BOUNDARY ARTISANS MARKET COOPERATIVE
spreads it’s wings
by Mona Mattei
Since August 1998 a small, dedicated group has been designing
a cooperative venture to promote Boundary artists,crafters, woodworkers,
and tourism operators.
The Boundary Artisans Market developed as a business idea from
several group and public meetings. From the input at these meetings
and further research completed by the group of entrepreneurs it
was found that two main needs could be met through a cooperative
venture: 1) to showcase locally produced items in an attractive
retail space and 2) to work with local businesses and organizations
to promote and enhance tourism opportunities in the Boundary Country.
Cooperatives have flourished in B.C. since the 1880’s. In the
past few years, a record number of B.C. businesses have incorporated
as cooperatives. They are found in all sectors of the economy,
from forestry to fisheries, child care to financial services,
transportation to entertainment – virtually any business enterprise
can operate successfully as a cooperative. The Boundary Artisans
Market chose a cooperative model of business because working together
means less individual risk; democratic participation of all members
– ‘one member, one vote’ – regardless of the investment held by
each member; dynamic joint marketing opportunities; and community
development through increased jobs, and economic support.
The Boundary Artisans Market’s mission statement is: to cooperatively
develop ideas and resources for a more prosperous, economically
stable community by providing an outlet for the sale of local
products and the promotion of Boundary tourism. As a part of the
vision for the cooperative, employment for the community, including
a commitment to employ individuals who live with a disability,
is a key part of the goals.
Throughout the process Community Futures Development Corporation,
Boundary Area, has supported the group in its discussions and
development. Since their starting point last year, the group has
gathered momentum with a growing membership and is poised to choose
a location to set up business. Discussions are taking place regarding
potential sites in both Grand Forks and Christina Lake. This month,
the Boundary Specialty Wood Association began discussions with
the Boundary Artisans Market around a collaborative venture to
create the attractive location visioned for the business. As a
joint marketing opportunity the Boundary Specialty Wood Association
is building a cabin structure which will be a display unit for
their products. Will Wallick, chair of the Boundary Specialty
Wood Association, saw the benefits of the Boundary Artisans Market
operating from this display unit. “It seemed to be a good
fit for both groups to showcase their products,” says Will,
“so we invited the Boundary Artisans Market to a meeting
to explore the possibilities.” At this time both groups are
excited about the combination of talents. The Boundary Specialty
Wood Association will provide materials and their time to erect
the building. The Boundary Artisans Market is responsible for
securing a highly visible location with highway access and for
staffing the operation. The Boundary Artisans Market will be able
to retail locally produced items in this attractive location.
“At this time we need expanded community support to make
this project a success for everyone involved,” states Mona
Mattei, facilitator for the cooperative group, “we would
like to be open for the summer season and the Boundary Specialty
Wood Association is ready to start the building.”
The Boundary Artisans Market and Boundary Specialty Wood Association
would like to invite other entrepreneurs to assist in the development
of the Co-op in exchange for the promotion of their business through
the group. Artists, crafters, woodworkers are invited to become
members and to submit information on their products for potential
sale at the location. Location ideas and products/services to
assist with the completion of the building are needed.
Everyone in the community/business community are welcome to become
cooperative members and share the success of the business. “Co-ops
are excellent ways to bring the community together to benefit
everyone”, comments Mattei, “the support of local businesses,
home-based businesses and the creation of a larger tourism base
will expand economic development for our entire region.”
For more info. or to join us contact:
Ken Thomson @ 442-5015 for Boundary Artisans Market
Kerri Medley @ 442-8266 for Boundary Specialty Wood Association
From the Editor
“Shop Local” I’m sure you’ve heard it all before
till it’s coming out of your ears. Well you’ll hear it again from
me (unless you skip this part). As far as I’m concerned, there
is a value that goes beyond the numbers on the bottom of the sales
receipt, that can’t be stressed enough. It goes beyond the fact
that most every store that I can remember shopping at locally
made every effort to accommodate me with a kind of service that
people give you when they get to know you.
It goes beyond the fact that I save gas as well as time when I
make a local drive, or even walk to purchase my goods locally.
When you “Shop Locally” you do more than just supporting
the businesses who hire your kids this summer and pay through
their advertising and taxes and donations and support when the
empty hands come, and providing moneys and time donated for the
BMX track in City Park and the Grand Forks Fall event and countless
other things that wouldn’t happen or even be dreamed of.
What I think it all comes down to is having to look at why you
moved here in the first place. You didn’t choose Castlegar, Kelowna
or Vancouver. By shopping locally you become part of the community
and ensure that Grand Forks does not become a ghost town as others
have in the history of the Kettle River Valley. It’s a “catch-22”
situation and it’s up to us whether or not our community survives.
TEEN SOLUTIONS
The OpenMinder asks all teenagers of the Boundary area to answer
this question: What are the problems you are facing as a teen
in the Boundary and what do you think would be the way to solve
these problems?
Using 500 words give or take , drop your suggestions off at Pharmasave
or Value Drug Mart in Grand Forks or mail them to SOLUTIONS c/o
S320 C17 RR#1, Grand Forks, B.C. V0H 1H0. Deadline for submissions
is May 20th, 99.
Answers will be judged on the clarity of describing these problems
and the clarity and feasability of the solutions. the PRIZE LIST
is growing!
Andy’s TV Centre Ltd. – Mini Stereo Cassette Player
Pharmasave – AM/FM Bicycle Radio/Headlight/Horn
Grand Forks District United Way Society – Gift Certificates –
$21 for Radio Shack, $10 for Grand Forks Dollars & Sense,
$10 “Movie-Rental Bucks” for Video Express and a $14
“Mini Manicure” by Lyssa at Mola Co. Hair Studio.
Mayor Brian Taylor – Lunch with a winner and a friend.
the OpenMinder – $20.
Listen to BKRadio Community Cruiser for prize list updates.
“City Park Lake”, May 1997
Water’s rising!! Lets hope it doesn’t get this high again this
year. Notice the “diving dome” in the middle of the
“lake”
Letters
Disappointed Teenager:
I thought that the Grand Forks Girls Softball Organization said
it was open to all girls? Instead they tell me I can’t play because
there are too many girls already that have joined and they already
have 12 girls to a team. In the Grand Forks community I had thought
that these groups were put together to keep young teens off the
street and to have fun with other teens their age, but I guess
I was wrong. My mom was told I would be put on a waiting list.
Another
reason was that each team was only supposed to have 9 players,
but instead they have 12 on a team. Well, again the organization
stated it as if it were a bad thing. I think it is a great thing
that there are all these young girls staying off the streets and
wanting to play, but yet again, there are just as many girls playing
to girls not playing. I was discussing these factors with several
people trying to find ways for us other girls to play. The main
idea that had come up was “make more teams”. It is harder
said than done. The bad point is, there would have to be more
volunteers, but if there are girls out there badly wanting to
play I’m sure they could find one person in this community willing
to give their time up to go out and coach girls Softball. Another
bad point is there aren’t enough Baseball diamonds. The Baseball
players already lost one at Perley School, but has anyone thought
of using the Baseball diamonds at City Park? After a desperate
search to find a league and team to play with I would like to
give a very special thanks to Dougie Bannert and the Winnipeg
slowpitch team for letting me join their team so I can play the
game I love the most!
Monica Rohatynchuk
by Carl Dortch
“Does reading the news get you down? Well, there’s more to
the news than sometimes meets the eye. There’s news of people
who don’t stick their heads in the sand and hope all these problems
go away – people who stick their necks out to do something that
makes things better. A non-profit group called the Giraffe Project
spreads the word about these people. They call them ‘Giraffes’.
The OpenMinder is happy to bring you one such story, because there’s
more
to the news than what’s going wrong. When Craig Kielburger read
about the murder of a Pakistani child who had spoken out against
child abuse in his country’s carpet weaving industry, Toronto’s
Craig Kielburger, 14, didn’t intend to start a movement. He just
knew something had to be done. With that clear sense of purpose,
Craig formed “Free
the Children“, a not-for-profit youth society dedicated
to the elimination of child labour and the exploitation of children
worldwide.
“What this is all about is political will”, explains
Craig. “If our own country and other countries made it clear
that child labor is both illegal and unacceptable, then this problem
wouldn’t exist.” Craig set out to create that political will.
The then 12 year old embarked on a seven week fact-finding trip
through five Asian countries, gathering major media coverage along
the way. Soon after, Craig presented his findings to the U.S.
Congressional Policy Committee and met with Vice-president Al
Gore and with representatives of the Canadian Government as well
as the International Labor Organization at the United Nations
in New York. He went to Geneva, Switzerland for a World Council
of Churches meeting where he urged the churches to take on this
international problem. Within two years, Free the Children had
raised enough money to underwrite its outspoken leadership role
and its two main projects: an education and rehabilitation centre
that takes in Pakistani youngsters who have escaped backbreaking
14-hour workdays and an informal school for the young children,
keeping them out of the consumptive child labour system. Last
year, Germany adopted a tag called, “Rugmark”, for carpets
that were not made through the exploitation of children. A coalition
of major U.S. sporting good manufacturers has pledged not to buy
soccer balls stitched by Pakistani children.
Says Craig, “I’d like to make a difference here, and I see
that what’s needed to solve this problem is for everyone to get
involved and relay the message that we want this to change.”
As branches of Free the Children pop up all over Canada and the
United States, Craig inspires his peers to claim a lead role in
stopping this centuries-old horror. “We’re capable of doing
more than watching TV, playing video games, or hanging around
malls. Young people have the power to make a positive contribution
to this world. I won’t give up until the exploitation of all children
has ended and all children have their rights.”
Craig Kielburger is a “Giraffe“.
“Giraffes” come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks
of life, from the age 8 to 108. For information on how to nominate
someone in OUR COMMUNITY for Giraffe Honours, visit http://www.giraffe.org or call
Carl Dortch at 442-2491. Director, Lolita’s Legion
url:http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/canopy/8126
email: lkitto@wkpowerlink.com
Riddle Me This!
1. What do you throw out when you want to use it, but take in
when you don’t want to use it?
2. How much dirt is in a hole 4 ft. deep and 2 ft. wide?
3. What won’t break if you throw it off the tallest building but
will break if you place it in the ocean?
4. A man and his son are in a terrible car accident. Unfortunately,
the father dies. An ambulance rushes the boy to the hospital.
At the hospital the doctor comes in to perform emergency surgery
on the boy and says “I can’t operate on this boy, he’s my
son”. Who is the doctor?
5. The one who makes it, sells it. The one who buys it, never
uses it. The one who uses it never knows he’s using it. What is
it?
6. What is better than the best, and worse than the worst?
Answers at bottom of page
Food For Thought
Robert Henri – “The Art Spirit”
When the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work
may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressive
creature. He disturbs, upsets, enlightens, and opens ways for
a better understanding. Where those who are not artists are trying
to close the book, he opens it and shows there are still more
pages possible.
Leonid Ponomarev – “In Quest of the Quantum”
“It has long been known that science is only one of the methods
of studying the world around us. Another – complementary – method
is realized in art. The joint existence of art and science is
in itself a good illustration of the complementarity principle.
You can devote yourself completely to science or live exclusively
in your art. Both points of view are equally valid, but, taken
separately, are incomplete. The backbone of science is logic and
experiment. The basis of art is intuition and insight. But the
art of ballet requires mathematical accuracy and, as Pushkin wrote,
inspiration in geometry is just as necessary as in poetry. They
complement rather than contradict each other. True
science is akin to art, in the same way as real art always includes
elements of science. They reflect different, complementary aspects
of human experience and give us a complete idea of the world only
when taken together.
Unfortunately, we do not know the uncertainty relation for the
conjugate pair of concepts science and art. Hence we cannot assess
the degree of damage we undergo from a one-sided perception of
life”.
Answers to Riddle Me This!
1.) An anchor 2.) There is no dirt in a hole 3.) A tissuepaper
4.) The doctor is the boy’s mother 5.) A coffin 6.)
Nothing
5W’s Contest
Guess When
Rock Creek was the earliest settled town in the southern interior
of British
Columbia. When was it established?
If you are an elementary school student in the Boundary Area you
could win $5 by telling us when Rock Creek was established. Don’t
forget to include your name, grade, school, and phone number.
Drop off your entry at Value Drug Mart, Market St. or at Pharmasave,
Central Ave. in Grand Forks. The first correct answer to our puzzle
drawn from our hat will win the $5 prize.
Last issue winner
Caralyn Goode in grade 3 at Dr. D. A. Perley School wins the $5
for correctly guessing
“John A Manly” as the first mayor of Grand Forks