OUR 500th MEMBERSHIP
Lamont Barnett, Pamela Parant, and co-op board president Steve Fortier
The Great River Co-op has enrolled its 500th membership. Lamont Barnett and Pamela Parant, co-owners of the Rock and Hammer jewelry store in downtown Bellows Falls, purchased a family membership and won gift certificates to the Bellows Falls and Walpole farmers markets. Welcome, Pam and Lamont! Thanks for making our community's co-op movement 500 memberships strong.
Board of directors elected at annual meeting
On Tuesday, April 24, the Great River Co-op held its first annual member-owners meeting at Alyson's Orchard on Route 12 in Walpole. About 50 people attended to learn about the co-op's recent progress, next steps, feast on locally made treats, and learn the identify of our 500th member -- Lamonte Barnett and Pam Parant of The Rock and Hammer in Bellows Falls. Congratulations to them!
The election of 10 board members was certified by Steve Fortier, the board's current president. Twenty percent of our 138 voting members needed to cast ballots for the election to be recognized as legal and 57% of voting members returned ballots -- almost three times the required number. Thank you!
Holly Gowdy, the co-op's project manager, spoke about the co-op's working group that's in discussions with area farmers to ensure that the co-op is structured and operated in a way that supports and helps them. Ben Daviss talked about the market study and financial analysis now under way and to be completed before July that will enable member-owners to determine the size of our store and how it can be financed.
In the weeks and months ahead, there will be a need for more member-owners to join in the work of making the Great River Co-op a working reality. A finance team, operations team, and facilities design team will be needed. Please consider how your skills, energy, and time can help.
JUST ONE MEMBER!
We all know people who support the Great River Co-op and keep meaning to join, but they never get around to it. That’s why the co-op’s board of directors urges every member to bring just one more person to the co-op as a new member.
If each of our 360 members registers just one more member, we’ll double our membership be three-quarters of the way to our ultimate goal of 1,000 members by 2012.
And if each of those new members brings just one new member into the co-op with them, our membership campaign could be over within a matter of weeks.
It might be your boss or a co-worker, the store clerk where you buy your gas, or anyone you know who supports locally owned businesses, local agriculture, and fresh, nutritious foods. Now is the time to ask them to act on their views.
Fill out a membership form for them (download it here or pick one up from the co-op’s brochure displays around the region) and give the completed form to them – you can even give them a stamped envelope to send it in! Remember that you also can give membeships as a gift.
However you choose to do it, do something today to bring one more member into the co-op. If you do, you could be shopping at the Great River Co-op by 2013!
MEMBER COUNT
May 14, 2012 - 502 Members have joined the Great River Co-op. Thank you all for your support!
Why Join the Great River Co-op?
- You can share in the co-op’s profits.
- You can help lower grocery prices by bringing much-needed foodstore competition to our region.
- You’ll shop at a community market stocked every day with meat and produce raised right here.
- You’ll help strengthen and expand local agriculture and protect open land.
- You’ll shop at a family-friendly store that won’t stock sugary cereals at kids’ eye level, stack candy bars by the cash registers, or have what retailers call a “Mommy, I want” aisle filled with impulse purchases.
- You’ll have a say in the products the store carries.
- You can have a voice in governing the co-op.
- The co-op’s profits stay in our community.
- You can help to develop community education programs through the co-op.
- Joining now can make it possible. Your memberships and donations will give the co-op additional capital and demonstrate the community support this initiative needs to stay on track.
Thank you...
...to everyone who made and donated food to our first annual meeting. New members Jamie Teague, of Affordably Elegant Catering, and Ronna Gendron created special hors d'oeuvres, sumptuous cakes, and unique desserts. New members Erin and Bruce Bickford of Abenaki Springs Farm brought fresh salad greens. Noah Elbers of Orchard Hill Bread Works donated his distinctive breads. Thanks also to the Bellows Falls and Walpole farmers markets for their donations of gift certificates for the Great River Co-op's annual meeting. Their donations are a great way to keep our members connected to local food producers across the Great River region.
More news
Garden with the Fall Mountain Food Shelf
The Fall Mountain Food Shelf needs seeds -- and it needs you. The Langdon-based food center is planning an on-site garden and needs volunteers to share their time and expertise. Many of those who depend on the food shelf also are planning their own gardens and need seeds, tools, and other help. If you have something to offer, call Mary Lou Huffling at 603-835-2283.
The Great River Co-op has joined the Neighboring Food Co-op Assocation, a collaboration of more than 20 New England co-ops. Click here to learn the benefits that membership will bring to your co-op.
Featured Producer
“Most people don’t realize that the bars we buy on store shelves aren’t soap,” says Judy Lidie. “They’re detergents – synthetic compounds designed to get oil and grease out. It’s like dish detergent. That’s why what we buy are called ‘bath bars’ or ‘body bars’. The makers can’t say that they’re soap.”
But Judy can. She crafts her Grace & Miss Mouse Soaps one small batch at a time with all the right ingredients. Learn more.
Membership Form
Look for our sign at the future building site of the Great River Co-op on Route 12 in Walpole!
Store Location
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