Volunteers Needed!
Have you ever wanted to further engage and support Grailville but didn’t know how? We have a solution for you! Grailville is now offering several volunteer opportunities that range from garden helpers to virtual volunteers. Just like Grailville, our volunteer opportunities are unique and varied and are meant to not only help our community but to teach our volunteers new skills and to inspire their everyday lives. For more information about our volunteer opportunities, please take a look at the brief descriptions below.
Part of what creates the Grailville experience is the connection we have with the land. So keeping our outdoor activity areas accessible, welcoming and beautiful is something we take great pleasure in doing. If you like to dig in the dirt, and are invigorated by the smell of the fresh air, we invite you to join us!
Garden
1. Starting Monday, April 8th and continuing through the growing season, volunteers can  help care for the organic kitchen garden. The kitchen garden provides produce for meals in the dining hall with surplus sold at the Loveland Farmers’ market each Tuesday. Activities follow the natural cycle of each plant and will include soil preparation, planting, continuing care and harvest. What to bring: gloves, sun hat, water bottle.
Commitment Level: Day Projects
Best for: Individuals
When: Second and Fourth Mondays from 6:30 – 8:30 pm; Third Saturday of each month from 8:30-11:30am with light lunch to follow
To Register: Mary Lu at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or ml.grailville@fuse.net
2. Are you looking for a way to learn more about organic gardening and permaculture? This year Grailville is offering a 10-hour per week learning/work exchange program focused on these topics. This is a hands-on experience focusing on sustainable living systems, growing food using organic and other earth-friendly methods, and community distribution systems. It will be a working/learning experience in which the intern provides labor for producing good, nutrient dense, organic, healthy food from the garden, while learning how to do these same things on his/her own land or backyard. The garden volunteer projects can take small groups as well as individuals.
Commitment Level: Long-term Project
Best for: Individual
When: May through September
To Apply: Caroline Deters at maramine@yahoo.com
Trails
1. Grailville has three wooded hiking trails crisscrossing its 315 acres. Keeping the trails  clear and welcoming is an on-going project. Volunteers—as a group, family or on your own—are critical to maintaining the Trails. Activities include mulching, clearing the paths, trimming trees, and building water barriers. There are also unique art-making and natural art installation projects available for those interested. Please contact Amy Tuttle to discuss.
Commitment Level: Day Projects
Best for: Groups
When: Planned dates year round
To Register: Amy at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or at.grailville@fuse.net
Wetlands
1. Grailville is proud to have in place the first of its kind constructed wetland. The  constructed wetland treats sewage and wastewater from four of our main retreat center buildings. A key component to the system is the removal of invasive plant growth and the reintroduction of native plants that help stabilize and restore soil, absorb excess nutrients from runoff and wastewater, and contribute to greater biodiversity. If you are looking for a long-term project, this might be the one
Commitment Level: Long-term Project
Best for: Individuals or small group/family
When: Year round
To Register: Mary Lu at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or ml.grailville@fuse.net
Do you prefer indoor activities and opportunities? Being a Retreat and Program Center, Grailville has both “traditional” types of volunteer activities and uniquely Grailville opportunities.
Trail Art
1. Thanks to a generous grant by the Ohio Arts Council, Grailville has amplified the natural  beauty of our three trails with benches and place-based art. If you are looking for a more of a creative outlet that embraces and celebrates the natural world, this might be perfect for you. For details contact Amy Tuttle at at.grailville@fuse.net.
Commitment Level: Short-term Projects
Best for: Individuals or small group/family
When: Year round
To Register: Amy at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or at.grailville@fuse.net
Gift Shop
1. Are you ready to make a global difference? Help Grailville support The Grail mission by serving artists and communities locally and world-wide as a clerk at our gift shop. Our  clerks will have regular schedules making this a great opportunity for recent retirees. Clerks need legible handwriting, a eye for detail, be customer service oriented, have an enthusiasm for learning and sharing product details, and an ability to learn the computer-based payment system. Duties: make sales, restock, clean (light work like dusting) and label boxes.
Commitment Level: Long-term Project
Best for: Individuals
When: Regular Schedule Year Round
To Register: Terrie at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or tpuckett@grailville.org
Greeter
1. At Grailville, our Greeters provide a warm welcome and serve as the first point of contact for guests and callers. This group of dedicated volunteers will have regularly scheduled hours making this a great opportunity for recent retirees and stay-at-home moms. Greeters will: answer the main phone line, provide guests and callers correct information in an efficient and pleasant manner, restock information kiosk, maintain an orderly reception area, greet guests (casual and expected), take phone messages and deliver to appropriate personnel and provide basic information in re programming, the farm and the Retreat Center.
Commitment Level: Long-term Project
Best for: Individuals
When: Regular Schedule Year Round
To Register: Terrie at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or tpuckett@grailville.org
“Church Mice”
1. Dedicated to worship, meditation, weddings and other ceremonies, Grailville’s award-winning Oratory is a beautiful, sacred space. “Church Mice” are needed to help keep this uniquely Grailville space warm and inviting. Once a month the “Mice” will organize closets and shelves, take inventory of supplies, and do light cleaning and polishing. Occasionally there will be other tasks like moving chairs and tables.
Commitment Level: Long-term Project
Best for: Individuals
When: Regular Schedule Year Round
To Register: Terrie at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or tpuckett@grailville.org
Virtual Volunteers
1. Thanks to the wonderful world of technology, Grailville has several projects that can be done on your schedule at home (in your PJs if you prefer!). For some assignments, the  Virtual Volunteer will need a computer and internet access at home and be proficient in data entry, Microsoft Word and Excel and using the internet for research. For others—like collating reports and preparing mailings—no technical skills are required.
Commitment Level: Short-term and Day Projects
Best for: Individuals
When: Year Round
To Register: Terrie at Grailville, 513.683.2340 or tpuckett@grailville.org
Trail season is back in full swing! Volunteers are donning their boots and work gloves and jumping into new and muddy spring projects. Artists are putting their finishing touches on beautiful benches and wooden sculptures for the trails. We are looking forward to our Spring Trail Volunteer Day sponsored by REI Cincinnati, a national outdoor retail co-op founded in 1938 by a group of Pacific Northwest mountaineers seeking quality equipment, REI is committed to promoting environmental stewardship and increasing access to outdoor recreation through volunteerism. We are just so excited about all that is to come!
Since Fall 2011, Grailville has been working to revitalize the trails on our property. We have 3 wonderful trailways that grace our property. Walking on them is a visual delight as Grailville is home to many extraordinary plant and animal species. Local Eagle Scouts have made a huge impact on the trail project. In fall 2012, Nick Kiser created the “Upper Trail” on the South Trail and installed a wonderful bridge.  Kevin Ready is working to create a meditation garden on the South Trail, which includes a bench for reflecting, and beautiful artistic features. Matt Walsh has been working to create a map for the North Trail and will be installing a trail kiosk this spring. Also, Caleb DeLaVega has taken on the challenge of addressing some of the water issues on the South Trail. His project includes a bridge and water bars to make the trail more walker-friendly. Thanks to all the scouts for their wonderful work!
In 2012, Grailville was granted an Ohio Arts Council award that has contributed greatly to  the creation and implementation of art on the trails. The funding provided from Ohio Arts Council, has made it possible to create 2 beautiful art benches, wooden sculptures, incredible trail signage, and much more. Many thanks to the Ohio Arts Council for their support!
The Ohio Arts Council grant is supporting a wonderful collaboration between Grailville and the Children’s Meeting House. Grailville’s Amy Tuttle has been working with Children’s Meeting House’s Outdoor Club to create trail art. The group has taken inspiration from the book “Hope for the Flowers” by Trina Paulus and is creating a “Hope Corner” on the North Trail. This corner will include an artistic bench, designed by Amy Tuttle and a sculpture that represents the book “Hope for the Flowers” designed by the children of the Outdoor Club.
 Come and join the fun on April 6th as we kick off the 2013 volunteer season! We will meet at 9am at the gazebo and spend the morning working on maintenance projects and art installations. For more information please contact Amy Tuttle at: at.grailville@fuse.net.
To see Amy Tuttle’s recent interview with Channel 5/WLTW, please click here.
 There has been a lot going on here at Grailville and I am especially excited about the updates to our Retreat Center. We hope that you group leaders out there will be excited, too! You need a brand new LCD projector to show your perfect PowerPoint presentation and Grailville Retreat Center has you covered. You need internet access during your meeting, and we now offer free WiFi in the Caravansary and St. Brigid’s, as well as in the CoffeeHouse. We’ve got lockers for your group members to check out, at no cost. Want to build into your program some outdoor time during your stay? Oh, take a hike! No, seriously, including a walk on our South Trail is an outdoor activity that your group won’t soon forget. Check out the new improvements that have been completed during the Grailville Trail project. The South Trail now features place-based art installations and improvements such as new benches, loops, and resurfacing with mulch. More projects are coming, so stay tuned!
Each year throughout the calendar, the Retreat Center continually maintains and makes improvements to our nine buildings that are available for rent by clients. But 2012 was an exceptionally productive year for changes. There has been some beautification going on, with new paint and landscaping around some of our buildings. And we’re really excited about the new kitchenette in the Caravansary, which makes that space a lot nicer to use – as well as really cute! In 2012, our own Guest Services Manager Nina Naberhaus was able to fulfill some of her long awaited dreams, and now your guests will have sweet dreams of their own one of our new beautiful beds in Hodie, our largest overnight rental space. Plus, she got all new dishes, glasses, and flatware for our beautiful and unique Dining Room.
Above all the physical changes you will see the next time you come to Grailville, one of the largest improvements we’ve made is having this new website. This website has been a joy to unveil to our current community and a great tool to make new friends, as well. Helping us connect with Retreat Center clients and prospective clients is key for our future, and this new website is a big step forward! For example, I’ve been typing away at the email inquiries we’ve already started receiving through our new Contact Form. This is a new way for people to get started finding out about hosting their own events at Grailville, in addition to the phone calls and emails we receive from all over the region and even the whole country!
At Grailville, we work personally and directly with each group leader to make your event the best it can be. We think that kind of personal attention makes us pretty special, and we hope you will agree. I’m happy to take you on a tour of our facilities and work with you personally to help you determine which building will be right for your group. I can help you with specific questions pertaining to your individual event and see you through the process from first contact through your whole event. All the staff at Grailville endeavor to provide excellent hospitality and we invite you to come and experience it for yourself!
Personally, I hope you’ll take some time to review the Retreat Center portion of our awesome website and use the Contact Form if you have any questions. Grailville can help you with a personal R&R retreat, a meeting for your business or organization, or a celebration! I’m so excited to meet you here on the web and share with you all the exciting updates we’re welcoming at Grailville. We hope you will book a meeting or retreat with us soon, and join the fun.
Dale Marie Prenatt
Guest Services Associate
Grailville Retreat & Program Center
 In conjunction with 350.org, Grailville held it’s own Connect the Dots Day about climate change. The past few months people have been gathering at Grailville heeding Ghandi’s call to be the change we want to see in the word. On September 15, we joined communities all over the planet in hosting the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream symposium. The goal of the symposium is to create an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on the planet. It was a rich day full of new and renewed connections as we shared information, inspiration and resources with each other.
As a follow-up to the symposium, a group of people returned in November to focus on action we can take together as community(s). The Loveland Herald ran a spirit-filled story about the morning that you can read here. In the end, 3 working groups formed to move into action around areas of common interest and passion. The groups are meeting throughout December and January, and we will all come back together again on February 2. A brief description of the working groups is below.
 Bonnie Hendricks & Grailville Director, Becky HIll at Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium If this work is of interest to you, I hope you can join us the morning of February 2. And if you would like to plug in to one of the working groups in the meantime, send me a note and I will put you in contact with the groups.
Wishing you all a beautiful and blessed 2013!
Bonnie Hendricks
Sustainability Coordinator
Grailville Retreat & Program Center
bonnie@grail-us.org
Working Groups
Energy Solutions Working Group
We are focused on Grailville and want to a) reduce the energy costs for at least one building b) if feasible and has a good cost-benefit ratio, utilize the manure from the cows that graze on the property to produce energy (biogas) and use it to generate heat (variety of uses.). We are in the analyze phase and are collecting data about the Grailville energy needs and costs and learning about biogas solutions.
Food Working Group
We are discussing the possibility of getting a few Grailville “brand” products on the market to give us some recognition in the area. We intend to explore ways to extend the growing season and want to promote the planting of vegetables and fruit in public places to raise public awareness. We are also interested in training / education / skill-building around food production and preservation. Many more ideas and plans will be forthcoming.
Inner Transition Working Group
To live in peaceful community with others we journey through an Inner Transition. In understanding ourselves – our needs, intentions, commitments, we can begin to understand the needs of others, share responsibilities, and resolve conflicts through compassionate communication with one another. We are exploring training in Nonviolent Communication and envision an ongoing practice group to support one another.
This past year has brought many exciting programs to Grailville! In the Good Earth, Good Eats series, we explored several great ideas for improving ecological sustainability at home. We learned about raising backyard chickens from Joy France, a local chicken enthusiast. John Howland led us on an exploration of vermi-composting (composting with worms.) We also engaged in several natural arts experiences, such as: mobile making, weaving, and natural dye.
In October of 2012, we began exploring the “wonderful world of wool” with Susan Gilbert of Heartfelt Handworks. Wool, the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals, can be dyed, felted, and crafted into many wonderful goods. In October, Gilbert led a fantastic program at Grailville based on the natural dyeing process. She brought heaps of wool from her beloved sheep as well as several native plants, for a playful day of dyeing delight! 16 lucky participants worked with Gilbert to create dye baths of indigo, cochineal, osage orange, and much more. Each participant left the program with a bag-full of beautifully dyed wool, ready for spinning or felting. We enjoyed this program so much that we have asked Susan Gilbert to present another exploration of wool at Grailville! On January 19th from 1pm-4pm, Gilbert will start out our 2013 program calendar with a course on wool felting.
This year, holds a treasure of educational experiences in the Good Earth, Good Eats program series! Bread-maker, Lebe Robinson, is returning to Grailville to teach her ever-popular bread-making course. She will instruct participants on the basics of artisanal baking; join us February 24th from 1-4pm. Bird Watching is also back! Join in on the fun- grab some pancakes and set out on the trails- maybe you will catch a glimpse at a rare bird species! (4/13/13, 7:30am)
If you find it challenging to have enough time and space at home for gardening- check out our Gardening in a Box program. Led by expert gardener Mary Lu Lageman, this workshop will present “outside the box” options for raising food and plants in boxes and containers of various sorts. You will get a chance for hands-on preparation of a container garden that can be taken home as a “starter” for discovering the rewards of growing food in a small space.
Home-brewing has become a popular hobby for many folks with an interest in reskilling. In Spring 2011, Grailville held the first of a series of home brew courses geared toward the art of herbal brewing. Christopher Smyth, an herbal home brew fanatic, has led two workshops so far at Grailville: Irish Herbal Beers & Holiday Herbal Brews. He provides participants with a wonderful historical description of the role and process of beer making in various cultures over the past couple of thousand of years. We are excited to welcome Chris back for a Summer Ale Class on May 19th from 1-5pm!
We will end the school year with a new and exciting program Cob Oven Workshop, instructed by local expert Suellyn Shupe (6/22, 6/29). If you are looking for a natural addition to your back-yard cooking, check out this program! We will learn the entire process of building an oven from cob (clay, sand, straw). Cob Oven’s are great for baking bread, pizza, and much more!
We hope that you will come out and join us on these wonderful sustainable learning ventures!
Amy Tuttle
Program Associate
Grailville Retreat & Program Center
atuttle@grailville.org
When I was invited to join the Grailville team I was beyond excited—an embarrassing Snoopy happy dance WAS involved—because it meant joining a world-class organization, getting back into the nonprofit world and having the chance to explore some great global and local programming ideas…AND seeing the cows each day. Side Note: I have discovered that it is hard to be stressed when there are cows meandering about.
What does this mean to me as Program Manager? Well, it means I have the wondrous responsibility to make sure that the many exciting new, tried-and-true and fascinatingly unique programs offered fully express what Grailville is about. In my humble opinion, Grailville is the perfect blend of mission, vision and opportunities with a unique “flavor” all its own. I mean, really, where else in the region can one explore the earth, social transformation, creativity, and the inner spirit in such a holistic and comprehensive manner?
What does this mean for you? It means that we are able to offer a wealth of options for personal growth from which to choose. The 2013 program calendar ranges from felting in January to the campus-wide Spring Fling in May. Knowing that individuals learn and experience best in different ways, our programs are a melding of DIY, interactive and meditative activities. In addition to set programs, our trails and Labyrinth are open year-round for use by the public.
What does this mean for all of us? Starting in January we will begin a series of review and strategic planning sessions for programming at Grailville. From these we will develop the program schedule for the second half of 2013, all of 2014 and lay the framework for the next few years. It is important to Grailville’s success that our programs reflect the interests and needs of the greater community so your input is key. What do YOU feel we should know as we build for the future? Where do you see Grailville programs in 2013? In 2020? Are there specific subjects or skills you would like to see tackled? Would you be interested in attending a weekend-long program? Now is the time to share your ideas, thoughts and suggestions so that they can be included in our discussions.
I have been a part of Grailville for 6 weeks now and my excitement about our future has not diminished. I still go home and do a little Snoopy happy dance each night…and eagerly await seeing the cows in the morning.
Regards,
Terrie Puckett
Program Manager
Grailville Retreat & Program Center
tpuckett@grailville.org
Welcome!
We’ve re-designed our website to be easier to use, allow for more frequently updated content and offer more ways for you to give us feedback. You can review our programs and products in the program registration and store sections, comment here on our blog and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
A section of this website is devoted to YOU – whether you want to bring your group here for a meeting, retreat or special event (check out Host Your Own Event), attend one of our arts, environmental or spiritual programs (check out Come to Our Programs), or just stop by for a hike or some time to meditate (check out Visit, Shop, Play). Other sections of the website highlight more about Grailville, our environmental efforts, the Grail movement and our community. Please explore and let us know what you think!
Please excuse our dust, though. We still have some small technical issue with our store and program registration sections that will be resolved soon. We are also still adding photographs and content so keep checking back and thank you for your understanding.
Designed around our fabulous new logo, created by John Robinson of Robinson Designs, Catalin Macarie and his team at Cat Creatives have done an amazing job of bringing this new website into being.
We look forward to using this forum to deepen our relationships with all of you. Exciting things are happening at Grailville – we can’t wait to show you more!
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