Friday, July 24, 2015

Georgia Avenue Business Improvement District & Development Corporation Non-Profit Organization

I've got a friend named Michael Jackson. Joe Orlow and I met him while I was trying to help Joe get his Farmer's market product sales going. He in turn is friend with some other folks in my old home of NW DC including Andre Carley who is a Neighborhood representative and Toussaint Tyson. He's trying mightily to improve things in his neck of the woods for all the people who live in DC (and of course generally) and the DC area. Anyway, he's working to get Georgia Avenue designated a commercial corridor and to that aim he and his colleagues have created Georgia Avenue Business Improvement District & Development Corporation Non-Profit Organization, or GABIDDC.

"Michael Jackson started GABIDDC. Michael has been a community activist for many years. He also teaches at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). Michael picked the upper corridor of Georgia Avenue to work on as far as improving business there. He formed GABIDDC to pull together the many threads of his activism: working with youth to train them and find them employment, inviting businesses into the city, and promoting academic research that will lead to tangible results as far as increasing employment and attracting businesses." [http://gabiddc.blogspot.com/2015/06/welcome.html]

Also: https://gabiddc.wordpress.com/contact/

Some of my other friends have connected to him and I'm trying to help him, from my distant (semi) retirement at the 55 mile mark of the Great Chesapeake and Ohio Tow Path and former canal, once known as Berlin, then Smoketown and now known as Brunswick. I don't have much to say except most of my help so far has been volunteer stuff. We are pushing a health/medical readiness effort connected to disease outbreaks. We are getting ready for the DC Fair....[https://dcstatefair.wordpress.com/] On Saturday September 12 2015

DC having a Fair???? Yes!

Yes, amazingly Amazingly:

https://dcstatefair.wordpress.com/event-details/

Attractions

The D.C. State Fair — a seemingly Pinterest-inspired event showcasing the culinary, artistic and agricultural talents of the District — is adding a marijuana-growing competition to its lineup of events this year. The “Best Bud” category now joins the fair’s growing list of competitions, which already includes the honey contest, the homebrew contest, the knit and crotchet contest, the funkiest-looking vegetable contest, the pickled food contest and more. The fair also added a pet parade for the first time this year.

We are working with a woman named Karen Malkin to organize presentations and with other folks organizing the DC Fair [September 12 2015] at:

Old City Farm and Guild,
925 Rhode Island Avenue Northwest,
Washington, DC 20001, United States

Stoner competition?

They are even going to have an event for stoners:

Image from Washington Post Article

Artisan Hemp

Now this is *not* to be confused with our initiative to get Artisan Hemp back into general commerce. Hemp plants may look like Marijuana but they'll make you cough and won't get you high. They have a plethora of uses and Michael is exploring some of them in making better quality road patches. Our Friend Elisheva Shalom is pushing some of the products and legalization too. At:

The Declaration of Independence was printed on Hemp Paper

http://artisanhemp.com/

I really believe that all Drug enforcement should be consolidated with Tobacco, Alcohol and Firearms and shifted from punishing people from using drugs and being addicts, to punishing them for misusing drugs, misbehaving and treat addiction as a health problem along with drunk driving, Traumatic Brain Injury, Post Traumatic Stress and similar -- all of which tend to get criminalized instead of treated. That is another post.

Sona Creamery

And I'm still working on my general program/projects to get food to food deserts and improve the lives of "yeoman" farmers. We made a connection with the wonderful new Creamery here in DC named Sona Creamery:

http://www.sonacreamery.com/
Further Reading:
https://gabiddc.wordpress.com/contact/
http://gabiddc.blogspot.com/2015/06/welcome.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeorgiaAveBIDDC/info?tab=overview
Artisan Hemp:
http://artisanhemp.com/
Sona Creamery
http://www.sonacreamery.com/
Events:
dd>http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/07/16/d-c-s-state-fair-will-have-a-marijuana-growing-competition-this-year/

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