Why I Posted About The Green Festival

...First of all, it's not the Green Festival for the Green Party, it's the Green Festival for environmental sustainability, featuring tons of educational speakers and business exhibitors.

I wanted to show that there is a large contingent of people in the Chicago area that have Progressive values who may not even realize that's what these values are.

I also wanted to show what's possible with consistent effort and good planning.

Some day, Progressive Fest Illinois may look similar in photos and we're all looking forward to that time.

There are a lot of us around - and networking is what PFI is all about.

Regards,

Dan

My Trip To The 2008 Chicago Green Festival

For starters, I got off to a late start - one of my oldest friends was in town after a couple of years in Spain, so we were out together visiting and shooting pool until close to 1:00 am, by the time I got to bed the night before, it was close to 03:00.

At any rate, I got up late in the morning and started planning my itinerary in the festival guide.
(You can see more about the Green Festivals all over the country at www.greenfestivals.org )

Embedded here is a photo slide show from my trip to the fest. (Uses shockwave flash)




For those of you who may not be able to view the slideshow, there is a web album of the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/AquarianM/2008ChicagoGreenFestivalAtNavyPier

A few highlights:


The main fest exhibit area - about four football fields, I'd guess.


Yours truly at the fest:


The Chicago Skyline as seen from Navy Pier:



The Navy Pier Ferris Wheel after dark - this is around 200 feet tall:



I stopped in and watched the first hour of the Patchamama Alliance's
symposium entitled "Awakening The Dreamer" first off in one of the 3rd floor lecture rooms. You can check out an electronic version on their site, I believe. It was an interesting synthesis of the bigger picture formed by sustainable economy, energy, ans society. I'd recommend it.

After wards, I roamed the booths checking things out.

I picked up some organic lime shea butter at the Trillium Organics booth for my wife Saren - she loves the stuff for skin lotion, and says there's nothing better out there.

I also got her a four ounce pump spray aluminum bottle of citrus eucalyptus spray as an organic bug repellent from Blissoma aromatherapy.

For our friend Jim, I got a note pad made out of Mr. Ellie Pooh paper. This paper is a soft, fibery, acid-free paper made from...elephant dung from Sri Lanka. Apparently, the elephants in Sri Lanka trample the farmers' crops, and so they get upset and shoot them. One way the farmers can make up the elephant damage is by making paper products out of their pooh. According to the brochure, each one produces around 500 lbs of the stuff per day, and it's all veggie and almost pre-processed perfectly for paper making.

To note, there were several other types of treeless paper at the fest; one was made from some kind of bush in Nepal that you can take most of the leaves from each year, and it grows back.

For My wife and I both, I got some red African bush tea, otherwise known as Rooibos. It is of course organic, and caffeine-free. It also tastes very nice. I'm drnking a cup as I type this for you. I got it from Eco Teas.

For myself, I picked up a set of authentic Tibetan prayer flags.



According to the label, the tradition is that you hang them outside in the breeze with a specific event in mind, such as the birth of a child, the beginning of a journey, etc. The prayers written on the flags are prayers of prosperity and success. It is believed that the prayers are carried away on the winds. As the flags become weathered and the prayers can no longer be read, the prayers are believed to have been delivered.

I also stopped by Calvert Funds to get some advice on setting up an IRA that does socially responsible investing. They're going to work out an appointment for ,me to come into their office (which is right in my train station) and look over what I can do.

All in all, I really wish I could have stayed longer.

Now as to getting to the fest, since it was on a Saturday and I got out late, I had to drive downtown - I have a night-limited parking pass for one of the ramps downtown, but on the weekends I can be in there around the clock. However, my parking space is at least four miles, possibly five, from Navy Pier. I walked. There and back. On the return journey, it was after dark and raining. Not horribly hard, but a constant medium-light rain. Needless to say, by the time I got back to the truck, I was pretty damp. (Just so you know, my pickup is V6 and 2
two-wheel drive. I'm 6'6" and 330 lbs, so I can't fit in the majority of smaller vehicles. )

Altogether, it was a great and happy day.

Regards,

Dan

Big Changes In 2008...

There are some serious changes in store for Progressive Fest Illinois 2008.

First, Progressive Democrats of Illinois will no longer be the hosting organization for PFI. This is a voluntary decision made by PDI members in the interest of non-partisan outreach to all Progressives, regardless of political party.

Progressive Fest Illinois has become its own organization, in order to open this event to all Progressives. We will welcome volunteers regardless of party affiliation.

Also new for 2008 is our event date. Progressive Fest Illinois will be held all day on Saturday, September 20th, 2008.

Additionally, it has been suggested on numerous occasions and by many individuals that we should host PFI closer to the city - meaning the City of Chicago.

To that end, we have accepted an invitation to hold the event at the Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church of Palatine. This is a huge change and will likely have a major impact on the capabilities, scope, and size of the event this year. We are very much looking forward to working with Countryside Unitarian Universalist Church of Palatine, and are hoping for even greater success in 2008, as Progressive Fest Illinois becomes a staple on the yearly event calendar of Illinois and visiting Progressives.

Also due to the venue for this year, electioneering and partisan advocacy will not be allowed during the fest. This year, we need to keep it strictly to the issues.

The itinerary for Progressive Fest Illinois will now begin rapid development, and updates will be posted to this page regularly.

Please check back often, and we look forward to a fantastic year for Progressivism in Illinois for 2008!

Thank you for your visit,

Progressive Fest Illinois Staff

A Bit of PFI History

Progressive Fest Illinois is an idea originally conceived of by Dr. Hal Snyder - and inspired by Wisconsin's "Fighting Bob" fest.

Our first annual Progressive Fest Illinois was held in Big Rock, IL at the Marvel Davis farm, in October of 2006. Attendees included Gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney of the Green party, John Laesch and Ruben Zamora, both Democratic candidates contending for the US House IL 4th district seat formerly held by Republican Denny Hastert. (Interestingly, Marvel Davis's farm is only a mile from Denny Hastert's farm.) It was also attended by several members of Progressive Democrats of America - Chicago, and of course, at least 15 members of Progressive Democrats of Illinois, the little organization that put this thing together after endorsing Dr. Hal's idea.

The second annual Progressive Fest Illinois was also held at the Marvel Davis farm in October, 2007. Attendees included John Laesch, again contending for the Illinois 14th seat, Christine Cegelis, former IL 16th US House candidate, Code Pink, Women In Black, and multiple PDI members.

A bit of the 2007 Itinerary courtesy of Vote Chicago:

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Progressive Fest Illinois

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The location is the Marvel Davis Farm — 47W066 Jericho Rd. in Big Rock, about one mile south of Denny Hastert’s place in Kane County, IL. Take either US Hwy. 30 or IL Rte. 47 to Jericho Road near Big Rock and Sugar Grove, turn north - it’s about 6 or 7 miles down on the right-hand side. Look for the sign. (Call 815-483-8878 for help.)

Speakers list and other information below the fold.
Speakers include the following:

• Dan Stafford, PDI, “Sustainable Housing”
• Hal Snyder, PNHP, “Affordable Health Care for Everyone”
• Christine Cegelis, Greater Chicago Caucus, “Progressive Politics in Illinois”
• Dirk Enger, Midwest Homeless Shelter for Vets, “Looking After Our Returning Veterans”
• Mark Burger, Illinois Solar Energy Association, “Solar and Wind Power in Illinois”
• Julia Field, Code Pink and Jay Becker O’Neil, World Can’t Wait, “Dissent and Direct Action in Today’s Political Scene”

There will also be guitar music by Merv Collins, progressive poetry open mic, and more. The full schedule is here.

Admission is free, but you can register here just to give the organizers an idea of how many will be coming. Bring a picnic lunch — no food will be available at the event.

Madison Capital Times stories on Progressive Fest Illinois can be read here and here.
-more- "

Marvel Davis's farm is a beautiful setting, rural, with plenty of room and an electrified, two-level 19th-century renovated barn for use. Marvel Davis was kind enough to allow PDI to hold this event gratis, and we are all very grateful to her for those years.

A big thank you to all who made PFI a success in those two first years!

Welcome to Progressive Fest Illinois

Progressive Fest Illinois is an annual event for Progressives of all political persuasions. It is intended to celebrate Progressivism, forge bonds between Progressive individuals and organizations, and raise the visibility of Progressive values and presence in the great State of Illinois.

Very soon, details about the 3rd annual Progressive Fest Illinois will be appearing in these pages, along with some past history of the event.

Progressive Fest Illinois is a non-partisan event where members of any political party are welcome to attend. The idea is simply to find common ground on issues, and move forward with what most people agree on.

Progressive Fest Illinois welcomes and encourages the attendance and participation of individuals and organizations representing all races, religions, cultures, and ideologies who have an interest in peaceful, sustainable, and equitable progress in the State of Illinois, the United States of America, and the world.