Perch Newsletter - April 2022

Dear Friends & Neighbors -- A warm and springy HELLO!

It's been a few months since our last newsletter, and we're excited to send you this April update, with news and happenings at your Perch community center in Comer. We're calling this one THE QUESTIONS NEWSLETTER.

First question, look carefully... where exactly in Comer is this wall?

If you said the south wall of the Farmers' Market, you nailed it! Though it doesn't look much like that anymore because a NEW MURAL is in the works. Our neighbor Tracy is brightening the Comer skyline with a large-scale work featuring a flock of birds coming to nest in a tree (with local woodpeckers and kingfishers, plus some exotic specimens, too.) 

Bonus question: What's the state bird of Georgia? Can you find it on the tree? Might need your reading glasses. Or better yet, take a walk by the mural to see how many birds you can ID.

Changing gears, here are some big environmental questions: Is Madison County prepared for the challenges of a warming planet? How would our local housing market handle the strains of a climate disaster? How would our local water systems?

These questions are at the heart of the upcoming CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCY GATHERING at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 (tomorrow!) in the Comer Farmers' Market. The community conversation is titled "Environmental Challenges and Social Disruption: Climate Resilience & Community Building Strategies for Madison County" and will focus on the local impacts of climate change, with speakers Patricia Yager (Georgia Initiative for Climate & Society at UGA) and Josh Richardson (Brugmansia Ministries). There will be a Q&A afterward.

What instrument is our friend Hae playing...?

If you guessed a tuba, we'll give you half credit, because that's a Wagner tuba! (We had to look it up.) Hae recently brought the instrument to the Perch Afterschool Program to get in a little practice — and serenade the pecan trees.

The Perch is wrapping up its first year of Afterschool, and it's been a fun one! Highlights from the spring include: a St. Patrick's Day trash pick-up, a scavenger hunt through downtown Comer (ending with ice cream at Maggie's Cafe!), and approximately 17 zillion games of volleyball.

Here's some of the afterschool crew preparing for a game of Jump the Rubber Bands, an acrobatic game imported from southeast Asia. Afterschool is certainly keeping us limber! 

The program will go on summer break starting in May, but we have hopes and dreams to host some midsummer field trips. Are you able to help fund a summer outing? Programming for Comer youth is some of our most popular and rewarding work, and also some of our most costly. We are grateful for your donations!

When's the next community event at the Perch? We're settling into some routines — potlucks, movie nights, work days — and we post it all on our ONLINE CALENDAR. But there's a handy way to keep track of what's coming up:

Third Thursday of each month = Perch Potlucks (next one: 4/21)

Saturday that falls on a 'teenth = Work Days (next one: 4/16)

Last Saturday of the month = Movie Night (next one: 4/30)

Keep an eye on the website for times and details, or to suggest a movie for movie night. (We've been screening family movies so far, but are discussing doing a movie series for grownups this summer.)

Last up, we've got another FREE MARKET coming up. Looking for a pair of summer sandals? Need some jeans to make cut-offs? We'll be holding the swap on Saturday, May 14 (to coincide with the Taste of Madison County street fair). We'll gladly accept your gently used clothing, toys and household items for the free market before then.

We hope that your spring is going awesomely! No question about it, we'd love to see you at the Perch soon.

With love,

The Perch

PSsst! The state bird of Georgia is the brown thrasher :)