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The weatherman predicted rain and cold, but the weather had other ideas. Sunshine and a spring breeze were welcome signs for members and friends of Bartimaeus Cohousing Community who gathered for the Meadow Wood groundbreaking last Saturday. The group’s three year effort to create a unique condominium project was formally begun with a simple ceremony at the Fairgrounds Road site. The unexpectedly cooperative weather typified the emotional ups and downs of the project.
Addressing the group, Joel Adamson described the concept of Meadow Wood, a combination of private homeownership and community service. The venture would not be a commune, but a community of individual families, he said, helping and encouraging not just other Meadow Wood neighbors, but the larger community of Bremerton and Kitsap County. Spiritual, social and environmental beliefs, not just good housing, were the reasons for the venture.
Nancy Conrad, one of the group’s original members, described the past three years as a series of miracles. With emotion, she recounted numerous occasions when the project seemed hopeless, only to be rescued by unexpected additions of new members and resources. Pointing out individual members and supporters, she thanked each one for being “God’s answer.”
Afterwards, some of the group’s youngest children, joined by Bartimaeus’ oldest member, Edison Fisk, planted an apple tree to symbolize the beginning of the endeavor, or as one member put it, the beginning of a dream come true.
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