LSP 25th Anniversary Celebration to Feature
Hog Roast & Potluck Near Lewiston July 22

CONTACT: Karen Benson, LSP, 507-523-3366

7/2/07
LEWISTON, Minn. —Theater, farm tours, new farmers, old timers and 25th anniversary birthday candles will mark the Land Stewardship Project's Celebration of “Food, Family and Farming” Sunday, July 22, at Greg and Jeanne Erickson's dairy east of Lewiston. This family event begins with a hog roast/potluck at 12:30 p.m., and activities continue through 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 ($30 per family) for Land Stewardship Project members; non-member tickets are $20 ($50 per family). Kids ages 6-12 get in for $5; 5 and under are free. Tickets should be reserved by contacting Karen Benson at 507-523-3366 or lspse@landstewardshipproject.org. Proceeds further Land Stewardship Project’s work in the region.

The afternoon will include a tour of the Ericksons’ grass-based certified organic dairy and presentations by members of both generations who currently farm it. Also featured will be scenes from Planting in the Dust, a play written by Nancy Paddock during the Land Stewardship Project’s earliest days. Paddock has recently updated this powerful, one-woman performance.

Also featured at this year’s gathering will be the graduation of the 10th class of Farm Beginnings® students after almost a year of study, farm tours, skills sessions and mentoring in low-cost sustainable methods of farming. The Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings program has graduated over 300 students since the program’s inception in Wabasha County 10 years ago. Classes begin this October in La Crosse, Wis., and Marshall, Minn.

Special guests, plus hayrides, calves for petting, a silent auction of homemade goods and a dessert social at 4:30 p.m. round out the day’s program.

The Land Stewardship Project (www.landstewardshipproject.org) was launched in 1982 in Saint Paul as a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the ethic and practice of stewardship on America’s farms. From its inception, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has advanced practical solutions to achieving stewardship while building widespread public support for an agricultural system in which family farms, small towns and a healthy environment could thrive. LSP’s membership base of farmers and non-farmers is also working to advance social justice for people who produce food and care for the land.

Besides Lewiston, the Land Stewardship Project has offices in the Minnesota communities of Montevideo, South Minneapolis and White Bear Lake.

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