As president of the Killingworth Women’s Organization (KWO), Andrea Freibauer is busy heading preparations for its Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 28—but she’s never too busy to bring the cookies.

The owner and namesake of Andie’s Cookies will set up her own stall of treats, as well as overseeing the success of the second annual Earth Day festival at Chatfield Hollow Inn and Farm, in partnership with the Killingworth Library.

“It’s all about getting back to nature and living a sustainable life,” she says. “Last year, it was horribly rainy, but [we] still had a great turn out and we made a sizable donation to the library. A few months later, people were already asking, ‘When are you going to have it again?’ So, we’re excited about this year’s celebration.”

The Earth Day Celebration includes a full day of seminars and demonstrations on beekeeping, maple sugaring, tai chi, growing mushrooms, bushwhacking, wetlands, composting, recycling, and foraging. There is also live music, a nature-themed book sale, relaxing Zentangle drawing, a s’mores pit for children, face painting, and more. All proceeds benefit the Killingworth Library.

“Many people today now want to get back to basics. Over the past 50 or 60 years, so much of what we have and what we use is cheap and disposable. They are now seeing the value of knowing how to do stuff, like making soap or growing their own food. It’s coming full circle—people are looking for quality over quantity and rediscovering how important it is to take care of things instead of throwing them away.”

Andrea, her husband, Larry, and daughter, Valleri, embraced an environmentally friendly lifestyle more than a decade ago, and she is pleased that more people are dedicating their time and money to a sustainable way of life.

“There are so many things in the world that we can’t control, but more people are really starting to care about what we’re doing to the environment. It can be a challenge to reduce our carbon footprint in our modern-day world, but it’s important to find the balance.”

At the Earth Day Celebration, there’s another stand that will occupy Andrea’s time. She is the leader of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and the scouts will be busy working on henna tattoos and signing up residents for the third annual Killingworth town clean up on Saturday, May 5.

Passionate about the Way the Cookie Crumbles

Andrea grew up in East Haven and moved to Killingworth as a child. After graduating from Haddam Killingworth High School, she completed a bachelor’s degree at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. While studying, she met her future husband, Larry, who hailed from Albany, and after college they settled in Andrea’s hometown. She works from home as a trainer for Medicare, instructing doctors and medical staff from all over the country via webinars.

“I love Killingworth. When I was growing up I wanted to be in the big city, but when I got out, I missed it. It’s an interesting mix of people who have been here forever and those that have found the town,” she says. “In Killingworth, people care about each other and they also care about their privacy. So many people care so much about others in our community; it inspires other people to get involved.”

A passionate home baker, five years ago Andrew decided to make her hobby a business and established Andie’s Cookies. Working from her commercial kitchen in Clinton, she makes 20 varieties including the ever-popular chocolate chip cookies and interesting new flavor combinations like chocolate cayenne and pumpkin snickerdoodle.

“We knew if we tried, we may fail or succeed...but if we didn’t try it, we’d spend our entire lives wondering. I do most of the baking at night—it takes a lot of coffee and little sleep. It’s hard work, but I love it,” she says.

Andrea spends her weekend selling her cookies at local events, craft beer fairs, and farmer’s markets including the Killingworth market at Parmelee Farm. In the future, Andrea plans on obtaining a wholesale license to distribute in stores, and this summer she will debut her new vegan cookie.

“We wanted to create a company that incorporated the values that are important to us. Thirteen years ago, we got into local and sustainable living, and we transferred this to our business. We use local products wherever possible, including Connecticut eggs, New England butter, we buy herbs from farmer’s markets, and we use local honey and maple syrup. All our packaging is bio-degradable and compostable, too.”

Caring About the Community

Andrea has been a member of the KWO for six years, and is completing her fourth year as president.

“The KWO is a dynamic group of women. They care about the community and they’re not doing things to be in the spotlight; they are interested in doing things for others,” she says. “There’s great diversity. We have young women, new mothers, and retirees. Something I found enticing is that the group is really flexible. There are a great range of programs and events to get involved with and everybody does what they can.”

In addition to the Earth Day Celebration, the KWO’s list of annual projects includes the Gregory Bousquet Holiday Wish Drive, its college scholarship program, and the KWO Relay for Life team. During Andrea’s tenure, the KWO started the Killingworth Community Tag Sale and Santa’s Mailbox at the library.

At last year’s 350th Anniversary celebration, the KWO took home second place in the parade competition for its impressive float: a huge birthday cake with members dressed in period costume and holding signs depicting important women in the history of Killingworth and Connecticut.

Also last year, KWO partnered with Artful Living community theater to present The Letter: Beacon from a Lighthouse, a dramatic reading shining a spotlight on violence against women.

“Our big project for the past four years has been domestic violence awareness and prevention. A few years ago in our community we had a tragic murder/suicide that was domestic violence, so it’s critical that we learned the warning signs and how to help people in these situations. We ran a community information program called Killingworth Aware and every October we have a ribbon initiative, putting purple ribbons on people’s mailboxes and the town offices.”

The KWO meets at the Killingworth Library on the second Wednesday of every month, with a social chat at 6:30 p.m. and the general meeting at 7 p.m. Andrea says the group is always eager to welcome new people.

“We’re a non-religious, non-political philanthropic group. We’re about bringing all women in our community together,” she says. “We have 44 members now, so you probably know someone in our group already, and we welcome everyone. All women who are civic-minded and interesting in getting involved in the community, we want you to come along.”

BOX

The Killingworth Earth Day Celebration is at Chatfield Hollow Inn and Farm, 10 Firetower Road, Killingworth on Saturday, April 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $10; $5 for children. For more information, visit www.kwoct.org or like the Killingworth Women’s Organization Facebook page.