You are invited to The 39th Annual Convening of the

Ozark Area Community Congress

@

Hammond Mill Camp, West Plains, MOzarks

Health and Wellness: People & Place

…is OACC’s theme this year.

Hi Friends,

All those who love and care about the Ozarks are invited to gather together once again to celebrate, appreciate, and learn from this phenomenal part of the Earth and each other…

OACC IS....

-The first and longest-standing bioregional congress.

-An ecologically-aware child- and family-friendly community village where together we learn, play, relax, and take care of each other.

-A meeting place for ecologically-informed, creative, talented people, growers, activists, operators of small businesses, musicians, writers and innovators; where you can meet with others about what’s of interest to you. OACC is just plain useful, valuable, and often life-changing!

-A decades-long forum for a sustainable and regenerative economy for the Ozarks.

-A place to network and get informed about significant issues affecting our lives in the Ozarks, in an ecological context.

OACC is a celebration of the Ozarks and all things restorative and ecological!

WHAT TO EXPECT….

– Workshops and presentations on ecologically-related subjects, campfires, music, poetry and readings, and homegrown Ozarks culture in general.

-Good food, as locally grown and organic as possible. An occasional dish may contain locally grown meat. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free? No problem, we have food for most lifestyles.

–Please come ready to help out daily with your choice of volunteer, community-sustaining work, whether in the kitchen, child care, grounds cleanup, and whatever it takes to keep our little village going. It’s fun to work together as well as play, and this is one way OACC keeps its costs so low. When you register we will sign you up for your choice of enjoyable volunteer opportunities. Your wholehearted volunteer help enables OACC to continue, and be so inexpensive to attend.

-Childcare will not be provided. Parents are welcome to work together to organize cooperative childcare. All parents and creative folks: please consider leading a fun activity that you can schedule during the Open Space session.

OACC 39 CO-SPONSORS….

For $160 (or more if you are able), you or your organization can be an OACC 36 Co-Sponsor. Co-sponsorships help us keep our registration costs down while giving good people and organizations recognition.

Your co-sponsorship gets you-

Two (2) adult admissions for the entire 2 1/2 days ($100 value)
Exhibit space at the event ($25 value)
Recognition at the OACC 38 event
Recognition in the printed brochure (if we receive cosponsorship by July 20)
Recognition on the website as a Co-Sponsor.
Recognition on our highly visited Facebook page
You will also be recognized in multiple OACC email updates between now and the event, giving you and your business or organization a wider exposure and more recognition than ever.

You can submit your co-sponsorship information to us online here or mail it to us using the Downloadable Co-Sponsor form here.

For more information, please contact Co-Sponsorship Coordinator at oaccleaf@gmail.com

**Check out this year’s Co-Sponsors*!**

Alford Forest, Inc, Brixey MO
Buffalo River Watershed Alliance, Jasper, AR
Sasha Daucus, Golden Light Center, Doniphan, MO
Gene Dunaway, Sustainable Strategies, Global
The Enchanted Wandering Gypsy, Barbie Rucker, Eldridge, MO
David Haenke, Brixey, MO
Residents of Hawk Hill Community Land Trust, Bryant Creek Watershed
Jay Jacobs, Dora, MO
Larry and Ruth Lewis, Osceola, MO
The Meadow Loft, on the square in Mountain Grove, MO
Mid-Missouri Peaceworks/Peace Nook, Columbia, MO
Patricia Mikkelson, Vegan Utopia Ecovillage, Huntsville, AR
Planet Drum Foundation, Shasta Bioregion
Regenerations Intellotech, LLC, Newkirk, OK
Renaissance Books & Gifts, Springfield, MO
Doug & Cathy Strubel, Little Mulberry Watershed, AR
Sweetwater Community Land Trust, Mansfield, MO
Mary Mike Taylor, Realtor, United Country, West Plains, MO
Tim & Tom, Southern Stars, San Francisco, CA
Martin Turner, Columbia, MO
Glenn Vaughn, Mountain View, MO
Dalayna Williams, ScumSucker Aquatic Pond Extraction Services, Springfield and Mountain Grove, MO.

GREAT THANKS TO OUR WONDERFUL C0-SPONSORS!

(*become one and help us bring this amazing event alive again this year!)

Check out this year’s program, below! (updated 9/3/18)

OACC includes both pre-scheduled and spontaneous presentations. Pre-scheduled topics are listed here. Previously unscheduled events are added to the roster on Friday evening, during the Open Space Process after the Opening Circle. Join us for Open Space to add your presentation to the OACC mix.

Program

Ozark Healers Panel. In honor of extraordinary healer Linda Smith, this session will feature a diverse range of practitioners who make their home in the Ozarks and who assist at the beginning of life, at the end, and in-between. Panel speakers are Denslow Brown, of Drury, MO, who was Linda’s partner in life for 30 year, and oversaw the green burial arrangements at the time of her passing; Jessica Patten, of Hot Springs, AR, who has a passionate involvement in birthing: as a home-birthing mother, birth doula and lactation consultant student; Linda Stoffel of Dora, MO who is a massage therapist and Rubenfels Synergy Practitioner; and Annette Joseph, of Van Buren, MO, minister at Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Poplar Bluff, MO. Panel facilitated by Sasha Daucus.

Wellness in the Woods. Get to know the forest in a whole new with this walk on Saturday afternoon, led by former MU Forest Ecology Professor Rose-Marie Muzika, who is now a curator with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, and a partner with forestry consultants Sustainable Forestry Solutions, St. Louis. Says Rose-Marie, “just as we are able to identify characteristics of our own personal vitality, we can learn to identify features of the forest that indicate sustainability or might suggest otherwise.”

Creating Kombucha. Join kombucha-maker Mike Powers for a hands-on demo making this ancient nutritious fermented beverage. Bring a jar and take home your own SCOBY starter!

The Ecology of Health. OACC co-founder David Haenke lays out his vision of the ecological foundations of health: for humans, all species, the Ozarks, and the ecosystems, watersheds, and bioregions of our planet.

State of the Ozarks. This popular annual session offers the opportunity to hear what others are doing and to share news from your neck of the woods! Be prepared to give a short talk about your event, project, organization, business, or ideas. Whether you’re new or a long-timer, this session can help you find connections.

Ecotourism & Disaster Recovery. Tami Hale and Rickie Maples of Ozark Vitality tell about their community recovery and development work along the Current River watershed, to improve the economy by focusing on unique aspects of our regional identity.

Caring Circles. Transformational trainer Gene Dunaway returns to OACC to lead a discussion about preparing for illness and end-of-life caretaking of ourselves and each other.

Fire in the Ozarks. Joe Marschall, Oak Woodlands & Forests Fire Consortium, will discuss fire’s historical and modern role in shaping natural communities in the Ozarks.

Contra Dance. Caller Jim Hawkins, Fayetteville, AR, will guide us for an energetic contra dance, accompanied by Jeremy Myers, Ava, MO of Borderlander’s Call and friends Steve and Lynn Scott, of Springfield, MO. Says Jim, “As a teacher and caller I aim to get folks moving to music with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of fun. I grew up in Detroit dancing to the Motown beat, and family roots in ante-bellum Missouri might explain my bones vibrating to older notes, too. I enjoy the way contra and square dances have co-evolved over the centuries with music and sociable gatherings. They help fill a deep need for community and movement in rhythm. C’mon! Clap your hands and stamp your feet! We’re gonna have a good time!”

Forest Gardening in the Ozarks. Ozark native Richard Herman will talk about his 18 years of forest gardening.

Green Homes as Healthy Homes. How do you know if your home is healthy? Explore “how-to” with Mary Mike Taylor.

Herbs of the Ozarks. Jamie Jackson, owner of Missouri Herbs, tells how to use wild plants—both native and naturalized– for the health of your family and garden.

Go Vegan! Trish Mikkelson, a passionate animal rights activist, seeks to inspire a vegan lifestyle, which can help the environment, health and animals.

Coffeehouse Talent Show. From year one of OACC (1980) on, Coffeehouse has made one thing clear…OACC folks are talented! Experience what our entertaining folks have to offer this year!

Children’s Programs. Calling all creative folks! No one has stepped forward to organize for kids, so please consider leading a fun activity that you can schedule during the Open Space session.

Program Subject to Change.

Program subject to change. For more information contact General Coordinator: ekndl@socket.net

GENERAL SCHEDULE….

Friday

We highly encourage you to come to OACC on Friday afternoon, register and be a part of the Opening Circle at 6 PM. The Opening Circle is our first chance to be together as a whole group, and one of the most important aspects of OACC. It gives everyone a chance to introduce themselves to each other, find out what others are doing and what they are passionate about, where they are from, and start participating actively in OACC right away. It is at the opening circle that you get to see those who you most might want to get to know more and meet with during the rest of OACC.

Noon. Set up begins.

3 p.m. Registration opens.

3—5 p.m. Vendors set up exhibits, to display throughout OACC their Ozark-based, environmentally-friendly, cottage-industry products.

5 p.m. Dinner (simple snack-type foods) Please bring potluck items.

6 p.m. Opening Circle. Introduce yourself, make connections, learn about other participants. Very important for the full OACC experience.

After Opening Circle. Open Space Process. This is your time to sign up if you want to give a presentation or host a discussion. We set the final schedule then. OACC is all about sharing and participating!

7:30 p.m. or so. Contra Dance! Caller Jim Hawkins, Fayetteville, will guide us for an energetic contra dance, accompanied by toe-tapping live music from members of the Creek Stink band.

Later. Fire circle and/or drum circle (conditions permitting)

Saturday

7:30 a.m. Breakfast.

9 a.m.—noon. Workshops, presentations.

10:30 a.m. State of the Ozarks.

Noon—1:30 p.m. Lunch.

1:00—6 p.m. Workshops, presentations, sessions.

6—7:30 p.m. Dinner.

After dinner. Coffeehouse Talent Show—Major fun! Everyone, from the smallest child, is encouraged to perform, be it with music, poems, theatrics, dance, or jokes.

Sunday

7:30 a.m. Breakfast.

9 a.m. Workshops, presentations.

10:30 a.m. OACC 39 Congress Planning Session.

All are encouraged to attend this session of the Congress, which determines the future of OACC!

12:30 p.m. Lunch.

After lunch: Silent auction for leftover food. Cleanup.

After auction and cleanup: Closing Circle.

FOOD….

We serve mostly vegetarian meals from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch, prepared as much as possible with organic, local, or fair-trade ingredients.

Please help us keep registration costs low by donating food and/or bringing food to share. It could be a covered dish for Friday night’s potluck, if convenient, or perhaps your garden produce, or bulk food, or wholesome items like bread, fruit or cheese, farm eggs, mushrooms, garlic, onions, etc. An occasional dish of locally-sourced meat may also be included. Such dishes are labeled. Please sign up before OACC by visiting the food donations page to see a list of foods that are particularly needed to fill out our menu for the weekend or contact our Food Coordinator to let her know what you can bring.

Food Coordinator: brushangels@yahoo.com

WHAT TO BRING….

You will need

your own soap, shampoo, towels
sleeping bags and bedding
a chair for yourself
Clothes suitable for being outside in the Ozark fall weather: Be prepared for Ozark fall weather, which can range from mild and dry to cool and wet.

Also Great to bring, if possible

food donations
an extra chair or two for others
drums, musical instruments, your songs
acts for the coffeehouse talent show
swim gear and river shoes
your kids, your friends

Childcare will not be provided. Parents are welcome to work together and with us to organize cooperative childcare during the Congress.

WHAT NOT TO BRING….

PLEASE DON’T BRING DOGS AND OTHER PETS

PLEASE DON’T BRING ALCOHOL OR OTHER DRUGS

LODGING….

Hammond Mill Camp is a beautiful CCC-era camp surrounded by the Mark Twain National Forest. It’s located off CC Highway about 15 miles west of West Plains. It has cabins, bathrooms, showers, a dining-meeting hall, lots of outdoor play space, and the North Fork River can be reached by a 30 minute trail hike directly from the camp through National Forest land.

Plan for Ozark fall weather which can range from mild and dry to cool and wet.

Bunks and mattresses are provided in the dorm rooms. BRING YOUR OWN BEDDING, SLEEPING BAGS, PILLOWS…

Tent sites are also available.

Please, no dogs, other pets, drugs or alcohol.

DIRECTIONS….

From West Plains: Go west on Hwy CC (Gibson Ave.) 15 miles to Camp entrance, on the right. (As landmarks, Hwy AD goes left 5 miles before, and the Ozark County line is 1.6 miles before).

Hammond Mill Camp Phone: (417) 256-2025

COSTS….

Registration fees cover food, lodging, and programs for all three days. It’s cheaper than staying home

-Adults (ages 17 & up): $50

-Young ones (ages 5 to 16): $25

-Youngest ones, 4 and under: no cost

Attendance for the whole three days is encouraged, but day rates will be pro-rated. Please help us out and register as soon as you get to OACC, or pre-register here.

Attendees under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

WHY IS OACC DIFFERENT AND EXCEPTIONAL? WHAT IS A “CONGRESS”?

OACC as a “congress” is distinguished clearly from a run-of-the-mill “conference” in that it is a gathering of peers (not just conference attendees passively consuming information from paid “experts” and “professionals”) who inexpensively and on a volunteer basis organize and conduct the event themselves as a temporary green “village,” take care of themselves (preparing food, providing their own entertainment and presentations from within the group itself, cleaning up, etc.), and decide among themselves by consensus the present and future directions and content of OACC as an informal “organization.”

HOW YOU CAN ENSURE A FRUITFUL AND INSPIRING OACC 37…

1) Come to OACC and contribute your talents and energies to the community!

2) Invite and bring one or more like-minded folks who you would like to be there with!

For Further Information:

Oaccleaf@gmail.com