Food Co-op Now Forming in Altadena

An item of interest from one of our Meadows neighbors:

A group has been meeting to explore the possibility of forming a food co-op in Altadena. If you'd like to learn more or perhaps get involved, please come to this informative session on Sept. 3:

"Why and How to Start A Cooperative Grocery Store in Our Area"An Informative Presentation by Patrick Reagan, Chairman, AAFCSC September 3, 2008, at 7:30 p.m.
The Coffee Gallery, 2029 N. Lake Avenue

Greetings All,

Thanks for your previous interest in the Altadena Area Food Co-op Steering Committee. Here's just a quick note to keep everyone updated on what's been happening with the effort to bring a consumer cooperative food store to Altadena and to invite you to join us for an upcoming organizer presentation.

We've been holding monthly meetings since March and weekly meetings all this month. Three of us have been doing most of the work so far. Fifteen others have joined our Yahoo group - they've been attending/helping as they can. We've had a field trip to Co-opportunity in Santa Monica (the only consumer co-op in LA county) where the manager was very helpful in answering questions about their operations. We've also had a fun potluck dinner with tasty local/organic food to try and lots of great people to get to know.I've been making the most of my normally quiet summer schedule by learning as much as I can about co-ops and meeting as many "co-op people" as possible.

Highlights include... - attending the Consumer Cooperative Manager's Association convention in Portland, OR, last June, - attending the Co-opportunity board of director's meeting in July, - visiting the Natural Foods Co-op in San Luis Obispo and the Isla Vista Food Co-op outside of Santa Barbara, - finding many useful books and websites that relate to co-op formation.We've found a lot of interest in our area and a lot of resources available for our effort.

Our next task is to start writing bylaws as a precursor to incorporating. In the bylaws will be details on how our co-op will operate - how memberships will be handled, how many board members will be needed, etc. We can handle this with our existing group but it would be nice to hear from more Altadena voices during this process. To help bring in these newcomers, and to better inform our existing group about co-ops, we're going to hold a presentation on Sept. 3rd

A happy coincidence is that the leading cooperative consulting group, Cooperative Development Services, is starting a free webinar series the following week. This series covers topics important to getting one of these wonderful stores started. It looks like our presentation will act as a nice orientation "springboard" into their more detailed weekly series of webinars. More information can be found at: http://cdsfood.centraldesktop.com/fc500registration/So please attend if you can. Feel free to cross-post this announcement to other blogs or message boards in our area.

We'll probably continue to meet weekly to dig into the details of co-op formation. If you're interested in joining our effort, please check out our Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aafcsc/

Thanks for your interest!Patrick Reagan

Important Community Meeting

The County has been trying to improve emergency response systems and planning. We have identified priority areas that are of particular concern. Both Chaney Trail and the Meadows have been identified as priority areas. We would like to meet with residents to obtain feed back as part of the planning process.

The first meeting with be on September 10th at 6:00pm at the Loma Alta Park Gym. All interested neighbors are invited.

Purpose:
The purpose of this meeting is to explain to the community the county emergency response system and planning as well as obtain feed back from the community on emergency planning issues. This interchange will help to identify community emergency planning needs and next steps need to meet the Board assignment.

Participation:
These meetings will involve representatives from lead county agencies, Supervisor Antonovich's office and representatives from the appropriate community group/neighborhood emergency preparedness group(s)

Format:
The meeting will be a panel presentation. The County will facilitate a structured discussion where we will discuss one or more emergency scenarios and each agency will explain its role and plans. Community representative/members may raise issues and ask questions and we will record any outstanding issues that need to be addressed by further discussion and or planning.

More pics

Second, pics of a deer that took time to relax in a Cheney Trail neighbor's backyard.

Great Pics

Here's some great pics from our neighbors on Cheney Trail. First is a bear that romped through a neighbor's back yard.

Summer Fine Arts Salon

Summer Fine Arts Salon by a Meadows Neighbor

A special art exhibit by Meadows neighbor and international artist, Nathaniel Bustion will be held on August 23 and 24 from 1 PM to 5 PM at 1875 N. Arroyo Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91103.

The exhibit will feature his artwork and other original fine art, clay and bronze sculpture and African wood and bronze figures. And 25% of the proceeds will support Outward Bound Los Angeles, located on Lincoln Ave. in Pasadena, a non-profit that does great work with at-risk youth.

Tarantula Sightings

A neighbor on Risinghill notes, "... we have seen several tarantulas in the area lately - one in our back yard and one strolling around at the top of Rising Hill. These animals are not dangerous and the best thing to do when you spot one is just leave it alone and keep pets and kids away from it. They are shy and if they end up in someones yard they will usually leave on their own."