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Lewisburg Celebrates Good Neighbors: Our Beloved CommUnity

 

 

We all enjoyed eclectic music, ate delicious food, and joined in lots of activities while learning how wonderful our community is. “Beloved CommUnity” event is meant to be a yearly event which meant to celebrate  volunteers take part in a variety of activities, but most importantly to honor the the amazing work done by many members of our community. 

 

Our very First Annual Event honored the amazing work Doug & Margie Sturm did in our community through their time here in Lewisburg with a ribbon cutting of the beautiful plaque installed in their honor.

7 June 2015

Hufnagle Park 12 noon - 5 pm

 

The CommUnityZone in partnership with CARE (Community Alliance for Respect & Equality) is organizing “Our Beloved CommUnity”, with music, kids activities, and booths set up by local agencies that will help inform you of all the wonderful initiatives already happening in the Susquehanna Valley and offer people a chance to find the service activity that best suits each of us in areas such as “Health Care”, “Education”, “Animal Helpers” and more. The day will open at the gazebo with a ribbon cutting of the “Beloved Community” Kiosk dedicated to Doug and Margie Sturm and will be followed by an afternoon of fun, good food and activities for all ages. 

 

Our hope is that “Our Beloved CommUnity” event will mark the first of what will become a yearly event encompassing a broad vision for bold, rigorous, volunteerism and a multidisciplinary artistic expression that emerges from love for one’s community and a vision for a better world.

 

Doug and Margie Sturm lived in Lewisburg for over 50 years. In that time, they contributed endlessly of their time and compassion to the community. Their impact was felt far and wide in the Central Susquehanna Valley. Doug passed away last April, and his beloved Margie soon followed. They were committed to “the interconnectedness of all forms of existence, and the responsibility each person bears for the welfare of the evolving community of life.“ As a result, Doug allied himself with the traditions of democratic socialism, nonviolence, and justice as solidarity.

 

The Sturms’ level of participation in the community is unprecedented. Margie was active in the public library, Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition, Social Concerns Committee (Beaver Memorial United Methodist Church), Susquehanna Association for the Arts, Related Arts Committees (Lewisburg Area School District), Democratic Women of Buffalo Valley, and the Union County Democratic Committee while serving as an English teacher in the Lewisburg School District for 20 years Doug , a professor of in in the department of Religion at Bucknell University was instrumental in creating the Institute for the Study of Human Values, as well as a Medical Ethics Study Group, a Professional Ethics Program, a Social Theory Program, a Social Justice College, and a Peace Studies Curriculum. Perhaps his most lasting local contribution comes from his founding of the non-profit organization called Community Alliance for Respect and Equality (CARE).

 

We belive in creating a place where all members of the community and organizations that serve them share ideas, talents and resources that contribute to vibrant, caring and connected communities. It’s a grand idea, we know but one that deserves more of our attention. While each of us can make a difference, together we can make true and lasting change. 

 

It’s a simple idea. How can I be happy? What is missing from my life? Good questions. While there are no easy answers in life, there may be an easier path to happiness than you think.

 

 

Irish proverb: “God likes help when helping people”

 

Albert Schweizer: “To work for the common good is the greatest creed.”

 

Mark 10:44: “And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”

 

Albert Einstein: “Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.”