tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89319515565872937272026-10-10T02:15:48.399-07:00Information, meeting planning and minutes - for anyone who is interested in watching our progress, volunteering, helping us move forward! Local, natural, organic, community organizing, economic development, nutrition, food co-op.Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-56675902896441868872010-04-07T15:47:00.000-07:002010-04-07T15:50:58.220-07:00

We are on track to incorporate in a few weeks and we need a name! Follow the link to the poll to vote on your choice. We will be counting votes and making the final decision at the next group meeting next Tuesday the 13th.Name the Co-op Poll

Corey Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02325313133091632360noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-13557234156798698412010-04-02T08:10:00.000-07:002010-04-02T08:10:56.550-07:00

The community survey was a great step forward for the co-op organizing group, and people have been hard at work putting together articles of incorporation and bylaws. We're even honing in on a name for the co-op...there were dozens of suggestions from the survey, which is so very helpful. Our next big step: start fleshing out the business plan. It's going to take a lot of work to generate all

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-34368715068170441782010-03-24T22:24:00.000-07:002010-03-24T22:24:30.191-07:00

Here's what Food Co-op 500 suggests as a general rule for sourcing startup capital for a new food co-op: So...half of a co-op's startup capital comes from its founding members, in the form of membership dues (equity), member loans, cash donations and grants. How does this relate to what we learned from the Community Survey? Can we make some assumptions, crunch a couple numbers, and create

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-34895268789001995192010-03-24T22:07:00.001-07:002010-03-24T22:15:37.362-07:00

 The results are in...we received over 300 responses to our Community Survey! Now, we need your perspective on what the results mean for our group. What do you think? Please email us (info@ellensburgfoodcoop.org), post a comment to our blog, or post a comment to our Facebook Page to give us your perspective. Enjoy! A Food Co-op for Ellensburg: Community Survey Results I.

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-12297668287497681352010-03-07T22:46:00.001-08:002010-03-07T22:46:48.679-08:00

We have a fair bit of ground to cover in this meeting, so we've decided to start at 6pm this week rather than 6:30 - if you want to come but have to be late, no worries! A Food Co-op for Ellensburg general meeting - open to the public, everyone welcome Tuesday, March 9 6-8pm at the Ecumenical Church, 400 Anderson (1/2 block behind Safeway) -update on upcoming incorporation and bylaws

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-39690011532926347842010-03-03T12:32:00.000-08:002010-03-03T12:32:40.058-08:00

Wow. We received almost 350 responses to the Community Survey. Next steps: organize and share the data so we can all take a look and think about what it means. Look for survey results to post sometime in the next week, and know that we're going to want to get your perspective on it!

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-89957539185326520262010-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:002010-02-22T13:27:13.925-08:00

The organizing group has done a fantastic job getting the word out about the survey..we have more than 300 responses now! Let's make one more push to get even more: if you haven't taken the survey yet and you're a resident of Kittitas County, please take it....and pass it along to your friends! Add it to a newsletter! Email it to your co-workers! The survey only takes about 10 minutes. Thanks

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-27956525049290492652010-02-11T13:26:00.000-08:002010-02-11T13:26:53.239-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came to our meeting on Tuesday - we continue to forge ahead! First, we talked about the four Working Groups - it's time to get them working. We decided that in order for the working groups to start working, 2 things needed to happen: 1. We needed to revisit the notes from our Nov 17 session, where we brainstormed activities for each group, and we need to put these and

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-38339558136139999982010-02-09T12:28:00.000-08:002010-02-09T12:28:24.237-08:00

Ever since we started this co-op project, I've become much more investigative and aware of my surroundings every time I shop for food. I take special note of the lighting, the layout, displays, and special offerings, and I store these observations away in my ever-growing cache of "dream store" elements. Do you do this, too?  If so, take a picture next time you see something you like, and

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-70158334126660286812010-02-09T12:02:00.000-08:002010-02-09T12:02:40.958-08:00

Hi everyone, Just a quick reminder that we're meeting tonight at the Ecumenical Church - 6:30-8:00pm. We'll start with a quick update on some exciting progress with the community survey. We need everyone to help spread its ditribution so we can get as many responses as possible...Danny Arranaga wants 500. Can we do it? Then, we'll move into plans for the next month and beyond. I still have

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-33482683662690235092010-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:002010-01-29T10:24:19.097-08:00

We've been meeting pretty consistently every other week for the last few months, and it's great to feel our group settling in to this rhythm. To keep this rhythm going, we'll continue meeting every other week at the Ecumenical Church as long as this continues to work for us - but we're going to tweak our schedule a tiny bit. First, starting in February we're going to meet on the 2nd and 4th

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-30953242817997042462010-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:002010-01-29T10:12:57.529-08:00

Thanks to Jen Zarnoch, Carlan Wray, Corey Wright, Gary Koch and the Consumer Members Working Group, we've got some great new resources for reaching out to the Ellensburg community. 1. We've got a new website. Ellensburgfoodcoop.org, is in the process of becoming our new virtual "home base", where we'll be able to share information in a much more organized fashion than with this blog. We can work

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-91661748767161061642010-01-16T12:47:00.000-08:002010-01-16T12:47:58.207-08:00

The potluck was fantastic - so many people showed, we ran out of chairs. There were several new faces as well, which was exciting to see. Thanks to everyone who came; it was really inspiring to see the energy for our co-op project continuing to grow. And special thanks to: -Dean DeCrease and Raw Space, for the donated venue, and -Cloudview Eco Farm for the potatoes and garlic Now, it's time

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-48492304765216780682010-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:002010-01-12T07:31:15.571-08:00

Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight...Co-op Potluck6:00 - 8:00pmat Raw Space, 119 Fourth Ave-we'll each buy our own drinks from Bertine's next door. If you haven't been there yet, they have amazing coffee, teas, beer and wine.-If you can, please bring a dish to share (and don't forget the serving utensils)If your last name begins with: Please bring:A - H..............

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-23148757567464316462010-01-07T13:01:00.000-08:002010-01-07T13:12:58.719-08:00

Just figured out some of the details with Dean today, and here's how our little party will go down:Tuesday, January 12th6:00 - 8:00pmat Raw Space, 119 Fourth Ave-we'll each buy our own drinks from Bertine's next door. If you haven't been there yet, they have amazing coffee, teas, beer and wine.-It will be a potluck! So, if you can, please bring a dish to share (and don't forget the serving

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-6786844617319026742010-01-06T17:16:00.001-08:002010-01-06T17:19:07.020-08:00

Hi everyone - happy 2010!At our last organizing meeting back in December (almost a month ago!), we decided the best way to reconnect in the New Year would be to take a break from our work and have some fun.SO....let's get together with some great food, celebrate our accomplishments thus far, and get to know each other better.Get-together for Friends and Organizers of...A Food Co-op for

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-53710744583453669052009-12-02T23:33:00.000-08:002009-12-03T00:07:06.349-08:00

At last night's meeting, the Steering Committee shared a rough draft of our values and iterations of a draft mission statement - this piece is an outcome of the Steering Committee's first meeting, and the intent now is to:-gather input on it,-refine it and add a little more content with respect to what we've done so far, to create a-workable communication piece that we can all begin using -soon-

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-53283903285857697102009-12-02T22:33:00.000-08:002009-12-02T23:29:46.496-08:00

Hi all,Another great meeting is behind us - and we decided to go for one more before the holidays really hit.Next co-op meeting: Tuesday, Dec 8, 6:00-8:00pm at the Ecumenical Church400 N Anderson, 1/2 block behind Safeway.What we'll aim to do:-review a rough draft of the Community Survey, which is under construction and will be ready to share next week-start populating a master timeline with

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-22503477710785641052009-11-28T16:46:00.000-08:002009-11-28T16:54:23.411-08:00

Given the food co-op emphasis on local food systems, I thought I'd share this fantastic list from Sustainable Connections, a Bellingham organization with an innovative approach to developing vibrant local living economies.Ellensburg's KEEN - Kittitas Environmental Education Network - is of course doing some amazing things to promote the same sorts of initiatives as Sustainable Connections. Our

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-66525954514476835102009-11-28T14:31:00.000-08:002009-11-28T15:08:49.670-08:00

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." -W.T. PurkiserHi everyone,Are you still in your stretchy pants? Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely and full of gratitude.Time to have our 3rd food

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-50715454122951300892009-11-19T11:07:00.000-08:002009-11-19T13:37:20.520-08:00

Another successful organizing meeting for creation of a food co-op in Ellensburg! 20+ people joined us on Tuesday night. We had fun, we were productive - but next time you're an hour late, Greg Parker, you owe us some Iron Horse beer.Critical highlights/updates Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 1, 6-8pm at the Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (1/2 block behind Safeway). Everyone is

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-16678133373911733782009-11-16T17:09:00.001-08:002009-11-16T17:30:55.988-08:00

Hi everyone - are you ready? Our second meeting is tomorrow night!Food Co-op meetingTue, Nov 176-8pm400 N. Anderson (just a half-block behind Safeway store)Rough agenda (still may be subject to a little tweaking/refining):6-6:30:Revisit our ideas for desired attributes of an Ellensburg food co-op - framing them more as "values" than as "vision".A co-op exists solely to serve its members - what

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-49227522505437802732009-11-13T11:24:00.000-08:002009-11-13T11:38:17.182-08:00

Quick shout out to Lene, Deborah and Marte - new food co-op enthusiasts to add to our growing ranks! Great to meet you at Cascade Land Conservancy celebration last night. Help us spread the word, and come to our meeting next Tue night if you can.

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-86262457997372458602009-11-11T21:59:00.000-08:002009-11-11T22:01:43.315-08:00

Sorry - forgot to include this detail in my last post. :)Meeting is:-next Tuesday, Nov 17-Ecumenical Church, 400 N Anderson (behind Safeway)-6:00-8:00pmthanks!J

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8931951556587293727.post-79077992521908124062009-11-11T19:02:00.000-08:002009-11-11T19:03:23.440-08:00

Hi everyone,Hope you marked your calendars and you're planning to attend our next co-op meeting. We've been putting together some ideas for what we'll do together...andit involves markers and post-its. I know - exciting!!!!It turns out Hal Holmes was not available to us next Tuesday - they're booked solid.So, next Tuesday we'll be meeting at the Ecumenical Church of Ellensburg instead:400 N

Jessie Alanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15527371237579691077noreply@blogger.com0