Page 21 - C.A.L.L. #42 - Spring 2017

Over the years, Laird notes that Sandhill has figured out how to live peaceably among neighbors who
originally viewed them as if they “may as well have been from Mars.” While organic farming was unheard
of in the area when they showed up, Laird estimates that as many as 10% of the farms in the county are
now organic and “no one thinks we’re so weird anymore.” They’ve also helped to sustain a traditional
local industry, that of making sorghum syrup, and have organized a weekly farmer’s market during the
growing season. He feels that a “grudging admiration” has developed for the community among the
local people which has replaced the “incredulity” that was initially expressed when they showed up in
1974.

In a similar vein, Jenny notes that Shannon Farm was originally viewed as “a bunch of weirdos” by the
local community, but they’ve worked hard to be good neighbors, to participate in local events, and help
out when needed. “Now”, Jenny adds, “they see us as contributing members of this county.”
This leads to the final lesson:

Step 12: A community focused on inner and outer peace models and shares cooperative
culture.

Twin Oaks has perhaps the most organized, deliberate approach to promoting peace and justice in the
greater society of the communities I’ve mentioned through what Valerie describes as the “movement
support wing” of the community. She notes that the community gives “some money and labour credits
for people to do activism outside the community.” But she adds, “I think more significantly, and less
tangibly, we act as a thriving model of an egalitarian, socially just” intentional community. In addition to
giving regular tours and having a visitor program,
Twin Oaks has held an annual Communities
conference (see http://
communitiesconference.org ) for decades that
attracts one to two hundred people each year, and
an annual three-day women’s gathering with
around 100 or so participants. Twin Oaks has
inspired the formation of a number of intentional
communities, including nearby Acorn Community
and Living Energy Farm, as well as East Wind in the
Missouri Ozarks -- though many more communities
have undoubtedly drawn from Twin Oaks’
knowledge about how to design systems for
sharing work, making decisions, running
Twin Oaks Communities conference.
community businesses, and promoting a peaceful,
egalitarian, cooperative community.

One way Songaia works to spread cooperative culture is through its efforts to build a larger cooperative
neighborhood of intentional communities. In a similar fashion, Sandhill Farm has worked to nurture the
development of a strong cooperative culture in the local area. Laird feels much more secure about
Sandhill’s future due to the nearby presence of Dancing Rabbit ecovillage and Red Earth Farms, which
“help create the stability of a three-legged stool.” Laird guesses that Scotland County, the county where
Sandhill, Dancing Rabbit and Red Earth Farms are located, “almost certainly has the highest percentage
of voters living in intentional community of any county in the U.S.”

Dunmire Hollow, Harvey notes, is also a gathering place for progressives in the area. To understand this
function requires some knowledge of Dunmire’s surrounding political and social climate. Dunmire
Hollow is located in a rural area in a politically and socially conservative southern state where Evangelical

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