Upcoming Events
Spring Herb Walk
With David Hoffmann and Mitcho Thompson
April 7th 2024
11:30- 3:30
$25 - $420 Sliding scale
At the California School of Herbal Studies
9309 CA-116, Forestville, CA
Join renowned herbalists David Hoffmann and Mitcho Thompson for an educational walk in the amazing gardens at the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville.
Topics covered will include folklore and medicinal uses of the herbs we will visit! Bring a lunch, and some snacks. Some water and maybe a hat! We will have herbal teas.
David and Mitcho will speak to all levels of herbal knowledge.
David has been a Phytotherapist for over 40 years. Author of 19 books, including “The Holistic Herbal” and “Medical Herbalism”. A founding member and past president of the American Herbalists Guild, Davis serves on the advisory boards of both the American Botanical Council and United Plant Savers, is a visiting faculty member of Bastyr University, and teaches at the California School of Herbal Studies. David is quite active in the Environmental and Peace Movements and is a delight to listen to!
Mitcho is the current Vice President of the Sonoma County Herb Association. Mitcho owns a CCOF farm in South Sebastopol with a large garden where he grows certified organic medicinal herbs, hosts workshops and throws parties. He also illustrated the amazing book by Leslie Gardener on growing medicinal herbs “Life in the Medicine.” His company; “Phytomagic”, located in downtown Sebastopol at the “Resourcery”, has a focus on the manufacturing of “CannaCentric” Herbal Products of all sorts.
PAST EVENTS
Navigating Functional Mushrooms
With Ryath Beauchene
February 21st, 2024
6-8pm
Online/Zoom
$20-$50 Sliding scale donation
Are you overwhelmed by all the "mushroom products" out there? Do you want to know what to look for, what questions to consider and what makes effective medicine? Whether you are on the fence, buying in stores, or interested in making your own, come join us to grok the intersections of fungal biochemistry, the "functional" mushroom space and some recommended practices. Ryath will also elaborate on commercial products, testing, extraction methods, and lesser known applications of mushrooms for being well!
Ryath has been studying, foraging, cultivating, ingesting, making medicine with and absolutely loving fungi for fifteen years. Ryath is also a trained horticulturist and medicinal herb enthusiast-grower who consults with private clients, makes myco-herbal blends & co-stewards Moon Fruit Mushroom Farm & Symbiiotica in Sebastopol, CA. Ryath teaches online & at mycological gatherings, facilitates myco-ecology walks on the CA coast and has also taught through the OAEC, Daily Acts, The Permaculture Skill Center & the Sonoma County Herb Association.
@funga.dragon
@moonfruitmushroomfarm
Astrology and Herbs for 2024
With Paetra Tauchert
January 31st2024
6-7pm PST
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What does 2024, The year of the Wood Dragon have in store for us?
(Spoiler alert- ALOT!!)
Hold on to your hats people and come join us for an informative night! Paetra will help us get a sense of the upcoming year through the astrological lens, on January 31st at 6pm.
Class is sliding scale $10-$30 Tickets can be found by clicking button above or through Eventbrite.
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Paetra Tauchert is an international astrologer and has helped hundreds of clients synchronize their lives with planetary cycles and live in greater harmony and understanding of where they find themselves on the map of life. She is a contributing columnist to the Mountain Astrologer magazine and part of the digital writing and editorial team.
She was certified by Maurice Fernandez in 2017, and voted one of three Most Promising New Astrologers at the i-Astrologer Conference in 2018, completed Fundamentals of Astrology
with Austin Coppock in 2019, and in 2021 completed Practitioners Level Horary Course
from the School of Traditional Astrology in London.
Paetra has a background in holistic healthcare and all things botanical, which she brings into her consultations.
She teaches astrology in a short course and six-month mentorship form and offers an annual, year-long class called the Wheel of the Year, which blends astrology, herbalism, and folk magic.
The next class starts in March 2024.
To find out more about Paetra- Please visit her website.
Seaweed Foraging and Identification with Julie Drucker
Members$75 Non-Members $80
Saturday, June 3rd, 6:30 - 11:30 am
Bodega Bay, CA
Join us for some educational fun at the Sonoma Coost as we learn from a professional about proper harvesting of our local seaweed. How to harvest for the health of the seaweed, as well as the uses seaweed in the bath, on your skin, and in your bodies.
~ Learn how to identity a few of the 600 seaweed varieties on our coast!
~ How and where to cut seaweed off the rocks for the well being of the seaweed.
~ Best drying practices
~ Take some home yourself to dry
~ Learn about brown and red seaweeds
~ Simple recipes provided
Bodega Bay, CA
Planning your Medicinal Herb + Pollinator Garden
With Anna Marie Beauchemin
April 27, 2023
6-7PM Zoom
$10-$30 Donation
Planning Your Medicinal Herb + Pollinator Garden
In this hour-long workshop, we'll explore the world of native pollinators and how you can build an herbal medicine garden to help support them. We'll talk about which herbs are great at attracting bees to the yard, as well as the medicinal properties of those plants. We'll explore both Native California herbs and other garden florals. This class will also cover simple ways to transform your yard into a backyard wildlife oasis.
Anna Marie Beauchemin RH(AHG) is a trained Clinical Herbalist, Holistic Nutritionist, and former Conservation Biologist. She runs an herbal practice near her hometown called East Bay Herbals, where she offers one-on-one integrative herbal and nutrition consults, coaching programs, and herbal education. She also offers an Herbal CSA bringing seasonal remedies to her community and beyond. With a strong background in the natural sciences, herbalism, and nutrition, Anna loves to engage with her community and share simple and creative ways to weave
herbalism into the home, garden, and kitchen.
Website: https://www.eastbayherbals.com/
Instagram: @eastbayherbals
The Enigmatic Amanita: Ethnomycology, Mythology, Chemistry and Medicine of Amanita Muscaria
Presented by Taye Bright
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January 26th , 2023
6-9pm Zoom
$20 - $40 Sliding scale
(A fundraiser for the Sonoma County Herb Association/ Exchange)
The Enigmatic Amanita: Ethnomycology, Mythology, Chemistry and Medicine of Amanita Muscaria
Join us January 26th for a special eve with Taye Bright!
Humans have been in relationship with Amanita muscaria for millennia, as we have with many other of species of fungi. So how is it that this particular mushroom has become one of the most iconic and symbolic even as it remains shrouded in mystery? From stories of medicine and poison to contemporary hypotheses of the origin of holidays, this mushroom has precariously permeated perspectives for centuries. In this three hour presentation Taye Bright will guide us through a fascinating exploration of the mythological, cultural and scientific aspects of this infamous and emblematic organism.
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The Sonoma County Herb Association (SCHA) is providing this workshop as an educational public service, but it is neither a legal interpretation nor a statement of health care. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the SCHA. The views expressed by our guest speakers are their own and and do not necessarily reflect the view of the SCHA or any of its officials.
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Taye Bright is an applied mycologist, ecological regeneration practitioner, educator, artist, writer and medicine-maker orienting her life's work around how to be in reciprocal relationship with our respective ecologies and create life-ways in alignment with bioregional intelligence.
She holds a degree in Biology, has certifications in Permaculture Design and Ecosystem Restoration Design, and is a certified California Naturalist. She teaches mycology-focused classes and guides fungal ecology walks all around Northern-central California with the intention of providing accessible and embodied scientific education outside of conventional academia. She is the owner and founder of Symbiiotica, a small business offering mycological services and education as well as a co-owner of Moon Fruit Mushroom Farm, an outdoor, log-based mycoforestry operation. She also works as a post-fire restoration and mycoremediation researcher for CoRenewal and is in her 4th year as secretary for Bay Area Applied Mycology.
With a reverence for all things weird and wild, Taye is a servant to the KINdom of Fungi and is deeply passionate the conservation and proliferation of biodiversity. She strives to illuminate the importance of inter-species kinship and to help deepen peoples' sense of place in the unfolding story of our living Earth.
Find Taye @
IG: symbiiotica
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Ethnomycology: Psilocybe Mushrooms-
With Ryath Beauchene
December 14th, 2022
Zoom 6-8pm
$20- $40 donation-
A fundraiser for the Sonoma County Herb Association/ Exchange
Join us for a dynamic exploration into the ethnomycological history and the current capitalistic explosion revolving around Psilocybe mushrooms, some of the most well-known psychoactive organisms. Ryath will cover some of the ancient, fortuitous and tragic phenomena that led to the explosion of research, home cultivation, use and awareness that we see today in the dubiously dubbed "Psychedelic Renaissance." Ryath will also touch on the ecology of these amazing organisms as well as how to identify some of the wide diversity of Psilocybe species, with ever-more being uncovered. Lastly, Ryath will share some intimate, wondrous and difficult lessons learned from his personal relationship with these mushrooms.
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Ryath Fujita Beauchene is a mushroom seeker & cultivator, horticulturist & ecologist who works as a mycological educator, outdoor mushroom farmer & estate manager in Sonoma County, CA. He studied ecology and environmental education at Sonoma State University where he received an interdisciplinary BA engaging the cross-sections of outdoor leadership & ecological translation.
Find Ryath at-
https://www.moonfruitmushroomfarm.com
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The Sonoma County Herb Association (SCHA) is providing this workshop as an educational public service, but it is neither a legal interpretation nor a statement of health care. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by the SCHA. The views expressed by our guest speakers are their own and and do not necessarily reflect the view of the SCHA or any of its officials
Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils-
An online course with Kami McBride!
A Fundraiser for the Sonoma County Herb Association / Exchange!
Enrollment ends-November 18th 2022
We are over the moon to announce a series of free webinars and an online Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils course with Kami Mcbride!
This course is part of a fundraiser for The Sonoma County Herb Association/ Exchange! Perfect timing for the holidays and gift making.
Kami is a member and a well loved herbalist in our community. She is a wealth of knowledge and is super fun to learn from!
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Why are herbal infused oils one of my favorite go- to remedies? They are easy to make, (only 3 ingredients!!!)
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You only have to make them once a year. With Kami’s little known techniques you can make a super shelf-stable oil and don’t have to worry about it going bad
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They are great for every day self-care, they help relieve dozens of common ailments AND have amazing first aid uses
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Homemade herbal oils are a safe, kid-friendly home remedy
Kami’s course Handcrafted Healing Herbal Oils will take you step by step in how to make affordable, high-quality, home-made, shelf-stable herbal infused oils right in your own kitchen.
She has been teaching this for decades and takes you deep into the world of kitchen crafted herbal oils so you know how to maintain potency, properly store them and effectively preserve this amazing multi-purpose home remedy that you don’t want to be without!
You will learn:
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The A-Z health care benefits of handcrafted herbal oils that empower you with a total wellness approach to caring for dozens of common ailments
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How to effectively and safely use your handcrafted botanical oils. Learn the most efficient application methods for natural first aid, common health complaints, regenerative skin care, relaxation and self-care routines
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Advanced herbal oil applications that enhance immunity, reduce anxiety, prevent colds and help restore the nervous system
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How to turn your high quality, home-made herbal oils into other luscious body care products
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How to care for your oils so they stay fresh and safe to use. Learn the critical skill of knowing when an herbal oil has gone bad and know all of the factors that need to be taken into consideration for shelf stability
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How to make Kami’s specialty oil blends including pain oil and breast health oils that have a track record of helping people for over 30 years
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How to source everything you need to make St. John’s wort oil (this can only happen once a year!)
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PLUS… bonus modules on how to make turmeric oil, tree resin oils, cbd oil and LIVE mentoring with Kami all along the way
Seriously, you can scrap around on the internet and get all kinds of so-so info or you can learn from a master with 30+ years experience. The overview of techniques, ingredients, equipment, plant benefits, blend… there is not another resource like this available anywhere.
Kami literally has thousands of hours under her belt making and using these oils since she first started in 1987. More than any herbalist I have met, she knows which plant needs which combination of oil making methods to get the most potent extraction from each plant and ensure the most reliable shelf life.
This is the kind of knowledge that you cannot learn from ready or even making oils for a decade. This is true embodied herbalism with wisdom that only can come with time.
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I don’t think I need to say it, but this course is a steal! ~ but enrollment is closing soon.
Head on over and check it out here.
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Tuesday September 13th 2022
5pm-8:30
@ The Rainbow Cattle Company!
16220 Main Street - Guerneville, CA
Fall things Herbal
September 11, 2022
9am-2:30Pm
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The fun starts at 5 PM.
Mitcho and the gang will be serving homemade pizza, Salad and dessert all for $5.00 a plate
Plus, a great raffle with lots of amazing prizes!
Special guests, and more!
The fun starts at 5 PM. Food will be served at at 6pm and the raffle called at 7:30
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* 21 years and older- Please leave your kiddos at home. This event is being held at a bar which serves alcohol .
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$5
A Plate
All proceeds from food and 10% of bar help to support the Sonoma County Herb Association/ Exchange
FREE!
In the Sebastopol Square
Please join us for fabulous day celebrating our Herbal Community!
Fall Things Herbal is an Herb Fair filled with local herbalists selling their handmade goods!
Tinctures, elixers, handmade herb crafts, witchyness ,Plants Plants and More plants!
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This event is held in conjunction with The Sebastopol Farmers Market, there will be yummy food and Music.
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ALL THINGS HERBAL
JUNE 5th 2022
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9 - 2:30
Free!
After a 2 year Covid hiatus, we're back!
Sunday June 5th, 9- 2:30
ALL THINGS HERBAL- MEDICINAL PLANT AND CRAFT FAIRE
Attendance is not mandatory but it is FREE!
JOIN AS WE CELEBRATE our local medicinal herb plant plant propagators and makers of locally produced plant based herbal products.
Held in conjunction with the Sebastopol Farmers Market at the Sebastopol Town Plaza
This is a fundraiser for the Sonoma County Herb Association. A local 501c3 Non Profit Entity.
Whilst supporting the Sonoma County Herb Association, You are also supporting the Sonoma County Herb Exchange!
PLANTS, PLANTS, AND MORE PLANTS!
Urban Herb Walk
With Mitcho Thompson
May 21st 2022
Downtown Sebastopol, Ca.
1PM
FREE!
Please Join us on Saturday May 21st at 1 PM near "The Door" sculpture in the Sebastopol town square! Come take a walk around town, meeting new people and plants with Mitcho and a gang of plant people, herb nerds, and others, as we wander about down-town and thru the Barlow district
FYI: A plant walk is a walk through a selected plant environment, a wild or public space. Usually led by an educated guide. This is a great way to see plants as they truly are, in their wild and feral forms!
During this plant walk you will be introduced to selected plants using the principles of Mitcho’s somewhat amateurish botany skills (But he is funny). Fortunately other plant people will be there to chime in! Together we shall spot medicinal plants growing right under our noses, and learn their amazing uses. We will not be foraging, but you are encouraged to take photographs.
We will also have tinctures on hand, to sample some of these medicinal plants in their processed forms, as we get to know our local natives, as well as some wonderful feral escapees.
This is a FREE event, however donations to the Sonoma County Herb Association are gladly received!
Seaweed Foraging and Identification with Julie Drucker
​Saturday April 30th
6:30 - 11:30 AM
$75
A benefit for the Sonoma County Herb Association/ Exchange
**Space is limited**
Learn how to identify a few of the 600 seaweed varieties on our coast! How and where to cut it off the rocks, best drying practices, take some home yourself to dry! We will also cover the superb nutritional value of some of our brown and red seaweeds and offer simple recipes. Come prepared to sing and offer prayers to Yemaya (The goddess of the sea). Dried kelp will be available to purchase as well from Julie's company: Yemaya Seaweeds
*Children are most welcome with paying adults
*Please no dogs for this event
Julie Drucker has been seaweed harvesting on the Mendocino Coast for almost 20 years and has been offering high quality dried sea vegetables since 2010. She teaches Yearly seaweed workshops at the Ohlone Herbal School in Berkeley and combines her Shamanic Work in all her seaweed teaching. www.yemayaseaweedcompany.com
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Herbalism is a traditional healing modality passed down to us by the healers of the past. The path of an herbalist is always unique, but there are foundational principles that we all share and utilize to improve how we understand and interact with an abundance of healing herbs.
In this 2 hour course we will touch on many of these key principles including:
-Locating and identifying reliable information about herbs-
-Building your own herbal material medica with helpful tricks to keep your monographs organized
-Honing your senses to determine key features of individual herb quality and identification (organoleptics)
-Best practices for harvesting, drying and storing your herbs
-Strategies for building effective herbal formulas
f time permits, we will also have a brief discussion on the most common solvents used for making herbal remedies, and I’ll share some of my favorite herbal recipes! This is a great prerequisite course for my Introductory to Handmade Herbal Remedies course opening April 4th at Herbnerd.com, check it out!
Colleen Solis, founder of Herb Nerd and Poppy Botanicals, is a lifelong free spirited, nature loving geek. She believes in the importance of strong community. "It takes a village" is her anthem. That’s the spirit of herbalism that drew her in immediately: A bunch of tree hugging, handcrafting, outdoorsy folks that like to get together to share knowledge and take walks.
For the past 10 years, Colleen has been blessed to forge a path using traditional and scientific herbalism to make things! The alchemy of creating something out of nothing is her jam. She has a deep love for compounding herbs, extracting constituents, nerding-out on solubility, and cumulating these precious parts into topical and internal health & wellness products. As an Herbalist, Colleen’s niche is herbal product formulation, which emerged out of her obsession for natural beauty products. She has been formulating wellness products for as long as she has been studying herbs. At present, Colleen is a Certified Herbalist, instructor at The California School of Herbal Studies, contributing writer at Traditional Medicinals, founder of Poppy Botanicals, and Herb Nerd, and herbal product developer and consultant for wellness brand.
Find colleen at https://www.herbnerd.com
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Functional Herbalism
With Colleen Solis
( Herb Nerd and Poppy Botanicals)
Mas Plantas!
Awakening Vitality with Everyday Plant Medicines
with -Francisca Santibanez of Plant Spirit Talk
In this introductory class, we’ll explore the many ways that we can integrate plants to support our health and vitality. From our foods, body care and spaces, to our rituals and mundane practices- there’s a standing invitation for connection and mutual upliftment with our leafy kin. Participants will receive a series of practical tools and strategies for bringing in more plants into their daily lives for a strengthened connection to their vitality.
Francisca Santibanez is a Bay Area based herbalist, wellness guide, medicine maker, educator and founder of Plant Spirit Talk course, Medicine Spirit Mentorship, Earth, Blood and Soul course and Plant Spirit Essencials. She also offers Wellness Consultations, Integrated Plant Spirit Initiation, and Whole Soul guidance through her private practice out of Sebastopol, California.
Raised in South America, she spent her childhood in Brasil and Chile, and later in life returned to study traditional Amazonian plant medicine in the jungles of Peru.
Her courses focus on cultivating ritual space for deep sharing and healing, to learn integrative life skills, spiritual tools and plant based healing practices for more intimate engagement with nature and the healing process. She weaves in ancient wisdom and practical beliefs from her native South with the modern urban context of the North. Her aim is to create community space and support her students and clients in their personal and familial healing and fulfillment of their soul purpose.
Find her on Instagram and plantspirittalk.com
Herbs and Astrology
with Paetra Tauchert
Happy New Year everyone!
In this one hour class Paetra Tauchert will teach us the Fundamentals of Herbal Astrology and how to weave it into the Astro weather of 2022.
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Paetra is a consulting astrologer, trained by Maurice Fernandez, Austin Coppock, and the School of Traditional Astrology in London.
She has an international clientele, with over 25 years of experience and weaves her herbal training into her consultations. (California School of Herbal Studies and the Dhyana Center).
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You can catch Paetra on her podcast, Astroscape Revival which is a combination of music and astro-philosophy. You can also subscribe to her weekly forecasts, and find her in the pages of the Mountain Astrologer magazine with her column “Plant Planet”.
She will be teaching a year long class starting in March called Wheel of the Year, combining astrology, herbs, and magic.
She also periodically teaches Intro to Chart Reading, a six-week short course.
Find Paetra here:
To subscribe, for readings, or classes:
http://paetratauchertastrology.com/
Podcast:
https://paetratauchertastrology.podbean.com/.../astrosca.../
Mushrooms! Holistic Foraging With Ryath Beauchene
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In this Autumnal presentation Ryath will share tips and techniques for finding, identifying, & harvesting popular (and not-so-popular!) mushrooms, covering anatomy, ecology, & seasonality. Toxic species and look-alikes will also be addressed. Ryath will also weave in ideas on how mushrooms can entice us into deeper acts of ecological participation, how applied mycology through the lens of foraging can be regenerative, reciprocal & enriching for the mushrooms and their ecosystems as well as our bodies, health, and spirits!
Ryath Fujita Beauchene has been foraging and cultivating mushrooms for more than a decade and is a co-owner of Moon Fruit Mushroom Farm, a small log-based medicinal mushroom farm in Sonoma County, California. He studied ecology and environmental education at Sonoma State University and is a “self-taught” amateur mycologist. Ryath has been hooked on life through nutrition, ecology, mushrooms, plants, soil, endosymbiosis, photography, cooking, video games, snowboarding, laughing, crying, & roller coasters.
You can find Ryath on Instagram
@make plants.notwar
@moonfruitmushroomfarm
Empowering Community:
Strategies for Health and the Coronavirus
A PANEL DISCUSSION WITH:
TRINITY AVA- HERBALIST
AUTUMN SUMMER - HERBALIST
DR BRIDGET SOMINE - NATUROPATH
MITCHO THOMPSON- HERBALIST
ERIN WILKINS - ACUPUNCTURIST
MODERATED BY KAREN AGUIAR - HERBALIST
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A VIDEO OF THIS PRESENTATION IS AVAILABLE HERE:
THANKS TO BEN STAAB FOR OFFERING HIS TIME
AND TALENTS TO BRING THIS TO FRUITION.
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