Here are the top 5 reasons that you should buy your Roots & Wings ticket now!
1. Movement Reflection – While the October 26th Oregonian declares sections of rural Oregon in a depression era crisis, the predictable anger is most inappropriately focused on deepening the corporate government that got us into this mess. Gather with historical friends of the ROP (Tarso Ramos, Suzanne Pharr, Eric Ward, Scot Nakagawa) and ROP Founder Marcy Westerling to help problem solve actual organizing solutions for today. Join us to puzzle out this post election moment and test practical solutions for our hometowns.
2. Movement Cheer– One of the things that over and over again we hear from you is that ROP is like a far flung family that doesn’t get together enough. And when we do make time to be together this time nurtures and inspires us for the organizing at home. This is a time that we need that extra dose of community – and what better way to kick off your holiday season than with your ROP family. Let’s celebrate rural and small town human dignity activism, ROP history and our hopes at the Roots & Wings Celebration!
3. Nourishing The Roots & Spreading Our Wings – We do have so much to be proud of and to build upon – and the best way to do that is to share our stories, take time to remember where we come from and what we have been through together. We are making special invitations to ROP leaders from throughout our history to include the full depth of the many inspiring folks, like yourselves, who have made ROP who we are. As we move forward into the next phase of ROP, we have new possibilities on the horizon – from new leaders to new communities of support. As we grow and evolve, we know how important it is that we take these steps together, walking side by side down the new roads that we are charting.
4. Marcy Westerling – The past year at ROP has been a hard one for all of us who love Marcy dearly. Watching her battle it out with stage 4 ovarian cancer and conclude her first round of chemo, with all the obvious and unfathomably ups and downs. But this December, we get to celebrate with Marcy. And man, does Marcy like a good party! We get to honor her decades of organizing and celebrate her legacy of ROP – the thousands of lives she has changed, the impact on Oregon we have collectively made, and the organization that she has built and is now handing over to our new Director and her friend and colleague of 7 years, Cara Shufelt.
5. You – Yes, you! We need you to bring your own special take on ROP and rural & small town organizing to our celebration – whether you are a long time supporter or new found friend, whether you are an urban ally or from frontier Oregon, whether you have worked with a local human dignity group or only had occasional interactions with ROP. We need the full breadth of the Oregon rural progressive community to help us weave this celebration together. Each of you bring something unique and important to our movement – and we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.