Klahowya Cascadians,


We need to begin kicking the afterburners for Doug Honours Ceremony '08!

We need to come up with a list of nominees.

We need to know how many people want to attend.

We need to figure out our travel arrangements including overnight stay options.

We need Doug Flags.

The trip from Portland to Peace Arch Park is a 459 km (285 mi), and will take approvimately four and a half hours from Portland. The trip from Portland will likely include a stop in Seattle if anyone from there wants to join a carpool or charter bus to Peace Arch Park.

Our destination city will be Blaine, Washington. Peace Arch Park does not have any overnight options, so our best camping arrangement will likely be at Birch Bay Park (www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp The best, i.e. closest to Peace Arch Park hostel and motel options are at the Birch Bay Hostel and Guest House (www.birchbayhostel.org/) and Northwoods Motel (360-332-5603). Camping sites at Birch Bay Park are $17/night for 8 people.

How to get there is the next question. We could carpool. I have access to a minivan that could carry seven. The other option is if we have over 20 attendees to to take a charter. I sent an email to Shared Route and I am waiting to hear back from EcoShuttle. More likely than not, these charter options are going to be too expensive and will likely be more available to us at next year's Doug Honours Ceremony on September 9th, 2009. Anyway, what does everyone think? How do we get to Peace Arch Park?

Next, what about Doug Flags? Cascadia Commons has Community Outreach meetings where we could hand-make the Doug Flags since the cost of Small Flags printing 10 flags at this time is too expensive. So, we could meet either next week on the 15th to paint the flags. Other Community Outreach meetings include the July 22nd or August 5th.

Next, we need a list of nominees. There are many great themes we could work with in order to find groups. Two topics would be the "Salish Sea" name change and the "future" of Cascadia. What will Cascadia look like post-petroleum? How efficient will Cascadian life need to be? How can technology serve this new Cascadian world? The Doug Honours Ceremony will definitely function as a forum to discuss these two topics, but we also need organizations, businesses, governments, and individuals that are ahead of the curve regarding these issues.

Lastly, the Doug Honours Ceremony will function as the first meeting for the Board of Trustees of Cascadia Commons. All those interested in participating on the board and those who consider themselves founders of Cascadia Commons from wherever in Cascadia are encouraged to sign the incorporation documents.

So everyone, please take the time to read this email. Break it down, think about it, and provide answers. Time is short and time goes by quickly and August 8th, 2008 will be here any minute. Let's start planning now.


Kloshe nanitch,

Collin S. Ferguson