The News from Four Quarters

January 14, 2019

More Beef!

    Out in the pasture we have greeted the arrival of our first calf from our Scottish Highlanders, with two more calves on the way.
    This young one was born into a very cold night to a first-time mother, and they failed to hook-up! Chris Engdahl brought the calf into the office for the day and patiently got the pump primed by bottle feeding the little guy. A day later and all is well.
    Chris has also taken a real interest in managing the Highlander herd, and has begun training Mr. Copper in his future role as "Stock Dog."  Copper takes a keen interest as you can see. We will keep you updated.

December 18, 2018

Update on the Road Case

 


    We have very good news with the roadway case after our third court hearing on Friday Dec 18th.

    As you know, in our first hearing the court basically threw the book at us, and issued a ruling worded in such a way as to allow the court to order the closure of Four Quarters.

     In our second hearing of Aug 3rd the court reversed its position and recognized the engineering plans we had created at great expense, and perhaps hastened by the fact that the roadway had washed out just two days before, granted us emergency powers to proceed with the reconstruction of the washed out crossing according to plan. The court reserved for a future hearing any decision on "reasonable use," the legal doctrine on which it had based its threat of closure.

December 3, 2018

The Nightmare Festival at Four Quarters

It was a dark and stormy night...

It was a dark and stormy night again...

and again, and again.

And mud too. Lots of mud.

Such was the NightMare Festival at Four Quarters, our emergency response to 4,000 young people losing their longtime venue at Camp Ramblewood in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Seems some poor fool parked their car in someone else's front yard (that someone else being the local Judge) but that's another story!

The compelling story is that over the course of five years, Chad Bozzarelli and his organization, ProperOps, had proved the critics wrong by developing a very late season outdoor music event. So late season it was held on Halloween Weekend, with all the cold and wet weather that implies. There had been plenty of cold, wet weather, and in the early years, financials that were just above break-even. But by 2017 NightMare had become a stunning success, and had grown a small army of smiling, loyal supporters, all apparently to end not with a bang, but a whimper.

October 24, 2018

Our Wettest Year... EVER

Just about anyone who has been on the Land this year, at any of our major events or festival weekends, got rained on. And by that, I mean got rained on a LOT. Deluge Rain. Biblical Rain. Epic Rain. Wickermuck. Mud ’N’ Splash. Flood’s Rising. Big Mud. … you get the idea.

Since Beltaine, we have seen something like five out of six weeks wet at Four Quarters. Not till Stones Rising and immediately following, other than a brief bit of relief in July, did we see any real period of dry spells. Extended meaning – more than 48 hours rain free. Go mow the lawn while you can.

Where I live in Berkeley Springs, downtown got flooded three times. In the worst event in June, we lost roads, bridges, and the Cacapon Dam was overtopped and nearly breached. Ellicott City, MD had its downtown devastated by a muddy flash flood. In July, Baltimore received rainfall in the realm of 18 inches, normal is about 3.5. While I write this, from my studio window the lawn is still almost May-green in mid-October, even as leaves begin to fall. They don't seem to change color much this year, they just kind of get tired and fall off. Those of us with older houses are combating fierce outbreaks of mold in basements, kitchens, and between the walls thanks to the relentless wet conditions.

October 14, 2018

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

It is with great pride and deep appreciation that the Board of Directors welcomes back our past President Roger Grandstaff, who is returning to serve as a Seated Member of the Board of Directors in the capacity of President Emeritus. His deep wisdom, experience, and history of service are especially welcome.

October 1, 2018

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

For Release

The Board of Directors of Four Quarters InterFaith have a number of very important announcements to make.

1:  Mark Hargreaves is on temporary leave of absence from his position as Vice-President, as he improves his health. Mark has our prayers. Ivy Sturm will serve as a seated BoD Member in his stead during his absence. Sophia Shultz has resigned her position effective Sept 1st, citing the stress of her personal life. Our BoD has grown from the traditional four seats, to the present six seats, in accordance with our constitution.