Laurels to Sue McHugh and the other organizers and performers who stage Chickweed, the third edition of which will be held 5 p.m.-midnight this evening at Spoken Space Theatre. Billed as an event “Celebrating Indestructible Women,” the festival featuring all female performers is a benefit for the Family Crisis Council, the local nonprofit group that helps victims of rape, incest, sexual assault and domestic violence in a variety of ways, including an emergency shelter. And it’s growing in size and impact. The first Chickweed attracted about 200 people and resulted in a donation of about $1,700 to the Family Crisis Council. Last week, organizers were closing in on $7,000 for this year’s donation, and that was before factoring in ticket sales. The community has gotten behind Chickweed in a big way, too; McHugh said she’s had to turn away some vendors for lack of space, and some of the vendors who will be there plan to donate 100 percent of their proceeds to the Family Crisis Council. So if you’re looking for a place to cool down and make a difference after Farmers Day festivities in China Grove today, check out Chickweed.
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Dart to the person or people plastering graffiti stickers on public and private property around Rowan County. In a trend we wish hadn’t reached Rowan, the vandals use free and plentiful U.S. Postal Service mailing labels — attractive because of the large white spaces that can be customized with words and pictures. These so-called “slaps” have been found on local buildings, electrical boxes and road signs. The signs cost about $75 apiece to replace, and who knows how much money is wasted on the misused postal labels? Of course, the people doing this don’t care.
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Laurels to the teenagers who traveled from all over the nation last week to attend the 2014 edition of the National Environmental Summit for High School Students on the Catawba College campus. Hosted again this year by the Center for the Environment and the Rocky Mountain Institute, the week-long summit — called “Redesigning Our Future” — includes a variety of activities aimed at teaching the teens how they can channel their passion into creating a more sustainable future. Many were inspired to take the lessons back to their campuses for the upcoming school year and start recycling programs and environmental clubs. And although some of the students plan to work in environmental professions, others say they want to incorporate the principles learned at the summit into future careers in business, law enforcement and journalism, among others. That’s a good thing. To make our world more sustainable for generations to come will take the efforts of caring and environmentally educated leaders in all walks of life — like the ones who came together for a summit recently in Salisbury.