Waldo County Community Exchange

			Waldo County Community Exchange
			Together Building Tomorrow





		WALDO EXCHANGE CORE GROUP MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO ALL Minutes of the past year's meetings are being prepared and will be posted here shortly (Feb. 8, 2010). ------------- Minutes of the Waldo County Community Exchange Meeting of February 8, 2009 St. Margaret's Episcopal Church 4:30 Sunday afternoon (followed by a potluck) Present were: Norma Littlefield, Joyce Fenner, Miriam Watkins, Paul Eagle, Andrew Watkins, Carolyn Pressley (agenda presenter, typist), and Marshall Mittnick (facilitator, minute taker). The minutes of the January meeting were read and approved as corrected. (Look online for minutes of past meetings or contact Paul by e-mail at paul@earthlovers.org.) Norma submitted the Treasurer's Report and it was approved. The current balance for WCCE is $1194.86. Paul submitted a request for $48 to host www.waldoexchange.org and $12 for domain registration for another year. Request approved. Harold Roy constructed a 3-d image of the Waldo County Community Exchange logo, using wood. These could be stained and used county-wide as a display of participating in Waldo Exchange. Carolyn read an e-mail message she sent to City Manager, Joe Slocum, January 23. Miriam will call Mr. Slocum to arrange a 15-minute meeting with Paul and Norma or Carolyn, if schedules can be arranged. We want to encourage him to join Waldo County Community Exchange, in addition to promoting it. Carolyn will pass along the info she has on a town-wide 'yard 'sale, maybe in the Boat House. Hannaford's record now reads Miriam and Carolyn as contacts. Carolyn will update that to Norma's name. Carolyn will inquire as to the gift certificate sent to Miriam for $25. Mitch wrote two articles on the Exchange for The Sap Pail. Paul will e-mail those articles to Carolyn and copies will be made available at the next meeting, as her description of the Exchange was clear and helpful. Harold Roy came to Waldo Exchange meetings because of that initial information by her. Carolyn will research the fee for advertising in The Sap Pail and is authorised to buy an ad. The Green Table meets at Waterfall Arts the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. for a potluck where one 'green' group is featured each time and an exchange of information is encouraged. Open to the public and free, with a request for each to bring something to share. Paul and Carolyn will work to bring an updated Offerings List and to have a list by name available too. They are wanting more exchanges to be initiated at each core group meeting and potluck. Andrew and Paul and Carolyn will serve as helpers for the core group exchanges. Norma proposes that we circulate an updated form for recording exchanges, so that the helpers may receive a record of exchanges completed and then enter them into the system, if the members prefer to have a helper, rather than entering their own offerings given to others. CoOperative Maine meets on February 28. Paul plans to attend to evaluate options for connecting. [Paul, Carolyn, and Marshall attended.] WERU programming by Amy Brown can give public information about Waldo Exchange. An interview can be set up with Paul Eagle and Carolyn Pressley and others who prepare together. A Collapse Preparedness/Community Preparedness study group booklet was suggested by Paul and approved. Lynne Rayburn has spoken to Belfast Library Director, Steve Norman, and will request a tabling spot in the library foyer to give info out on Waldo Exchange. Paul will scan the picture taken of the Core Group last summer and have it available on-line, for public info re: Waldo Exchange. Helpers are available as follows for anyone seeking assistance in using Waldo Exchange: Paul Eagle 338 9509 and paul@earthlovers.org Andrew Watkins 338 5639 and andrew.watkins@earthlink.net Carolyn Pressley 338 0842 and carolynpressley@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ MINUTES OF WALDO EXCHANGE MEETING ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2008 Core Group Present: Joyce Fenner, Miriam Watkins, Paul Eagle, Carolyn Pressley, Norma Littlefield, and Marshall Mittnick. September minutes were read and approved. Treasurer's Report by Norma gave the Exchange balance as $1237.22 Member's Guide copies were collated by all. The October 10 Offerings List was reviewed and 3 deletions made. Joyce requested an Activity Report that would show any exchanges made by member. Carolyn will explore creating a Ning account on-line, as that is a new Exchange option, through the Community Exchange System. Miriam will contact Doug Mayer about the use of St. Margaret's Church and our work exchange with them. Paul will check with Roger Lee and the Belfast Energy and Climate Committee about arranging for weatherization volunteers to receive Waldo Exchange hours for their service. Belfast Community TV is a potential publicity/education tool for the project. Carolyn will check with the Republican Journal and The Free Press about news releases. Norma offered to be interviewed, if scheduling allows that to happen. A contradance and public awareness raising event for Waldo Exchange is an idea offered by Gerry Murphy who sent word that the cost for the set-up for such a fund raiser is $450. Marshall will place the October revision of the Offerings List in the notebook at Belfast CoOP and in Belfast Free Library, where it is kept shelved behind the Circulation Desk. Norma will place a list at Waldo CAP and check with Joyce Scott there about placing the Waldo Exchange brochures in a second place in that building. Carolyn spoke with Linda Danielson recently about the time exchange group in Brunswick, also a former Maine Time Bank. It is now called Merrymeeting Community Shares. It was agreed to keep the Core Group to 9 members or less, for now. Maine Community Foundation let us know they are acting on the survey results from recent competitive grant recipients. Carolyn will contact them. --------------- MINUTES OF THE JULY 13, 2008, Core Group meeting of Waldo County Community Exchange Minutes were read for the previous meeting. No corrections, except for treasurer's note of approximately $3. (Minutes are archived on-line at waldoexchange.org\minutes.html.) Treasurer's Report by Norma: $977.38 was the reported balance by Jim Rhodes before he resigned as Treasurer. The corrected balance in our treasury when Norma took the responsibility for keeping track is $980.22. $1270.05 is the current balance, after a boost from the City of Belfast Transfer Station in the amount of $222.50 and $40.74 from Hannaford's Good Cause program, plus a $25.00 gift certificate. Norma will keep the city event on our calendar. Miriam will keep the Hannaford's May event on it. Monies for Waldo Exchange are held in the DownEast Credit Union (Co-Op) with a policy of a $5.00 member share always in the account and not accessible, while membership is active. The core group has decided to use the shorter title, CORE GROUP, rather than the previous COORDINATING COMMITTEE title. Fewer syllables seemed better, from the vantage point of a picnic table by the bay. The meeting was held in Belfast City Park, at the usual time 4:30 to 5:30. The potluck followed and is also open to the public. Members of the Core Group attended a meeting or so and then offered to be a part of the monthly planning for Waldo Exchange. The Core Group will continue to review volunteers who would like to take part in regular meetings and additional networking between meetings, with some creative work accomplished by all. Joyce pointed out the reality of local heating oil buying groups now operating in Belfast area (after the meeting). Miriam Watkins, Paul Eagle, Norma Littlefield, Joyce Fenner, Marshall Mittnick, Andrew Watkins, and Carolyn Pressley are current Core Group members. For each Core Group meeting, members have the option of entering 1 hour into their Waldo Exchange account of hours. The note taker has the option of entering an additional 1 hour for preparing meeting minutes and then getting them out quickly. Good luck getting helpers to make it a collective memory of the fast-paced meeting - helpers such as Paul and Marshall. Members of Waldo Exchange (Waldo County Community Exchange) are encouraged to participate in every easy way. More information and ideas about participation are available from info@waldoexchange.org or by calling an Exchange helper. Current helpers are Andrew Watkins (338 5639) and Carolyn Pressley and Norma Littlefield. Helpers may credit each hour worked into their Exchange account for use to receive hours of service from others. Carolyn's suggestion to change the meeting to a weekday was not approved by consensus. Meetings will remain on the second Sunday of each month. Carolyn will return to publicizing them in the local paper and by sending members a reminder, in addition to the minutes of the previous meeting. Miriam will call the list of those members of Waldo Exchange who use the phone, not e-mail. Andrew and Carolyn are Helpers to get new members into the accounting system provided by our software from the South African New Economics group. Norma will continue to be a Helper with those community members who choose to write for an application or who send an application in the mail. Joyce, Norma, and Carolyn attended a Healthy Maine coalition meeting at the Boathouse on June 25, 2008. The group is funded with public monies from the tobacco companies' settlement for damages caused by cigarettes. The idea is for the public to help itself to improve the physical health of the environment and individual citizens, using public agencies for starting structure. Carolyn will follow up with the woman who expressed interest in Waldo Exchange as a way for more informal structure to facilitate healthy living. Paul led us through the completion of a Community Currency Survey written by a woman in Burlington, Vermont, whose master's thesis is about local currencies. Marshall and Paul will finish up the survey. CoOperative Maine (http:www.cooperativemaine.org) is an informal support group we are learning about. Meetings are by phone. The group Grassroots Economic Organizing (http:www.geo.coop) has a national directory ofcooperative organizations called the Data Commons Project. Marshall and Paul will finish up the survey. The Common Ground Fair is held the third week in September. The social activism information tent there is an opportunity to present Waldo Exchange and Cooperative Maine and other social change organizations in our area. Work shifts there at info tables are a way to earn Waldo Exchange hours, if approved in advance by the core group. Belfast City Manager, Joe Slocum, is asking to be reminded about Waldo Exchange networking options. Carolyn will check back with him. He has expressed the lack of community where he lives in Castine, because the local residents were bought out by a majority of 'from away' homeowners. He sees in Belfast the continuing richness of a real community, without the flatness of bigger bucks bedroom enclaves. (My words here: Carolyn, note taker, from my brief conversations with Joe.) Paul will find the current balance of our informal exchanges so far with the UU. It was noted that Paul went as requested and was informed then that the situation in the church had changed and he wouldn't need to rearrange the chairs. He'll check with Gail O'Donnell to spiff up the exchange with the committee. Lynne Rayburn attended this Core Group meeting and suggested that a Vibes Watcher might be useful, like the one at Belfast Food CoOp Board Meetings where she may have been brought back to the subject at hand by a reminder from a volunteer at each meeting. Lynne will make a sign to post when we have our meetings each month and she will print some extra Guides to help members use the Exchange. Norma will get 100 copies of the brochure for the public about Waldo Exchange. She will take a supply to Waldo Cap for their info for the community in the office of Fuel Assistance. Carolyn pointed out that we have built a neighborhood among us by continued connection and reliability. The expanding circles of people living/working in Waldo County can see us as a model of how to learn to exchange services and to meet our own needs. We see that it takes time to create solid connctions, even with great software. Paul provided a UK Time Banks dvd and booklet for it for the use of all. It's subtitled 'Time to Give and Take' and is the result of a collaboration of Time Banks with an organization in England, Help the Aged. The dvd is available. Ask an Exchange Helper. Marshall facilitated the meeting. For more information call Carolyn, go to www.waldoexchange.org or contact Paul at info@waldoexchange.org. Waldo County Community Exchange Coordinating Committee Minutes for 4-13-2008 (recorded by Mitch Henrion) Attending members: Norma Littlefield , Andrew Watkins, Marshall Mittnick, Paul Eagle, Joyce Fenner, Carolyn Pressley, Miriam Watkins, Mitch Henrion, Gerry Murphy. Minutes of the March 9, 2008 meeting were read and accepted with the corrections that the April 13 (today’s) meeting is at 4:30pm and that $991.22 should have been balance reported in the March treasurer’s report. Treasurer’s report: $11.00 for the registration of the new name “WaldoExchange” $2.84 was reimbursed to Paul for copies of the “Guide.” Current balance is $977.38. Jim said that other commitments in his life are leading him to want to step down as treasurer. Jim is guessing that since Paul is a member of the church we should be fine to continue using the church for our meetings. Paul said that he’s happy to be the contact person with the church. Jim said that Gail O’Donnell is the person that he’s been in contact with about the building use. Conveniently, Paul knows her already. Norma willing to take on treasurer duties for now. UU Church contribution: April 12 WCCE members cleaned the church for a total of 6 hours--Carolyn (1/2 hr), Marshall (1/2 hr), Jim (3 hrs), Andrew (1 hr), Miriam (1 hr). Fundraising: Norma reported on letter she received from office of City Clerk. Our month is May for the “Good Cause” returnable program at the transfer station. The letter says, “Feel free to promote your month.” The City will post that May is WCCE month on City website, at the transfer station, and on the cable TV station. In Dec 2008 we can get info to sign up for 2009—Norma planning to do this. Carolyn has turned in signs to Hannafords for our recycling donation kiosk to be ready for our May 25-May 31 time there. Literature: Brochure—Another question has been added to “Questions You May Be Having” section of the latest version (even more recent that the version passed around during this meeting). The question is: “Where do hours come from?” Paul put together a rough draft answer that includes, “From your neighbor’s belief that you’ll return the favor. In Community We Trust.” Some possible rewordings were suggested: “From your neighbor’s belief that you’ll return the favor to the Exchange (or to the community or some combination). “ Guide—Marshall suggested that the first paragraph under “How to Use” be moved to under the Computer section since it mentions “online.” Many other potential edits discussed including changing one of the titles to “Etiquette.” Paul will be gathering further comments on both the brochure and the guide and will put together a final version. Cooperative Maine is currently collecting info on all sorts of cooperative organizations and alternative economy ventures. One of the questions on the list is how you make decisions.We determined that we have been using informal consensus of the Coordinating Committee. Paul is willing to fill out the questionnaire for WCCE. The meeting ended a bit late at around 5:45 pm. Minutes of the Coordinating Committee: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008 Present were Norma Littlefield, Andrew Watkins, Joyce Fenner, Paul Eagle, Miriam Watkins (new Coordinating Committee member), Marshall Mittnick, facilitator, and Carolyn Pressley,note taker. Minutes of the January meeting were read and accepted. Treasurer's report: $ 991.22 Fund raising: The donation kiosk at Hannaford's is set to feature WCCE for recyclables donated there at the store from May 25 - May 31 this year. WCCE signs will need to be in place. Economy discussion group: Contact Paul (338 1071) if you are interested in meeting to discuss understanding the need for a local economy. Perhaps an article can be written about WCCE to be a tie-in to The Handbook which will explain for the general public how a system of exchange can serve us. Mitch Henrion has expressed interest in writing an article for the local Sap Pail free newspaper. Welcome Letter for new members has been revised by Paul. Andrew will print out the last five months of new offerings and Carolyn will double check. Paul will then reformat the list of offerings to print a current version for the next meeting. Andrew will bring just the most recent additions. Handbook for WCCE: Paul is planning to have a Handbook to hand out to the March 9 meeting attendees. Frequently Asked Questions about the Waldo County Community Exchange may help the general public to see how exchanging locally may be of interest to them. Examples of FAQ's: Can we get more economically secure by seeking exchanges in our community? Is this a volunteer organization? No, it's a service exchange. Attending meetings is optional. Is there a fee (initially or later)? No. Do I have the skills that will be of use to others? Yes. You can have help seeing how you can offer services. Must I use a computer to participate? No. Where is the face-to-face aspect of this exchange? Each month there is the opportunity to be a participant in the Coordinating Committee meeting and to consider joining it. After each meeting there is a potluck everyone may use as a networking time. Minutes of the Coordinating Committee Meeting of Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008 The Coordinating Committee met at 4:30 on 1/13/08 at the UU Church in Belfast. Present were Gerry Murphy, Lynne Rayburn, Paul Eagle, Norma Littlefield, Joyce Fenner, Andrew Watkins, Carolyn Pressley, and Marshall Mittnick (note taker). Minutes of the December meeting were accepted as corrected. The Treasurer reports $1051.22 remains the balance of our credit union account. Updated access information for Waldo County Community Exchange is as follows: waldocommunityexchange.org is our shortened website address. mail@waldocommunityexchange.org is the e-mail address for Paul, who has added 'Life-enhancing Economies' as a link under Alternative Economic Resources. Paul will receive $ 5/month to host the website from Nov. 12, 2007 to Nov. 12, 2008. Our annual cost for the domain name WaldoCommunityExchange.Org is an additional $11 that Paul passed on to the registrar, TotalChoice. When we go to waldocommunityexchange.org on-line, we are using a Community Exchange System (CES), an initiative of South African New Economics. The Guide to Using link is one that includes more information than we need to use our Exchange. Try contacting these local members for specific questions for your use: Paul Eagle 338-1071 and Carolyn Pressley 338-0842 and Norma Littlefield 338-4254 or US Mail Waldo Exchange c/o Norma Littlefield, 260 Waldo Ave., Belfast, ME 04915. As a member joins, a Welcome Letter is e-mailed or US Mailed. Paul will update the Welcome Letter and then e-mail the newer version to ALL PRESENT MEMBERS. The initial password is included in the Welcome Letter, so that there is a way in to the system software. Individual personal passwords are given, but may be changed at the option of each member by entering a new password. After Andrew reformats the Handbook page 'Using the Waldo County Community Exchange on The Internet' , members will have the newest handbook information for Waldo County Community Exchange. Those with computer access may download the Handbook by following the directions at 'Members Enter Here' on the waldocommunityexchange.org website. Members not using a computer for the purposes of The Exchange will receive a Handbook and a Welcome Letter that Carolyn US Mails out to them. Norma Littlefield turned in paperwork for the Belfast Transfer Station Bottle drive. Lynne Rayburn and Carolyn Pressley contacted Hannaford to apply for the recycle bottles and cans fundraser there. (Donation Kiosk) Community Links: Carolyn volunteered at The Game Loft and Norma will provide the revised Handbook to WaldoCap. WCCE provided the program of the Peace and Justice series on 12/19. UU Church Facility Use liason person is Jim Rhodes. Jim, Lynne Rayburn, Carolyn, and Andrew Watkins pitched in when the UU needed a sub for regular weekend cleaning. Jim will let us know how many meetings may be exchanged (facility use) for the time worked in December. Education/Outreach will follow up the December 19 Peace and Justice event at the library with a discussion group on economy sometime in February. Please call Paul Eagle at 338-1071 to sign up or to add input. For corrections to the minutes, call Carolyn at 338 0842 or carolynpressley@gmail.com Coordinating Committee Minutes: December 9, 2007 Initial draft of minutes recorded by Mitch Henrion Attending members: Andrew Watkins, Paul Eagle, Miriam Watkins, Joyce Fenner, Marshall Mittnick, Carolyn Pressley, Lynne Rayburn. Public showing of a compilation of clips from “Money as Debt” (animation) and “Money” (Argentina and Ithaca) on Wed, Dec 19 in the Abbott Room at the library as part of the Peace and Justice regular event schedule. We have about 20 min of film. (See below for another video we could show and note on study group possibility.) Community TV, Ned Lightner willing to film. Need to get film footage of your exchanges. Minutes of last month’s meeting were distributed to those interested; highlights: Community links Waldocommunityexchange.org (or community-exchange.com for international system, educational exchange, software) UU exchange for space use Maine time banks has had some changes Financial report: Jim Rhodes said that we have $1051.22 and have had no activity this month. Meeting space at UU: Jim Rhodes also said that the UU would be willing to take work exchange for use of the meeting space. Snow removal a possibility. Cleaning might work too if coordinated with the church’s current cleaning crew. Paul suggesting $10/hr to help calculate exchange. Bottle drive: Have done bottle drive before. Consider doing it again? Could see what months available. Need a poster to say what your organization is about. Anyone interested in contacting Hannaford or the transfer station? Hannaford—Lynne; Transfer station—Carolyn; Paul will make a letter head. Have logo now. Similar organization: The North Quabin (sp) exchange seems to be doing something similar to what we’re doing. They are located in Western Mass. They have a video on their website. Could be potentially used at the public showing. A study group could be initiated at the public showing. Maine time bank organization update. The one in Rockland does not seem to have people active now (the folks at the Penquest (sp?) building said that they haven’t seen activity). Rumor is that Ellsworth group has not had enough money to continue. Donna Bevrage (sp?) has Altzimer’s and is likely not working on Saco group. Contacting people by phone: Miriam willing to help with phone contacts, particularly calling people before meetings. More on paying the UU: Seems to make sense (if we go with Paul’s idea of $10/hr) that the UU might accept 2 hours of work in trade for our use of the meeting since they seem to have accepted $20 per use from us. Community links YMCA has a little flier thing and they were open to our posting a flier. Waldo Cap—Norma a member of the Board (Community Action Project). Senior Spectrum Hutchinson Center—Senior college; also public interviews for director position (the candidate makes a presentation); there’s one on Dec 10. The Game Loft Sustainability event sponsored by New Forest and Waterfall Arts Full Circle fair Greenfield community store Chamber of Commerce Bill Kreamer—plans for solar heating collector; someone has installed one across the river Handout for public showing: Andrew working on handbook and has a draft. (Andrew is open to the draft being used as is.) Handbook: Would like to get feedback on the draft. Send feedback to the email address on the draft. Need to get contact phone numbers on the handbook. Waldo County Community Exchange Coordinating Committee Meeting Minutes - November 11, 2007 Minutes recorded by Marshall Mittnick. Attending members: Jim Rhodes, Paul Eagle, Marshall Mittnick, Carolyn Pressley, Joyce Fenner, and Norma Littlefield; guests: Jane Moffitt, Mitchie Snow, Andrew Watkins. Members who have attended one Coordinating Committee meeting are invited to join the Committee. Members of the Coordinating Committee earn an Hour of service per monthly meeting. Agenda Community Links were reviewed: UU Church, Waldo CAP, Estia Conference, Energy Committee of City of Belfast, Living Landscape/Sustainability Group, Transfer Station in Belfast, Hannaford Market, Republican Journal, Waldo Independent, The Citizen, and Free Press newspapers, etc. WCCE members are encouraged to contact local groups to make sure that WCCE community profile spreads. Norma will check in with TRIAD to see if a speaker will be feasible at a future WCCE meeting. Our new website address is waldocommunityexchange.org , because the old name waldoexchange.org could not be renewed at this time. Paul has an idea for a new logo: Waldo County Community Exchange around a circle of linked hearts. The logo will debut on the website in a few days. WCCE has been requested to pay the UU Church $2 per person attending the monthly meeting, beginning November 11, 2007. The fee includes limited use of the kitchen as well as Community Room space for 4:30 p.m. to almost 7 p.m. on the second Sunday afternoon of each month, as scheduled with Maret Knight. Jim Rhodes is liason. Jim will negotiate the exact method of payment from our WCCE credit union share account. Ned Lightner has offered to film such transactions as background footage [?] for the educational service Belfast Community TV Channel 2 local programming. WCCE members with exchanges that can be filmed by Ned can see about being on television in Belfast. At the meeting, Norma Littlefield gave some good examples of her use of Exhange services in the last few months. Treasurer, Jim Rhodes, reports a balance of $1,051. Norma will contact the Transfer Station in Belfast re: Bottle drive in December. She'll tell us the details at our next meeting. Carolyn will contact Hannaford's Supermarket re: Bottle drive there. No More Throwaway People, the book by Edgar Cahn ( the originator of the TimeBank groups) is available to borrow from WCCE. It points out that valuing everyone's contribution eliminates the societal ill of people of no importance. Paul's DVD "Money" is on the Peace and Justice group's educational film schedule for DECEMBER 19th, 2007, in the Abbott Room of the Belfast Library at 6 p.m. The Coordinating Committee has previewed this film and asks all who can to attend that evening to take part in a discussion of the Waldo County Community Exchange, as the subject of the film is how economies are vulnerable and how local economies reduce our vulnerability to collapse. Meredith Bruskin of the P& J group of Waldo County is doing the publicity and will introduce those of us who attend that showing. We are working to have clear handouts for that event. Bring a friend to see what we are about. Speaking of local independence, the Belfast CoOp is featuring an Eat Local Challenge. Please send any corrections or additions to these minutes to Carolyn Pressley at carolynpressley@gmail.com . The Waldo County Community Exchange Monthly Coordinating Committee Meeting is held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast on Miller Street. The Meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. on the second Sunday and at 5:30 p.m. the potluck and informal discussion begin. The Community Exchange is free, open, and member- run as a service inviting exchanges of mutual helpfulness between people who live or work in the Waldo County area. For more information, call Carolyn at 338-08432 or Paul at 338-9749. All are welcome!

Minutes of the Coordinating Committee: Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008

Minutes of the Coordinating Committee Meeting of Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008