I hope this finds everyone well and thriving, and having a wonderful summer.
ASPI would like to deeply and humbly apologize for our long absence from communication aside from the December 2024 Thanksgiving letter. We have been dealing with the loss of our board secretary, Tammy Clemons, please view her obituary here. Tammy was our administrative glue and held us together on that end. Her last administrative act in any capacity was the December letter. She served as board president for many years and had a deep understanding of the history and workings of ASPI. She helped us strategically plan our direction forward in the coming years. She also held all of our passwords and was the primary gatekeeper of our online presence. Hence our long-term delay.
Tammy's wake will be held on November 1st, time and location details are forthcoming.
It has been a time of grieving for us all as we have so recently lost our founder, Al Fritsch, and Tammy so close to one another. Things fell apart and waned, as they do from time to time.
ASPI and Father Al deeply influenced the trajectory of mine and Tammy's lives when we were young and forming which direction we would travel together. Father Al's example of service to the region and sustainable practices culturally, environmentally, and responsible relatively benign uses of energy shaped who we would become and how we would live out our lives. We have been inextricably tied to ASPI for over 30 years. We are forever grateful for the humble example of Father Al in our lives, and the circle that was created where we eventually stepped into leadership was possible because Father Al gave us a roadmap on living simply, devoting ourselves to the health of ourselves, our community and the earth. We followed this map our entire lives and I will continue to do so for the rest of mine.
ASPI would like to deeply and humbly apologize for our long absence from communication aside from the December 2024 Thanksgiving letter. We have been dealing with the loss of our board secretary, Tammy Clemons, please view her obituary here. Tammy was our administrative glue and held us together on that end. Her last administrative act in any capacity was the December letter. She served as board president for many years and had a deep understanding of the history and workings of ASPI. She helped us strategically plan our direction forward in the coming years. She also held all of our passwords and was the primary gatekeeper of our online presence. Hence our long-term delay.
Tammy's wake will be held on November 1st, time and location details are forthcoming.
It has been a time of grieving for us all as we have so recently lost our founder, Al Fritsch, and Tammy so close to one another. Things fell apart and waned, as they do from time to time.
ASPI and Father Al deeply influenced the trajectory of mine and Tammy's lives when we were young and forming which direction we would travel together. Father Al's example of service to the region and sustainable practices culturally, environmentally, and responsible relatively benign uses of energy shaped who we would become and how we would live out our lives. We have been inextricably tied to ASPI for over 30 years. We are forever grateful for the humble example of Father Al in our lives, and the circle that was created where we eventually stepped into leadership was possible because Father Al gave us a roadmap on living simply, devoting ourselves to the health of ourselves, our community and the earth. We followed this map our entire lives and I will continue to do so for the rest of mine.
We have some big changes going on at ASPI. We have a new board that is strong and diverse and committed to the future unfolding of ASPI for the benefit of all. See their biographies and histories on the ASPI Staff & Board page.
We have been partnering with Notre Dame through service learning since 1979, and it has been a wonderful sustained collaboration. As of this summer, we have begun a deeper more sustained partnership with Notre Dame that has included an 8-week summer internship administered by the Center of Social Concerns from Notre Dame. Our first intern is Blayne Schwarz, and all I can say is she arrived in the nick of time. Alongside our new board member, Julie Guthrie, they are not only giving us access to our webpage and email for the first time in a year but bringing us technologically up to date and streamlining our processes so we can continue this work upon Blayne's departure back to school. I cannot express how important and timely this work has been. All of this is happening alongside the many other things Blayne is accomplishing on behalf of ASPI. Be on the lookout for more blog posts for those new comings and goings!
Our longest-serving staff member and our deepest institutional memory, Mark Spencer, has suffered recent heavy losses this past year as well. His losses are threefold. Mark continued his work with Father Al beyond Father Al's involvement with ASPI, and so, vicariously served as a bridge between Father Al and ASPI for many years. He is largely the reason Father Al bequeathed all of his work, his YouTube page, and Earthhealing organization to ASPI. Mark lost the person who gave him shelter after the fire at the ASPI river property that destroyed his longtime home, this year in an accident, he lost Tammy and Father Al. As a result he has moved to the rectory of the Catholic church located behind the main ASPI office and has been instrumental in helping the office stay functioning with Tammy's health issues keeping us away. He is available at the drop of a hat and serves with humor, intelligence, and heart. He is beloved by all and still produces the best calendar every year without fail. He also films all of our workshops, and together he and I continue to conduct oral histories of folks in the ASPI community every year, filming those as well for posterity.
Some of the changes at ASPI this year will include opening up a store, which has largely consisted of the calendar and cards, we will now include non-perishable items from the local community to help folks prosper. These items will include but are not limited to soap, ASPI t-shirts, salve, etc. We are very excited about this project. It bodes well for the future of ASPI.
We have been up to so many things and they will be laid out here by Julie and Blayne, but programming and community involvement is thriving and so is ASPI despite our recent ability to communicate effectively online.
I wish you all the best and deeply appreciate your continued support. Thank you all for traveling this road with us as well lift ASPI from the ashes, as well as our own hearts and spirits!
Timi
We have been partnering with Notre Dame through service learning since 1979, and it has been a wonderful sustained collaboration. As of this summer, we have begun a deeper more sustained partnership with Notre Dame that has included an 8-week summer internship administered by the Center of Social Concerns from Notre Dame. Our first intern is Blayne Schwarz, and all I can say is she arrived in the nick of time. Alongside our new board member, Julie Guthrie, they are not only giving us access to our webpage and email for the first time in a year but bringing us technologically up to date and streamlining our processes so we can continue this work upon Blayne's departure back to school. I cannot express how important and timely this work has been. All of this is happening alongside the many other things Blayne is accomplishing on behalf of ASPI. Be on the lookout for more blog posts for those new comings and goings!
Our longest-serving staff member and our deepest institutional memory, Mark Spencer, has suffered recent heavy losses this past year as well. His losses are threefold. Mark continued his work with Father Al beyond Father Al's involvement with ASPI, and so, vicariously served as a bridge between Father Al and ASPI for many years. He is largely the reason Father Al bequeathed all of his work, his YouTube page, and Earthhealing organization to ASPI. Mark lost the person who gave him shelter after the fire at the ASPI river property that destroyed his longtime home, this year in an accident, he lost Tammy and Father Al. As a result he has moved to the rectory of the Catholic church located behind the main ASPI office and has been instrumental in helping the office stay functioning with Tammy's health issues keeping us away. He is available at the drop of a hat and serves with humor, intelligence, and heart. He is beloved by all and still produces the best calendar every year without fail. He also films all of our workshops, and together he and I continue to conduct oral histories of folks in the ASPI community every year, filming those as well for posterity.
Some of the changes at ASPI this year will include opening up a store, which has largely consisted of the calendar and cards, we will now include non-perishable items from the local community to help folks prosper. These items will include but are not limited to soap, ASPI t-shirts, salve, etc. We are very excited about this project. It bodes well for the future of ASPI.
We have been up to so many things and they will be laid out here by Julie and Blayne, but programming and community involvement is thriving and so is ASPI despite our recent ability to communicate effectively online.
I wish you all the best and deeply appreciate your continued support. Thank you all for traveling this road with us as well lift ASPI from the ashes, as well as our own hearts and spirits!
Timi
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