FY 2012 annual report - Andover Newton Theological School

‘Who can be against tomatoes?!’8A young filmmaker’s home gardening project may haverun afoul of city zoning, but it added new life and color thissummer to the interfaith community garden shared by AndoverNewton Theological School and Hebrew College.The 34 hanging tomato plants and their 13-foot wooden pavilionthat settled in next to the garden plot this summer belong to EliKatzoff, 26, who initially built the structure in the front yard ofhis childhood home near Route 9, the Boston Globe reported.While some of the plants are designated for CSA-style farming(community supported agriculture, in which donors take home aportion of the harvest), the garden was also designed as a wayof giving to the community: Visitors to the project’s website(www.thissidedowngarden.com) can donate $25 to sponsor a plant,and its yield will be donated to an area food pantry. Each plantis estimated to provide about 20 pounds of tomatoes. “You justcan’t buy that much produce” for $25, Katzoff said. In total, theproject was predicted to generate some 600 pounds of tomatoesfor food pantries.Katzoff had already sold some tomato containers to friends and haddecided to donate the rest of the harvest to local food pantries,the Globe noted. But zoning officials told Katzoff he would have toremove the structure and the plants, citing safety and aestheticconcerns.“The irony in this otherwise humorous situation is that zoninglaws are, by definition, supposed to preserve the ‘character of acommunity,’ and in this case they are having the exact oppositeimpact,” said Andover Newton President Nick Carter. “This isa couple who are demonstrating great character, and the city’szoning laws are discouraging that character. Ministry is all aboutcharacter; it is the core of what Andover Newton teaches. So, Isay, bring me the tomatoes! Big, fat, juicy ones!”“It really came down to codes,” Katzoff said. Building the gardenin his parents’ front yard instead of the back yard opened it togreater scrutiny, and the fact that he had consulted a mechanicalengineer rather than a structural engineer meant that he didn’tSpring Convocation & Alumni/ae Day 2012On May 17, we celebrated Spring Convocation and Bill Cunitz ’74, our 2012 Spirit of theHill! Do you know someone who should be nominated for the Spirit of the Hill Award?The Alumni/ae Association of Andover Newton seeks to recognize a graduate who, in faithfulness to his or her call,is a leader who demonstrates in his or her ministry one or more of the following:• Devotion to the renewing of church and society through ecumenical witness and creative expression of theGospel and commitment to enacting God’s ways of justice and love in the world;• Faith and courage of liberating visions that compel the graduate toward thoughtful, compassionate, and timelyresponses to cultural and religious conflict;• Ability to respectfully cross borders within and across religious traditions and help others do the same, thusbeing repairers of the breach; and• Promotion of fellowship among Andover Newton graduates and demonstration of commitment to the missionof the school through his or her contributions of time and energy.For more information or to submit a nomination please contact Ruth Edens, Director of the Annual Fund,at (617) 831-2409 or email REdens@ants.edu.