Join a Natural Step for Communities Study Circle in South Berwick
Imagine municipalities whose government operations become 100% fossil fuel free. Or communities that change depressed local economies to thriving economies, creating over 200 eco-enterprises. A dream? Far from it: the Natural Step For Communities provides inspiring examples of communities that have made dramatic changes toward sustainability, and explains how others can emulate their success.

The Circles will be reading Natural Step for Communities along with a study circle guide. Study Circles begin on Sundays May 18th or on Fridays May 2nd and meet for 8 weeks to explore step by step the processes for change. Group size is limited to 8, meeting time is 7pm to 8:30. For more information on Sundays call Gail Santos 207-384-8116 or email gailoae@gwi.net for Fridays call Rebecca Gray 207-457-5442 0r email gray_Rebeccam@yahoo.com

ChallengerSports Soccer Camp
South Berwick Youth Soccer (SBYS) is once again hosting a soccer camp run by Coaches from ChallengerSports. ChallengerSports British Soccer is “the #1 Soccer Camp in the US and Canada”. Camp will be held during the week of July 28-August 1 at the Agamenticus Soccer fields in South Berwick. Half day and Full Day camps will be offered for boys and girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade. A mini soccer program is available for ages 3-6.

Online registration is recommended at www.challengersports.com or contact Marcia Flinkstrom for information on registering by mail. (mflinkstrom@comcast.net or 384-5041)

Special Needs Parent Network (SNPN)
The Special Needs Parent Network (SNPN) was formed to provide support, resources and information to families raising a child with special needs. Special needs includes, but are not limited to, Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Developmental Delays, Diabetes, mental health and chronic health issues. Our meetings are held the Last Friday of each month (September through May) at the Family Resource Center located at Landmark Hill, US Route One, Kittery. Meetings begin at 7:00pm. Please contact Marcia Flinkstrom for more information (207-384-5041 or mflinkstrom@comcast.net) If you are interested in joining our online Yahoo group, please email Lisa Richard at maine4lily@yahoo.com.

Since I’ve been running this blog I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk to many South Berwick residents I never knew before. This morning I was thinking of the span of time people have been here. I’ve talked to some who have lived here all their lives and some who just moved here in the last few months. I got to wondering about the proportion of natives, long time residents, and new comers and that sent me off to look at the Census data. Here is what I found:

Place of birth of U.S. born South Berwick residents based on 2000 U.S. Census data:
Born in Maine: 20%
Born in another state: 80%

That doesn’t get at it. 80% of us were born in another state, but that includes people who were born in Dover and Portsmouth who were brought home to South Berwick. The 20% born in Maine includes those who lived in other Maine towns and moved here. So my only conclusion: A lot of us were born out of state.

Then I looked at the data from the 2000 Census where residents were asked when they had moved into their current home. Here is what I found:

Again this doesn’t get at it either. This includes people who moved from one home in South Berwick to another. But it does show a lot of movement. In 2000 57% of South Berwick residents had moved into their home in the last ten years and only 11% had lived in their home for more than thirty years.

The Census data couldn’t answer my question about how many natives, long time residents, and new comers there are here. So that leads me to my question:

When did you come to South Berwick and what brought you here?

I’ll tell you my answer in the comments and you do the same.

Note from Molly: Many are concerned about the hurtful words and accusations being used at public meetings and in this blog and want to encourage communication that builds our community instead of dividing it. South Berwick resident Scott Landis offers his thoughts here.

An 1833 book on population coined the term “tragedy of the commons” to describe a dynamic of medieval village life in which narrow self-interest was allowed to run amok. Over-grazing of the public commons by one individual’s sheep turned out to be a disaster for the herd and its owner as well as for the environment and the community at large. The farmer unwittingly became the agent of his own demise.

This 19th-century concept, which probably has much earlier roots, has been applied to many ecological disasters since. Indeed, it has become shorthand for any condition in which “free access, and unrestricted demand for a finite resource, ultimately dooms that resource to over-exploitation.” The phenomenon has been used to describe the decline of the world’s great forests and the decimation of the North Atlantic cod fishery.

Some might argue that the metaphor only applies to ecological relationships, but it seems to me we are suffering a parallel modern crisis in public communication that is every bit as tragic and perhaps even more dangerous than any environmental disaster we have faced. (more…)