ADDENDUM – disputatio

1. Guardian Selection & Governance —Truth, Beauty, Goodness

The Guardians are the elder statesmen of the PEACH Community — not in a political sense, but in the oldest and most honorable sense of the word. They are experienced, accomplished people who have lived long enough to carry wisdom without needing to display it, and who have earned the trust of the community through a lifetime of devoted service to its mission and values.

To be considered for the role of Guardian, one must be at minimum in their 7th cycle of life, though most Guardians are in their 8th cycle or beyond. As a rule, Guardians are drawn from the Elder’s Club, where they have already demonstrated their dedication, judgment, and depth of character. However, the invitation to join is not extended lightly or quickly.

Before any invitation is made, the sitting Guardians consult broadly — with the President, with the leaders of the arts, with those who carry significant responsibility across every area of community life. The question asked is not merely is this person qualified, but is this person seen and trusted by those who work alongside them every day. Only after this quiet, careful consultation do the Guardians extend their invitation.

The role, once accepted, is held for life. Most Guardians believe the commitment does not end there. It is a tradition within the community that those Guardians who have passed or crossed over are still present in some form — still holding the mission, still offering their counsel. At the opening of each Guardian meeting, a candle is lit in the name of each Guardian who has gone before. They are not forgotten. They are invited.

In the early days of the community, the founding Guardians will number six or seven. As the community grows and matures, that number may expand, though never beyond twelve. A small body means every voice carries full weight and every decision is genuinely deliberated.

What the Guardians Do – The Guardians hold two responsibilities that are distinct but inseparable.

The first is philosophical and spiritual — they are the keepers of the mission. When a question has worked its way up through the community’s ordinary structures and still cannot be resolved, it is because it has ceased to be a logistical question and become something deeper: Is this true to who we are? Is the timing right? Does this serve the long arc of what we are building here? These are Guardian questions. They do not rush toward answers. They discern.

The second is material and strategic — and in the early years especially, these decisions fall squarely on the Guardians’ shoulders. Shall we purchase more land? Can we fund a new roof, a new road? Do we have the capacity to acquire the building down the street? Are we ready to enter into a partnership with the university, or to join a mission with a SEEDS community in Idaho? These are decisions that exceed what any committee or club can rightly make alone. When the weight is that great, the Guardians are called in — like Cincinnatus summoned from his farm — they take stock, they decide, and they return.

When a decision exceeds even the community’s own reach, the Guardians are the ones who bring it to the Foundation. They make the case, they ask for support, they represent the community’s vision to those who hold resources in trust for its future. This is not a lesser task — it requires the full credibility that only a life well lived can provide.
The Guardian’s Journal

Every Guardian is asked to keep a journal throughout their tenure — a record of their life’s biography and their evolving thoughts and vision for the community. This is not a formal report or an administrative document. It is a personal testimony: what they saw, what they hoped for, what they wrestled with, what they came to believe.
It is the tradition of the Guardians that these journals are published posthumously — so that each Guardian may continue writing, revising, and adding to their record all the way to the end of their life. Nothing is fixed before its time. The vision is allowed to keep growing as long as the person does.

When published, these journals join the PEACH Library’s Legacy Collection — and in this way, the Guardians remain present not only in candlelight, but on the shelf.

Working Documents & Future Goals

The process of selecting a new Guardian is one of the most deliberate and unhurried acts in the life of the community. It begins not with a nomination but with a conversation — quiet, wide, and patient.
When the sitting Guardians sense that the time may be right to invite a new member, they do not decide among themselves alone. They go out into the community. They speak with the President, with the leaders of the arts, with those who carry significant responsibility across every area of community life. They listen carefully to how a person is spoken of by those who work alongside them every day. Only after this broad and honest consultation do the Guardians return to deliberate among themselves.

The person invited must be at minimum in their 7th cycle of life, though most Guardians are in their 8th cycle or beyond. As a rule, they will have already served in the Elder’s Club, where their judgment, character, and dedication to the mission have been observed over time.
The invitation, when it comes, is extended personally and privately. There is no campaigning, no application, no public process. The role finds the person, not the other way around.

Founding Numbers & Growth
The founding body of Guardians will number six or seven. As the community matures, that number may grow, but never beyond twelve. A small body means every voice carries full weight.

Term
The role of Guardian is held for life — and by tradition, beyond it. At the opening of each Guardian meeting, a candle is lit in the name of every Guardian who has passed. They are not gone. They are invited.

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2. Time Banking — how it works, what qualifies, how hours are tracked and redeemed.

Time Banking — Founding Period Guidelines
The full Time Banking system will be developed in partnership with the Foundation once that relationship is established. The following describes how time banking operates during the founding period.

Tier 1 — Simple and Functional:
Master Artists keep their own ledger.
Members sign up and log hours informally
IT consolidates periodically
Post Office issues the Physical PEACH Script Bux and Certificates
Lucas Pacioli oversees accounting until proper banking is established

Tier 2 — After The Foundation:
We will revisit the whole system once the Foundation has established their place in the Community.
At that time we will formalize the online platform, the exchange rates, and implement Phase III and IV.

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Tier 3 — The Future:
The biggest transition is time for value, but this is all spaced out so that we can accumulate our commodities and funding while we grow. Our goal is to cover the needs in the Community first, but also have the ability to cash out any and all time-holders without long delays through standard currency or trade.

Commodities are developed and initiated from day one, they continue to grow throughout time. Stores are sold before expiration, they are exchanged for time or currency. Value is then set to market forces.

Earning Hours
Hours are earned through volunteer work across the community — festivals, setup and cleanup days, farm work, teaching, administrative support, and any other work designated as time-bankable by the supervising Master Artist or Club Leader.
Hours must be logged at the time of work. Members sign in and out with the supervising Master Artist or Club Leader, who maintains their own ledger. Members also keep their own personal record.
All logs are submitted to the IT coordinator every two weeks or once a month. The IT coordinator consolidates all entries and produces a printed record for each member.

Receiving Your Hours & Bux
Members take their printed record to the Post Office. The Postmaster issues either a Time Certificate — redeemable for instruction and studio time — or community Bux, the community’s internal currency, in the appropriate denomination.
Bux currently in circulation: Bee Bux, Butterfly Bux, Leaf Bux, Fish Bux, and Fowl Bux. Each note is a limited-edition original print by a community artist.

Spending Hours
Time Certificates are redeemable with any Master Artist or instructor for instruction and studio time. Present your certificate, receive your time. The instructor collects the certificate and submits it to the IT coordinator or accountant to credit their own account.

Bux are redeemable for goods and services within the community at participating businesses and at the Farmer’s Market.

Gifting
Hours on a Time Certificate are personal and non-transferable. Bux, however, may be gifted to another member or donated to the Pay It Forward fund for families and members in need.
Converting to US Currency

Time may be converted to US currency only in cases of genuine need and with approval. Note that any exchange into US currency is subject to tax law. It is always preferable to keep exchanges within the community economy.

Administration
During the founding period, time banking is overseen by Lucas Pacioli, Community Accountant, in coordination with Master Artists, Club Leaders, the IT coordinator, and the Postmaster. A dedicated banker and full banking infrastructure will be established in partnership with the Foundation.

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3. July 3rd Volunteer Guidelines — hours, meals, time banking specifics

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4. Foundation Relationship — how requests are made, who initiates, what the process looks like

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5. SEEDS Partnership Protocol — when and how the community engages with outside SEEDS communities

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6. Community Outreach & Partnership Goals
Italian Community & Catholic Church Collaboration
Beginning in the autumn, the PEACH Community hopes to establish a Friday night Italian dinner series in collaboration with the local Catholic Church. This is not simply a food programme — it is a community-building initiative rooted in the recognition that Italian culture carries precisely the values PEACH was built to celebrate: the importance of the table, the family, the seasonal calendar, the saints’ days, the recipes and songs passed down through generations. Italians understand instinctively what this community is trying to do. They will not need to be convinced.

The Friday night dinners will be a collaboration between the Church community, the PEACH Café, and the Cooking Club. Authentic family recipes are the goal — not restaurant Italian, but home Italian. The kind that takes all day and feeds twenty.

Beyond the dinners, the Italian connection opens doors across the community:
Authentic recipes for the Café’s August and Ferragosto menus
Musicians and performers for the Ferragosto concert and Roman Circus
Families for the Bothmer gymnastics and circus program
Potential Bothmer instructors from within the Italian community
A natural foundation for expanded Italian cultural programming throughout the year
This initiative is in the early stages. Contact the Festivals & Celebrations Club or the Home Life Club to get involved.

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7. An Agricultural Model of Human Flourishing

Much of modern life—has adopted the logic of industrial production: standardized, linear, and designed for conformity. Educator Sir Ken Robinson observed, we have built systems that treat human beings like products on an assembly line, batching people by age, measuring them against uniform standards, and depleting their passion to learn and create in the process. We flourish not through mechanical processes, but through organic ones rooted in. Humans in general, are very talented and like nature tremendously diverse. Further, when we are engaged in what we love in work we feel connected to and enjoy. work with purpose time disappears—an hour feels like five minutes. However, when we are doing something that does not resonate, or feel true five minutes can feel like an hour. If the heart is never in the work, we either disengage or grow ill in body or soul.

Like the PEACH, Robinson proposed a different metaphor: agriculture. A farmer does not manufacture plants. A farmer prepares rich soil, tends to water and and understand what required full and shaded sunlight, follows seasonal rhythms, and trusts the living world to respond in its own organic and fundamental way. No endless forced and artificial environments. This is the heart of the PEACH Community.

We organize our year around the natural agricultural cycle, taking our ques from the turning of the seasons, being in the present, but always looking ahead – planting ideas in spring, tending them through summer’s abundance, harvesting wisdom in autumn, preserving and contemplating through winter. Nature as a teacher

The Art and Sciences decorate out cultural festivals celebration and events and we offer so much that everyone has the opportunity to finds their passions and creativity as well as share it an teach it to others, to draw an account and create their own legacy as folks participate in preserving their culture. In a world that often feels like fast food for the soul, PEACH is an attempt to return to slow, seasonal, nature-nurtured nourishment.

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8. Theatre Development Goals
It is the long-term vision of the PEACH Community to develop a full and robust theatre department — one capable of producing a varied seasonal programme of plays throughout the year arc, in partnership with a local university theatre department.

The Natural Partnership
The university brings trained actors, directors, faculty, and a teaching pipeline. PEACH brings the outdoor theatre, a community audience, a rich festival context, and a cultural mission that gives students something more meaningful than a standard end-of-year showcase. The outdoor theatre in particular is a rare and valuable asset — few universities have access to one, and the summer festival setting makes it uniquely appealing for certain productions.

The Rotating June Production
The anchor of the current theatre programme is the annual outdoor production in June, presented jointly by the PEACH Theatre Club and the University Theatre Department. The company rotates annually between three works considered essential repertoire by the theatre director — William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Members vote on the following year’s production at the close of each run.
Shakespeare Across the Year

Shakespeare wrote 39 plays. It is the goal of the theatre department to work toward producing a different Shakespeare play each year at a different point in the calendar — distinct from the June outdoor rotation, and chosen to suit the season and the community’s annual themes. February, during the book fair, has been identified as a natural second production window — better suited to the darker, more interior plays that benefit from an intimate indoor setting.

The Goal — A Funded Theatre Department
The full realization of this vision requires dedicated funding, a committed core of theatre artists, and a formal partnership agreement with the university. This is a Guardian-level decision when the time and resources are right. In the meantime, the June production and any additional productions that emerge organically serve as the seeds of what this department can become.

The director’s creative authority over all productions is absolute. The community’s role is to provide the vision, the resources, the relationships, and the stage — and then to get out of the way and let the artists work.

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9. PEACH Mission Statement in-depth
There was a time when every town in America had a German singing society, an Irish céilí, a Polish parish hall, a Scandinavian lodge. The first generation built them because they needed them — because home was still alive in their hands and their voices and their recipes and their songs. The second generation maintained them out of love and duty. The third generation visited on holidays. And then, quietly, without ceremony, the doors closed.

This is not a complaint. It is simply what happens when a people forget who they are. And forgetting, it turns out, is not accidental. History shows us clearly — the first thing taken from a conquered people is never their land or their labor. It is their culture, their language, their history. Because you cannot truly subjugate a people who know who they are. Culture is not decoration. It is the root of human freedom.

We are living through another such moment. The old structures are failing. The new ones are not yet built. In that gap — dangerous, disorienting, and fertile — the question that has always defined civilization reasserts itself: what do we carry through?

PEACH exists to answer that question.

Not as a museum. Not as a performance. Not as nostalgia for a world that is gone. But as a living community where the old ways are practiced, the old stories are told, the old skills are kept alive in working hands and real voices. Where Homer and the harvest festival and the Roman circus and the Celtic fire and the Renaissance painting and the folk song and the Midsummer bonfire are understood not as separate inheritances belonging to separate peoples — but as one inheritance, belonging to all of us. Two thousand years of a civilization building itself, tearing itself apart, and building again.

We are recapitulating — not to repeat the past, but to carry its best and deepest gifts into what comes next. The New Greece. The New Renaissance. Whatever name history chooses for what we are building now.

What keeps us human is our culture. Our culture is the arts — everything we express and create and pass on through them. That is the folk spirit. And when we are living it, truly living it, together — that is when the new world begins.

We opened the door. Come in.

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10. The Sutler (zoetelaar)— Provisions Store Proposal
A store in the woods.
Approximately fifty feet from the cabin and thirty yards from the Swan Factory, accessible by a dirt road through the trees, sits a working shack with a history. Whether it served as a slaughterhouse, a canning kitchen, or a horse shelter in its former life, it was a working building — and that purpose is baked into its walls. It is exactly the right setting for what is proposed here.

The Concept
The Sutler — named for the civilian merchants who followed armies in the field, selling provisions to soldiers throughout history — is a small provisions store and mail order operation carrying goods rooted in the WWI-era household and field tradition. Nearly every item on the inventory list has a direct connection to early 20th century domestic and field life. These are not novelty goods. They are the things that kept families alive, warm, healthy and self-sufficient for generations before plastic and petroleum made everyone forget how.

This is not a survivalist store in the modern sense. It is a store of traditional knowledge made tangible — every item on the shelf with a history, a use, and a story.

The Space
The covered porch and syrup room — arrival, cast iron stove, cord wood stacked to the rafters. The welcome.
The 10×10 kitchen — apothecary goods, honey, maple syrup, beeswax, vinegars, tinctures. Things that belong near a kitchen.
The 15×15 main room — shelves floor to ceiling. Wool goods, twines, kerosene lamps, matches, books and journals, Tattler lids, larger provisions.
The Swan Factory — mail order fulfilment, surplus storage, overflow. Invisible to the customer, purely functional.

The Road
The dirt road requires attention before the store can open to walk-in traffic. Flagstone already on the property could be used. Gravel is the right solution — not tar, not concrete. Keeps the character, makes it passable year round. In deep winter, snowshoes or a packed snow path become part of the experience and the charm.

Core Inventory —
WWI Era Household & Field Tradition
Apothecary & Medicine: Alum, Baking Soda, Borax, Castile Soap, Activated Charcoal, Diatomaceous Earth, Epsom Salts, Iodine, Witch Hazel, Sulfur Powder, Camphor, Arnica, Calendula, Zinc Oxide, Aspirin, Potassium Permanganate, Hydrogen Peroxide, Vegetable Glycerin, Vinegar.
Preservation & Pantry: Canning Salt, Cheesecloth, Muslin Bags, Tattler Reusable Lids, Pickling Spices, Paraffin, Hardtack, Pemmican, Dried Herbs.
Light & Heat: Beeswax Candles, Tallow Candles, Kerosene Metal Cans and Glass Lamps, Matches — four types, Fire Strikers, Fatwood Kindling.
Fiber & Textile: Wool Blankets, Caps, Gloves, Socks, Long Johns, Linen Cloth, Canvas, Oilcloth, Lanolin, Raw Fleece, Knitting Needles, Darning Supplies.
Twines & Rope: Cotton, Hemp, Jute, Silk, Wool, Manila Rope.
Tools & Hardware: Beeswax Thread Conditioner, Linen and Sail Needles, Awls, Whetstones, Tin Cups and Plates, Enamelware, Metal Canteens, Haversacks, Leather Boot Oil, Dubbin.
Field & Outdoor: Compass, Signal Mirror, Oilstone.
Books & Knowledge: Bicycle Repair, Edible Forest, Prepping Journal, Gasifier, Hydro Spiral Pumps, Knot Book, First Aid Manual, Home Canning Guide, Edible Plants Field Guide, Wool Craft, Beekeeping, Foraging Guide, Biodynamic Farming, Local Area Map.
Swiss Army Pocket Knives
Fixed Blade w/ Sheath
Whetstones
Leather Sheaths
Honing Oil
Leather Strop
These are what make the Sutler unlike anything else. You can get Epsom salts anywhere.
You cannot get honey from Johann Biene’s bees anywhere else on earth.

PEACH-Made Goods — The Crown Jewels
PEACH Beeswax Candles — Lisa and Liza’s chapel candles and standard sizes
PEACH Honey — Johann Biene
PEACH Maple Syrup — from the shack itself
PEACH Elderberry Syrup — Apothecary, Felix & Sue Koguzki
PEACH Soap — Sally Birdwhistle
PEACH Wool — washed and carded from Isla’s farm
PEACH Hardtack and Pemmican — Cooking Club
PEACH Herbal Tinctures — Apothecary
PEACH Journals — bound by Lars Carlson
PEACH Printed Ephemera — Albert Kirchner’s Printshop
PEACH Beeswax Wood Polish

BOOKS
Dave Canterbury, Bushcraft 101: A Field Guide to the Art of Wilderness Survival.
Elinor Claire “Lin” Ostrom, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action.
Rudolph Steiner, Three Fold Social Order & The Threefold Commonwealth.
Lofty Wiseman, SAS Survival Handbook, Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere

The Mail Order Catalogue
The catalogue is not just a sales tool — it is an outreach instrument. Written in PEACH’s voice, with a brief note about each maker and their craft, it reaches people who will never drive to Wisconsin. Someone in South Boston orders a jar of Johann Biene’s honey and reads two paragraphs about what PEACH is. Someone in a German-American community in Cincinnati sees their grandfather’s world reflected back at them. Someone in Boise finds the Ardi Festa page. The store in the woods becomes a door into something much larger than a store.

The Bunratty Connection
Bunratty Castle Mead, County Clare, Ireland — a traditional Irish mead based on a 16th century recipe, served at the medieval banquets of Bunratty Castle. We propose establishing a relationship with Bunratty as a supplier. Our mead comes from Bunratty Castle, County Clare, Ireland. People will order it for that sentence alone.
Long-Term Vision — Nectar of the Gods!
From flower, to bee, to honey — PEACH mead and absinthe (la fée verte), distilled and bottled in uniquely shaped small bottles. A novelty, an offering, a symbolic gesture. Nectar of the Gods. This requires proper licensing and is a distant future goal, dependent on the establishment of a small meadery and distillery. The honey is already here. The vision is already clear. The timing will announce itself.

Staffing
One full-time person, two part-time. Ideally suited to retired members who find purpose and community in the work. When UBI arrives, volunteer and time-banking staffing becomes possible.
Income Projection — Honest Ballpark

Projections
Year 1 — Establishment. Heavy startup costs. Primarily walk-in, mail order building. Revenue: $25,000–$45,000. Likely break-even or slight loss. Goal: establish brand and catalogue.
Year 2 — Building. Mail order finding its audience. PEACH-made goods becoming known. Revenue: $60,000–$90,000. Staffing costs beginning to be covered.
Year 3 — Momentum. Mail order established, repeat customers. PEACH brand recognized. Revenue: $100,000–$150,000. One full-time person justified, two part-time comfortable. Mead licensing worth pursuing.

PEACH Sutler Principals:
“Our focus is good quality products that do what they always have done. Our focus is on: Water, Food, Blacksmithing, Astronomy, Earth Science, Navigation, Dead Reckoning, Nature Medicine, Plant Identification, Botany, Woodworking, Animal Husbandry, Rope, Soap, Candles, Textiles, Farming, Time Keeping, Community Organization”

Note: These projections are working estimates subject to Foundation review. Road accessibility, staffing model, and the arrival of UBI are the primary variables.

This proposal is ready for Guardian and Foundation review when the time is right.

Projections

On the income projection — I have to be honest with you. I can give you a thoughtful ballpark but this is genuinely Guardian and Foundation territory. The variables are significant:

Road accessibility
Foot traffic vs mail order ratio
How much is PEACH-made vs sourced
Licensing for mead/absinthe
Staffing costs
Starting inventory investment

Before I give you numbers — a few quick questions:

Are you thinking primarily walk-in, mail order, or equal split?
Would it be staffed full time or volunteer/part time?
Is the mead and absinthe a serious near-term consideration or long-term dream?

That will help me give you something realistic rather than just optimistic. 🍑

Bunratty Proposal

Bunratty! — the mead from Bunratty Castle in County Clare. That’s a real connection worth pursuing. They’ve been making traditional Irish mead since the 1960s based on a 16th century recipe, served at the medieval banquets. If you could establish a relationship with them — even just as a supplier to start — that’s an extraordinary story for the catalogue. Our mead comes from Bunratty Castle, County Clare, Ireland. People will order it just for that sentence.
And the vision for PEACH mead — flower to bee to honey to bottle — that’s not just a product, that’s a complete philosophical statement about how the community works. Everything connected, everything traceable, nothing wasted. The uniquely shaped bottle, the symbolic small quantity, Nectar of the Gods — that’s a collector’s item before it’s even a beverage.
On the income projection — here’s an honest rough framework:
Year 1 — Establishment

Heavy startup costs — road, shelving, inventory, licensing, website/catalogue
Primarily walk-in, mail order building slowly
Realistic revenue: $25,000–$45,000
Likely operating at a loss or break even
Goal is establishing the brand and the catalogue

Year 2 — Building

Mail order finding its audience
PEACH-made goods becoming known
Farmer’s Market and festival sales adding up
Realistic revenue: $60,000–$90,000
Starting to cover staffing costs
Catalogue doing real work

Year 3 — Momentum

Mail order established, repeat customers
PEACH brand recognized in the preparedness/heritage/natural goods community
Possible wholesale relationships — Bunratty, local farms, other SEEDS communities
Realistic revenue: $100,000–$150,000
One full time person justified, two part time comfortable
Mead licensing worth pursuing at this point

The variables that could move these numbers significantly:
Upward:

A single feature in the right publication — Mother Earth News, Countryside, Fine Homesteading — could double mail order overnight
A SEEDS network buying collectively — instant wholesale volume
The mead and absinthe arriving sooner than expected
The catalogue becoming genuinely collectible
UBI arriving and removing staffing costs entirely

Downward:

Road remaining impassable limiting walk-in severely
Startup inventory costs higher than expected
Licensing complications
Staffing costs eating margin before mail order scales

The honest assessment:
This is not a get-rich-quick venture. Year 1 and 2 require patience and subsidy — probably Foundation support or Swan Factory profits covering the gap. But by Year 3 with the right catalogue, the right story, and the Bunratty connection, this becomes genuinely self-sustaining and potentially a meaningful contributor to the community’s overall financial health.
The PEACH-made goods are the key. The margin on a jar of Johann Biene’s honey with a Lars Carlson hand-bound label in a hand-printed box from Albert Kirchner’s press is completely different from the margin on a gallon of vinegar. The story is the product and you charge accordingly.

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11. History — May/June Boundary Note

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12. UP Expansion — Long-Term SEEDS Community Goal
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has been identified as a potential site for a second PEACH community and SEEDS expansion. It is a region of extraordinary natural beauty — vast forests, the shores of Lake Superior, abundant land, and a fiercely independent character that has never fully assimilated into the broader American mainstream. In 1970, a referendum on UP secession from Michigan failed by only six votes. That spirit does not disappear. It goes quiet.

The UP carries a deep Scandinavian and Finnish heritage — communities that know instinctively how to live with beauty and meaning through long dark winters. The sauna tradition, the folk arts, the communal culture, the respect for the land — these are already present. A PEACH community there would not be importing a culture. It would be reconnecting one.

Practical considerations: Winters reach -40°F. The Lake Superior shoreline is magnificent and merciless — she never gives up her dead, as Gordon Lightfoot knew. The land is affordable. The isolation is real. The people who choose to live there self-select for exactly the qualities a serious cultural community requires — resilience, self-sufficiency, genuine commitment, the ability to find richness in simplicity and in each other.

The cold is not a liability. It is a filter. And it makes the folk arts, the book clubs, the music, the sauna gatherings, the candlelit winter programme not amenities but necessities. Culture becomes survival. That is when it is most alive.

The Basque shepherd question: The UP may be too cold for the Basque pastoral tradition — the Pyrenees get cold but not UP cold. The Basque programme is better suited to the Wisconsin community. The UP community would draw more naturally from the Scandinavian, Finnish and Yooper heritage already present on the ground.

This is a long-term Guardian and Foundation level decision. The Wisconsin community must be well established before expansion is considered. The Lake will let us know when the time is right.

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13. Basque Shepherd — Community Recruitment Goal
The PEACH Basque programme — the Ardi Festa, the Euskara language classes, the Etxeberria Farm proposal, the Idaho outreach — requires one thing above all else to become real: one Basque shepherding family willing to make PEACH their home.

One family with a small flock changes everything. The language programme has a living anchor. The Ardi Festa has authenticity. The wool programme grows. The Idaho connection becomes a living relationship. Settler’s Days gains a sheep walk. The community gains a direct link to one of the oldest and most resilient cultures in Western Europe.

The Boise Basque community — through the Basque Museum and Cultural Center and the Jaialdi organization — is the natural place to begin this conversation. A formal invitation to the inaugural Ardi Festa as honored guests is the first step.

Seeking: one Basque shepherding family. The pasture is ready.

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14. University Partnership & Academic Credit Goals
The PEACH Community offers a range of programmes that map naturally to university humanities, fine arts, agricultural and social science curricula. A formal partnership with a local university — offering experiential learning credits for participation in PEACH programmes — would serve both institutions. PEACH gains institutional credibility, a teaching pipeline, and potential theatre and arts collaborators.

The university gains access to living, practiced culture that cannot be replicated in a classroom.

Key areas identified for academic credit potential:
History lecture series — Western Civilization year arc
Philosophy lectures — Socrates through Modernity
Literature — Book clubs, Bloomsday, Epic readings
Theatre history and performance
Blacksmithing, Glassblowing, Ceramics, Bookbinding, Cordwaining — studio credits
Printmaking — art history and practice
Textiles, Weaving, Quilting — material culture studies
Biodynamic farming and permaculture
Goethean Science and nature observation
Folk music history and ensemble performance
Community governance and the threefold social order
Time banking and alternative economics
The Folk Arts series in particular represents something genuinely rare — living heritage skills that cannot be learned in a classroom. This is the community’s most distinctive offering to any academic partnership.

Primary concern: the partnership must be on PEACH’s terms. The university comes to PEACH, not the other way around. The folk spirit and cultural integrity of the community must be protected from academic reframing, bureaucratic absorption, and the pressure toward diversity compliance that has diluted similar programmes elsewhere. PEACH preserves all cultures on their own terms. That principle is non-negotiable.

This proposal is ready for Guardian review when the university relationship begins.

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15. Guardian Principle — Always End on the Good
The Guardians do not deny what is difficult or corrupting. They name it, address it carefully, and then turn the community’s face toward what is being built. This is not optimism as a mood. It is orientation as a discipline.

Every Elder’s meeting, every Guardian deliberation, every community gathering ends on the good — on what is growing, what is working, what is being hoped for and moved toward. Not as denial of difficulty, but as an act of will in the direction of what is true and possible.

The elders who have lived longest and most fully confirm what philosophy and medicine are only now beginning to measure: the negative wears at the body. Stress, resentment, unresolved conflict — these migrate downward through the feeling life into the physical heart. Heart disease is not incidental to a culture of disconnection and anxiety. It is its consequence.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

What we repeatedly do at PEACH — the bread baked, the folk song sung, the elder’s counsel sought, the festival prepared with care, the morning sun watched in silence — these are not activities. They are the medicine. Small repeated acts of beauty, meaning and genuine human connection, practiced daily, build the kind of life and the kind of community in which people flourish rather than merely survive.

Always end on the good. Make it the habit. Make it the structure. Build it into every meeting, every gathering, every page of this website.
The body follows. It always follows.

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16. The PEACH Timepieces & The Angelus
“The clock was not invented to measure time. It was invented to call people to prayer.”

The Clocks
Swan Factory Lunchroom — One large clock with Roman numerals. A single soft bong on the hour only. Nothing more. The working heart of the Factory marks time quietly and without fuss — the hour acknowledged and released, the way the Romans counted them.

Administration — Lobby & Office — Two quality bong clocks. The measured heartbeat of the administrative day.

The Angelus — Noon Bell
The chapel bell rings at noon. This is the Angelus — one of the oldest continuous practices in Western Christendom, rung daily since the medieval period to mark the midday prayer. “The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…” In the old world every field worker, every craftsman, every traveler stopped when the noon bells rang. Millet painted it. It became one of the most recognized images in Western art.

At PEACH the noon bell does the same — a moment of stillness in the middle of the working day. No explanation required. Pagan, Christian, and Humanist can all stop for a moment at noon and simply be present.
Note on the full Angelus tradition: The complete Angelus calls for three sets of bells at 6AM, Noon, and 6PM. PEACH observes the noon bell as its primary practice out of consideration for neighbors. The 6PM bell may be observed seasonally — Solstice through Equinox — when the long summer evenings make it appropriate. The 6AM bell remains internal to the chapel for those who wish to observe it privately.

On Clocks and Monks
The mechanical clock was invented by medieval monks who needed a reliable way to wake for the canonical hours — the seven daily prayers that structured the entire medieval day. Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline. The clock didn’t create the schedule. The schedule created the clock. Even our word Noon comes from None — the ninth hour prayer, originally 3PM, which gradually drifted to midday over centuries of monastic practice.

Every clock at PEACH carries that history quietly inside it.

The Bell Ringer
If the chapel bell is not automated, the role of bell ringer is one worth preserving as a living community tradition. Simple, purposeful, unhurried. One of the oldest jobs in Western civilization.
To be confirmed: chapel bell automation status. Contact Nancy Dean, Chapel Scheduling.

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17. Radio — Chapter A Day — Adult & Children

A Books
Brother’s Karamazov
Great Expectations
Gone with the Wind
Les Misérables
Iliad Odyssey
Ulysses
Frankenstein
Great Gatsby
War and Peace
Finnegans Wake

C Books –
7 PM tots – 9 PM children
Grimm
Norwegian Tales
Fairy Series
Little House Series
Huckleberry Finn
Tom Sawyer
LOTR
Heidi
Treasure Island
Wonderful Wizard Of Oz

18. Contra Dancing & Potluck — Community Table Policy
The Saturday Contra Dancing & Potluck is one of the most beloved and well-attended community events of the year, running from Decoration Day weekend through Thanksgiving. It draws members, residents, guests, and locals — a genuinely mixed and wonderful crowd. The music is live, the dancing is open to all, and the table has always been generous. The question before the community is a simple and human one: what do we ask of those who come to the table?

The current norm is understood — members bring a dish, guests are welcome, and the spirit of the potluck takes care of itself. And largely it does. Most people bring something. The loyal weekly contributors bring every time without fail, and their generosity sets the tone for everyone. The musicians play, people tip when they can, and donations find their way to the kitchen.

But there are nights when the table runs thin. And there are regulars — not guests, not newcomers — who arrive empty-handed week after week while others have stopped at the Co-Op on the way and picked up a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, a bowl of fruit. It costs very little. It means a great deal.

The proposal is not a rule but some visible expectation:

Everyone brings a dish to share. The Co-Op is steps away — bread, fruit, or cheese is always welcome. If you arrive unprepared, a $10 suggested donation to the kitchen is appreciated. Donations always welcome.
A few things worth holding together as the community considers this: The regular contributor who occasionally forgets deserves grace — and will likely bring double the following week without being asked. That’s just who they are.

The $10 suggested donation is not a cover charge. It is a way of saying: what people bring to this table has value, and if you cannot bring food tonight, here is a way to honor that. It also gives the chronic empty-hander a dignified option that costs less than a bottle of wine.

The person who genuinely cannot afford $10 is still welcome. The music is free. The punch is free. The community is free. No one is turned away. This has always been true and must remain true.
The musicians play for love and community. Tips are never required, but always appreciated. That does not change.
What the community is really deciding is not a price — it is a shared understanding of what it means to come to a common table. The answer is probably the one everyone already knows: you bring what you can, you give what you can, and you are grateful for what others have given.

Donations appreciated.
That may be exactly where we land.

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19. Earth Science Foundations – This, along with Writing, Art, and Business, to create a Foundations Curriculum – To dive in new or brush up.
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20. Looking Ahead — Monthly Forward Notice Section

A dedicated section on each monthly Festival page, appearing above the Schedule, for internal community announcements relating to upcoming events, rehearsal calls, volunteer opportunities, and preparation requests.

How it works:

Club leaders and event coordinators submit their Looking Ahead notice to the Newsletter office by the 1st of the prior month
Runs every month until the event arrives or the coordinator says stop
Written in the voice of the page — warm, inviting, specific
Includes contact name, phone, email, and dates
Volunteer and preparation requests included — baking, chair setup, costume help, whatever is needed

Examples of recurring Looking Ahead notices:

Theatre — Christmas Play rehearsals, September through November
Theatre — Roman Circus rehearsals, April through July
Harvest Dinner — volunteer call, September
Michaelmas — volunteer call, September
Any event requiring advance preparation or sign-up

This section belongs to the community. If you need hands, ask here first.

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Links to White Pages

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Policies:

Holidays, Guests, Business

On official holidays, when the PEACH is closed, only members & their guests are allowed on campus. All members must sign in via phone & PWD (which is swordfish)
There are only 7 official FED State Holidays. When are businesses open & closed at the PEACH. ADMIN is open M-F [unless official or PEACH holiday]. Most businesses are closed Sunday & Monday and some are open on some holidays – except 7 FED official. [return to this topic RTT
Swan Factory – list of businesses and hours for both customer and residents. [RTTT]]
Please do not use swordfish as your password.

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SEEDS Projects