Asheville, NC SPUD Patrol Reports and Photos Page

S.P.U.D Patrol...Asheville, North Carolina

SPUD Patrol's Jeffrey Armstrong interviewed on the
VIRATO LIVE! Radio Show from Asheville Magazine... Click Here

Come and volunteer for these
2010 SPUD Patrol Dates!

March 27, No April SPUD, May 1 & 29, June 26,
July 24, August 21, September 25, October 23,
November 20, December 18

* Note: Because of where the full moon's fall this year, there will be 2 SPUDS in January and May,
and none in April

We now have coordinators for a new S.P.U.D. Patrol in Asheville, North Carolina!
Chuck & Annette Hunner at 828-216-1422 or hunner@charter.net

Location this week will be near the center of downtown Asheville at Pritchard Park!
~~in Asheville is Ahope Center, 19 N, Ann Street~~...we will begin at 11:30 am

Thank you to the Asheville January 30th, 2010 VOLUNTEERS!!

Weather has been an issue this winter. Asheville is known for its soft winters. This one has not been soft. It has been co-o-o-ld and snowy. There is still snow in my back yard. It usually melts within a day or two of falling. It's been three weeks since the last snow!

We expected 50mph winds with temps in the low 40's F on Saturday were predicted. I pictured tables, bowls, napkins, forks all blowing away. I notified our volunteers (record number this time...8!) that instead of Pritchard Park, we'd go inside at Ahope again. I reasoned that really hungry people would be driven inside by the inclement weather. As I drove by Pritchard Park on the way to Ahope, I realized my mistake. There were maybe 25 people in the park enjoying abundant sunshine, not minding the cold so much.

We set up at Ahope and fed 40 or 50 people. Here is our group in the kitchen:

From left to right: Richard, Sara, Michelle, Lauri, Ryan, Melissa, Annette, Chuck

We had brought about 97 spuds with us and had a lot left over. Some of us had time to go to Pritchard Park. We gave out all but the last 8 spuds at Pritchard! It was cold and a bit breezy, but manageable. As usual, folks were very happy to receive a hot spud with all the fixin's . Here is Sara, Melissa, and Michelle at the Park. The lady on the left has just dropped of 5 bags of double chocolate cookies with white chocolate drops in them. That was some good dessert!

I've worried about the Asheville Police too much. I've been told by many fearful people that the Police will not allow us to hand out free food in prominent parts of Asheville, like Pritchard Park. In fact, about 2 blocks away in the Department of Social Services parking lot, a Christian Coalition serves hot meals every Saturday. They are 'out of sight, and there fore out of mind', "Food not Bombs" hands out sandwiches at 2 pm on Saturdays in Pritchard Park. Another generous fellow serves Sunday breakfast in Pritchard. But people, mostly our hungry clients, kept telling me that the center of town was not a good place to hand out food!

An Asheville Police patrol car pulled up to the curb about 20 feet away from us. The officer that got out hardly gave us a glance. He was looking for the Park Ranger who was busy else where. My fear of being run off is dissolved. :-)

We are looking for someone to lead Spud Patrol this coming March 27th as most of us will be out of town or involved in a workshop. Please contact chuck (at) goldenspirit.com or call 828 216 1421 and speak with Annette about your willingness. We are happy to teach you how easy it is to organize and present this event.

We thank all whose generosity and all around happiness has contributed to Spud Patrol! Special thanks go to the Mystery Cookie Woman, Sara (brilliant programmer), Michelle (fantastic harpist), Richard (generous traveler), Lauri (effulgent wordsmith), Ryan (insightful jyotishi), Melissa (multi-tasking nursing admin), and Annette (enlightening healer) Thanks to Jeffrey Armstrong and Sandi Graham for the original seed of inspiration to take this road to enlightenment. Allen Hinegardner (East Family Barber and Beauty Shop in Asheville) donated about 200 pair of socks which we distributed over the last few weeks. Thanks, Allen!

ps...If you've read this and feel like helping, give me a call. 828-216-1422

Best Regards,
Chuck
We are looking for many volunteers next month for SPUD Patrol in Asheville - see you there!

The SPUD Count - About 90 potatoes served!

"May all be fed, may all be loved"

New Asheville SPUD Article from the Asheville Homeless Network!

The Spud Patrol Mantras:
"May all be fed, may all be loved"
Join Jeffrey, Ev, Steve, Dixie, Kelly, Chuck and hundreds of others in
Serving Potatoes to Unrecognized Devas

Our on-site coordinators of Asheville's SPUD Patrol:

Chuck & Annette Hunner at 828-216-1422 or by email, hunner@charter.net

November 2009

Ryan Kurczak, Annette Hunner, Lori Maerov during a lull in the action.

Chuck loading the cooler with spuds photo

Chuck loads the cooler. I was going to entitle it, Chuck-getting loaded, but that never looked this good! I used a pair of my old welding gloves to handle the 400 degree+ potatoes.

September 2009

Some Previous Monthly SPUD Reports:

Thank you to the Asheville January 27th, 2010 VOLUNTEERS!!
What an amazing day. It was no big deal. No big flashy events.....yet, it was an extraordinary, stellar moment in my life. One of those underwhelming moments that just floors me as I contemplate it. We arrived at Ahope around 10:40 AM. I had driven down to Ryan's place to pick him up since his truck was stranded on the side of the road by the snow. We'd received about 10 or 12 inches of new snow Friday night. Miraculously, the small fleet of snow removal trucks was up to the task of clearing most of the roads. There was still a coat of ice and slush on the roads, but at least the snow had been scraped away. This is 180 degrees from what happened back in December. They must have learned from their mistakes. It was so cold, and so snowy, then blowing, biting, freezing rainy that morning, that I reasoned people would take any shelter they could get. So instead of setting up outside at Pritchard Park, I drove us to Ahope. Good thing. There were more people in there than I'd ever seen before. As soon as I got out of the car somebody shouted, "HEY! It's Potato Man!" I smiled. We carried our spuds and condiments in and got set up. It took about 21 minutes to serve 70 potatoes (50 lbs) with all the trimmin's - extra if you wanted. We ran out! Fortunately the line had dwindled to only two guys. They acted like they didn't really care. I bet next time they will get in line sooner. Inside the shelter was bustling. It was crowded. Barely enough space to have a little elbow room. Noisy, and happy, somehow. Warm. Humid. Big contrast to the harsh outdoors. I asked Heather how many were here. She said that they had an understanding with the Fire Marshal that it was OK to allow extra people shelter from the storm on days like this. Hearts were warm. It felt almost festive to me. Yet, I am well fed, afford my own home and food, pay taxes even! And here I was in a building full of people who are at the other end of prosperity. They are at the end of their wits. It was all they could do, to make it indoors. I'm sharing their experience. My perspective is that 'All is Well'. Their perspective appears to be somewhat more desperate. Yet Ryan and I made a small difference in their day. We shared what little we had with them. We shared a simple food that we prepared and served with Love. May they do well with it, knowing that they are loved!

Thanks Very Much to Virato, Ryan, Annette, Lauri, Heather, Amanda, Theo, Thalia, Katrina, David, Moss, Sandi and Jeffrey for all they do to make this possible. And special thanks to Charles and Dillon who made things run so smoothly in the kitchen on Saturday. Those two guys volunteer their time every week at Ahope, doing their best to help the disadvantaged have a little bit better luck. We'll be back, downtown, on February 27th with a lot more potatoes. We'll never run out of spuds again. ps...If you've read this and feel like helping, give me a call. 828-216-1422

The SPUD Count - About 70 potatoes served!

Thank you to the Asheville December 2009 VOLUNTEERS!!
December 5th brought snow and cold winds to our little mountain town. The snow didn't stick, just blew sideways making the wind feel more harsh. Annette stayed home to nurse her cold. Ryan and Laurie were off to Roy Davis' Center fo Spiritual Awareness in Georgia, USA, for some deep meditation. My streetwise friend, Eric, helped me hand out the spuds. I handed out about 50 potatoes at Ahope. Temps were in the low 30's Fº with 10 to 20 mph winds. Wind chill in the low 20's Fº. People still lined up in the cold for this delicious food! It was remarkable to see he cloud of steam blow out of the 'cooler' everytime we opened it to get a potato. Some of our diners were well insulated, others not. One young guy had on a foot ball jersey and jeans. He was hopping stiffly from one foot to the other. He was very happy to receive his potatoes and ate them with great relish. Later, as I finished packing up to leave when Ahope closed, he came by. He squinted at me, smiled, then said, "You're Him! Thank you again." At around 12:10pm, I drove over to the DSS (Department of Social Services) parking lot south of downtown. A group of people begin serving full meals of grilled chicken, string beans, rolls, and drinks at 11 am each Saturday of the month. They are from some of the Christian Ministries around Asheville. I mentioned our spuds and they invited us to join them. They had 200 people in line last Labor Day! If we set up a little ways away from them, the length of the line will decrease and more spuds will be given out on the street. By the time I got there Saturday, almost everyone was fed. They were talking about packing up and going home. They said that turnout had been sparse because of the snow and wind. I took about 60 still wrapped spudolinos over to ABCCM (Asheville Buncombe County Christian Ministry Veterans Shelter). I leave our 'leftovers' with them including spuds, sour cream, butter, cheddar, and chives.

The SPUD Count - About 110 potatoes served!

Thank you to the Asheville November 2009 VOLUNTEERS!!
We had a great time handing out about 81 potatoes. Four 'civilian' volunteers showed up and we received our usual enthusiastic help from the folks on the street. Our spot for sharing potatoes is on the south side of Ahope. The wall behind us is light colored. It raised the temperature to the low 80's where we were playing. See the picture. We've all got a mild sunburn today. . . pretty good for mid-November! The folks we fed were overflowing with gratitude. Thank yous from everyone and more 'Bless you's' than you hear in church! We filled them with potatoes and they filled us with gratitude. Pretty excellent trade if you ask us!

Great thanks this month go to Kim, Lori Maerov, Ryan Kurczak, Linda Cammarata (from last month!), Annette, Chuck, Ahope and Frank Walters, Sandi Graham, and Jeffrey Armstrong.

I just googled 'ahope asheville'. Guess who is at the top of the listings? SPUDPATROL.COM! That's pretty cool considering we've only handed out potatoes there 3 times. And, strangely enough, Homeward Bound, the agency that sponsors Ahope, is listed below us! How's that for SEO for spudpatrol without mentioning the website of the Spudsters!!!

The SPUD Count - About 81 potatoes served!

Thank you to the Asheville September 2009 VOLUNTEERS!!
This Saturday was warm and a little humid, typical of late summer in the Appalachians. We shared about a hundred spuds and warmed a lot more hearts than that. Everywhere we went this last week we talked about Spud Patrol. More and more smiles appeared around us. We served our Devas behind Ahope, the Homeless Day Center in Asheville after we discovered a mixup in scheduling Pritchard Park. Everyone left with smiles on their faces and lots of potatoes in their tummies!

Next month we plan on using the Park! If it's cold then (Oct. 3rd) please remember to clean out your closets and bring a few warm goodies for the DUDS table! Special Thanks to: Frank Walters, Heather, Eric, Smokey, Allen, Robert, Payne, Christy, Dianne, Larry Sexton, Annette, Chuck, Jeffrey Armstrong and Sandi Graham.

The SPUD Count - About 100 potatoes served!

Come and volunteer for these
2010 SPUD Patrol Dates!

February 27, March 27,
No April SPUD, May 1 & 29, June 26, July 24,
August 21, September 25, October 23,
November 20, December 18

* Note: Because of where the full moon's fall this year, there will be 2 SPUDS in January and May,
and none in April

"Family Feeding Family"

We're hoping this concept will spread around the world!
Pass it forward...

SPUD Postage Stamp
SPUD Patrol - Ashville
Fan Letters

Pleasing Saturn...
This past Saturday I participated in an event called Spud Patrol. Basically I got together with a couple of my astrology clients, students and friends here in Asheville and we distributed baked potatoes with all the fixins', save the bacon, to the homeless or transient people who found us. Why did we do this? One, to be nice and helpful to those who need it. Two, because the planet Saturn shows his grace to those who show their grace on the less fortunate, namely the homeless. (That's a traditional Vedic Remedy for Saturn.)

What did I discover through this practice? I found that my own problems are really insignificant. Sure your life seems tough when you don't have a yardstick to judge it by, but it was a very powerful experience to see the happiness and genuine grattitude from another person, just by giving them a baked potato with butter, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and salt and pepper. It made me realize the cliche, that its the simple things in life that make all the difference.

Many times, as I unwrapped the potatoes and sent them on down the line to be 'dressed up', my eyes started to fill with tears. As the new autumn sun shone down on us, and the air was clear and the pigeons descended on a chunk of potato that fell from a plate, life felt charged. A lot of the work I do for my business deals with helping folks manage miasmic existential issues in their life. And sure I donate blood or money to organizations, but actually getting outside and meeting serving others face to face- it is very powerful.

From now on, I think, at least one aspect of the advice I give will be to go give a steaming hot baked potato to a homeless person on a cold day, and maybe even throw in a pair of warm gloves. Maybe you could start a Spud Patrol in your town, or come join ours in Asheville! Do it to help someone with an empty belly. Do it for Saturn. Do it because it makes you feel good. For what ever reason you do it, its always a good thing to help out. Maybe it will rearrange some of your priorities as it did mine. We'll be doing this every Saturday nearest the moon going to full. Contact me if you'd like to learn more and I'll forward you on the organizer of this service. ~ Ryan Kurczak

__________________________________________________________

Good Karma & Many Blessings,

Chuck & Annette