Pumpkin Composting

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Alane Wilson

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The LETS Talk Trash team will be collecting pumpkins at the new compost drop off on November 2nd.  All pumpkins dropped off between 9 am and 5 pm on WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd will be donated to a local farm for animal feed (no toothpicks, painted pumpkins or wax candles, please).

The NEW Community Composting Pilot Drop Off location at Town Centre Recycling Depot (located between Rona and the thrift stores) accepts rotting pumpkins and much more! Go to letstalktrash.ca for more info. Open Mon – Sat 8:00 – 5:30.

Posted in 2016, composting, Recycle | Comments Off on Pumpkin Composting

Looking For Directors

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Alane Wilson

As a result of 2 Board members recently stepping down, the Board would like to put out a call for new Board members. We typically meet monthly (probably not in December) and are working on a number of great initiatives with local food.  The term runs until April 2017 so it doesn’t have to be a long commitment.  If you are interested or have any questions about being on the Board please contact me (or any other Board member) by email.

Thanks

 

Dan Glover dan.glover(at)vch.ca
President – Skookum Food Provisioners’ Co-op Board

Posted in 2016, board, directors | Comments Off on Looking For Directors

The End of an Era

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Alane Wilson

The Abundant Pantry (TAP) bulk buying has one of Skookum’s popular services to members but it has been out of commission for over a year due to a software issue, primarily, and secondly, due to uncertainty about distribution. Sadly, despite a great deal of effort from all parties, we have been unable to restart this bulk-buying initiative.The Abundant Pantry Steering Committee and the Skookum Board have decided to shut down TAP as a Skookum service.

As work continues to turn Ecossentials into a local Co-op, it is conceivable that in the near future a similar program could be offered through an Ecossentials Co-op and members could again take advantage of bulk buying opportunities of quality organic food.

As some of our 320 current members purchased their memberships because of the existence of TAP, we want to remind members who wish to leave Skookum that this is possible at any time and you will receive your $20 membership fee back. The withdrawal form is on the Skookum web site on the “Become a member” page. A direct link to the PDF is here.

The TAP Steering Committee deserve a huge “Thank You!” for all their efforts and hard work over the years.

We hope you choose to remain a Skookum member as the future looks bright for local food initiatives in Powell River!

The Skookum Board

Posted in 2016, Abundant Pantry, board, bulk-buying | Comments Off on The End of an Era

Powell River Community Food System Assessment final report

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Alane Wilson

We neglected to note that the Powell River Community Food System Assessment Final Report was released in mid-June. A pdf version can be downloaded here:

https://prfoodsecurity.org/2016/06/17/community-food-system-assessment-final-report-now-available/

Posted in food security, local food economy | Comments Off on Powell River Community Food System Assessment final report

We Sold Lots of Cider!

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Alane Wilson

We had great success at the Fall Fair this year! Skookum made over $900 selling freshly pressed apple cider, and we gained new 5 memberships over the weekend, and we continued to promote our Co-op to many interested individuals.

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to our dedicated volunteers who helped in many ways. We could do this event without you!  Most of you were choppers, and we chopped and chopped and chopped until ALL of our apples were chopped at about 1:30 on Sunday!  At that point, we had about 40 jars of cider just sitting, waiting to be sold for the rest of the afternoon. We were able to pass along of all the mash (what is left after all the juice is pressed out) to local farmers to feed their various livestock.

THIS is really what Skookum is all about.  Taking excess food from the waste stream, and making good use of it!
As we approach 350 members, we are really starting to make an impact in the community.  Please continue to tell your friends all about us, and encourage them to become members as well.  Together, we really CAN make a difference!

THANK YOU once again to all of you who contributed to such a successful weekend!

Jill Amatt, Treasurer
Posted in apple cider, apples, cider press, Fall Fair, Skookum | Comments Off on We Sold Lots of Cider!

Skookum’s annual apple drive is now ON!

Posted on August 31, 2016 by Alane Wilson

Apple-Drive-Poster-Final

Our annual Fall Fair Cider Press is coming up and we are officially starting our Apple Drive.

Once per year we collect excess apples from the community, and press them into Apple Cider at the Fall Fair.  We then sell the Cider.  This is an important fundraiser for us, that helps to fund workshops and other Skookum related events that we put on year round.

We are looking for FRESHLY PICKED apples, as they need to last until the 17th/18th of September.  They don’t need to be pretty, Cider can be made from even the ugliest apples.

Phone the number above or send an email if you have apples ready for picking up.

Stay tuned, also, for a call out for volunteers to help us run our booth at the Fall Fair.

Thank you!

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Current Board Members

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Alane Wilson

Your current board members are:

Dan Glover – President

Vacant – Vice-President

Jillian Amatt – Treasurer

Alane Wilson – Secretary

Debbie Joslin – Director

Barbara Trottier – Director

Posted in 2016, board, directors, Skookum | Comments Off on Current Board Members

Townsite Brewing Growler Program!

Posted on November 5, 2015 by Jill Amatt

Hello Skookies,

As the Skookum Board, we would like to publicly thank Townsite Brewing for their exceptional Growler Program, and for having Skookum on board as the September Recipients.

For those who don’t know, Townsite Brewing selects one Not-For-Profit group each month, to donate $1 for each Growler Refill that is purchased in that month. In September, 508 growlers were refilled, equaling $508 for our society!

Each Friday during the month, a “Growler Hour” was held, and we would also like to acknowledge and thank the Powell River Natural Soap Lady (Mischa Brooks-Thoma) and 32 Lakes Coffee, for lending us your items in our Growler Hour display.

Thank You Townsite Brewing! Thank You to everyone who drank beer! Thank You Powell River for just being Awesome!

On a side note, we are currently working on coordinating more member socials and some special learning opportunities for our Skookies. 2016 is going to be a GREAT year!

Happy Winter Gardening!

Kind Regards,

Your Skookum Board

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Help with the Fall afFAIR (Sept 19/20) + The 2015 Rancho Vignola Order is ON

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Gianni
Pete and admirers

Pete and admirers

September 19/20th is the weekend for the smaller version of the regular Fall Fair (renamed FALL afFAIR), up at the Farmer’s Market grounds.  While the hours will be shorter, we will still be there in full form with our Cider Press. This event is a chance for us to press apples to cider, show people how to do it, and raise funds for your cooperative.

If you volunteered last year, fear not!  We have your contact info and will be in touch soon.  If you would like to volunteer, and did not do so last year, please reply to Jill at funktifyd(at)gmail(dot)com

Many thanks to our Treasurer, Jill Amatt, for taking on the rather large job of wrangling the gear & volunteers needed to press cider at the Fall afFair this year, which is happening from 12:00 noon to 3:00 PM Saturday September 19 & Sunday September 20.

We still need a volunteer or two for the following times:

  • Saturday, 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM;
  • Saturday, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM;
  • Sunday, 10:00 AM to 12:00 noon; and
  • Sunday, 12:00 noon to 2:00 PM.

If you’re up for some fun, please go here and sign up: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oo1TXRRq9Sef5--1v5el9oh_uOssDaPbOJtuZmkRxM4/edit?usp=sharing.

 
If you’re not volunteering, come on by the press and get yourself a delicious cup or bottle of fresh apple cider.

We will also require the usual list of items that we have needed to borrow from members in the past.  If we have borrowed anything from you for this event in the past, please let me know what the item is, and if you are willing to lend it to us again.  We do have a list and contact info for this as well, so we may start hounding you down soon also!

We are looking forward to another successful weekend of Apple-y goodness!

Remember to refill your Townsite Growlers all Sept. long with $1 each going to Skookum!

++++

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Members’ deadline for submitting their Rancho Vignola orders is Friday September 25 by noon. You have until that time to get your order to us with payment either by cheque, direct deposit, or e-transfer. You can drop off a cheque at Kingfisher Used Books (4486 Marine Ave., under the bowling alley).

If you want to learn about the products on offer, check out http://www.ranchovignola.com/products.html. As always, there are some new products this time around (organic pine nuts, reg. hemp seeds, organic apple rings, organic diced dried mangoes, organic sun-dried tomatoes, etc.)

Members, check your email for details!

Posted in 2015, apple cider, apples, cider press, cooperative, fall affair, Fall Fair, pressing, Rancho Vignola, work party | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Help with the Fall afFAIR (Sept 19/20) + The 2015 Rancho Vignola Order is ON

We need your apples + Support Skookum with Townsite Brewery in September

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Gianni

Apple-Drive-Poster-Final

We will be running our usual Fall Cider Press Event this fall. This event is a chance for us to press apples to cider, show people how to do it, and to also raise some funds for your cooperative.

We need apples!
The success of this fundraiser depends on getting a good supply of apples for free. So if you or someone you know has excess apples, we will gladly take them and press them to cider. They do not need to be the most lovely apples, since if there is one thing that cider is good for, it’s getting rid of large quantities of non-beautiful apples!

We need storage!
If anyone has extra space in their garage, basement or shed, please let us know.  We are hoping to be able to stockpile at least 20 boxes of apples.

 If you have extra apples to donate, or if you want to volunteer to help out, please contact Jill  604-344-0017 or apples@skookumfood.ca

Do you want to rent our cider press (members only), click here.

Click the logo to view their website

Click the logo to view their website

Townsite Brewing is donating $1 to Skookum all September long through their Growler Program, so drink responsibly and get your growlers filled to help fund the Skookum Gleaners project, all September long!

Find out more about the Gleaners Project here, and find out more about the Growler program here.

Posted in 2015, apple cider, apples, cider press, cooperative, Skookum | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on We need your apples + Support Skookum with Townsite Brewery in September