Foggy Bottom Farm

11/11/10 

“Possibilities”

For those of you who have seen our Website before, the first part of this two-part blog will look familiar. We did this in order to maintain coherence and continuity, --- while giving those who are seeing us for the first time some background information concerning what we are doing in order to make sense of the material that follows.  This will be the only time we will do this.

 We invite and welcome your feedback and ideas, for this is how we envision the online and face-to-face Community we are building to both grow and sustain itself.  We are at the start of a Great Adventure, one that will only able to succeed because of the participation of many worthwhile and creative people who will also receive the benefits of its success as the Project continues to unfold.  Our first endeavor is to get people involved.  We recognize that the Project can only be empowered  by personal involvement.  As a Non-Profit, there are numerous methods available to us to raise the funding we need, but none of these are available to us without observable personal involvement taking place first.

Part I

Please allow me to introduce or, if you have seen our materials earlier, to reintroduce myself.  I am Mik Rosenthal, Ed.D. (and yes, I spell “Mike” without the “e”) founder and CEO of Foggy Bottom Farm,  our Non Profit educational and recreational retreat center. We meet online in both live and recorded Workshops, and in live face-to-face Workshops and other activities in Princeton, NJ---both of which have already begun and are progressing.   

The  focus of all of our program offerings is in the three areas of Personal Growth, Fine Art and Fine Craft, and Holistic Living.  We feel that having worthwhile experiences within, among and between these three areas will enable one to thrive emotionally, enjoy the good feelings that come from being creative as well as reap the benefits of a down-to-earth healthy lifestyle---in other words, be the best all around person they can possibly be and be able to receive the prosperity and abundance that naturally flows forth from this state of being.

We are presently building infrastructure to support the building of our retreat center that will be located on a beautiful 155-acre farm to which we have access in the Pennsylvania Wilds Recreation Area. This project is real!  Development has proceeded to the point where we have our NPDES Permit, which means we are allowed build!  All we need to do now is, as we build our infrastructure of Workshop Programming, Participants and Presenters, to decide what we want to build, why we want to build it, and what it will look like.  Programming and facilities planning must go hand in hand so that we make a powerful and coherent statement we can use when we begin our fundraising activities that are expected to begin sometime in the spring of 2011.

But even before we have our actual Center, Participants and Presenters in all of our programming will be able to step back from the world and sign up for the Workshops they want while enjoying and benefiting from them.  Everything is being done so that those who participate in our Workshops will take away with them a sense of enlightenment and fulfillment that will help them change their lives and the lives of others through using the many forms of real and positive good they will discover as they explore our offerings with us.

And now to shift gears a bit: Roughly mid-way through last August, I posted a blog describing the first of the live programming we did in Princeton, NJ the previous April.  Karen Curry, our consultant who has performed wonders in helping to  get “Foggy” off the ground and in operation, presented the programming, (called “The Prosperity Revolution”) which was very well received.  In retrospect, in regard to the phrase, “getting Foggy off the ground,” perhaps I should  say “on the ground,” literally. After Karen’s program, Karen, her friend Aaron Parker, who is our architect, and Karen’s toddler daughter, Ayelet, all went up to Pennsylvania to meet with Bob Cunningham, our engineer, who showed us around the Farm with an eye to the possible location of future buildings.  Part of the Farm is flat land, heavily wooded, and part is flat, open fields.  Also, part of the Farm, between these two areas, is a beautiful, long hillside with a Southern exposure---ideal for the solar roof panels associated with green construction.  The entire layout of the Farm has many possibilities!  Our original plot plan shows a central location with large buildings useful for the main part of our activities, with few buildings located in other areas.  But now, that we are taking into account the entire range of possibilities the landscape of the Farm has to offer, we need to look at all of the possible ways that we can create the kind of facility that will be useful, attractive, and most of all, welcoming and comfortable so that those who come to partake of our activities will want to return.  It is these possibilities that we will look at together here---and begin to come up with a coherent plan outlining what we will do so that our activities and facilities both compliment and energize one another.

Part II

No project of the magnitude of this one con proceed without the concerted help of many people working together.  Up to this point I have been working primarily with the afore mentioned Karen Curry (of Houston, TX) Aaron Parker (of Minneapolis MN) in addition to our attorney, David Gaynor (of Princeton, NJ)  as well as our engineer Bob Cunningham (of Wellsboro, PA) in addition to others who were part of the team who made it possible for us to attain our NPDES Permit . All of these folks are “crackerjacks” at what they do, and the Project would not have come as far as it has without them.  But none of us are unable to come up with answers to all the questions that need to be asked, either.

So, ….. this is where we need your help in answering questions that only you can answer, and this is where we need to become interactive so that together we can grow.

We can divide the questions into two main groups:  Questions that deal with the kind of Programming we will offer, and Questions that deal with the ultimate facility we will build.

We can get started with ten questions in each group:

Programming Questions:

Is there an interest in counseling type groups for Personal Growth?

Is there an interest in spiritual and/or motivational perspectives?

Is there an interest in large group forums or in smaller, more close knit groups?

Are you more interested in craft projects that can be done at home, or in those that require a specialized workshop?

What areas are you most interested in regarding Holistic Living?

What kinds/types of Fine (High Quality) Crafts are of interest?

Is the Natural Health area of Holistic Living of interest?

Are you interested in combining Fine Crafts (such as combining photography with book arts [handmade books])?

Are you interested in Fine Craft you can actually use rather than to simply enjoy looking at?

Any and all statements relating to or expending the questions already raised that you may have.

Facilities Questions:

When we build, should each Fine Craft have its own building?

What supportive/specialized activities that would require their own building (such as a Sanctuary  or a Library)—that would complement our main Programming do you envision enticing you to visit our facility?

Would an organic garden and/or an edible forest garden be of interest to you? (We have the space for acres of both!)

Would you attend a program concerning raising sheep for their wool --- we have the space to provide it of it is of interest--- be an activity you would consider?

We will be building a green facility.  Would a Victorian village “look” or  a more “modern look” be of greater interest?

Would you be interested in a four-season facility (located in north-central Pennsylvania?

Would you like a facility you can reside at for a week or would going off the premises be of interest?

For a really fine, brand new facility, how long a time would you be willing to drive to attend?

Would you like the location of the building of our facility you would spend most of your time in be in wooded or open land?

Any and all statements relating to or expending the questions already raised that you may have.

As you can see, there are many “Possibilities.”  Let’s start discussing them!

OK!  I will do all I can to get a blog out to you every week, and I look forward to your responses!

In Peace,

Mik

P.S.  Would you be interested in an informal free discussion group concerning planning our Programming and facilities meeting through a conference call ?  How long a call and at what intervals?