The 2012 Rural Caucus and Strategy Session is only two days away! We look forward to seeing you for an entire weekend of Caucus activities from Friday, May 11th to Sunday, May 13th at PCUN’s Union Hall (300 Young St Woodburn, OR).
We have a pretty full house this time, so if you plan to come and have not registered yet, please call ROP at 503-438-8639 to make sure that there will be space for you. If you have already registered, come prepared to meet new rural justice activists from every corner of the state! Also come prepared with the virtue of adaptability which will be much appreciated as we spent three days and two nights under the same roof together.
Our main event is the Caucus, all day on Saturday, May 12th. Please plan to arrive at PCUN between 8:00-8:30 am to register and grab a breakfast snack. Please also consider bringing your own water bottle and/or coffee mug to cut back on waste. We’ll be kicking off the day with our keynote speakers Marcy Westerling and Ramon Ramirez!
For those of you attending activities on Friday or Sunday, please meet us at PCUN’s Union Hall at the following times:
Farmworker Tour with Ramon Ramirez: Friday, 1:45 pm
* we are at capacity for the farmworker tour. Contact us to be added to the waiting list.
Viernes Comunitario: Friday, 6:00 pm
ROP Caucus and Strategy Session: Saturday, 8:00 am
Dinner and Celebration with PCUN: Saturday, 5:30 pm
* ROP founder Marcy Westerling will be receiving a special award from PCUN, don’t miss it!
Occupy Rural Oregon Breakfast: Sunday, 8:30 am
CAPACES Work Party: Sunday 10:30 am
* Handy people are encouraged to bring pruners, and a skill saw if you have one.
For those staying overnight: most of us will be rolling out a sleeping bag and pad inside the PCUN Union Hall! There is limited outdoor camping space, so it is best to plan on staying overnight in the union hall. If you’re looking for a hotel, Woodburn is home to a Super 8 (503-981-8881), Best Western (503-982-6515), and La Quinta Inn (503-982-1727).
If you still need to pay for Caucus registration or pay group dues you can do so through via credit card online (please click on the donate button then add a note indicating that you are paying for the Caucus or group dues) or bring your check to the registration table at the Caucus.
Below you will find a Schedule of Events for the weekend and an agenda for Saturday’s Caucus.
Thanks!
See you soon,
The ROP team,
Andy, Jessica, Keyla, Amanda, and Cara
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Directions to PCUN – 300 Young St Woodburn, OR
Traveling on I5-Southbound:
Take exit 271 for OR-214 toward Woodburn/Silverton
Turn left onto OR-214 S/OR-219 S
After 1.1 miles, turn right onto N Settlemier Ave
Drive .3 miles and take a left onto Garfield Street
After going through a business district and crossing train tracks, Garfield Street turns into Young Street
Continue about three blocks past the train tracks.
PCUN will be on your right. There is a large sign, it’s hard to miss.
Traveling on I5-Northbound:
Take exit 271 for OR-214 toward Woodburn
Turn right onto OR-214 S (signs for Woodburn/Mt. Angel)
After 1.1 miles, turn right onto N Settlemier Ave
Drive .3 miles and take a left onto Garfield Street
After going through a business district and crossing train tracks, Garfield Street turns into Young Street
Continue about three blocks past the train tracks.
PCUN will be on your right. There is a large sign, it’s hard to miss.
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Rural Caucus and Strategy Session 2012
Bringing together leaders in the rural human dignity movement
Location: Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) Hall, 300 Young St., Woodburn, OR 97071
In addition to our day long Caucus, ROPers are invited to attend an evening celebration, and activities on Friday and Sunday of Caucus weekend. Make sure to indicate on your registration the days that you’ll join us!
Friday, May 11th
Farmworker tour with Ramon Ramirez of PCUN (2pm-5pm): Woodburn is rich with movement history. This tour will take you from the PCUN farmworkers hall, to the Radio Movimiento community radio station, to learning about the struggle to obtain farmworker housing with dignity.
Viernes Comunitario (6pm-8:30pm): Every other Friday, PCUN members and community gather at PCUN to discuss a topic relevant to the community. In May, they’ll open their doors to us in this grassroots event. We’ll start with the film “Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement”, a film that “encompasses a broad cross section of issues—from restoration of land grants, to farmworkers’ rights, to enhanced education, to voting and political rights”. After the film we will engage into an open discussion looking at the links between our struggles of today.
SATURDAY, MAY 12th – CAUCUS DAY!
Rural Caucus and Strategy Session (8:30am–5pm): Our chance to look back on our last year – what we have accomplished, what has changed in our political climate – and we strategize for the year to come. Join us for strategy sessions on Occupy Rural Oregon, creating Welcoming Communities, saving Rural Post Offices, election planning and more. There will be time to share strategies across communities and skills to build our organizing impact. Our Caucus keynote this year will feature a dialogue between ROP Founder Marcy Westerling and PCUN President Ramon Ramirez.
Celebration (5:30pm-bedtime): We have a lot to celebrate from the past year – from the birth of the Occupy Movement, to our local organizing efforts to build relationships and make change in our communities. Join us for a delicious vegetarian Mexican dinner, music, and dancing to Latin rhythms, hosted by our friends at PCUN. This is a party that you won’t want to miss!
Sunday, May 13th
Occupy Breakfast (8:30am-10am): Join rural Occupiers from across the state in a conversation surrounding how we can support each other, build rural power, and what unified tactics and strategies could look like.
CAPACES work party (10:30am-1pm): The CAPACES Leadership Institute (CLI) is scheduled to open in the summer of this year. CLI is an enormous achievement of our friends in the mid-Valley farmworkers movement. We’ll spend the morning getting our hands dirty, and helping bring the Institute one step closer to Inauguration Day. Learn more about the CLI here: http://www.pcun.org/gallery/87
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Rural Caucus & Strategy Session 2012
Saturday, May 12th
9-9:15: Opening: Welcome to the 19th Annual Rural Caucus & Strategy Session! by ROP Director, Cara Shufelt
9:15-10am: Keynote: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are and Where We’re Going: A Conversation between Marcy Westerling and Ramon Ramirez
10-11am: Struggle and Hope: Faces of the Movement in Rural Oregon
A talk show format highlighting struggle and organizing across rural Oregon,
11:10-12:10pm: Cross- Community Small Group Conversations
12:10- 1:15pm: Lunch & Carnival of activities to take action.
1:20- 2pm: Skill Clinics: What we need to get it done
- Using Media: Lessons from Occupy the Gorge
- Consensus Decision Making
- Democracy Grid for Community Conversations
- Organizing 101
- The Movement Recruits
- Know Your Rights
2:15-4:30pm: Reclaiming Rural Oregon: 2 tracks
We’ll break into two tracks to share strategies for this next year on strengthening our movement in rural Oregon and building more resilient, welcoming and democratic communities.
Welcoming Communities
Lincoln County’s Immigration Information Response Team shares an overview on Welcoming work. Large group conversation on strategies and then pick a break out topic that interests you!
- Building Power for Racial Justice: Civic Engagement & Elections 2012
- Passing Welcoming Resolutions
- Keeping our People Safe: Deportations, Know your Rights, and police/ICE collaboration
- Why Welcoming Communities: First-hand perspectives from rural Oregon
Democratic Economy/ Occupy Rural Oregon
Large group discussion on our moment and strategies, breakouts, and then reconvene to share results.
- Strategies for Preserving the Commons
- Challenging Debt & Foreclosures
- Inserting Ourselves (and values!) in the Election
- Occupy a Congressional District
- Taking Action on Citizens United
4:35-5pm: Close out and Report back from Tracks
5:30-late!: Party and Celebration!
Bring your dancin’ shoes and empty bellies for an evening of good food, good music and good fun!