Guy Ford & Grilled Cheese

Watauga, North Carolina

The Guy Ford and Grilled Cheese event for the Global Earth Exchange 2018 was a hit and met with much surprise and gratitude. The initial idea was trading trash pick-up in exchange for grilled cheese sandwiches at our sacred spot at Guy Ford put-in on the Watauga River. Also a popular party spot for college kids who often forget to take their trash when they leave. I went the night before to prep for the next day and noticed that there really wasn’t much trash. It turns out an AppState Fraternity had adopted the site and were keeping it clean along with encouraging others to do the same. Since the wheels were already in motion and the word was out, instead of trying to change gears, we made it a community binding event and bringing trash was optional…everyone who showed up could have a sandwich. We used the opportunity to share information about Radical Joy for Hard Times and the Global Earth Exchange, along with our vision to bind our hearts in community. We managed to collect three large bags of trash and make over 6 dozen grilled cheese. The real medicine turned out to be the demonstration of caring for each other, the land and building community. The Radical Joy organizers sent a strand of golden yarn which was strung in the bushes next to the set up for the grilled cheese making station. At the end of the day, almost the last bunch of kids that were served, I took the strand and tied bracelets on their wrists so that when they looked at it they would remember what they experienced and if others asked about it they could tell them. Later as I drove home I realized that this was symbolic of the golden thread, common to each of us, that weaves it way through all of our lives and binds us together. A true symbol of (comm)unity among all people. It was a fun and (my hope) paradigm altering event; warming hearts one grilled cheese sandwich at a time!