In 2003, we were small and outgunned; the polluters we wished to stop had all the money and political clout. A diverse gaggle of citizens if ever there was, we began seeing encouragement from the TN Sierra Club. Sierra Club members came to help us organize. They wrote checks to help cover our attorney fees. Many of us had not heard of John Muir but everyone had heard of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club was loved by anyone with an environmental streak in their bones and vilified by those who put profit over stewardship of the land. When the Sierra Club began getting mention in our editorials and news coverage, our little isolated county took notice. Having allegiance to the Sierra Club gave us credibility. The Sierra Club became our Gorilla in the Room.
In 2006, we incorporated as the Watauga Group, to date the most recent Group within the TN Sierra Club Chapter. Many of those good people still come to our monthly meetings though all of us have established contacts with other community groups, spreading the message as we go. Perhaps the most success our Group has had in it’s outreach program is the establishment and support of the local farmer’s market. Started as a humble roadside produce stand by two of our members, the Johnson County Farmer’s Market (JCFM) has become a mainstay in our county. In an area that unabashedly sells Roundup and other commercial pesticides by the gallon, the JCFM offers organic and chemical free produce as the norm.
Members of Watauga Group have booths that not only offer their wares but literature on litter cleanups, recycling and sustainable living. Sierra Club logos on shirts and farm trucks are common place. No longer a misunderstood and feared entity, the Sierra Club has evolved from being The Gorilla in the Room to being the Very Friendly and Helpful Gorilla in the Room. It’s taken a decade of meeting consistently and reaching out to other NGOs and non-profits, but we can rightfully claim the adage, “if it can happen here, it can happen anywhere.”
Submitted by Dennis Shekinah