillage already! And I actually enjoyed my first winter “up north”!
Professionally, I have worked in education with the United Methodist Church. I have been on the staff of two different congregations, and have also served as an educational resource person for clusters of congregations. I am especially interested in organizational systems and how they determine and move towards their vision and mission. A few years ago I completed a doctorate in education, with an emphasis in leadership, policy and organizations. Currently I am doing some educational work on a contract basis.
I have found the "in between times" in my life to be the most interesting and creative. When I graduated from college I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do, so I ended up driving to Alaska with a cousin, then flying to Colorado to live and work with another cousin – not bad for a girl who had never been further west that eastern West Virginia! Years later, when the funding ended for my job and I wasn't ready to plunge into something new, I decided to spend six months doing volunteer work in Dominica, a small island in the Caribbean. And four years ago, I decided to leave my job and home in the mountains of North Carolina, and move back to my childhood home of Portsmouth VA to help care for my parents. It was during that time that I realized that being close to family was a really good thing, and thus the idea of moving to Ithaca was hatched (where my sister and brother-in-law live).
In my life at EcoVillage, I begin each weekday in the SoNG Common House in a time of meditation with several other villagers. I begin each week volunteering at Loaves & Fishes, helping to cook lunch for the various people of downtown Ithaca who come for a meal. I usually eat dinner three evenings a week in community with others at EcoVillage. I am enjoying the rhythm of my new life!
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 Patricia and Peter Ladley
Long-time educators and advocates for peace and justice, Patricia and Peter Ladley reside in Elmira New York. They are the parents of two adult sons, David and Jonathan. Together, they have taught on every level from first grade to college and have mentored community groups in various workshop and symposium settings.
Peter recently retired as college chaplain at Corning Community College (Corning, NY), after more than a decade of full-time prison chaplaincy at Elmira Correctional Facility (Elmira, NY). While there, he also worked to abolish the death penalty in NYS and participated actively in international restorative justice movements. Previously, he taught at Empire State College of SUNY, CCC and Elmira College.
Pat is retired from teaching theology at Notre Dame High School in Elmira, NY, where she coordinated a local chapter of Amnesty International and mentored the National Honor Society. Southern Tier Hospice & Palliative Care honored her with its Outstanding Volunteer Award (2006). Pat presently serves on the regional leadership team of trained facilitators for the Awakening the Dreamer-Changing the Dream Symposium (ATD).
Pat and Peter are co-founders of Monmouth County Pax Christi in NJ and Pax Christi Elmira NY. They have served as regional coordinators of Pax Christi Upstate NY for Pax Christi USA (PCUSA), a section of the International Catholic Peace Movement, infusing environmental sustainability into PCUSA’s agenda. Together, they lead a weekly peace witness in Elmira and work with People for a Healthy Environment (PHE, Inc.) to conserve water, soil and air in the Southern Tier of New York State.
Currently, they facilitate the Awakening the Dreamer-Changing the Dream Symposium (www.awakeningthedreamer.org) in NY, NJ, and PA. ATD is an initiative of the Pachamama Alliance committed to bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on our planet. Pat and Peter are trained volunteer facilitators for the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium.
And for fun: gardening, reading, enjoying movies, playing Boggle, reading, and Scrabble!
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 Susan Multer
Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, I was active in Scouts, the Y and the Presbyterian Church. At the College of Wooster in Ohio I did my independent study in sociology on “The Effect of Cross-Cultural Experience on Stereotypes” by interviewing students before and after they went overseas. After my home church sent me on a Southeast Asia Study Seminar, I was hooked. Following grad school in social work I applied for the Frontier Internship program and was assigned to Hong Kong. During my three months of language school (Cantonese) I lived with a family that didn’t speak English. It worked so well for all of us that I stayed the whole two years.
A bigger influence was a three-month “Crisis in the Nation” program in Philadelphia in 1968 after the riots in Watts. There I learned about institutional racism not only in housing and education but also when urban supermarkets raised their prices the day the welfare checks arrived. I’ll never forget hearing a black speaker say he had more respect for George Wallace than suburban church people because he actually practiced what he preached (racism) whereas we talked about justice but didn’t work toward it.
Later doing social service in Denver by day I helped staff a residential home for problem teenage girls at night. I was rescued by marriage one month before one of the girls stabbed a staff member. My husband’s work as a marine geologist led to living in St. Croix, Germany and New Jersey (where I did school social work). After Gray’s retirement we moved to his family homestead in Arkport, NY, and I worked for Hospice. We were involved in environmental issues together until he died of cancer in 2008.
Having been interested in an intentional community in the 70s, and having visited EVI with my husband in 2003, I went on line in 2010 to see if there were a house for sale. Yes, but TREE was in the wind which was even more appealing. I look forward to living in a Passiv Haus in such a caring, sharing community and finding ways to help others afford similar opportunities.
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Jonna Climie and Klaus Paasche
 Many years ago I had a dream to live in a community of like minded people. I’m a dreamer and a visionary. Of course, I’m not the one to blaze a trail for others to follow so it has taken me years to find the right partner to manifest my dream. Thus, Klaus came in to my life 8 years ago. Last year we both decided we want to make a difference in this world by being more conscious in our consumption and how we live on mother earth. We began our search for the community we were prepared to move in to within a few years, which resulted in finding TREE-Ecovillage of Ithaca, NY.
My personal mission on this earth using grace and love is to facilitate transition with people. My vision is too long to write in a bio, but living in community is part of it. Klaus’ personal mission is to follow the creator’s guidance in doing healing work on continents where traumas have occurred. His vision is to live in a community in which we are learning to care for each other, live off the land and cultivate harmony with all of creation.
For years people I worked with called me “little earth mother” because of my natural loving nature. After a decade in the business field, I started my journey in to the healing arts in the late 80’s. I have been a manual therapist and energy worker for 25 years. In the late 70’s I taught myself to paint and went on to school for lessons much later in the 80’s. The creative arts is a wide open field of continual study for me with acrylic/oil painting as my medium, song writing, yoga/meditation, doing healing work for the earth and working with well elderly in the community and the list goes on.
We would like very much to build a community which continually performs healing ceremonies for the earth as well as our own personal inner work. Klaus has wonderful skills as an organizer and marketing expert for projects we have undertaken together. I am a creative person with a back ground in business, the healing arts, occupational therapy, yoga and creative arts.
Klaus was born in Poland and moved to East Germany as a child. He attended boarding school in Germany and escaped to West Germany at 19 years of age. In West Germany he earned a Master’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University in Braunschweig and a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from the London School of Economics in London. He worked for several European companies and travelled extensively in Europe, South and North America. He has studied extensively with spiritual Elders among Native American tribes and Western Shamanism. Klaus leads a group called Shamanic Healing and travels within the US and overseas to do specific healing work for the earth. He loves the water, likes sailing, hiking, the outdoors and classical music and opera.
His comments: “Since I met Jonna, I have a greater awareness toward caring for others in the community—not just myself. It is important for me to help others grown”.
Both Klaus and I have wanderlust and travel for enjoyment and discovery of National Parks and Forests within the American system. We always incorporate hiking, picnicking and nature in all of our trips. We are thrilled to be partners in the TREE project and look forward to being TREEhuggers and neighbors to our friends.
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The Golden-Appleton Family
 Laureen and Avy are New Yawkuz (you gottaproblemwitdat?) who met one winter day while walking their dogs. Both grew up under the influence of families steeped in these shared values: Ethics, morality, and kindness; Responsibility and sacrifice for the sake of our children and future generations; Education; Respect and reverence for Nature and the physical and Spiritual worlds.
Laureen has undergraduate degrees in Early Childhood Education and Philosophy, and Master’s degrees in Special Education and Social Work. She is currently drawn to exploring the link between how we raise and educate children, and how and why we treat the world and each other the way we currently do.
Avy, also born in NYC, was raised in an Orthodox Ashkenazic Jewish family, attended Yeshivas where he studied Torah and Talmud in the tradition of his Tribe. After graduating from Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons, Avy completed an Orthopedic Residency at Cornell’s Hospital for Special Surgery and a Trauma Fellowship at UCSF’s San Francisco General Hospital. Since then, he has specialized in Orthopedic Trauma and currently works at The Guthrie Clinic.
While visiting EcoVillage Ithaca during the 20th Anniversary celebration, our family fell in love with the land and the community. Sustainable living, green housing, and mindful community resonated with our desire to live in harmony with our values.
Our children are drawn to the land, and the freedom and adventure it invites. They also appreciate the intimacy of the intergenerational relationships that abound within the community.
We have found the process of immersing ourself in a group of involved and compassionate individuals to be stimulating and mind-expanding. Participating in group processes and shared decision-making fosters self-awareness and growth. We are enjoying the journey and adventure towards the actualizing of our life in TREE!
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 Luigi Morelli
Luigi Morelli has a passion for social change from a cultural perspective. This has matured from his studies in environmental sciences, a long experience in working with the disabled in intentional communities (Camphill and L’Arche International) and work with organic and biodynamic gardening. For nine years he ran an organic landscaping business in Santa Cruz, CA which is still operational.
He teaches Nonviolent Communication to non-profits or to the larger community, and offers group facilitation; his focus lies on community issues and new forms of social striving. He believes in the power of bringing meaningful conversation around topics of relevance for the whole community.
He has published books on matters of spirituality, social change and American culture. Find more at www.revolutionofhope.net .
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Mark Piechota and Pat Evans
 We want to walk our talk about living sustainably. For decades we tried to be eco-friendly wherever we lived. We insulated, caulked, gardened, preserved, composted, vermicultured, saved water, recycled, repaired, reused, walked, used public transportation, bought local, supported our farmers… And we now realize it was not enough. We want to reduce our own carbon footprint and also be part of injecting the idea of sustainable, affordable, co-housing into the public consciousness. That is why we are excited about being a part of TREE.
In our professional lives we were educators. Pat was a (mostly 4th grade) elementary school teacher, and as a result she knows a little bit about just about everything and is an expert in next to nothing—a happy dabbler. She did share her expertise as a teacher of teachers, guiding them to develop learner-centered, democratic classrooms. Mark’s focus was secondary education, helping to make those large institutions a bit more student-friendly and mindful.
In retirement, we are enjoying more time for all the things that used to get squeezed in, plus the joy of new learning. Camping and kayaking and wandering in the woods are old favorites. Using the iBird app on Mark’s phone for bird watching is a new interest. Trying to live mindfully has been a long-time commitment. Making daily spiritual practice a habitual part of our lives is helping move us closer to realizing that commitment.
Pat loves to draw and do crafty things and is now learning to paint with watercolors. She is also engaged in developing GoldenRuleNow, a way for people to bring together their compassionate selves and the need to be engaged citizens. She never tires of Jane Austen films. Mark loves to eat good food and is now learning how to prepare scrumptious vegetarian meals. He loves to build things and is very happy doing handy-man projects around the house. He also learned enough rudimentary Italian to get us around Tuscany and has now plunged into Spanish, with the hopes of using it in a future trip to Latin America. He continues to work with several organizations, facilitating problem-solving groups.
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Our other members prefer to meet you in person!
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