Potlucks continue tomorrow night!!!  Long time friend of the garden and current board member Meg is hosting this Welcome to Spring Potluck starting at 6:30!!  Hope to see everyone there!!

Board member Nate is hosting and we will have a guest from the North Omaha Tool Library (omahatools.org) to tell us all about who they are and what they have available. So come join the fun! We’ll see you at 6:30!!

David Klitz (pictured above with his father) is next in the our spotlight.  He currently serves on our Finance and House committees and was recently elected as Treasurer.

Here’s a little more about him:

How long have you been involved with City Sprouts?

I have worked with and had a plot for the past 5 years.  Working for the Habitat ReStore, we provided some materials etc for some of the renovations for the house etc. I have been on the board for the past year.

What grows the best in your garden?

Tomatoes and herbs… I had a early and huge tomatoe harvest last year

What are you most passionate about in regards to City Sprouts?

It is all about community. Plants, sun and dirt just bring folks together. Playing in the dirt is great therapy!

What do you do for a living?

I am the Director of the Habitat for Humanity ReStores here in Omaha

Tell us about your family.

I am the oldest of 5, the uncle to 8 nieces and one nephew, partner of 1 and stepdad to 2, and dad to 3 hounds and a cat

If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?

Pasta and Bread!!!

If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it?

Pay off all my debt, take a great vacation and donate a ton to my favorite non profits

You’ve been given access to a time machine.  Where and when would you travel to?

Early 1900’s to Italy

Which is the best vacation you’ve ever had?

I had a chance to go to Italy about 15 years ago…. Amazing everything and can’t wait to return

If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go?

President Jimmy Carter and anywhere.  He is one of the great minds and souls of our time; and I would love even just an hour to sit and chat with him.

Join the Nebraska Forest Service on March 12 for Tree Care Workshops!

nfs.unl.edu/tree-care-workshops

Developed specifically for public works employees, landscape managers, tree
board volunteers, arborists, nursery and green industry professionals and
landscape enthusiasts, these workshops cover emerging issues in tree and
landscape care.

For more information contact:

Graham Herbst
402.444.7875 or gherbst2@unl.edu

Or Nebraska Forest Service district forester
(nfs.unl.edu/NFSdistricts.asp)

Next up in our Meet The Sprouts! series is Becky Anderson (pictured above on the right).  She has been involved off and on with City Sprouts for many years.  She currently serves on our Board Development Committee and just finished a stint as our Board President.

Here’s a little more about her:

How long have you been involved with City Sprouts?

My first visit was for the dedication of the original garden.  We were invited to bring poetry to commemorate the occasion.  My second visit was about a decade later, in 2004 or so, when I was asked to take charge of the garden redesign.

What grows the best in your garden? 

Black Walnuts.  They kill most other things.  Fortunately they spare hostas, impatiens, and spring-flowering bulbs.  Over the years, I’ve planted in excess of 20,000 bulbs in my yard.

What are you most passionate about in regards to City Sprouts? 

Plants have enormous capacity to improve human quality of life – not only in providing fresh, healthful foods but also in visual appeal and livability of our environments.  I see City Sprouts as a way to awaken people to the rich possibilities of plant materials, help them figure out what plants are sustainable in our challenging environments, help them grow to love tending plants – and recognize how these activities build and strengthen communities.

What do you do for a living? 

By training I’m a lawyer and a genetic counselor.  Currently I teach law and ethics to medical students and public health students at UNMC.  I’m also involved on the national level with public policy issues relating to responsible use of human genetic technology.

What are your hobbies? 

I enjoy the visual and performing arts.  I like to read, walk, bicycle.  I have a Bearded Collie who makes sure I get out every day.

Tell us about your family.

I’m married to Bill Minier, a Medical Director at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.  We have three children. Our oldest, Brian, lives in Burlington VT with his wife and two children.  Alex is getting a master’s degree at NYU in jazz bass.  Rachel graduated from Cornell College last spring and is working at Scooter’s while she decides on the next phase of her journey.

What is one thing that no one knows about you? 

I can’t think of anything that no one knows.  But I can think of lots of things I wish no one knew.

If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up? 

Valrhona Extra Noir 85% chocolate.

What is one food you’d never want to taste again? 

Fermented black beans with raw egg over rice, served to me by the Japanese student I hosted while she attended UNO.

If you won a lottery ticket and had a million dollars, what would you do with it? 

At least 10% would go to charitable causes; the rest to college funds or other long-term investments for kids and grandkids.

You’ve been given access to a time machine.  Where and when would you travel to? 

Holy week – crucifixion and resurrection – could one even understand what one was seeing?

What award would you love to win and for what achievement? 

It’d be a kick to win the McArthur Genius Award but I can’t imagine what I might do to earn it; maybe some breakthrough way to achieve truly informed consent in genetic testing?

Which is the best vacation you’ve ever had? 

Bill, Alex, Rachel and I visited the Bahamas over Christmas one year, very shortly after my mother’s unexpected death.  Following the trauma of that event, our time together in an utterly different world seemed almost like a dream.  It let us step away from all the cares we would return to, just for a bit, and was a precious interlude.

What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

Compassion and integrity. (Is that two things?)

If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go? 

New Zealand with Bill, Alex, and Rachel.  Possibly Will Shakespeare but I’m not sure how good a traveling companion he’d be, or where he’d want to go.

This Wednesday evening February 20th at the City Sprouts potluck we will be presenting a class on growing sprouts. If you have jelly or pint jars please bring some along in which to start your seeds. We will provide the seeds and yummy sprout recipes. The potluck will begin at 6:30. Bring a friend- see you Wednesday!

Just a reminder that we are still accepting applications to join our Board of Directors.  The deadline is February 28th to get your application in.

If you think you could benefit us by serving on our board please contact us at city.sprouts@yahoo.com.

Or, for more information or if you have any questions contact our Board Chair, Albert Varas at aavaras@gmail.com or 402-214-4461. Or, you can contact our Board Vice President Holly Newman-Dzyban at fractone@yahoo.com.

The fourth installment of our Meet The Sprouts series brings us to Ellen Duysen.  She and her husband have been involved with City Sprouts for many years, but this is her first year serving on the board of directors.  She serves on our garden and education committees and was recently elected to secretary of the board.

Here’s a little more about her:

What grows the best in your garden? 

We are pepper fanatics, so we carefully nurture the pepper plants and they usually flourish under our constant attention.

What are you most passionate about in regards to City Sprouts? 

I truly appreciate the fact that CS provides a wonderful platform to educate our community about the importance of fresh, healthy foods.  Education is my passion.

 What do you do for a living?

I am the coordinator for the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH).  Located in the College of Public Health at UNMC this NIOSH funded Center is dedicated to reducing injuries and fatalities in the agricultural community.  It may surprise some people to find out the agriculture ranks among the most dangerous professions in the country.

What are your hobbies? 

I love riding horses. I enjoy exploring new biking and hiking trails in NE and IA.  I love to travel, my husband and I have become experts at traveling on a tight budget- it is a big world out there and we want to see it all.

Tell us about your family.

My husband Jack is a contractor, in partnership with his brother he builds new homes and does remodeling.  In his spare time he runs marathons- 8 to date.  He began training at age 50 and has qualified for the Boston marathon twice- in 2010 and 2012.  We have 3 wonderful sons.  Our oldest son Eric is a Pediatric Chief Resident at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  He and is lovely wife Lauren are expecting a baby girl in May (our first grandbaby!).  Eric will complete a Fellowship in neonatology in Seattle starting in 2013.  Our son James is an assistant manager for Enterprise Rent A Car in Omaha.  With a degree in marketing he has found his niche is the world of sales.  Our youngest fella Zach is a conductor for Union Pacific.  As a cute single guy living in Ames, he is living the good life.

What is one thing that no one knows about you? 

I am not really blond.

If you had to give up a favorite food, which would be the most difficult to give up?

Cheese- I love cheese.

What is one food you’d never want to taste again?

Eel

You’ve been given access to a time machine.  Where and when would you travel to?

I would travel to Marienburg in East Prussia in 1900- to meet my dad’s family whom I was never able to meet.

What award would you love to win and for what achievement?

The Nobel Peace Prize- for solving world hunger. (Ambitious enough for you?)

 Which is the best vacation you’ve ever had? 

Cinque Terre Italy- hiking between the ancient cities was an unbelievable experience.

 What is the one thing for which you would most like to be remembered after your death?

Being a good mom.

If you could go on a road trip with any person (dead or alive), who would you choose and where would you go?

John Lennon and I are going on a coast to coast road trip- he is going to sing to me the whole way- non-stop and Yoko is not invited.

Just a reminder that Thursday, February 7th is the next in our quarterly open Board meetings. For anyone that attended the last open meeting, we are taking a different approach to this meeting. We will be conducting our Board meeting with business as usual.

- Attendance is free and all are welcome to come observe.
- If someone has business they would like to bring forth to the board they must be placed on the agenda. To be placed on the agenda please contact our Board President Albert Varas at aavaras@gmail.com or 402-214-4461. There will be a 3 minute time limit for all presentations to the board.
- We will leave the final 30 minutes open for any Q & A about things discussed at the current meeting.