Thank you much for reading along, 

Sincerely, 

ASPI

Here's a glimpse into Blayne's summer with us:

Engineering
Blayne participated in outings with Mountain Association, where she helped with energy audits, Kentucky Utilities Direct Install Grants, and site visits. She also had the chance to shadow Will Reedy at the Keenland Biowaste Project and toured his automated raspberry farm.

Farm Days
Blayne worked closely with local farmers in Rockcastle Co. and Madison Co. Her projects ranged from implementing a gutter system, installing high tunnel trellising, repairing an irrigation system, and even searching for a queen bee! Outside of the Farm Days, you could find Blayne socializing with the local farmers at the farmers market while piling jam jars in her arms. 

Wilderness Site
At the wilderness site especially, Blayne earned her "Pro Weedeater" title. She worked hard to remove invasive species and repair the garden site. Additionally, she planted a variety of fruit trees and shrubs in the garden space and at the orchard. To protect this important ecosystem, she also designed "No Spray" signage, promoting environmentally conscious practices. 

Grant Work
Blayne contributed to several successful resiliency grants this summer. In one project, she collaborated with ASPI, Mountain Association, and Salamander Springs. Another effort involved a partnership between the Mountain Association and Hemphill Community Center.

Tech Support and Social Platform Integration 
Blayne played an important role in reconnecting ASPI to all of our accounts and ensuring that our digital presence is maintained. Through her digital work with ASPI, Blayne created a document that will not only guide us through these sometimes complicated digital processes but also guide many others: The Social Platform Integration Document. This is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow document covering website basics and resources for outreach, and how to easily combine the two. Judy Sizemore has passed this document onto SPARK, a program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural eastern Kentucky. which recently held a meeting at Bobtown Arts. Several SPARK partners have responded very positively to this resource - thank you Blayne!

ASPI was able to obtain a Kentucky Utilities Direct Installs Grant thanks to Josh Bills of Mountain Association. Below is a table representing ASPI's estimated energy savings following our new installations. 

ASPI was delighted to catch up with John Luc and Grace over lunch. These two first joined ASPI in 2022 with Notre Dame's service learning program. They are both focused in conservation efforts, with Grace beginning a job next week involving water conservation, and John Luc currently doing environmental inspection assessments while also pursuing a Masters. 

A few photos taken over the summer months. 

Thank you much for reading along.

Sincerely,

​Timi (Board Director), river and Loki (Wilderness Site Caretakers)

Early every spring ASPI organizes a perennial order wholesale for the local community! Savings on Blueberries, cherries, figs, kiwis, etc. can reach the hundreds of dollars for folks who participate in this process! ASPI generally purchases extra perennials in this order and sales them at cost throughout the season.

2025 was our 10th year working with this company and our largest order yet. We grow by roughly 10% every year and people are generally pleased with the plants they receive. Our wholesale plant project helps local folks with subsistence and market gardening, but, it also becomes habitat and food for all manner of wildlife, there are no downsides to establishing perennial food forests, they support local ecosystems and add a tremendous diversity of all life to ones land. This diversity increases strength and resilience to the region on every level.

If you are interested in participating in this order next March please get back to us and get on our list. Explore your options on this website: https://hartmannsplantcompany.com/wholesale/

We're partnering with herbalist Andrew Ozinskas to provide a series of seasonal plant, tree, and fungi identification hikes at the Zalla trail at the River property. This was a highly requested event and we are hoping to continue this annually! Hike #1 happened in early April, and our next summer hike will be announced soon. Sign up at THIS LINK for our Simple Living Newsletter to be the first to learn about it!

​​River and Loki  have been caretakers of the ASPI river property for almost a year now. They have steadily been improving the property over the weeks and months and have been increasing the safety of the structures there. A task of this enormity is daunting to say the least, but they are steady and sure. The property is beginning to show the effects of attention and care. It has reached a level that ASPI is feeling strong enough to begin hosting events there this year, guided identification hikes and cookouts, and gear and kayaks for recreational water activities. She is coming alive again. Our gratitude is boundless for their conscientious contributions to ASPI. River has been working with ASPI in some capacity for several years and we are so grateful for their attention to detail, effective communication, creativity, and devotion to the projects they are involved in. Enough really cannot be said.

Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest has been welcoming service learning groups to Rockcastle County since nearly its inception. The University of Notre Dame has been a crucial partner in this effort, sending cohorts of students to Mount Vernon since the late 1970's as a part of its Appalachia Seminar, a program that offers students not only an opportunity for service but greater exposure to the Appalachia region in all its richness. Like many other nonprofit programs, ASPI had to halt in-person experiences such as this one due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Notre Dame has happily returned to Mount Vernon & ASPI in the post-shutdown world, though, starting right back up and sending groups annually since 2021. 

Service learning is an experiential learning pedagogy that integrates academic coursework with community service to enhance participants' civic engagement and personal growth. This typically involves partnering with a particular organization to address real-world needs and interact within a community. Oftentimes, articles and other academic materials are explored pre-departure, allowing students a foundation to which they can connect their experiences. Structured reflection is also an important aspect of service learning trips, occurring usually at the end of each day. Students have noted deeply beneficial aspects of service learning, such ​as increased senses of social responsibility, touching encounters with a particular cause, and expansions of perspective and worldview.  

At ASPI, there is deep focus both on service work and community engagement - exploring harmonies, diversities, and disparities in the Southeastern Kentucky area through multiple lenses. At Notre Dame students participate in a weekly class focused on Appalachia, History, Culture, and Music. The group meets during those classes to establish a bond ahead of going into the immersion experience during Notre Dames week-long fall break. Here is a glimpse of a Notre Dame week at ASPI!

Sunday - Arrival & Climax Spring: On Sunday, the cohort arrives after driving from their respective college. For Notre Dame, that means about a 5-hour drive down through Indiana. Their experience began with a trip to Climax Springs and a hike up to it's watershed, explaining to the students the kindness of Climax for providing free spring water access to the community. After a long travel day, students ease into their time in Rockcastle, and their home for the next week at the ASPI office, as well as prepare for their week of service work and community engagement ahead.  

Students that attend this experience are often beautifully impacted, and share such kind words with ASPI about their week-long journeys. Here are just a few of their letters from past years <3

ASPI has been hosting Notre Dame service learning cohorts as far back as 1979. We value and appreciate this relationship and look to strengthen and continue building this partnership. Pre-covid, ASPI had collaborated with many service learning groups from colleges and universities like Gannon University, University of Texas, Loyola of Chicago, and Furman. We hope to regain  momentum from the pre-covid era by welcoming additional cohorts in the fall and spring semesters.

Thank you for reading along!

Dear Friends,
 
The vibrant foliage has mostly fallen, and the weather is finally chilly. This fall we are continuously grateful for the ongoing community of Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (ASPI) patrons, partners, and participants who have supported us for over 47 years! ASPI continues serving the local community and Appalachian region without paid leadership staff, but a valuable team of volunteers and contract labor helps sustain our work. ASPI still provides access to housing, networking opportunities, educational programming, and partnership collaborations and contributions.
 
This year, we are saddened by the loss of three important founding ASPI icons who are also acknowledged in the 2025 calendar: founder Father Albert J. Fritsch (https://bit.ly/Fr-Al-Fritsch-Obit), former board member Marie Cirillo (https://bit.ly/Marie-Cirillo-Obit), and homesteader and ginseng grower Syl Yunker who collaborated with ASPI early on (https://bit.ly/Syl-Yunker-Obit). They are greatly missed, and all left a lasting impact not only ASPI but many communities and practitioners in the Appalachian region.

The ASPI board works on daily operations and communications along with part-time staff support and volunteers, and our strategic plan continues guiding our work. Board President Timi Reedy and Secretary Tammy Clemons maintain remote contact with board member and former residential volunteer Father Jack Kieffer. Board member Judy Sizemore stepped down this year so she could resume supporting ASPI through valuable consultancies through Mountain Association (MA) as well as the SPARK Program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural (Eastern) Kentucky. We are still working to make our certified kitchen the main ASPI Office in Mt. Vernon, which has preliminary approval, accessible to local farmers. Our grounds/garden helper River Jarvis maintains the ASPI orchard, beds, and greenhouse, which produce a variety of fruits, vegetables, and medicinal herbs that we share with the local community. They also work on ongoing upkeep of the Cordwood building, Nature Center, and garden beds at the ASPI Rockcastle River Wilderness Demonstration Site as one of our new residential volunteers.
 
This year, ASPI began serving as fiscal sponsor for fellow SPARK member Our Land of Promise (OPL), which is “dedicated to honoring and preserving African American heritage in Berea, Kentucky.” ASPI received a 2024 Radical Rest Grant as a voting organizational member of the Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly, and we nominated and directed part of this grant to OPL. ASPI also received a Folk Arts & Cultures Grant from the Berea College Appalachian Fund on behalf of OPL “to display and honor Black heritage in Berea through a series of events highlighting the historic and contemporary Farristown community and traditions.”

is summer, local mycologists Ron Owens and Jonny Wells led a series of mushroom demonstrations and workshops at the Clear Creek Schoolhouse, Rockcastle Garden Club, Garrard County Medicinal Herb Club, Berea College Forest Outreach Center, and Rockcastle Farmer’s Market. More than 200 workshop participants walked away with a free mushroom log and handouts. Josh Bills also led solar cooker demonstrations at the Farmer’s Market and ASPI office. Local off-grid homesteaders, the Ruff family, also led hands-on workshops on biochar methods and growing your own grains. ASPI collaborated again with the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to help coordinate a regional oral history meet-up at the national Oral History Association Annual Meeting in Cincinnati. Timi Reedy and Mark Spencer completed their set of five oral history interviews with Appalachian iconoclast George Brosi.

In October, we hosted nine University of Notre Dame service-learning students from diverse backgrounds for a week-long alternative fall break immersion experience, and one of the two student leaders returned from the past two years. The group got water from Climax spring; worked in the gardens and learned about solar energy at the ASPI Office; cleaned out the old Solar House shed at the Rockcastle River property where they also went on a meditative nature hike and had a cookout; and cleaned up two dump sites with Rockcastle Solid Waste. They also toured the Rockcastle County High School with the Principal and visited an Appalachian Studies class; hiked the Pinnacles; and enjoyed live music by Mitch Barrett. They finished the week with projects at four local Rockcastle County farms, which is one of their favorite annual activities. As ever, we are tremendously grateful for these Notre Dame students and their interest in the Appalachian region, as well as the positive energy and work ethic throughout the week!

The 2025 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the downloadable order form. Calendar designer Mark Spencer curated another great collection of daily sayings and beautiful monthly photos from regional photographers with cover photo by John Fitzwater. Mark shares his annual aspirations for the New Year in the enclosed calendar brochure. We are grateful for Mark’s ongoing creative contributions on behalf of ASPI, and we echo his wishes for fostering both growth and simplicity in 2025 to all our supporters and calendar enthusiasts.

Thanks to all these individuals and organizations for supporting our work, with special thanks to: Father Al Fritsch, Father Jack Kieffer, Judy Sizemore, Mark Spencer, Emily Parrish, Aaron and Jamie Banther, Jerry Bogie, Josh Bills, Danielle Capillo, River Jarvis, Loki Searles, Ron Owens and family, Jonny Wells, Erin Grace, Josh Merritt, Melanie Abbott, Jamie Ponder, Janet Kalitz, Warren Brunner, Bob Bagley, Lindsey Windland, John Fitzwater, Mitch Barrett, Holly Robinson, Brenda and Donnie Parsons, Ruff Family, Shannon Barrett, Alan Harding, Andrew Ozinskas, Phillip Gilbert, Leela Christina, James Renner, Mahala King, Amy Weinfurtner, Ketaki Bhattacharyya, Kopana Terry, Jen Bartlett, and Nancy Seaberg.
 
With your support, ASPI will continue maintaining and improving the Mt. Vernon and Livingston demonstration sites; implementing accessibility improvements; public access to a certified kitchen and EV charging stations; arts/culture programming; and ongoing community partnerships. We share our boundless gratitude for the generosity, enthusiasm, and engagement of our volunteers, partners, project contractors, donors, and calendar lovers. Thanks for your contributions to ASPI’s 47-year-old mission working for healthy land and sustainable communities in Kentucky and Central Appalachia. We wish hope, safety, and thriving fulfillment for our shared futures in 2025!
 
Sincerely,
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)

Dear Friend,

The fall landscape and weather remain colorful and somewhat mild into November, and we are again sharing our gratitude for the incredible community of Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (ASPI) supporters, partners, and participants! After 46 years, ASPI continues serving the local community and Appalachian region. This year, we again operated without paid leadership but with valuable help from volunteers and contract labor, and we also provided housing, networking opportunities, educational programming, and partnership collaborations and contributions.

The ASPI board continues maintaining daily operations and communications with some part-time staff support and volunteers. Board President Timi Reedy and Secretary Tammy Clemons work both remotely and at the main office. We maintain contact with board member and former residential volunteer Father Jack Kieffer and welcome new board member Judy Sizemore who has been involved with ASPI for a couple of years through Mountain Association (MA) consultancy and the SPARK Program for Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural (Eastern) Kentucky. ASPI continues implementing the strategic plan we developed with Judy as well as our accessibility statement and objectives (https://bit.ly/ASPI-Accessibility).

Physical improvements to the main ASPI Office in Mt. Vernon include new lighting, a more accessible toilet, and additional plumbing repairs. We passed plumbing and preliminary health inspections toward completing the final requirements for a publicly accessible certified kitchen. With a small grounds/garden crew this year, the ASPI orchard, beds, and greenhouse produced medicinal herbs, tomatoes, peppers, okra, berries, apples, and pears.

Major ongoing clean-up and repairs to the Cordwood building, Nature Center, and garden beds continue at the ASPI Rockcastle River Wilderness Demonstration Site. We unfortunately had to demolish the Cordwood trailer because it was unsalvageable, but the site (AKA “Father Jack’s”) now features a clover lot and gravel parking area large enough for school buses to turn around and park. Improvements include replacing the Cordwood attic insulation and plumbing and working on water catchment and drainage around the building and the Nature Center.

From 2019-2022, ASPI served as fiscal sponsor for Arts Connect Eastern Kentucky, which now continues its important work under the non-profit umbrella of Recovering Joy Arts and Nature Center in Pulaski County. This year, ASPI received another grant from the Epiphany Catholic Church 10 Percent Commitment Fund, became a voting organizational member of the Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly, and received a 2023 Waymakers Radical Rest Grant. We also nominated and directed a portion of this grant to Owsley County Alliance for Recreation & Entertainment, a community-based, board-run non-profit organization and fellow SPARK member. ASPI tabled at the annual Appalachian Studies Association conference, which was held at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio in March, as well as the Kentucky Green Living Fair in Somerset in April.

ASPI collaborated again with the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to help coordinate three free regional gatherings for oral historians from Kentucky and Central Appalachia with support from the national Oral History Association. The Lexington Public Library hosted the first oral history meet-up in June, and the Southeast Kentucky African-American Museum and Cultural Center hosted the second meet-up in August in Hazard. In November, the Kentucky Folklife Program and Western Kentucky University Department of Folk Studies & Anthropology are hosting a third meet-up in Bowling Green. Timi Reedy and Mark Spencer completed a series of “life history” interviews with ASPI founder Father Al Fritsch before he retired this year, and they began conducting a new series of interviews with Appalachian author, activist, and icon George Brosi. This summer, ASPI served as the organizational site of a pilot hybrid (in-person and virtual) version of the Kentucky Community Scholars Program in partnership with the Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Folklife Program. Four new graduates completed folklife and fieldwork training, presented their projects, and joined more than 250 certified Kentucky Community Scholars!

In October, we hosted eleven University of Notre Dame service-learning students from all over the country and world for a week-long alternative fall break immersion experience through the Center for Social Concerns. One of the two student leaders returned from last year.

The service-learning students hung out with former ASPI Board President Shane Barton from the University of Kentucky Community Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky who shared an in-depth presentation on the Appalachian region. They moved 14 cubic yards of compost into raised beds at the ASPI Office and cleaned out the Cordwood attic and the bottom of the Nature Center at the Rockcastle River property. They also learned about solar energy from Josh Bills. The students also picked up 141 bags of garbage and 15 tires at Lake Linville with Rockcastle Solid Waste Coordinator James Renner, and they worked with Berea Community School engineering students and teacher Hank Gevedon on several creative projects. They also got water from Climax spring, shopped at the local IGA, and hiked the Pinnacles and Anglin Falls. They closed the week with projects at five local Rockcastle County farms, live music by Mitch Barrett, and Yard Party Games. We are always grateful and inspired by their attentive curiosity, positive attitudes, energy, and work ethic!

The 2024 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is now posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the downloadable order form. Mark Spencer designed another great collection of daily sayings and monthly photos from Melanie Abbott, Warren Brunner, Gretchen L. Collins, and this year’s cover photo by Janet Kalisz. Mark also shares his annual reflection and hopes for the New Year in the enclosed calendar brochure. We are grateful for Mark’s continued creativity and contributions on behalf of ASPI, and we likewise wish all our supporters and calendar-loving community a peaceful and rewarding 2024.

Thanks to all these people and organizations for making our work possible with special thanks to: Aaron Banther, Bugz Fraugg, Kyra Higgins, Mark Spencer, Judy Sizemore, Brent Bjorkman, Mark Brown, Camille Acosta, Delainey Bowers, Kopana Terry, Ann Ferrell, Wyatt Woodson, Jen Bartlett, Emily Hudson, Shannon Barrett, Nancy Seaberg, Gretchen Collins, Martin Mudd, Shannon Williams, River Jarvis, Jerry Bogie, Josh Bills, Ben Tatum, Father Al Fritsch, Father Jack Kieffer, Warren Brunner, Kitrina Kearfott, Emily Parrish, James Renner, Mahala King, Amy Weinfurtner, Ketaki Bhattacharyya, Donna Daniels, Chris Handberg, Ron Owens, Jonny Wells, Shane Barton, Mitch Barrett, Holly Robinson, Brenda and Donnie Parsons, Hank Gevedon, Ruff Family, Nicole Garneau, Melanie Abbott, and Brenda Richardson.

Thanks for your contributions to ASPI’s mission and 46 years of ongoing work for healthy land and sustainable communities in Kentucky and Central Appalachia. We are hopeful for our collective futures in 2024!

Sincerely,
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)

Dear Friend,
 
Seasonal changes transform the weather, colors, and skyline yet again, and we share our ongoing gratitude for ASPI’s 45th year serving the local community and Appalachian region. We continued operating without paid leadership but had help from valuable volunteers and contract labor. ASPI also provided housing, networking opportunities, and educational programming in addition to in-kind contributions and fiscal sponsorship this year.
 
ASPI sadly lost another former staff person and important contributor to its history, The Reverend Dr. Robyn Arnold (bit.ly/Robyn-Arnold-Obit). Robyn was the backbone of ASPI Publications from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, including the primary designer and editor of the Technical Paper Series before the digital age made DIY publishing widely accessible. Honoring her request to rest her ashes at the Rockcastle River site where she worked for many years, ASPI hosted a small memorial ceremony organized by her family and friends. We share the sorrow of Robyn’s loved ones and the communities she selflessly served.

The ASPI board continues maintaining daily operations and communications, and this spring and summer, we were fortunate to have some part-time staff support in addition to volunteers. Board President Timi Reedy and Secretary Tammy Clemons collectively spend several days each week at the main office and maintain contact with fellow board member Father Jack Kiefer who retired but continues his service remotely. In August, the Board completed a three-year strategic plan with local non-profit consultant Judy Sizemore through Mountain Association (MA). ASPI is participating in the MA pilot program, SPARK (Small nonprofit Peers Accelerating Rural (Eastern) Kentucky). ASPI also received funding from the Kentucky Arts Council for an accessibility advisor from the Kentucky Peer Advisory Network.
 
This year’s improvements to the main ASPI office in Mt. Vernon include a new ceiling, fresh coat of indoor paint, and more open layout. Thanks to a small grant from the Blue Grass Community Foundation, plumbing repairs moved ASPI closer to completing requirements for a certified kitchen for public use by the local community. We started using the Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging station installed last year, which banked a substantial amount of solar power since then. In August, ASPI purchased a donor-funded EV that already serves as a positive example of alternative energy and an educational tool for engaging visitors and the local community. ASPI installed a new 4.4 kW net-metered solar photovoltaic system at the Rockcastle River site and hosted open houses at both sites as part of the National Solar Tour for the first time in several years.

ASPI continues fiscal sponsorship of ArtsConnect Eastern Kentucky (ACEKY), a collective of Kentucky artists providing art-related programming for people in recovery. This year, ACEKY received another Art Meets Activism Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. In May, 20 people attended ASPI’s mushroom inoculation workshop led by Rockcastle County native Ron Owens, which is featured for the month of May in the 2023 calendar. In June, ASPI hosted a cross-sector group of local and regional community partners to share our groups’ missions, projects, and possibilities for collaborations. The partnership meeting included ASPI board members, part-time contract workers, and volunteers as well as local gardeners, farmers, herbalists, musicians, storytellers, teaching artists, recent college graduates, and several local organizations. After the devastating floods in Southeastern Kentucky in August, ASPI helped coordinate with volunteers and other local non-profits like the Laurel County African American Heritage Center to send flood relief supplies to communities.
 
ASPI received a “Creative Aging” Grant from the Kentucky Arts Council/NEA and completed interviews with five creative elders in Kentucky who exemplify a commitment to and practice of lifelong learning. This support enabled ASPI to renew its oral history programming by providing fair compensation for the interview team as well as participants. This summer, ASPI collaborated with the University of Kentucky Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History to host regional meet-ups of oral historians from Kentucky and Central Appalachia with support from the national Oral History Association. Timi Reedy and Mark Spencer began conducting a series of “life history” interviews with founder Father Al Fritsch to document his long career in service to the region. ASPI is working with the Kentucky Arts Council and Kentucky Folklife Program to offer the acclaimed Community Scholars program at ASPI in the spring.

ASPI received grant support from the Epiphany Catholic Church 10 Percent Commitment Fund again this year. ASPI was honored to be nominated to the new Waymakers Collective: Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly. A Technical Assistance Grant from the Appalachian Community Fund enabled a small ASPI team to attend the inaugural Waymakers Gathering in Knoxville, Tennessee and make meaningful connections with other individuals and regional organizations. Waymakers membership makes ASPI eligible for invitation-only funding opportunities. We are honored to join this inspiring network of fellow Appalachian futurists working for regional sustainability and justice.
 
In October, we hosted a dozen service-learning students from University of Notre Dame, including two returning students from 2021 who led the group. The group spent the first couple of days helping with local clean-up projects at ASPI’s office and Rockcastle River Site and with Rockcastle Solid Waste. They spent the second half of their visit supporting relief and recovery efforts in the small community of Buckhorn hosted by local non-profit organization Buckhorn Children and Family Services. The students were moved and inspired by the people and stories they encountered. On their last night, everyone enjoyed Indian food, "Yard Party Games,” and live performances by local songwriters and musicians Robert Rorrer and Mitch Barrett. We are always grateful for and inspired by the generous energy and compassionate concern of the Notre Dame service-learning students.

The 2023 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is now posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the downloadable paper order form. Mark Spencer designed yet another great calendar of daily sayings and monthly photos from Bob Bagley, Warren Brunner, Gretchen L. Collins, and this year’s cover photo by Janet Kalisz. As always, Mark’s annual reflection thoughtfully introduces the New Year in the attached calendar brochure. We appreciate Mark’s ongoing creativity and contributions on behalf of ASPI. May you and your family and friends enjoy the images and daily reflections for a hopeful 2023!

Thanks to all the above individuals and organizations for making all this possible. Special thanks this year to: LeAnn Arnold, The Rev. Kay Williams, Father Al Fritsch, Mark Spencer, Judy Sizemore, Brenda Richardson, Jocelyn Lee, Darrell Wooton, Brooke Lee, James “Oja” Vincent, Warren Brunner, Ron Owens, Yolantha Harrison-Pace, Gretchen Collins, Martin Mudd, Nancy Seaberg, Bugz Fraugg, Josh Bills, Jerrie Bogie, Ben Tatum, James Renner, Holly Robinson, Wayne Riley, Mark Brown, Patty Wilder, Ketaki Bhattacharyya, Dominique Watts, and Talleri McRae. ASPI’s upcoming plans include maintaining gardens and landscaping in Mt. Vernon and Livingston; implementing accessibility improvements at the main office and on the ASPI website; expanded arts and culture programming, including oral histories and Community Scholars training; and continuing community partnerships.
 
We are amazed by the continued generosity and engagement of ASPI’s volunteers, community partners, project contractors, donors, and calendar enthusiasts. Thanks to everyone whose contributions help sustain ASPI’s mission and practice of working for healthy land and sustainable communities in Kentucky & Central Appalachia for 45 years. We are grateful for this fruitful year and look forward to future collaborations in 2023!
 
Sincerely,
 
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)

​Both service-learning groups spent most of the week in Rockcastle County, participated in local clean-up projects, and enjoyed a silent hike and evening cookout with resident volunteers Gretchen and Martin at the Rockcastle River site as well as a live performance by local songwriter and musician Mitch Barrett. In addition, Gannon spent a “farm day” working on projects at various local homesteads and completed a footbridge on a trail in the Berea College Forest at Indian Fort Theatre, and Notre Dame participated in a “Wild Health Summit” hosted by local community members. Both groups expressed gratitude for the hospitality, interactions, service projects, and natural environment they encountered throughout their busy week at ASPI. We are likewise grateful for valuable conversations and contributions with the tentative return of the service-learning program.
 
Last year, Berea College Special Collections and Archives received a Preservation Grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission to digitize the “Appalachian Historic Forest Conditions” Oral History Project conducted by Mark Spencer and Timi Reedy in the mid-1990s. These video interviews with elder (over 65) Appalachians about their recollections of the forest in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky are now available online. Thanks to Special Collections for collaborating and making these important interviews available to the public. 

Dear Friend,                                   
 
The colorful falling leaves and autumn weather are a beautiful reminder of how everything changes and fertilizes a dormant future. Needless to say, 2020 has been quite a year globally, regionally, and locally. ASPI has served the Appalachian region for 43 years and counting, and even this notorious year did not stop our work. We continued operating this year without any paid leadership or support staff, and we were able to provide housing and contract labor for some local folks, fiscal sponsorship of programming, and in-kind donations. 
 
First, we want to acknowledge and honor the passing of two important and devoted ASPI folks. For many years, Martha Bond was the dear and faithful administrative assistant who was the face behind the office and the voice behind the phone at ASPI (see her obituary and her online services). Joey Kesler was a former ASPI board member and long-time volunteer who also produced the early days of Father Al Fritsch’s Earth Healing program on WOBZ in London, Kentucky (see his obituary). We will forever miss both Martha and Joey and are grateful for their tremendous contributions to ASPI and the local community.

The ASPI board and other local volunteers have maintained daily operations/communications. This year, board president Timi Reedy and board member Father Jack Kieffer met weekly for a volunteer day at the main office to follow up on mail, fundraising, and tenant relations. Nancy Seaberg, former Grow Appalachia coordinator, continues helping with the garden and grounds when she can and often shows up to help with projects. Last year, Timi served as the service-learning coordinator for hosting the annual alternative fall break with students from University of Notre Dame, but this year, we took a service-learning hiatus due to the COVID-19 quarantine.
 
Even though some plans were cancelled or postponed, ASPI made strides in refurbishing facilities and continuing support for important projects. This year, we welcomed Scott Roberts and Brittany Burns as the new tenants and caretakers of the Cordwood house and Nature Center on the Rockcastle River, and Timi coordinated improvements of the River properties in collaboration with them and some local project helpers. In addition to general interior and exterior clean-up, both the Cordwood house and the riverside picnic shelter have new roofs. The cordwood trailer still needs substantially more work before it is inhabitable, but the River facilities overall are sparkling compared to the vandalism and disrepair in previous years. We moved a large tool shed from the old Mt. Vernon community garden to the office property. We also shared leftover seeds from previous Grow Appalachia programming with several local farmers and families, and we donated bulk remainders to the Rockcastle Farmers Market. The ASPI office just received a fresh exterior paint job and some minor repairs.

Thanks to Nancy, Scott and Brittany, Jacob Mudd, Bugz Fraugg, Jonny Wells, as well as occasional volunteers Jack Herranen and “Snoopy” Moberly for their hard work on ASPI’s behalf. Thanks also to all our supporters near and far who helped pay for new groundskeeping equipment, materials, labor, etc. through calendar sales and donations!
 
ASPI continues fiscal sponsorship of ArtsConnect Eastern Kentucky (ACEky), a collective of Kentucky artists providing art-related programming for incarcerated women in and out of jail and rehabilitation centers. ACEky received a 2020 Bridging Divides Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, which supported “a series of arts workshops to groups of women incarcerated in the Knox County Detention Center, and graduates and residents of Sky Hope Recovery Center for Women.” We look forward to our continued partnership with ACEky in support of art for healing and social change.

We also successfully partnered with Berea College Special Collections to apply for a Preservation Grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission to digitize the “Appalachian Historic Forest Conditions” Oral History Project. These oral histories are housed in Special Collections as part of a collection of archived organizational materials from ASPI donated several years ago. In the mid-1990s, Mark Spencer and Timi Reedy conducted these video interviews with elder (over 65) Appalachians about their recollections of the forest in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. According to Berea College Sound Archivist Harry Rice, the digitized collection “arrived just as things on campus were shutting to the public.” We look forward to listening to and sharing this rich and important project in the future.

In late September, we bid a bittersweet farewell to Father Jack who retired from his active service as a priest in Kentucky and moved to a Jesuit community in Michigan. We held a small distanced outdoor gathering in celebration of his service to ASPI. Before he left, Timi conducted five oral history interviews about his life and 28 years as a residential volunteer at ASPI, which will become part of the archives noted above. He will remain on the ASPI board remotely, and he and Timi continue weekly phone meetings. Just before Father Jack’s transition, we welcomed O.H. Jackson Napier who is the residential office assistant/caretaker for the next year. Jackson is originally from Breathitt County, Kentucky, is a Berea College graduate, and teaches pottery. Since he moved in, he cleaned up the raised garden beds and hoophouse in preparation for a community garden project he is leading with support from a Mountain Sentinels Fellowship.

The 2021 Simple Lifestyle Calendar is now posted on our website and available through PayPal or mail order by sending the paper order form included with this letter (also downloadable on our website). Mark Spencer designed another great collection of sayings and photos from Warren Brunner, Bob Bagley, Janet Kalisz, and this year’s beautiful cover photo of a heron is by John Fitzwater of Somerset. We hope you and your family and friends enjoy the images and daily reflections for hope and renewal in 2021!

We are already planning for ongoing operations and much-needed maintenance for the New Year, and ASPI’s upcoming plans include: community gardening; cordwood trailer repairs, including painting the roof and electrical repair; replacement of the office roof; and a mural on the outdoor cistern by local artist Jonny Wells after repairs are complete (if you're in Mt. Vernon, check out the Dolly Parton mural he helped work on down the street). We have received some service-learning inquiries, which look hopeful, but we will wait and see what happens... 

ASPI’s mission of practicing and promoting simple and sustainable living and livelihoods in Appalachia is more important than ever in a world where people are learning new ways of living, making do, and even doing without. We are grateful that the organization was already adapting to lean revenues and staff support and relying more on a small network of local volunteers, donor support from both individuals and organizations, and loyal fans of the calendar. As always, we are also grateful for and inspired by what is possible with mutual support in the local community, region, and our broader base of contributors!
 
Sincerely,
 
Timi Reedy (ASPI Board President) and Tammy Clemons (Board Secretary)