October 2014 - Building a More Cooperative Economy; Square Dance with Gabe Strand and Skookumband!

In honor of National Cooperative Month, on October 20, Quimper Grange hosts a panel discussion on “Building a More Cooperative Economy,” featuring local experts who have been involved with successful cooperative businesses for decades.

Kenna Eaton has worked with
food co-ops for over 30 years!

“A film from the late ‘70s on the Mondragon Cooperatives inspired some of us to try it in Port Townsend,” said Robert Yourish. Yourish is the Chief Financial Officer for the worker-owned cooperative, Sunshine Propane, which he joined in 1980. Mondragon Corporation is a federation of 110 worker cooperatives started in 1955 in the Basque region of Spain, now with 80,000 worker-members and employees around the globe.

Panelists include Yourish; Kenna Eaton, General Manager of the Food Coop; Heather Dudley Nollette, co-founder of the CoLab, a “co-working” space; Steve Moore, board member of community-owned Quimper Mercantile; Jacob Talamante, founder and Executive Director of a youth-mentoring project, Labor Leaders; and Jim Lyons, co-founder and worker-owner since 1981 at the Port Townsend Shipwrights’ Cooperative.

According to Worldwatch Institute, as of 2012, the number of memberships in cooperatives reached one billion globally. What are the advantages of organizing a business as a cooperative? What alternative business models are included in the “cooperative economy”? How might a more cooperative economy benefit citizens of Jefferson County?

Heather Dudley
Nollette

Robert Yourish of
Sunshine Propane

Panelists will address these and other questions as they explore how a new generation of cooperatives and related businesses might flourish locally. The program is set for Monday, October 20, 7-8:30PM at Quimper Grange, 1219 Corona Street, PT. The suggested donation for this Grange-sponsored event is $5-10. For more information, call Deb Wiese, 360-385-1928.

October is National Cooperative Month. It is an event that is meant to call attention to the fact that, every day, all across America, 120 million

Jacob Talamante
on left with Labor
Leaders

people are solving problems and enjoying a better life because of their co-ops. People have formed more than 48,000 cooperatives for farming, banking, healthcare, housing, electric and telephone service, grocery retailing, and many other products and services. They trust their cooperatives to help them find solutions. Among Jefferson County cooperatives are membership cooperatives including the Food Coop and Kitsap Credit Union; and worker cooperatives including Port Townsend Shipwright’s Co-op and Sunshine Propane.

October Square Dance and Social

Gabe Strand will be calling squares and related sets on October 11 at the Quimper Grange Square Dance and Social. Skookumband includes Joanne Pontrello (fiddle) and Charles Espey (banjo).

Gabe Strand, from Seattle, calls dances up and down the west coast, from Arcata, CA to Bellingham, WA. This is his 3rd visit to Quimper Grange. Charles Espey and Joanne Pontrello, from Port Townsend, will be playing hardcore old time dance tunes.

Caller Joanne Pontrello

Should be rocking good dance. Dancing starts at 7:30 and goes till 11:00. All ages and experience levels are welcome; all dances are taught. Neither partners nor fancy duds are necessary. Come alone, as a couple, or as a tribe. $5.00 for adults. 16 and under are free. Dancers are encouraged to bring snacks to share with other dances, and a personal water bottle. Hope to see you there.