GRAND RAPIDS – The West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum announce the winners of its 2013 Essay Contest ? A Master of Management & Master Gardener; a Locavore and Foodbeet blogger; and a writer, researcher, builder and remodeler.
Michele VanHouten wins highest honors with her essay The Country Cemetery. Honorable Mentions go to Theresa Hogerheide (From Vine to Virtue) and Anne Reynolds (Constructive Dissent). Essayists were recognized at the WMSBF?s April 8 monthly luncheon meeting, held at Calvin?s Bunker Interpretive Center.
The theme was inspired by our January monthly meeting presentation by Dr. Kim Cameron, co-founder of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship at U-M, on the Value of Virtuousness. We invited members of the West Michigan region to share their reflections on: ?What are the virtues manifested by individuals or businesses and institution that most profoundly enrich your life??
What character traits inspire and motivate you to create ? and share ? a meaningful and productive quality of life? Tell us a story? Essays were judged on the basis of clarity, attention to theme, passion, and creativity.
Essayist Bios and Essay Excerpts
The Country Cemetery by Michele Van Houten
?These virtues are also spoken of here in the softest of whispers, carried on the winds for anyone who quiets himself long enough to listen. I know; I?ve heard these whispers. I hear them carried on the gentle summer breezes or in the biting winds of winter that sweep over this parcel of land. Neither scorching heat nor drenching rains dampen them either. They are there for anyone to hear if they pay attention and wish to learn about living where the principles of a virtuous life are central. And I do, so I keep returning to the country cemetery.?
Van Houten has recently been appointed to represent the conservation interest on Kent County?s Agricultural Preservation Board as a volunteer, serving to foster healthy economic, social and environmental benefits in our communities by preserving prime and unique farmland. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Calvin College.
She also holds a Master of Management degree from Aquinas College, with concentrations in Sustainable Business Management and Communications. She is a long-time practitioner of environmental, health, safety and supply chain management who is currently seeking a new career opportunity. She has held positions in the manufacturing, engineering consulting, government, healthcare and the public utilities sectors.
Van Houten is a Master Gardener who loves to toil in the soil, creating landscapes that incorporate sustainable design and creative reuses of materials. She also loves to bicycle. She gets a great sense of satisfaction completing bike rides, such as the DALMAC that winds from MSU up through the rolling farms of central Michigan and through the north lake country, testing her physical and mental stamina, all the while raising awareness for causes close to her heart.
From Vine to Virtue by Theresa Hogerheide
?As I step out my door on a frosty February morning I try to shake off the cold. Twenty degrees in Michigan is enough to give many second thoughts, but the anticipation of my destination warms me. I pull my coat collar closer and head to the Fulton St. Farmers Market ? ?My market.??
Hogerheide is an environmental advocate, writer, and locavore in Grand Rapids, MI. She works from home, using her interior design education and background, as remote staff for the US Green Building Council. The council develops the LEED green building rating systems and certifies the green buildings. She has been writing on the blog www.MiLocalFoodbeet.com since June 2010. The blog, Michigan Local Foodbeet, and its Facebook page are devoted to educating Locavores – especially Michigan Locavores. Its mission is to educate readers on how to find, prepare, eat, preserve, and enjoy local food.
She is a former staff person at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council and served on the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum board. She currently serves on the Fulton Street Farmers Market Organizational Planning Committee.
The Environmental Action Council: Justin Swan, Organicycle; Jennifer Wammack, IDa Design Gabe Wing, Herman Miller; and Lisa Locke, WMSBF.
