"Morgan" Needs A Home...Won't You Help?

Charlie Lindahl sent this to me. An office mate of his suffers from allergies severe enough that he must now evict his 4 year old kitty.

This is Morgan.

Hope someone can find it in their hearts to adopt this little guy. How heartbreaking for him to be ripped from his comfortable and loving home with no place to go......

Check it out.

http://collegestation.craigslist.org/pet/1724241451.html

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children, & Bless this Earth

May Meetup at Gail Ostensen's Home

Gail Ostensen hosted our meetup last night at her home. WOW! Did we eat good! Some of the delicious dishes folks brought were fresh turnip greens with sliced turnips, corn and veggie salad with a hot chile sesame oil dressing, pear chutney, Humble Vegan Garbanzo Basil Garlic Hummus, guac & blue corn chips, pasta-broc-veggie salad with a poppy seed dressing, fresh cut veggies, strawberries, blackberries and sliced pears. And a delicious vegan brownie cake for dessert.

Among all the munching and the smacking of our lips... we did manage to chat it up about what we want the group to do this year.

Georgia Vergos, Travis Thompson, Laura Thomas, Kristin Williams, Charlie Lindahl, Gail Ostensen, & Slyck Pecena were in attendance. Meg Reynard stopped by for a quick visit on her way to "knock on people's doors" as a census taker.

"Hilde," Gail's adorable puppy dog, enjoyed the attention we gave to her! Have you seen such a cute little face?

Everyone had really great ideas and thoughts....from field trips to animal activism events to educating the public on the health and environmental benefits of adopting a Veg*n lifestyle to a 5K Fun Walk/Run. We also discussed sponsoring "Awakening the Dreamer" event and continuing the holiday donation drive thru....Bless the Beasts and the Children, as well as Earth Day 2011.

We also discussed meeting in the park during the cooler months and alternating pot-lucks with speaker presentations.

John Adams, facilitator of Awakening the Dreamer, stopped by to chat and share some thoughts. John trained last summer for this position. Since age 16, he has been interested in Health as not only physical, psycho-emotional, and spiritual, but societal and planetary, as well. If you want to know more about this amazing symposium.... check out the website.

We all had a great time, fabulous food and good conversation!

If you did not get a chance to attend last night .... we'd love to hear YOUR ideas, thoughts, & suggestions for what you would like the group to be involved in. And if you are interested in being a part of this dynamic group..... just let us know!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children & Bless this Earth

MAY 2010 MEET UP 6pm May the 4th

HOWDY!!!

Wanted to get the word out to everyone about the May Meetup! I am soooo excited!!!! We are meeting at Gail Ostensen's house. She lives in the Woodlake Subdivision.

TUESDAY, The 4th of MAY, 6pm

This meetup is YOUR chance to speak up!! Tell everyone what you want from Vision Voice Veg*n'z. What direction(s) you want us to head. What do you see as our many focuses and what goals do you want to set for the rest of this year. What events do you want us to get involved in. Do we want to plan another Bless the Beasts and the Children in December? I encourage you to take some time and give it some thought before the meetup.Your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, comments, criticisms will be greatly appreciated.

This is the time to bring a dish or something for all to share and for us to sit, eat and get to know each other and have a relaxing evening. Gail will provide the drinks and ice and dishes etc...... This is SO very nice of her :-) THANK YOU GAIL for your gracious hospitality!!

This is also a fantastic opportunity to bring any friends that you have that might be interested in joining our group!! YAY!! we can hear from them too!

We'll meet at 6pm and will eat around 6:45ish..... or when everyone can get there. I know this is earlier then we normally meet... so don't rush. I just thought we could get set the time earlier so those that make it earlier... will have some time to just enjoy chatting with Gail until everyone else arrives.

If you don't mind just shooting me an email for address, directions and to RSVP, I would appreciate it so I can let Gail know how many to expect. You FB buddies... I will post it as an event and you can RSVP there if you prefer.

I so look forward to seeing all of the current folks, the new folks and the potentially new folks!! This will be so great!!!

Sincerely,

Slyck Pecena

Founder & Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children & Bless this Earth

Brazos Valley Earth Day 2010

WOW!!! This past Saturday here in the Brazos Valley turned out to be a beautiful day for the Earth Day celebration! The morning started off a little “iffy”...... rain? or no rain? We were so fortunate that Cheryl Anne Chandler came up with a tent for us!! Wasn’t needed for rain..... but for protection from that gorgeous sunshine!!! There was a nice breeze around our booth and a BIG THANKS TO HEATHER QUAILS, Coordinator for Earth Day, we had a great location......Right on the main drag.

BIG SHOUT OUTS to the volunteers that shared their busy Saturday with us to help host the table!

*CHERYL ANNE CHANDLER
*KRISTA MAY
*JOHN BORDEN
*GAIL OSTENSEN
*KELLIE WILCOX MOORE *ADITYA SHRIVASTAVA
*LAURA HOMAS

These awesome folks came out to help host our table. We handed out pamphlets, flyers, bookmarks that when planted grow wildflowers and of course.... our famous Vegan and Vegetarian goodies..... These did not last long at all!!!

Let’s see we had Vegan Brownies, Nut Crunch Mix, Cranberry Pecan Cookies, Snack Mix made from raw Pecan-Almond-Cashew-Peanuts-Raisin-Pumpkin Seed in little baggies, Pineapple Cupcakes, Lemon Slices and Lemon-Poppy seed teacakes. All Vegan or Vegetarian and ALL simply YUM-MO!!!!! Everyone loves coming around our booth at events cuz we have the goodies!

We had a lot of folks interested in our group..... had never heard of our group & did not know we existed... that were Veg*n’z. Sure hope to recruit them!

And just look at this little guy..... he is having a great time!!!

Earth Day provided lots of entertainment from a Hybrid car show to demonstrations of Rainwater Harvesting & Composting to Live Music, in which one of our very talented young members entertained the event goers. Cheryl Anne Chandler sang a song called Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. She is an amazing young woman... far wise beyond her years and not only, musically talented but also, artistically talented. She does our artwork for our group!! Way to go CC!!!! We LOVE you, kiddo!!!

Everyone said this was the best Earth Day yet! A great time was had and we so look forward to next year’s event!!!

Again, Thanks to Everyone!!!!

Slyck Pecena
Founder and Leader

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

APRIL Meetup

Check out this awesome menu the Village Downtown prepared for our April Meetup!!!

*Vegetable Fajitas w/chimchurri sauce & black beans on the side
*Asparagus w/provolone, red onion & homemade thousand island w/pumpernickel bread
*Bowl of Squash Soup.

Just unbelievably delicious!!! Wish we had pictures!!



Mary Strauss, Sustainability Programs Coordinator City of Bryan, Environmental Services Division, of Be Green in Bryan, chatted with everyone about Environmentally Friendly Yard Care
Equipping your garage or gardening headquarters with tools and techniques that save you time in the garden and are beneficial to the environment! Discover simple ways to conserve water and to reduce your use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.


A great group of folks showed up to listen to Mary and to ask her questions. She did an awesome job and is available to speak on numerous topics if you are or your group is interested. Here are just a few:

Environmental/Solid Waste Services
This presentation highlights some of the lesser known but valuable services offered by Bryan’s Environmental Services Division. Do you know where and when you can dispose of your paint and household chemicals for free? Do you know what types or how much brush and bulky you may place curbside? Do you know how to report illegal dumping or other environmental concerns in your area? Find out how you and your family can make a difference in beautifying Bryan!



Water Quality in Your Neighborhood
How do our everyday actions affect the environment? Find out what goes down the storm drains in Bryan as a result of common yard care and home improvement practices and their effect on water quality.

Let’s Tackle Grease in the Kitchen
Grease and oil come from a number of sources. Some of these sources are not easy to spot, such as food scraps, baked goods, sauces and dairy products. Did you know that putting oil and grease down the kitchen sink can cause costly sewer overflows into streets and storm drains in your neighborhood? Learn how and why you should help prevent grease buildups and blocked sewer lines.

You can contact Mary Strauss (979) 209-5910 mstrauss@bryantx.gov

Thanks to everyone for sharing your evening with Mary and making her feel welcome!

And thank you, Mary, for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your knowledge and expertise with the group!

The May meetup is May the 4th, 6pm, at Gail Ostensen’s house!!!! This is a discussion meetup and we want to hear what everyone has to say!! So bring your thoughts, ideas, suggestions AND BRING A DISH or SOMETHING for EVERYONE to share!! It will be a good time to get to know everyone and hear new ideas and suggestions!!

Please email slyck for directions and RSVP if you are interested.

Hope to see you all there!!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Vision Voice Veg*n'z for the Brazos Valley Celebrate Earth Day

Looking for some all day fun?

This is your invitation to join us for the 15th Annual Brazos Valley Earth Day Celebration at Wolf Pen Amphitheater! It is this Saturday the 17th of April from 11am to 4pm!!

Vision Voice Veg*n’z for the Brazos Valley will host a table and hand out vegan and vegetarian goodies, flyers and pamphlets on different topics associated with Earth Day. This is a chance to chat it up with some of us & see what we are up to. Maybe you've thought about joining our group or coming to one of our meetups.... take this opportunity to check us out!

Come on out and enjoy the Music, Food, Exhibits, Displays, Demonstrations, Activities for Kids, and more... All relating to the environment! It's gonna be educational and entertaining. AND admission is free!

This is the time to celebrate our incredible Mother Earth!

See you there!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth

Consider Walka Pasta the Pasta!

Thinking that pasta is a safe, healthly choice at your favorite restaurant? Well... get ready to drop your jaw. Take a look at this article that Charlie Lindahl submitted for posting....... and think carefully, next time, before you order broccolli and chicken pasta or shrimp and pasta.

Thanks Charlie!!

Bless the Beasts, Bless our Children and Bless this Earth