BOARD: Democracy plods faithfully along. At the meeting last evening a determination was expressed to make the vote happen by mid-August so the wheels can creak into action and a move can take place in the fall. The by-laws require a vote for a move, and so that will be the ballot: Shall our Co-op move to a larger space—yes or no? Following that, there will be a request for member/owners to make a recommendation to the Board regarding which of the two sites would be best. There will be a list of pros and cons gleaned from the board and membership, as well as some numbers for cost comparison to guide this recommendation. The two sites are the north end of the Bakery San Juan building and the space in Star Storage next to the unit where Felicity has recently opened her shop; you are encouraged to view the two sites, consider the pros and cons and costs, and select one. Finally there will be a space for your helpful comments. Remember, there’s one vote per household, so chat among yourselves before you fill out your ballot!
MEANWHILE: We had an even jollier time than usual unloading the UNFI delivery, perhaps because of the crowd of helpers, the lovely day, the large size of the delivery (lots of special orders this time), amusement regarding expected items that failed to arrive, and shock and awe to note that whoever loaded the pallet must’ve momentarily fallen down the rabbit hole because instead of four cases of big Greek Gods yogurt, we got four cases of little ones (that’s 48 little cups—which made Anna gasp and smite her brow repeatedly and promise to buy one case herself) and cute tiny boxes of the crazily popular Coconut Water, reminding me of the tiny glasses of juice that were served on a saucer for breakfast in the dining cars of railroad trains back in the forties—way before super-sizing. The co-op’s as loaded as 300 square feet can be.
FRESH FROM THE EARTH: The Waldron farmers continue to fill our cooler three times a week and all that good fresh produce continues to vanish. It will be so nice to have a bigger space with more coolers, because the food is in the ground and on the plants; we just don’t have enough space for it! You can, however, special order things like berries or basil if you call Nootka Rose or Blue Moon and they will be sent with our order.
CHERRIES AND PEACHES: Saturday I bought some from the person at the market selling them from his sister in Wenatchee and they vanished without leaving a pit or stem or box. By the time Anna gets off work at Rocky Bay to post this news there will be (or will have been) a fresh load of cherries and peaches at the co-op.
SALMON: Matt Marinkovich has caught 150 fresh sockeye in Bristol Bay and is shipping them to Friday Harbor so you can have “the best fish-eating experience possible.” Maureen will be at Compost It, 65 Nichols St., Friday at 10 a.m., where you can buy some for $6.50 a pound.
HUNTING AND GATHERING TEAM: I and one or two fetchers are planning a romp through Skagit next Thursday to hunt and gather pickles and sauerkraut, Skagit Fresh juice, pork products, mushrooms, locally grown tea, local cheese, Salumi, and whatever else we can find and time permits. (I inquired and got a kind note from Salumi in Seattle that we can’t have our own account yet, but because of my repeated requests we are rising on the list!) It also happens to be the day the AZURE order arrives in Anacortes; my new car isn’t nearly the hauler the old one was so we may be in big trouble—maybe it’s time to test the roof rack! Anybody going that way on Thursday?
CRANBERRY JUICE: Our juice is hitchhiking its way back and forth between Oregon and Washington! Tim Vincent came up to Seattle Monday with eight cases of cranberry and cranberry-blueberry for us in his truck, messed up his timing and didn’t connect with our pickup volunteers, promised to leave it with a friend on Queen Anne Hill, I found another pickup volunteer for today, Tim forgot to drop it off before heading back to Portland, and now he says he’ll drive it all the way to the island on Tuesday for sure!!!! Golly. Anyway, we don’t have to pay freight when we transport by hitchhiking.
That’s it for now!
– Eleanor
