In December, 2013, the South Shore Waldorf School purchased the property we have been renting since 2001. We recognize that in a very real sense, we cannot own the land. What we have purchased is the opportunity to be active stewards of these few acres as we continue to grow our Waldorf School.

As we begin our own caring task, we wish to share our gratitude to some of the many people and organizations in our community who are leading the way to a sustainable future for us all through their own wise stewardship.

We wish to honour the following:

  • The Mi’kmaq people in gratitude for their wise care of this land from time immemorial.
  • Nancy Whynott for her dedication to preserving Mi’kmaq traditional knowledge and for sharing her wisdom and warmth with our community.
  • Wanda and Mike Wolter of Rumtompf Farm, organic farmers for more than 20 years, who had the foresight to share their vision, their hard work, and their land in the founding of the South Shore Waldorf School.
  • Laurie Lacey for his 40 years work as naturalist and traditional medicine maker and for sharing his knowledge of Mi’kmaq medicinal  plants and trees.   www.wildworldofplants.com
  • Jeanette Poirier of HerbalWizdom Nature Therapy for her dedication to herbal medicine and her role as a founding member of the Herbal Association of Nova Scotia.  www.herbalns.org
  • Ann and Victor Naugler, Crossroads Farm, for their decades of dedication to organic agriculture, their quiet willingness to share their abundant knowledge and, especially, for their wise and ethical beekeeping practices.
  • The Corkum Family of R&R Corkum Farms for their work combining traditional farming with modern techniques to sustainably provide grass fed meat and other products at our weekly winter market.  R&R Corkum Farms/facebook.com
  • Tracy and Orrin Murdoch of Mirella Rose Farm for embracing the biodynamic model of agriculture and for their commitment to the production of safe, nutritious food for the local community.  www.mirellarosefarm.ca
  • Cindy Rubinfine and David Blanchard for their commitment to growing fresh organic produce year-round and for being wise stewards of the biodiversity of Pleasant Hill Farm. www.pleasanthillfarm.ca
  • To Kevin Veinotte, seventh-generation farmer, for his dedication to ecological principles, for stewardship of a 30 acre organic Christmas tree farm that uses lady bugs for pest management, and for being a friend of our school.
  • To Camellia Frieberg of Watershed Farm for the depth of her vision and passion, her hands on dedication to sustainable living and biodynamic agriculture, her wide community involvement and, especially, for sharing the Roots and Shoots program with our students. www.watershedfarm.org
  • Wee Giant Theatre for its vision, since 2004, to assist in building healthy vibrant community through art in its many forms and for being creative recyclers for props and costumes in sharing traditional stories of living in peace and harmony within ourselves and our environment. www.weegiants.ca
  • Carla Silver and David Nodding of Riversong Keep Biodynamic Farm and Learning Centre for their work to share the principles of sacred ecology and for their consistent annual support of our school.
  • Windhorse Farm for the continued stewardship of one of the rare old growth forests remaining in Nova Scotia, Canada’s oldest demonstration of sustainable forestry, and for the founding of the Ecoforestry School in the Maritimes. www.windhorsefarm.org
  • Rosmarie Lohnes for founding Helping Nature Heal, for her wide spread community involvement in the promotion of organic and biodynamic principles, and for her always open willingness to share her skills with our school. www.helpingnatureheal.com
  • To Melissa and Jake Wentzell for leading the way back to the future at Owlwood and for engaging a wide community through the Learn Something Old Traditional & Local Hand Skills Foxfire weekend . Facebook/foxfire learn something old
  • The Dump-the-Dump Committee for mobilizing our community in its articulation of the vision of a healthy and clean Blockhouse community.

In 2013, residents of Blockhouse became aware of a proposed large-scale open air construction and demolition transfer station. The community viewed this as potentially toxic, and came together quickly and steadfastly against this project and the Dump-the-Dump Committee, representing businesses, residents and schools, was formed. The community Members of Dump-the-Dump worked tirelessly to educate the community on the proposed project and mobilize their resistance to it and the project was officially rejected by the NS Utility and Review Board in early 2014.  The Blockhouse Community, thanks to the dedicated members of the Dump-the-Dump Committee, has spoken — and has spoken loudly — in favor of keeping Blockhouse a healthy and clean community. Dump-the-Dump is continuing its efforts in this regard by working to ensure that no such proposed industrial operation be allowed to set up in Blockhouse in the future. It is with great thanks to the Blockhouse Dump-the-Dump Committee that we acknowledge your efforts as stewards of the environment.  Paul Young, Linda Croft, and Gary Croft accept the Stewardship award on behalf of the entire Dump-the-Dump Committee.

  • South Shore Social Ventures Co-op for the formation of the Blockhouse School Project and the steady work that has been done to repurpose the former Blockhouse Elementary School as it develops into a sustainability and permaculture education centre. www.TheBlockhouseSchool.org.
  • The Growing Green Festival for inspiring the community since 2008, through celebration, to engage in ways to live within the Earth’s means sustainably while meeting basic needs.

The Festival is organized by the Festival Planning Team, a group of dedicated volunteers who are supported by staff working for the Town of Bridgewater and the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg.  The Planning Team is currently co-chaired by Jennifer McDonald (Bridgewater Town Council), and Patrick Hirtle (community volunteer and previous member of Bridgewater Town Council).  The committee also consists of two members of Council from the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg.  Together the two municipalities are the Festival core partners.  The Planning Team also includes representatives from a number of key partner organizations that help make the event successful every year.

This year’s Festival schedule takes place from August 21 to 24, and activities will take place in a number of locations in and around Bridgewater.  A full listing of festival offerings will be made public on the event website as those details are confirmed.  www.growinggreenfest.com

  • The Kingsburg Coastal Conservancy for its 2o years of dedication in the preservation and stewardship of our area’s coastlines, in particular Gaff Point, a well loved destination for our school’s community.  http://kccns.org/
  • Mahone Islands Conservation Association for working since 2002 to bring several of the ecologically significant drumlin islands in Mahone Bay under public ownership enabling continuation of fragile coastal habitats and native wildlife species. www.mahoneislands.ns.ca