First Meeting of the Year Friday, 5 pm Sept 82

Moms and Dads on Campus will hold it's first general meeting this Friday, September 2 in CETES Conference Room A.

We will be discussing many different opportonities for volunteering and helping our group grow. We will discuss dues and other member responsibilities. We will make plans for a picnic on Friday the 9th out at the garden. We'll discuss short term and long term goals for Moms and Dads on Campus. And we'll talk about designs for t-shirts. Children will have water colors and paper to play with, and I will ask them to decorate a sign we made for freshman orientation.

And we will eat. Food will be provided via potluck. If you'd like to bring something or if you have any questions, contact advisor Teri McGrath at tmcgrath@cameron.edu or 581-2925

Be there, and spread the word. First Fridays of every month will be our regular meeting time this semester. It is our goal to have food at every meeting. Anyone interested in learning about this group and/or helping out is encouraged to attend.

Welcome Back!

We've been doing most of our communicating on Facebook over the summer, but the blog is still alive and kicking and a good place to post blurbs or articles that will be useful to our members. So if you've got a story to tell or some advice to offer or even something to complain about, send us a blog. We will post it. Click here for more information.

We set up a group page for the Plant a Row Campaign, and the people who have been working on the garden have used it to keep us all updated on its progress. We've only got a few people doing all the work right now, so we can use all the help we can get. Pretty soon we'll have a picnic so everyone can come out and meet our baby veggies. We've taken several loads of squash, cucumbers and okra to the food bank so far, and I think we'll be able to get a lot more before November when the garden comes down and we have our Hoe Down.

Moms and Dads also has a group page, and a fan page. I suppose we're going to have to pick one and stick with it eventually. But for now, it won't hurt you to join both.

We still have a forum, and I think it will be a useful place to exchange ideas for blogs, activities and events or just conversations. As the semester progresses, we'll discover which tools are the best for us to use as an organization. For now, follow us if you're on facebook, and wait for our messages if you're on our mailing list, and if you're not, send me you're address, and I'll put you right on it.

Hope to see you soon!

Teri McGrath
Advisor
tmcgrath@cameron.edu
580-581-2925

Join the Plant a Row Campaign, Green Thumb or No!

by Teri McGrath

As you may know, for the past two years participants in the Plant a Row Campaign, sponsored by Okie Magazine, have grown food in their gardens to donate to the Lawton Food Bank.

This year, students at Cameron University are participating by donating three 20 by 20 plots in Cameron's Community Garden. The student organization Moms and Dads on Campus, which is a group for Cameron students who are raising families, is leading the way on this project, which will create wonderful opportunities throughout the summer for Lawtonians, young and old, to learn and to contribute meaningfully to our community. Last month, folks representing Native American Club, Lawton Diversified, along with one reporter from the Cameron Collegian, participated in preparing the soil in two of the plots, under the guidance of Cozzie Burrus, president of Moms and Dads on Campus, and her father Devon Burrus, who kindly let me use his tiller twice, despite my incompetence. More school organizations and other members of the community will join the effort as the project progresses. We are also lucky to have the guidance of Susen Hunter, a local gardener who participated in the Plant a Row Campaign last year, and participation from other members of the Lawton community, including some Lawton Rollergirls (!!!) helped us plant rows of okra, radishes, tomatoes, onions, and peppers.

Children were especially encouraged to attend a "work day" on Saturday, April 23rd, when they planted a variety of seeds in a plot they will manage by themselves.

In addition to maintaining the garden, Cameron students will host a series of events--including workshops, potlucks and creative celebrations to help make this experience as useful to the community as it can be. If you are a gardener and want to participate in the Plant a Row Campaign, the absolute best thing to do would be to find the Plant a Row Campaign Lawton on Facebook and join the conversation. Moms and Dads will keep the group updated on their progress and their needs, so that's a good place to go if you want to be involved in the community garden project as well. If you don't like the facebook, send me an email, and I'll send you updates myself: theterimcgrath@gmail.com

For now, just start spreading the news by inviting people to our group.

[Note: This article appeared in the May 2011 issue of Okie Magazine]

Editorial: Politics blurring the line between faith and policy

Editorial: Politics blurring the line between faith and policy

Land plots

I would personally like t thank all that came out to make the garden opening a success. Over the summer, there will be many opportunities to work on these plots.

We managed to get carrots, squash, n cucumbers into plots 14 and 15, before the luscious rains started. we have okra radishes n onions in plot 27, and we have tomatoes peppers n various mamacita growths in plot 28.

We will be donating parts if not all tothe food bank. come harvest time. If you know how to hoe, please bring out and do so.I look forward to seeing you all there.

Storytelling and Art Workshop

I apologize for the lateness but I just wanted to let everyone know that the Storytelling and Art Workshop that was held on February 18th which was a Friday from 5pm to 6pm (actually ended at 6:30pm) was a success! We heard Sam McMichael tell some crazy stories about bees,cows and rats with no tails. Afterwards Sam led a storytelling workshop while some of us painted pictures of what we'd heard with Sandra Dunn.

Thanks! to all who attended and we hope that those who could not, will be able to attend future events which will be held on the third Friday of each month. Please like your favorites, and comment away on our face book page...http://www.facebook.com/pages/Moms-and-Dads-on-Campus/#!/pages/Moms-and-Dads-on-Campus/113282258727094

A Special Thanks!to Sam and Sandra!

February 18th @ 5pm in the Sheplar Ballroom

Bring your family out Friday, February 18, for an evening of drawing, painting and storytelling!

Featuring workshops with storyteller, Sam McMichael, and artist, Sandra Dunn.

Sam McMichael is a long-time resident of the Apache community. He grew up in the rich storytelling tradition of Southwest Oklahoma, hearing tales of the early days of the state, tales of good times and bad times, tall tales, fish stories, hunting stories and brags. He has worked this wealth of material into the fabric of his own experiences and fashioned unique stories full of pathos, humor, and surprise.

Sam has traveled Oklahoma as a professional storyteller for the past twenty years spinning his yarns at schools, fairs, libraries, festivals and conventions.

Sam will tell a story and lead a workshop for kids and adults who want to learn to tell stories, too. And Sandra Dunn will lead kids and adults in a workshop illustrating stories using mixed media

(like colored pencils and watercolors).

Sandra Dunn graduated with a BA in Art from Cameron University. She has participated in many group exhibitions in Oklahoma. Her work was recently included in the 'Heart and Soul of the Great Plains' exhibit at the Museum of the Great Plains. Sandra was also a guest artist and teacher for the Great Plains "Metamorphosis" summer art program for children and teens. She is currently working on a series of encaustic (wax) panels for upcoming shows and fests.

Refreshments and materials for writing and painting will be provided. Just bring your imaginations!

This event is sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta and Moms and Dads on Campus. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Teri McGrath, advisor for Moms and Dads on Campus, at tmcgrath@cameron.edu or 581-2925.

Note: If you are interested in contributing food for this event, please

visit our message board by clicking this sentence, and sign up to bring a dish.