Green eggs and pancakes

Green eggs and pancakes!
“No, it’s not Dr. Seuss,” says Chico Peace & Justice Center spokesman Sheldon Praiser. “It’s the Chico Peace & Justice Center’s annual Easter fundraiser, Pancakes for Peace,” which will take place on Easter Sunday, March 31, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the CARD Community Center (545 Vallombrosa Ave.).

Pancakes for Peace, now in its 32nd year, is a popular community event featuring an all-you-can-eat pancake feed with pancakes made from freshly ground whole-wheat flour and organic maple syrup from Vermont (and fruit salad, juice, coffee and tea), as well as an Easter-egg hunt, puppet parade, face-painting booth, hula hoops, live music and a silent auction.

This year’s event—which Praiser describes as “wonderfully festive and family-oriented”—“has made a few changes to its popular Easter-egg hunt. While it has always had real dyed eggs—none of the plastic stuff—there is a stronger effort this year to move away from factory-farmed eggs while promoting organic, free-range practices.” Along these lines, Praiser advises those volunteering to bring dyed eggs for the Easter-egg hunt to keep these guidelines in mind. “Lots of dyed eggs are needed,” he adds, “and if you would like to bring a dozen or two, call Bob Trausch at 518-8509.

“Another creative change this year is that participants in the egg hunt will have the opportunity to donate back any number of their eggs and these will go to the Jesus Center.”

Admission to Pancakes for Peace is $12 for adults and $6 for children; the egg hunt takes place at 11 a.m.

Q. What do Easter Bunny helpers get for making a basket?

A. Two points, just like anyone else on the team.

Rotate those veggies
On Friday, March 29, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Cultivating Community NV is offering a free gardening workshop called Vegetable Rotation Design. Workshop teacher Lee Altier, of The Organic Vegetable Project, will teach workshop attendees how to design “a plan to move your vegetables around your garden or fields from year to year [that] can deter pests and enhance a plant’s use of nutrients,” according to the Cultivating Community NV website. “In this workshop at the Chico State Organic Vegetable Project we will discuss how to create a rotational pattern that optimizes plant productivity and soil health. Participants will work on planning and evaluating designs appropriate for their own gardens and fields.”

The OVP is located at the Chico State University Farm (311 Nicholas C. Schouten Lane). Go to www.cultivatingcommunitynv.org to learn more about Cultivating Community NV and to register for the workshop.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” —Albert Einstein