My friend Beth just joined the Lake County Community Coop buyer”s club, not just because it”s a great community resource, but also because tough economic times call for creative cost-cutting measures. The coop provides healthy, locally grown produce at a low cost to Lake County residents.
Beth”s toddler benefits from learning the new skill of cooking from scratch with his parents. It provides an opportunity for the parents and child to bond and share.
Beth also solicited the help of freecycle.org to obtain a bread making machine and a juicer. Instead of suffering, she and her family are benefiting from these actions, as the quality of what they consume is heightened.
I frequently see posts from a middle school teacher on freecycle.org as well. He is using his imagination to provide his cash-strapped classes with fascinating and fun activities. Sometimes he asks for strobe lights for school dances, inflatable globes, costumes or materials for specific projects.
It”s like learning to share all over again – nice.
The networking tool creates good feelings and a tighter community.
“The Freecycle Network is made up of 4,620 groups with 6,064,000 members across the globe. It”s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It”s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them”s good people). Membership is free,” according to the Web site mission statement. I have mentioned this organization in the past; it is worth mentioning again.
Cynthia Parkhill gives magazines she”s finished reading to Barbara Christwitz, who in turn passes the literature along to the Yuba Community College”s Clear Lake Campus library. This action not only reduces the need for the college to purchase the material, cuts down on paper waste, but also passes along a sense of caring for the community while promoting educational values in Lake County.
Nick Buttitta, owner of Rosa d”Oro Vineyards, works alongside his children, returning to a rare and wonderful tradition. His daughter Livia moved away to go to college but returned to work with her family at the beautiful downtown Kelseyville tasting room that is located in one of the oldest bank buildings in the county.
“Rosa d”Oro Vineyards is a small operation. I have never had extra money or outside financing so I have always had to be as economical as possible. I have been able to plant about one acre per year doing everything myself with some help from family members. I do all my own training and pruning.
“The winery building was converted from an older existing shed and shop building, again doing almost all the work myself including electrical, plumbing, insulation, interior, roofing etc. I did have the stucco exterior applied by a local man who did an excellent job. The tasting room bar and backbar were built by two of my sons and me with mirrors and glass from Kelseyville Lumber,” Buttitta said.
There are many creative ways to maintain a quality of life during difficult times.
“One of the biggest changes that we made in the last six months was to lay off our part-time nanny,” Valerie Moberg from Vintelligent Marketing in Hidden Valley Lake said.
“We are very lucky that both of our mothers are retired, and are willing and able to help us with our two young children so that we can work and meet with clients.”
The Moberg”s children and parents love the new arrangement – an arrangement that was a more common practice in the past. Small businesses are always conscious of expenses, according to Moberg.
The actions of many Americans reflect a return to more self-sufficient behaviors and places increased importance on family. So while many companies are outsourcing, individuals and small companies are embracing relations with neighbors, friends and relatives.
Also libraries are not just for books (though books are wonderful). You can reserve items from an online card catalog that connects Mendocino, Sonoma and Lake County libraries including music CDs, DVDs and books on tape. Additionally, if those libraries do not have what you want, you can request items from a North Bay cooperative of several library systems.
I encourage anyone with other creative solutions to share.
Mandy Feder is assistant managing editor/night desk for the Record-Bee. She can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or 263-5636 ext. 32. Opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lake County Record-Bee or its management.
