Save the Cathedral Greenhouse Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

#	Name	Comments
151	Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener Magazine	The decision to close the Cathedral greenhouse is just wrong-headed on so many fronts. The church leadership recently held a conference on going green and the environment at the Cathedral, how ironic that at the same time they are planning on closing one ofthe few POSITIVE and EFFECTIVE ways they are contributing to this city's urban green infrastructure.
152	Lydia Diklich	I was very sad to hear of the closing of the Greenhouse. I hope the decision can be revisited, and there is a way to keep the Greenhouse open.
153	Janine Gilbert
154	Harriet Zbikowski
155	Anonymous	I am sorry that being "Green" has somehow no longer become a mission for the Cathedral. The Greenhouse can certainly represent the Cathedral's committment as a symbol for environmental concerns.
156	Anonymous
157	Nancy Tartt	Please keep the Cathedral Greenhouse!
158	Hilary Stemp
159	TANYA WASHINGTON
160	Suzanne Horton	I do not think that a true calculation of the Grenhouse's outreach has been evaluated. For the many years that I lived in DC, I brought many visitors, not only to the cathedral, but especially to the greenhouse - each carrying home a visible, tangible momento of their visit - a plant, a piece of statuary. Why the greenhouse and not the herb cottage or the gift shop?
161	Lacey A Gude	The Cathedral greenhouse is my preferred stop for plant material, meaningful gifts and most of all, as a reminder of my gratitude to God for the beautiful creation HE has given me and all of us and my responsibility to take care as best I can of this gift. LIke others I intend to withdraw my Cathedral support and remove it from my will if the greenhouse is closed. if the Cathedral personnel would apply their creative energy to this as they do to other projects, undoubtedly a workable solution could be found which would continue to benefit the community and the Cathdral close. I will continue to pray for God's will in this important matter. Lacey A. Gude
162	Jessica Abell	I was extremely disturbed by the comment I read in media coverage that in a post-9/11 world, a ministry like the greenhouse did not seem to fit. What could be more healing than being stewards of new growth and life? In Chicago, a very broken inner-city school is being turned around by its involvement in a local community garden. Simply being around growing things can bring peace to an angry soul. Tending new life is one of the most sacred acts a person can engage in. Please re-think this decision or find a way to pass on the administration of the greenhouse to a new group. Knee jerk closing reactions are rarely the Gospel course. There is ALWAYS a third way. Jessica Abell, Diocese of Chicago
163	Anonymous	Throughout the 1990s, I spent many hours shopping and working as a volunteer at the Greenhouse while living in the area. This wonderful place provided the local community with a tremendous resource for plants and horticultural education that was greatly appreciated by them. Not only is the Greenhouse a viable business, it is a center of social gathering for the gardening community. What a foolish decision to close this horticultural institution.
164	Victoria Ruttenberg
165	Martha Craver
166	Barbara Glickman
167	Liesbet Koromzay	I think the greenhouse adds so much to the Cathedral Grounds. It has charm en usefulness . I can't imagine why it has been decided to just do away with this very special place. Its budget can't be very big relative to the overall budget of the Cathedral. Keep it please!
168	Judy Vandegriff	Save the Green House at the National Cathedral. It too is a House of Prayer and the green growing residents within are dependent on our care.
169	Sheilagh Smigen-Rothkopf
170	Dorothy R. Avery	This petition states the case most eloquently. PLEASE RECONSIDER THIS DECISION!
171	Kate Morgan Roff	Just when everyone decides to "go green"---the Greenhouse goes.
172	George Winter
173	Anonymous
174	Zac Petersen
175	Mary A. Cooper
176	Jayne Holt
177	Douglas R. Marshall	I support the effort to preserve the greenhouse at the National Cathedral. Not only is it a draw for a wide spectrum of visitors but it's activities are consistent with the church's mission. Many English churches have a smililar garden center. I do not know whether it is self-supporting, but if not could easily be developed as such with some effort and creativity. Consider outsourcing the operation as long as it does not threaten the Cathedral's non-profit status. Good Luck, Doug Marshall, visitor to the Natl Cathedral since 1975.
178	Christine Tuve Burris	I started visiting the Cathedral in the early 1950s from Silver Spring when the floor was concrete and the Cathedral ended just beyond the crossing. I brought my boy friend there in the mid 1960s and the building, the gardens, and the greenhouse became part of our lives. We bought a house in DC in 1978 and filled our herb garden with plants from the Greenhouse and since then we visit several times each season, year round. Then, when a son was born and the offer was made to attend a school on The Close, we became part of the school family as well. My father contributed a gargoyle for $5,000 in memory of my mother and we filled his home with Greenhouse plants as well. The Cathedral, but most especially the garden and The Greenhouse, are part of a whole experience. The Cathedral may imagine itself in a larger international position, but the community of Washington, DC gave this church its birth and the Greenhouse nourishes its daily faith. If the Cathedral doesn't want to find itself on an island surrounded by desert, it will keep its Greenhouse alive.
179	Robin Milman - Muse	As Greenhouse Horticulturist (994-2000) it was my responsibility to develop an outreach program to get "people involved in the Cathedral through thebackdoor of it's garden" I spoke throughout the tristate area, especially Richmond. I developed a volunteer program from which hundreds of people participated. I propagated historic plants from the Cathedral gardens to allow visitors to have a living legacy. I truly do not understand this administration's decision. I fear they do not understand the rare gem the Cathedral Greenhouse is.
180	Daniel T. Bradfield
181	claudia Lanpher
182	J S Carroll	The Greenhouse is such an important and integral part of the Cathedral Close. The beauty of it lies in its simplicity and subtle, natural design - and, of course, all the plants that grow there and then find their way in to gardens for miles around. My son loves to visit it after school and it has become a family tradition to support the Greenhouse by buying our Christmas wreaths and Halloween pumpkins there - and special gifts for friends and visitors, so that a little part of the Cathedral Close goes home with them too. Please, at the very least, extend the deadline for closure, so that alternatives to permanent closure can be explored and discussed with the community, and fundraising goals could be announced and, hopefully, reached in order to sustain the Greenhouse for future generations.
183	Anonymous
184	EDITH KUHNLE	The Cathedral is so grand and awe inspiring.....the greenhouse is on such a human scale. It is a nice contrast and one that makes the Cathedral experience more personal and intimate for the visitor. Please reconsider.
185	Anonymous	Please keep the Greenhouse as it is so much a part of the Cathedral Community--the neightbor loves shopping and visiting there.
186	Virginia Miller	I am a Beauvoir and NCS graduate....while I live in New Orleans, I have not forgotten the Greenhouse and patronize it from afar by buying birthday, Mothers Day presents etc. And when I am in Washington, I make a point of visiting for a soul satisfying reminder of the things that are important in life. Please do not close the Greenhouse! The Cathedral and Washington DC have, in this greenhouse, a living, breathing and very beautiful example of the very things we should all be doing - the very places we should all be creating - to protect the world. Thank you.
187	Jane Thompson	For years our first stop when returning to DC has been a visit to the greenhouse and the purchase of plants. I have lavendar that is very old and large that came from a small Cathedral lavendar plant. I and my children have taken Christmas greens classes and enjoyed them very much. To remove the greenhouse will remove a wonderful link from the green world to the Cathedral and Anglican practices.
188	Anonymous	I have a plaque in my garden that reads: "The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of a bird for mirth, I'm closer to God in my garden than anywhere else on earth." What could the Cathedral's 'post 9/11 vision' be that would exclude the greenhouse??
189	Jean Meisel
190	Willee and Finlay Lewis
191	stephanie cabell
192	Ann Alexander	I have already expresed my concerns to Dean Lloyd.
193	Johann F. Klodzen	I have also sent a personal letter.
194	Anonymous
195	Shellie Grant
196	Tad Tharp	This is one of the last oasis of tranquility and peace in our bustling world. Please do not take it from us.
197	Sarah Moore	My children and are are very sad to hear about both the green house and the children's field trip program closing and hope that you reconsider. The children in our community are important and we need not save money by cutting funding to things which they love.
198	Anonymous
199	Anonymous
200	Charles S. Tidball	An important point in preserving the greenhouse not mentioned on your list is that the greenhouse is a primary link to the local community. The Cathedral is dependent on positive relations between it and the community. Enhancing this good will offsets whatever financial deficit may be generated. This does not deny that there could be improvement in the finanial management of the enterprise. That should be attempted long before a decision is made to close the greenhouse.