If you were out for Nuit Blanche on Saturday night you know just how chilly (but fun) it was. Now imagine walking out of the cold night into a warm room with exposed brick, hard wood floors and hot brewing fresh apple cider!
Not Far From the Tree put on a beautiful display at the Gladstone Hotel, showing how to peel, pulp and press apples into delicious cider. People wandered through the room all night, asking questions, engaging with the volunteers and learning about cider, apples, and all about the organization.
Alex Monreal who is directing our Not Far From the Tree video deftly moved in and out of the space capturing the happenings of the whole evening. Good Evidence’s video production manager Noah Bingham and I interviewed people as they exited the building and we heard from all sorts of people. Almost everyone we spoke to was excited about Not Far From the Tree and had never heard of them before. In just 20 minutes we spoke to skater looking kids who thought it was ‘really awesome’, a middle aged man who intended to find out more about them when he got home, and a younger guy (male) who signed up that night as a volunteer.
The excitement of the evening was palpable of course, but especially beautiful to me was the sense of community building. Nuit Blanche really does provide a unique opportunity to get together with your friends and neighbors and explore your own home turf in a new way. Not Far From the Tree brought families and hipsters and business people all together for a whole night of fun cider education.
For more information on Not Far From the Tree visit: http://www.notfarfromthetree.org/