The funding will be used for a Sustainable Communities Tour for the ELC.  This one-day trip was originally scheduled for July but had to be postponed due to conflicts.  We are currently scheduled to make this trip on Friday, October 30.

In a 12-passenger van, Extension staff and ELC representatives of all program areas will travel to Sylva, NC to meet with County Extension Director Rob Hawk and Chamber of Commerce Director Julie Spiro.  We’ll tour a number of downtown businesses, as well as a community garden site. As a group, we’ll discuss the role Cooperative Extension has played in the betterment of Sylva and surrounding areas.  The take-home will be two-fold:  1) we’ll collectively arrive at a working definition of “sustainable community” and will determine what has worked for Sylva that could also work for us, or what WON’T work for us.  2) ELC members will collaborate on a group project that highlights sustainable development in the Wise County area.