CVKH BLOG: Vote for Kimberton Hills to win $5,000

Help us and a local chef win big by voting online from June 26-July 10. 

Phoenixville resident, personal chef and owner of The Comfort Gourmet, Stephanie McKeon Krzywanski, has been selected as one of 24 chefs nationwide to participate in the Sears Chef Challenge. The grand prize is a complete kitchen renovation valued at over $35,000, plus an additional $20,000 donation to the winning Chef’s charity of choice.


Krzywanski has chosen to partner with Camphill Kimberton.  She explains, “I chose Camphill Village Kimberton Hills as my charity because it is right in my backyard (well, three miles away) and I support them on a weekly basis by purchasing milk, baked goods and produce from the village. I am a huge supporter of being local and organic and purchasing from Kimberton Hills supports that while also helping those with developmental disabilities. I have been searching for a food-related organization to donate my time after this competition and Kimberton Hills is my choice. It will be so personally rewarding for me to give back to my community by working with the residents. Thanks to Sears, I was able to make more of a connection with them instead of just purchasing their products for home and client use. The potential financial donation from Sears will go a long way as well.”

If Krzywanski wins the first round of voting, Camphill Kimberton will win $5,000. The first round of this three-round culinary competition began on May 5th with in-store demonstrations. Krzywanski will be competing in the Washington D.C. market.

The first round winner is determined by online voting, which begins on June 26th and continues through July 10th via www.searschefchallenge.com. Anyone can vote once a day during that two-week period.

Thank you for your support.  Tell a friend and remember to vote!

CVKH BLOG: A Beautiful Family and Friends Day

It was a beautiful day for our annual Family and Friends Day, held on Saturday, June 5.  This is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year at Kimberton Hills and all who attended had a wonderful time.  Visitors had the chance to learn about new endeavors for the various workshops, particpate in informative seminars, and enjoy a potluck lunch under the tent.   

Local chef chooses Kimberton Hills as her partner charity for a nationwide contest

Local Chef Stephanie Krzywanski is one of 24 chefs participating in the Sears Chef Challenge. 

The Sears Chef Challenge aims to find the nation's next up and coming chef while raising money for the nation's food banks and food-related charities.
A total of 24 chefs in four cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. will compete by completing a variety of culinary challenges, culminating in the Championship Finals in Chicago. The chefs who progress toward the crucial semi-final stage will be decided by YOU - the online voters.

In addition, each chef is paired with a food bank or food-related charity, and Stephanie has chosen Kimberton Hills to be her partner charity!  As the contest progresses, and Stephanie continues to win, Kimberton Hills will also win - either $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000!

Read all about the contest and how you can help by visiting http://www.searschefchallenge.com/.  Online voting begins the first week of July.  Stay tuned to email blasts and our blog for more details on how you can help make this happen for both of us. 

Find out more about Chef Steph at her website http://www.yourcomfortgourmet.com/.

Thanks and stay tuned for voting details!

Singing Crow - a tale from the Brandywine: May 7-9

Plan to join us as Kimberton Hills Productions presents a new musical: Singing Crow - A tale from the Brandywine, 1738, May 7-9 in Rose Hall. 

This year’s production is special, as it is an original musical written by Veronika Roemer who has directed previous Kimberton Hills productions including Heidi - The Musical and The Sound of Music.
 
The story takes the audience back to the early pioneer time in the Brandywine Valley. Two new settler families have arrived from England, looking for a new and better life. They have been told that all the native people, the Lenape, have left the valley.  But one day 12-year-old Maggie meets a Lenape boy, named Singing Crow, while she is out in the forest picking berries.


Instead of writing new music, Ms. Roemer chose to find original music from that time period.  As the story unfolds, we hear songs from the early 1700s, songs that settlers from the British isles would have brought with them as part of their cultural heritage, as well as Native American music.

Performances dates are:
Friday, May 7: 8 p.m.
Saturday, May 8: 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 9: 2 p.m.

Suggested donations:
Children: $5.00
Adults: $12.00
Families: $30.00

All performances are located at Rose Hall, Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, 1601 Pughtown Road, Kimberton, PA 19442. 

Delicious food, great wine and fascinating conversation? Yes! Join us April 25.

Where can you get all this?  At the Wine and Dine Talkfest at the Birchrunville Store Cafe on Sunday, April 25 from 5 to 8 p.m.

Big news -- we have a sponsor! The international story, branding, marketing, and strategy consultancy Benari has partnered with Conversation on Networking, the leader in speaking, writing, and consulting on networking…to be our first ever sponsors…or half sponsors we think. They will share the 1.35 minutes and each gets to name ½ the oardoor. (If you don’t know what this means, review the other announcements…too much to repeat.)


So far a bunch of people have made reservations, most of them have called Bernadette at 610-935-0300 x 12 to pay up…thank you very much, some who came last year have the nerve to be out of the country so sent regrets, and many of you haven’t responded and made a reservation yet.

To refresh your memory: Food Meister Extraordinaire Francis Trzeciak will prepare huge amounts of his famous oardoors to go with the wine chosen by Grape Stomper Magnificent Marnie Old. And not only that, Marnie will be signing her new best seller Wine Secrets…one per couple but the 2 or 3 coupleless attendees can each have one of their very own. And not only not only that, but each and every person will leave with a nice piece of jewelry from Bead for Life, the amazing program in Uganda that uses paper beads to lift women out of extreme poverty. Wow!  All for $145 a person.

Since our Board President has said he will guarantee a full house, help him out. Come and enjoy this amazing opportunity to listen to no speeches, eat no rubber chicken, get no requests for money (of course if you just happen to want to leave a few bucks…). You get to just stand around while great food is brought right to your waiting hand to balance out the wine glass in the other hand, while engaging in amazingly interesting conversations with the exceptional people who will be there with you.

The Camphill Village Kimberton Hills Second Annual Wine & Dine Talkfest…Be There.

2010 Stella Natura is available - inspiration and practical advice for gardeners

At Kimberton Hills we believe that the health of land and people are deeply interdependent. In that spirit, we practice biodynamic agriculture, which begins with the best organic practices and incorporates a view of the land as a living organism.


If you want to learn more about biodynamics, you may be interested in reading STELLA NATURA, the Kimberton Hills Biodynamic Agricultural Planting Guide and Calendar. In print since 1978, the calendar is edited by Sherry Wildfeuer and published by Camphill Village Kimberton Hills. It can be ordered online at www.stellanatura.com or via phone at 610-469-9686. Locally it is available at Kimberton Whole Foods and at the Camphill Kimberton Craft Shop.
 
This Calendar has many aspects: a basic introduction to astronomy, a simple ephemeris, a planting guide, a star map, aid for following the movement of the planets in the night sky, and articles by ten different authors. All of these attempt to provide a true picture of the world outside us and ideas to assist in developing a healthy relation to that world.
 
Four dollars from each calendar sold goes directly to support the work of Camphill Kimberton. 

Thank you to Casa de Venezuela and The Hill School for an amazing benefit concert!

Many, many thanks to those who attended and participated in our Spring Benefit Concert on March 21. 

Beautiful music, dancing and artwork filled Rose Hall as we raised money for both Camphill Kimberton and Veninos - Venezuelan Children In Need.   The concert featured Venezuelan folk music performed by the popular Casa De Venezuela Music Ensemble, accompanied by their vivacious dance group.  The talented a cappella groups the Hilltones and the Hilltrebles from The Hill School, Pottstown, also presented a selection of folk music from around the world.

The collaboration of these four groups was magnificent!

"Musical heritage is something that exists in every civilization on the planet," said Stephen Longenecker, Oaklawn-Tuttle Chair of Vocal Music at The Hill School. "Therefore, it can act as a unifying force between cultures, encouraging us to focus on shared aesthetics and emotions rather than physical or political differences.  We hope that you will be reminded that music knows no boundaries of race, gender, class, or ability, and that through music, we can better understand what it is to be a part of a 'common humanity.'" 

During the concert, there was an exhibit of Venezuelan-inspired paintings by local artist, Mary Jo Kimball Hopton. Her paintings are available to view at http://www.veninos.org/, and on Facebook during March 2010. Additionally, Chester County scenes captured in painting by Tim Swartz, in prints by Anne Keen, and in photos by Red Hammer were on display and available for purchase.

We look forward to working together next year on a follow-up concert.  Stay tuned for details! 

Special thanks to the following people for their efforts:  Jane Blake, Rebecca Blake, Emilio Buitrago, Mimi Coleman, Erin Graver, Stephen Longnecker, Cathy Skitko, Rachel Martin Swartz.  Thank you to the following stores for their donations for the artists' reception: Acme, Giant, Kimberton Whole Foods, Wegmans, and Los Mariachis.