COUNTRY BOUND

Enlarge Image Image Gallery CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Country Bound members built an auto ridge for their rural host during one weekend workshop .... A young woman, with satisfaction after cutting her first log with a chain saw .... Catherine Harkins, the group's founder, takes.' short breather .... A member tamps dirtand a bridge beam .... A dramatizion of the danger of kickback .... C.B.'ers"" acquire experience clearing underbrush...... and sharpening chain.

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

A bunch of Georgia folk have banded together to help each other out, because they have one remarkable quality in common. They're all

... Darned if there's not a lot that "back to the landers" have to learn about country living. What with discovering how to buy land, make butter, sex new chicks, put up food, string green beans, worm livestock, install a woodstove, handle a lambing, repair a chain saw, build a cold frame, keep a dairy goat, wire an electric fence, inspect a beehive, set up a home business, et cetera, et cetera . . . it's no wonder that many urbanites-folks who do yearn to move to the country-feel intimidated by the demands of life on a rural homestead. Some such good people even fear their dream of country living may, because of the seemingly overwhelming number of skills to acquire, have to remain just a dream!

ENTER CATHERINE HARKINS

It so happens, though, that one particular "country-eyed cityite--an Atlanta, Georgia businesswoman named Catherine Harkins came up with the following three unusual ideas to help herself and others get back to the land: [1] that urban folks would have a better chance of making a successful transition to rural living if they could pool their enthusiasms, fears, skills, and plans, [2] that somebody ought to organize such a help-each-other group, [3] that Catherine Harkins could be that "somebody".

Having made up her mind, the Atlantan located a sponsor group (Human Development Associates, Inc.) ... worked out most of the preliminary funding, dues, and planning details ... placed an ad in MOTHER's "Positions 8 Situations" column (for Georgia folks who'd want to join a ruraloriented group offering "inspiration, contacts, discount buying, and practical information") . . . and-on December 4, 1978 ran the first meeting of a new organization called Country Bound.

Today, just a year and a half later, the group's initial assemblage of 40 strangers has expanded into a growing network of almost 200 friends. And Country Bound has already made a difference in several folks' lives. Almost all its members will, when questioned, freely express their gratitude for the chance to find-and learn with-a group of people who share their ideas and goals. In addition, several satisfied citizens actually have moved to the country since joining the organization . . . and confess that they "would have gone on for years only thinking about leaving the city if not for Country Bound".

TALKING AND TACKLING

Country Bound's strong start is partly due to the fact that the organization offers people a chance to learn and to do! True, the in-town evening meetings, by necessity, focus on lectures and discussions (with titles such as "Earth-Sheltered Housing", "The Secret of Organic Gardening", and "How Not to Make a Fool of Yourself With Country Folks").

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print