This note is both an event invitation and a farewell. It’s also a thank-you note and an opportunity to donate. I know that is a lot. Hang with me.

I will start with the event …

In case you missed, after nearly 30 years, I am leaving Groundwork at the end of this year. It’s a huge moment for Groundwork and a huge moment for me. And when something this big happens it seems to me a proper party is in order, a chance to gather as a community and celebrate all that we have done together and all that lies ahead. So that is what we are doing, friends—and I hope you can come.

It’s on Friday, January 10, an afternoon open house and an evening event—and there will be good people, tasty food, and excellent music, at Commongrounds, 414 E. Eighth St., Traverse City.

Hans Voss, Outgoing Executive Director, Elizabeth Palchak, Executive Director

Here are the details….
 
Community open house from Noon to 6 pm at NoBo Riverside in the Commongrounds building in Traverse City

• Noon – NoBo begins serving pork plates for lunch and through the afternoon – there will be veggie options too. This pork will be coming straight from a pig roast the night before. I’ve always wanted to do a pig roast, so I figured if there was any time to do it, this is it. If you want to join the pig roast, send me a message and I can fill you in.
• 2 to 4:30 pm – Music from my friend and most excellent DJ Ras Marco D – who is not your average DJ by any means. He is all vinyl all the time. And Marco knows what kind of music I dig perhaps more than anyone because he is on a real small text group that I share what I am listening to on a regular basis. I am not sure what direction he is going to take it – trust his judgement—but you can count on some Black Uhuru.
• 5 to 6 pm – Live music from Dede Alder. Have you seen Dede? She is really something special. One of kind really and one Michigan’s brightest musical artists, I think – and I am so happy she able to share her music with us. Dede is hard to pin down as an artist but imagine a little Billie Holiday and a Rickie Lee Jones with an extra dose of creativity and some mad percussion skills.

ABOVE, clockwise from top left: Seth Bernard, Dede Alder, Gregory Stovetop, DJ Ras Marco D.

Evening concert and program from 6:30 to 11 pm at the Alluvion in Commongrounds (right upstairs from NoBo). You are going to need a ticket for this part. They are $20 each and the funds will go directly to pay the musicians. Get your ticket here.

• 6:30 to 7:30 pm – Seth Bernard will join Dede in a set of music. Seth is a close friend and extraordinary musical talent who is also a committed leader on environmental and social justice issues in his role as co-director of Title Track, an excellent nonprofit organization. Groundwork has partnered with Seth on all sorts of things over the years. His musical range is vast: he can tear your heart out, help you get some new perspective on what it’s all about, and he can just flat out rock and roll. Also, Seth has agreed to MC the whole evening event, which is so nice of him, and I can’t think of a better person to create the energy we are looking for that night.
• 7:30 to 8:30 pm – We will have a short program with a handful of speakers teed up to reflect back on where we’ve come from and where we are headed. Chairwoman Cheryl “Hutch” Hutchinson will kick it off and our fearless founder Keith Schneider will share some words. And there will likely be a few other speakers. We have not really figured that out yet. One exciting highlight is that you can count on Elizabeth Palchak, our awesome new executive director, to let us know what she is thinking as she steps into leading this organization forward.
• 8:30 to 11:00 pm – This is the major musical portion of the evening. Gregory Stovetop and his full rockin’ band will join Dede and Seth on stage and open it up. If you dig old school rock and roll, I guarantee Stovetop and his crew will blow your mind. I was feeling a little stuck trying to figure out how to describe Stovetop’s incredible, unique, but also strangely familiar style and so I texted my friend Chris Treter, who is also a big Stovetop fan, and he said this, “Stovetop is the last rock god to descend upon humanity.” Thanks Chris. Needless to say, you are not going to want to miss this.

I hope you are able to get to Traverse City to be a part of this community event so I can thank you in person for being a part of my journey at Groundwork. But even if you can’t make it, I want you to know that I appreciate you. Groundwork is a people-powered organization, and everything we do is the result of committed people like you who share a common vision for what is possible for Michigan. It’s not easy to leave what I have always felt was the best job in the world, but I am confident that this is the right decision for Groundwork and for me. I am simply overflowing with gratitude for all the wonderful people I have had the honor to know and a deep sense of appreciation for the incredible commitment from our supporters. Thank you all.

As you can imagine, I have been planning this transition for some time. Sharing leadership with my colleagues and putting this organization in a position to thrive in the future. And I am just thrilled about Elizabeth Palchak. She has a powerful background in environmental sustainability in the nonprofit, for profit, and academic sectors. She is smart, strategic, engaging, and has a wonderful vision for what is possible for Groundwork. Healthy organizations need change. New leadership. New ideas. Elizabeth is a natural leader and a bright light, the organization is as strong as it’s ever been – and I truly believe with our best days are ahead of us.

And, speaking of change, we certainly have a new political reality in this country. With so many unanswered questions at the federal level, Groundwork is going to have to be really strategic. We will look for opportunities and defend important policies and programs. We will put extra focus on working at the local level. One thing I have seen time and time again is that people can overcome political differences when they are working in their community. Groundwork will continue this inclusive community-based work to bring people together. Access to healthy food, thriving downtowns, the Great Lakes, locally produced clean energy, these are all uniting issues. In our three decades of advancing our pro-environment, pro-economy mission, we have achieved important results in every political climate, and we are completely committed to working with people from all walks of life to push practical solutions. And we need you to stay with us.

This is the time of year where we reach out to our supporters and ask for your financial support. You have probably received letters from me and seen our annual campaign emails. To those of you who have already given I extend a sincere thank you from all of us. We see this transition moment as a special opportunity to support the cause, so if you are inspired by what we have achieved and excited about what lies ahead, I hope you will seize this opportunity by making a special donation. If you are motivated to help, you can donate right now, right here.

Also, just think: this is the last time you will ever hear a fundraising pitch from me … and if that is not enough, something tells me that if you have read all the way to this point, you must be pretty motivated about Groundwork. If that is true, why not put that energy into action and make a donation today?

Thanks so much friends. It has been a real joy being Groundwork’s executive director. As for me, I don’t have any big plans for what’s next other than unplug a bit, spend time with my loved ones and in nature, and see what transpires. And, if you want to stay in touch in this next phase, you can reach me at my personal email hanskvoss@gmail.com.

I hope to see you on January 10 at the “Goodbye Hans, Hello Elizabeth” party. Thanks again. It’s been the honor of a lifetime.

Hans Voss
Outgoing Executive Director

P.S. I went to Stovetop’s website and looked around. He has upcoming events and for January 10 the title is “30 years of Love.” I paused on that for a minute and thought, Hmmm … yeah, right on. That’s about right.