🍁 October Newsletter

Fresh air! Goosebump breezes! Hands-in-hoodie-pockets! Oh, October, my favorite month of the year (until November).

Below – two invitations for getting involved with The Tea Stand in significant ways. Plus a spotlight on a new member perk!

Today's newsletter topics:

📗 bōcha issue 6
🗣️ Call For Hosts
🧵 Tea Towels

October at a glance:

📗 bōcha issue 6

bōcha issue 6 will publish this December and YOU are invited to contribute a creative piece! Just like issue 5 (which we just distributed our final, 200th copy of), it will be riso-printed by Sara of Lucky Pocket Press and feature submissions from several community members.

If you're interested in submitting to bōcha issue 6, fill out the proposal form here by October 11. This form is simply to express interest and share a concept for a submission – you don't need to have any kind of first draft ready (though that would help!).

Some examples of proposals:

• a collectively drawn illustration with neighbors during a Park Popup
• a field guide to the flora + fauna of Maria Hernandez Park
• an essay about our public spaces and your relationship to one in particular
• an interview with a regular park visitor
• a data visualization showing all the tea we've served across NYC

There is no unifying theme or concept for bōcha issue 6, but we will have the winter solstice in mind when putting it together. We'll prioritize submissions which are place-based, specifically in regards to parks/spaces in which The Tea Stand has a regular presence. For more information about our evaluation criteria, check out the form description.

If your proposal is accepted (we'll let you know by October 14), you'll have 2 weeks to put together a first draft, then 1 week to submit something final. Space in the zine is quite limited, but we'll do our best to include as many submissions as possible!

Once more, here is the proposal form for bōcha issue 6. We are so excited to share more soon.

Shoutout to the newly assembled team behind bōcha – ziggy (co-editor), Arnie (designer), Sara (printer), and myself (co-editor). None of this would be possible without them!

If you have any questions about the proposal form, timelines, or other zine matters, feel free to reply to this email :)

🗣️ Call For Hosts

We are looking for more people to host Tea Stand events!

Things are a-changing here at The Tea Stand – more and more people (who are not named Miles) are regularly hosting Tea Stand events, simultaneous Tea Stands are becoming a norm rather than a logistical nightmare, and the demands for international Tea Stands are getting louder.

So... are you interested in serving free tea in one of our regular locations? Or maybe at the West 4th Newsstand? A local older adult center? Perhaps at midnight on the middle of the Williamsburg Bridge?

If any of these ideas excite you, please fill out our host application form here. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so the sooner you submit the better!

Over the past several months, we've fine-tuned the timing and logistics of 3 recurring Park Popups. (BTW: Park Popups is our term for when we serve free tea in public parks.)

• Maria Hernandez Park // every Sunday // hosted by ziggy + Miles
• Herbert von King Park // biweekly on Mondays // hosted by Noah
• Prospect Park // monthly on 2nd Saturdays // hosted by Steph

It's these Park Popups we are most in need of finding alternate hosts for. With more frequent events comes more weather-related fiascos, unexpected happenings, and last-minute health issues. Having the support of a few alternate hosts – folks who can be ready to step-in and host a Tea Stand event when needed – would allow us to keep serving tea as much as we possibly can in public spaces.

Whether in public parks or beyond, we're eager to participate in / host more events with local children, older adults, Hispanic folks, and more. If you would be interested in being involved with any of these new programming areas, please fill out the host application (or reply to this email!).

All of this is another step toward Tea Stand decentralization/expansion, which has been a defining development this year. We aspire to serve free tea to as many people as possible – on subway platforms, at community board meetings, outside jails, at film screenings, everywhere – FREE TEA FOR ALL!

Here's the host application form once more. Thanks for your interest!

🧵 Tea Towels

At last, we've realized one of our earliest dreams – custom tea towels!

Friend, neighbor, and local artist Clare Cullinan hand-embroidered Tea Stand designs on linen tea towels, as pictured below.

These tea towels are offered as a perk for Big Steepers ($33+/mo) upon signup – more info about our perks + membership program here.

We've spent the past few months deciding on colorways, design placement, and stitch style, and we're sooo happy with how they came out.

The towels are 22cm x 22cm and made of a super soft linen – beautiful objects even before the embroidery!

Thanks to Clare, all the Big Steepers out there, and Adin (our chashi) for the push. Members will receive their tea towels with the winter solstice tea boxes if they haven't already :)

That's all for now! Thanks to...

Our new members: Nick, Arnie, Harsha, and Will.

Those who donated tea: Divisha and Mateo.

You, for reading! Hope to share tea with you soon.

Keep Steeping,
Miles