| # | Dates | intern | first | last | town |
| The focus for 2017 was getting ready for the Strawbale Studio 20TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION! 20 Years ago Fran Lee wanted a structure, and I wanted to build. Many, many hands accomplished that goal. | .This process resulted in lots of completion on both the buildings and surrounding environments ! | Many skills learned and practiced, and friendships made as intern, volunteer & workshop folks co-created ! | This list contains many, but not all the the projects and happenings during 2017. Such richness ! Appreciation to all who contributed! II may add more pictures to this report. | ||
| STRAWBALE STUDIO 2017 REPORT: Internships, Activities, Reskilling & Projects. Gifts & Donars | 2017 PHOTOS SLIDESHOW | 2017 PHOTOS as a GALLERY | |||
| numbers attending | 2017ACTIVITIES include: | ||||
| 480 | Monthly POTLUCKS Hosted | FULL MOON POTLUCK, Bonfire & Tour | 30-50 folks per month attended the Potluck | 480 total | |
| 180 | TOURS & Volunteering | TOURS of buildings & grounds during 2017. | Participants: | 180 Tours/guests | |
| DONATIONS ! | Click here for folks who contributed money, expertise, support & gifts. | ||||
| Intern days | 2017 Internships & Worktrade included 17 fine folks ! | CATAGORY . Intern, 1/2 Pay Worktrade. WWoof (worktrader) | WINTERN | HOMETOWN | |
| 5 | Jan 14 – 19, 2017 | WWOOF | Sonnie | Noergaar | No Winternship. Db ill. |
| 6 | Feb 6 – 12, 2017 | Volunteer | Emerson | Schreiner | Grand Rapids, Sand Sculpture |
| 13 | April 10th to 23rd. | WWOOF | Alice | Wenham | Michigan, traveling the Americas |
| 30 | APRIL 1-30, 2017 | WWOOF | Cassidy | Stock | Holland, Michigan, USA |
| 30 | MAY 1-30, 2017 | 1/2pay WKTD | Archer | Greenhalgh | Vermont, USA |
| 30 | MAY 1-30, 2017 | wwoof | Alex | Heubel | Northville Michigan, USA |
| 30 | MAY 1-30, 2017 | 1/2pay WKTR | Andy | Bologovsky | Montvale, New Jersey, USA |
| 17 | May 22 – June 8, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, Wisconsin, USA |
| 30 | JUNE 1 – JULY 30, 2017 | Essentials Class + WWOOF | Blair | Schneck | San Francisco, California USA |
| 30 | JUNE 1-30 | WWOOF | Cindy | Breedveld | Michigan, USA traveling. |
| 2 | JUNE 29-30,2017 | July Essentials Course & Wwoof | Dominic | Gomez | Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| 25 | JULY 1-25, 2017 | July Essentials Course & Wwoof | Dominic | Gomez | Dearborn, Michigan, USA |
| 20 | JULY 10-30, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, WI |
| 7 | AUGUST 1-7, 2017 | 1/2 pay wktr | Madi | Gaebler | Beloit, WI |
| 15 | AUG 15-30, 2017 | INTERN | Emily | Gaudreau-Brown | Ontario Canada |
| 28 | AUG 2-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | Brighton, Michigan, USA |
| 15 | SEPT. 1-15, 2017 | INTERN | Emily | Gaudreau-Brown | Ontario Canada |
| 30 | SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | Brighton, Michigan, USA |
| 30 | SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mathew | McCoul | Burville, Michigan, USA |
| 6 | SEPT 24-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mary Beth | Stanton | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| 20 | SEPT 10-30 | Wwoof | Shelby | Harris | Traverse City, MI |
| 16 | SEPT 14-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Davin | Schaefer | Pennsylvania, USA |
| 16 | SEPT 14-27, 2017 | Wwoof | Tyler | Schaefer | |
| 30 | Oct 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| 30 | SEPT 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Mathew | McCoul | Burville, Michigan, USA |
| 30 | Nov 1-30, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| 4 | Dec 1-4, 2017 | Wwoof | Paul | Beaudet | see above |
| # of folks | Activity | Details | |||
| 2017 WORKSHOPS & ACTIVITIES | |||||
| 6 | January 14 & 15, 2017 | Thatching & Reed Collection | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 3 | January 21 & 22, 2017 | Round Pole Framing Basics | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 5 | January 28 & 29, 2017 | FIRE ! Rocket Stove & Earth Oven | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Class for Wintern and thePublic |
| 0 | February 4 & 5, 2017 | Earth Plaster & Sculpting | cancelled – illness | ||
| February 28, 2017 | February Strawbale Studio Newsletter | Deanne Bednar | |||
| 50 | March 17, 2017 | Unitarian Universalist Church of Farmington ~ Presentation | Deanne Bednar | Slideshow/presentation at the church | Co-creating with Earth ~ Wholly Connected. |
| 7 | March 21, 2017 | At Grand Valley College: Rocket Stove workshop / slideshow by Deanne Bednar | Sarah Lucas Chatterley | Graduate Assistant Sustainable Ag Project |
Youssef Darwich Farm Manager |
| 10 | April 10-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar guest at MSU | Assist Steve Baibaks art class: | Found Materials Class & Peckham services. |
| 9 | April 16, 2017 | Joy of Foraging Class | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Instructors |
| 50 | April 22, 2017 | Huron Valley Earth Day ~ SBS exhibit table | Tanya Metfah | hosted table | 17 sign ins, many visitors. |
| 237 | April 21-23, 2017 | MI Earth Day Fest ~ Rochester, MI | exhibit / activities | 37 sign ins | 100,s visited & hands-on. |
| 5 | March 1-30, 2017 | May Internship – Boat Launch & Bench ! | Worktraders | The A Team + Madi | |
| 55 | May 10, 2017 | Full Moon Potluck + Permaculture Meetup | hosted at | Strawbale Studio | 49 sign ins. |
| 24 | May 11, 2017 | Waldorf School – 3rd grade fieldtrip to SBS | Linda Williams | is their teacher | 20 students, 5 adults |
| 8 | May 13, 2017 | Agro-Forest Permablitz | Jared | Bogdonov-Hanna | Guest Instructor |
| + Pizza in the Earth Oven | |||||
| 10 | May 14, 2017 | Foraged Brunch (see the VIDEO) | Deanne Bednar | Kelly Theide | Guest Instructor |
| 5 | May 17, 2017 | Baker College – Interior Design Class visit | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | Tour and Hands-on |
| May 28 | Family Adventure Day | individual family | attended | ||
| 19 | May 29 | Biochar Workshop | Karl Kaufman | Gaylin Kaufman | Instructors |
| 12 | June 12, 2017 | Oakland University Permaculture Class | Jared Bogdonov-Hanna | Fay Hanson | Deanne Bednar tour & activity |
| June – October, 2017 | Finishing Structures at Strawbale Studio | See details below | DB + 2017 intern | Strawbale Studio, Hobbit Sauna, ID Cabin, Kids Cottage, | |
| June & July 2017 | Kensington Kids Cottage Restoration | Blair S & Cindy B. | Paul B. & Emily G-B | plasters & sculpt some walls, patch & oil bench | |
| 17 | July 1-9, 2017 | 9 Day Natural Building SKILL BUILDER | Deanne Bednar | Chris McClellan | Instructors |
| July 7, 2017 | Christian Smith, Neighborwood presentation for the July Intensive. | Designs for an evolving Ecovillage | Land located by Ann Arbor, MI | ||
| 19 | July 29, 2017 | Bio Char Workshop – class & hands-on | Karl Kaufman | Gaylin Kaufman | Instructors |
| 2 | August 1, 2017 | Volunteer Day 🙂 | Krisi Holmstrom & Steve Bean |
Living in Ann Arbor, heating with wood. | Chickens, permaculture ! |
| 122 | August 27, 2017 | Exhibit / Demo at Eastern Market | 22 sign in 100+ view /participate | Deanne Bednar | for the Jewish Food Fest |
| Interns – exhibit table, cob demo + | Paul Beaudet, | Tanya Meftah | Emily Gaudreau-Brown | ||
| August 28, 2017 | BioChar Workshop | Karl & Gaylin | Kaufmann | Guest Instructors | |
| 12 | September 11-15, 2017 | Artist in Residence ~ Michigan State U. Residential College of Arts & Humanities | Deanne Bednar | Support a natural building project. | For the Found Materials art class taught by Steve Baibak |
| 32 | September 23, 2017 | Strawbale Studio 20th Celebration | Deanne Bednar | Intern and Friends | A wonderful gathering of friends, old and new |
| 10 | October 24, 2017 | Baker College, Interior Design Class. Fieldtrip to Strawbale Studio | Deanne Bednar | Tour and Hands-on. | Ann Jacobs, Design Instructor at Baker College |
| 80 | October 27-29, 2017 | Great Lake BIONEERS Detroit | Deanne Bednar | Co-Presenter | at Marygrove College, Detroit |
| 20 | October 24, 2017 | Exhibit Table – hosted by Interns | Paul Beaudet | Mathew McCoul | 20 sign-ins. 80+ viewed table |
| 18 | Co-presenters of a Learnshop | Greg Crawford | Maina Petre | Retrofit with Natural Materials. | |
| 24 | November 8, 2017 | Detroit Waldorf School ~ 3rd Grade visit | Deanne Bednar | Tour & Hands-on | Ben Lindstrom, teacher of 20 students + 5 adults. |
| 2 | December 2017 | Childrens Natural Building. Planning for 2018 Project in Elkhart Indiana | Deanne Bednar, Tyler Schaeffer | WellField Gardens Coordinator: Josh Steffen | Teach a class using various wall systems on a Childrens’ Tool Shed at the Wellfield Gardens |
| 20 | December 6, 2017 | GLEA – Zoom Slideshow presentation | Deanne Bednar | Building with local, natural materials | Great Lakes Environmental Alliance |
| 7 | December 9, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | |
| 10 | December 10, 2017 | Candle-Making & Holiday Gifts Class | Deanne Bednar | Instructor | |
| GUEST INSTRUCTORS, Kelly Theide, Jared Bogdonov-Hanna, Micah Lindquist, Karl & Gaylin Kaufman. Tyler & Davin Schaeffer. Co-presenters Greg Crawford & Maina Peitre. Assistants Tanya Meftah and others ! | |||||
| BUILDING PROJECTS | |||||
| New Boat Launch is built at the swamp by the May “A-Team + Madi” | Initiated by Andy Bologovsky and built by the May Interns ~ includes a Lime plastered Bench, Fire Pit & Boat Slip and stone bench. | Awesome addition to the land. | |||
| The Flying Toad (aka Identity Cabin) | This new structure includes curvy logs & benches, new strawbale walls, earth plasters & bottle window and living roof The porch addition was constructed by the July 9-Day Natural Building Essentials Course | Interns built the walls, plasters, benches & details including a lashed ladder to the green roof! | |||
| Oxford Kids Cottage Ridge | The “Oak & Oat” ridge of straw & wood was finished on the thatched roof. | Tyler Schaeffer championed this project. | |||
| Oxford Kids Cottage Door & Pipes | A new beautiful arched door was built and installed, the Rocket Stove pipe in and stabalized, and windows are under construction. | Gene Vilenni is building the windows & doors ! | Gene stabalized the Rocket Stove exterior pipes. | ||
| Spiral Chamber revival ! | Renewal ! Wattle & Daub Walls removed, support posts replaced and stabilized and ready for a new wall system in 2018! | Thanks to Matt, Spencer, Paul, Shelby + | |||
| Rumford Fireplace & wood box | The fireplace in “my cabin” recieved finish plasters and sculpting. An old trunk was made | into a wood box with leather hinges. | |||
| Open Pole Barn re-organization ! | Lots of improvements in storage ! Wow. Roof fixed New shelves in, bricks & wood organized, lots of sorting, consolidation, recycling. | Thanks to Paul & Matt | |||
| Things Fixed ! | Bathtub pipes fixed, bathroom sink leak fixed ! Kitchen door replaced from Habitat for Humanity. Freezer decommissioned. | Kitchen organized, faucet replaced & dishwasher out! | Special thanks to Andy Bologovsky & Paul Beaudet ! | ||
| New Strawbalestudio.org website created | A website re-do & software upgrade. Thanks to Archer Greenhalgh ! | ||||
| 2017 RESKILLING PROJECTS | |||||
| Tadelakt – lime plaster finish | Emily Gaudreau-Brown & Paul Beaudet “tadylakted” the bathroom sink surround for my birthday. Beautiful ! | traditional polished water-proof finish. | |||
| Apple harvesting from the land. | So much collecting, dehydrating & being creative with apples in all sorts of food!! | Thanks especially to Paul Beaudet | |||
| Charging Bio-Char with urine. | This natural nitrogen source turns charcoal to a soil amendment ! | ||||
| Black Ash Basket-Making | A black ash log was soaked in the swamp & pounded to peel off strips of wood for start-to-finish basket-making ! | Great Lakes Traditional Arts Gathering | Tyler & Davin Schaeffer from Pennsylvania | Instructors | |
| Wood Projects | Matt McCoul & Paul championed the cutting dead trees on the land, and processing them. Lots of wood carving going on ! | Spoon carving, chopsticks + eating bowl | Many interns tried their hand at carving. | Paul Beaudet created many many items, including a bowl, door handles + | |
| Bucking Saw Horse | Built of local round poles for cross-cutting logs. Tyler led the way with by building the bucking horse. | 2-person buck saw, tylers, was used to cut .. | ..downed trees into sections for benches, projects & firewood. | ||
| Freezer shut down | Energy Efficiency improvement ! There is still a combination refrigerator/freezer, but the extra freezer is empty and off ! | ||||
| Mushroom production + forage | Innoculated Shiitake logs are still producing after soaking. Foraged ‘shrooms: Dryads Saddle, Morel, Turkey Tail, Velvet Foot | ||||
| Food experiments ! | LOTS ! Kimchi of all sorts ! Sourdough wraps with creative additions ! More !! | ||||
| Kitchen improvements | Dishwasher out, storage shelfs in. Several cupboard cleared out, simplified ! | Paul champions improvements! | |||
| Yoga | Daily yoga on site, sometime on the lawn + weekly class at Hamsa Yoga in Lake Orion. | Alan Harras, teacher at Hamsa. | Hamsa Yoga weekly in Lake Orion. | ||
| Compassionate Communication | Communication Skills practiced, some study groups attended | NVC (Non-violent communication) | Ghandi Peace Day at 3 Roods Farm. | ||
| CSA Food Harvest at 3 Roods Farm | Once a month, May through September, Interns help harvest vegetables and fruits for the weekly share of food that people prepaid for. | ||||
| Connections with local farms | Interns visit East River Farm, getting eggs + meet animals. Harvest the CSA food at 3 Roods Farm 5 x, Attend the Ghandi Peace Day at Three Roods Farm | ||||
| Oakland Co.Permaculture Meetup | Attended monthly by intern. Re-Skilling lesson “Skill-Share” at each event. | Held at local farms | & other regional venues | ||
| Building Community | Deanne & others took theThom Bond Compassion Course online. | ||||
| GUESTS ~~ in addition to the many who come to the Potluck ! Dimitri Flam, studying yoga, permaculture, Jared Aiken and sister from Ontario, yoga and natural skills. Michael Mallon – brave spaces, super-hero training academy. Linda Jackson, Clarkston, MI, Peggy Maggid, retired elementary teacher, Susan Schwenn, Battle Creek, MI. Kay Fedewa guest with Dana Driscoll & friends. Ann Ford, Birmingham, MI. Charlie Reischl, Ann Arbor, MI. Emerson Schreiner, Grand Rapids. Jolene Ciglano, | Fallon Januska, Matt Swain, Emily Tour. Ruthie Lane, Antioch College & Auburn Hills, Michigan. Genevieve Grover, traveling the Americas, Brita Anderson, studying natural building in Ontario. Peter Simic, co-manager Community Farm of Ann Arbor, Dominec Juarez, previous intern, NY. Gaylyn Kaufman, MI Ecovillage Movement, Christian Smith, Neighborwood presentation for the July Intensive, Andy Bologovski & friend, NY state, Holly Wunderlich, Dori, AK & Mira .Rachel Rogers, Ronni Marcus, , Jen Shannon. Jim & Doris, Keon Walker, Rabi Arnie & Robert Crowe & friend Marie …and more ! If I have time, I will continue to add in the names. | ||||