Great things in the Winston-Salem area

I was really energized by the crowd of around 60 people that came out last night to talk about Cool Cities in Winston-Salem.

Three things in particular warmed my heart:

-A 4th grader who had written a letter to Mayor Allen Joines asking that Winston-Salem become a Cool City.

-Talking with Ronda Jones, who is fighting what sometimes feels likes a lonely crusade to get the governments in Stokes County to start paying more attention to environmental issues. If there are any Stokes folks reading this please get in touch with me so that I can hook you up with Ronda. She is a gem.

-Having Jeff Switzer, one of the Foothills Group's newest ExCom members, let me know about his plans to win over Lexington and Thomasville.

Nothing makes me happier than to conquer new frontiers. There are 100 counties in North Carolina, and in most of them the Sierra Club does not have much of a presence. If you live in one of those under represented counties please e-mail me at 'tjensen' @ 'sierraclub-nc.org' I want to work with you to make things happen in your local area.

Thank you to the leaders of the Foothills Group, some of the best and most committed Sierrans in the state, for welcoming me to their community and for all of their good work.