Memphis Democrat
September 26, 2002

We've had some pretty exciting visitors this week. Jacque Funk came down again from Chicago to visit for the weekend and her parents came up from Huntsville to see her and meet us. Laurie, who was an intern two years ago, arrived via OATS bus to spend two weeks here. Dan, who has visited us every year since we moved to northeast Missouri, came for his annual visit as well.

Several of us went to the Weenie Roast in Rutledge to help set up for the Fall Celebration and eat hot dogs. There were vegetarian hot dogs for us, too! The Celebration itself seemed to be a huge success. The weather was perfect and the crowds were huge. We enjoyed seeing everyone walking around with t-shirts with art by our former intern Tanya. Alline returned home from her travels just in time to lead her favorite event, Chicken Chip Bingo. She also puts together a treasure hunt for the kids. They caught on fast and did not let her out of their sight so she could not hide the clues. Luckily, Alline was smart enough to pass the clues on to others to hide.

After weeks of practicing, Cecil, Tamar, Penn and Roger Walker got up on stage to entertain us. Tony, Alline, Larry Ayers and others came up on stage for a song or two, as well. We especially enjoyed their rewrite of the folk song "Goodnight Irene" to be about the Rutledge Renegades.

The next day we had a celebration of our own in honor of Susan's birthday. We went roller skating in Kahoka and ordered pizza for afterwards.

Thanks to Lorraine Kapfer and Sandhill Farm for letting us pick some of their extra peaches. We really enjoy the fruit. And it helps us remember to take really good care of our young fruit trees so that they will someday provide for us.

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is a nonprofit and a residential community that demonstrates ecological sustainability in Rutledge, MO. We are not giving tours for a few weeks. Please come instead to our Open House on October 12th! Please call first before coming by, at 883-5511.

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