Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Wow! December continues to be a busy place around your co-op!

Get your red hot rebate checks!
This weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we'll be handing out Patronage Rebate checks to eligible member-owners! We've got 1,242 checks to hand out, so come on down and get 'em! You can buy stuff with them at Wheatsville, cash them here, or use them like a regular check at the credit union or other financial institution of your liking. If you don't pick them up by close of business on Monday, we will mail them out later in the week of Dec. 18th.

 Here are some statistics on our rebate this year for those of you that enjoy this sort of thing...

Number of Member-owner Accounts Eligible:1,242     
Maximum Rebate Amount: $333.68     
Minimum Rebate Amount: $4.69     
Average Rebate Amount: $14.49     
Median Rebate Amount: $10.60

I am so glad to be able to return this rebate to our member-owners and I thank you for your continued patronage of the co-op! 

Mini-Artsfest at Third Thursday 
Third Thursday is coming right up and we have a really fun time planned or you as we tap into the good vibes of Artsfest and have our mini-Artsfest! The very cool band Green Mountain Grass will be playing. (You can hear some clips at http://www.myspace.com/wheatsvillecoop )
Here is the list of artists that we have lined up so far!
Colin Welsh- acrylic painter
Dorthey Billman- potter
Christine Stout- Clothes/hats
Ethan Ham- photography
Irina Kadukova- mosaic mirrors/knitted items
Marie McKenzie- painted gourds
Brittany Buckley- Clothes/jewlery
Mac Fields blown- glass/prints
Anita Thurwachter- ceramic pottery
Cate Bergman- calenders

This is a great chance for some last minute handmade gifts for Christmas! It's the eve of the Winter Solstice, so come on out and join us. We'll have a chimeneya, lotsa lights and , as always, sidewalk chalk for the kids. I can't promise snow, but I can promise a fun night, so bundle up and come on out!

Holiday gifts and food!
It's getting to be time for the Winter Holidays and the cooler weather has been working out nicely on the cooking and baking front. We've got all you need to bake cookies and pies or a yummy squash or anything else on your list!
It's also the time for citrus! Ralf, produce man extraodinaire, has been getting delicious boxes of clementines that are definitely worth your while. Easy to peel and a delight to eat! All the citrus is really rocking right now, so get your fill!

Co-op Advantage sale items include: 

Celestial Seasonings Holiday Tea for $1.99
Arrowhead Mills Cookie Pie Crust for $1.69
Organic Silk Soymilk on the grocery shelf for $1.69
Knudsen Sparkling Juice for $2.29
Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies for $1.99
Endangered Species Chocolate Bars- great stocking stuffers! for $1.69
Terra Nostra Organic Chocolate Bars- 2 for $5
Rudi's Organic Sliced Bread for $2.69
Apollinaris Mineral Water for $1.89
Organic Firm Mori-nu Tofu $1.29

Refrigerated
GT's Organic Kombucha for $2.69!
Soyatoo SoyWhip topping for $2.99
Organic Valley Eggnog

Frozen
Cascadian Farms Organic Vegetables $1.99 16 oz. selected varieties
Amy's Lasagna for $3.49
Nate's Meatless Meatballs for $3.49

Look for more deals and some nice recipes in the Co-op Advantage flyer available in the store or on our web-site! http://www.wheatsville.coop/CAP%20flyers/SW1206final.pdf

Niki, our housewares superhero, has done a great job again this year choosing gifty items that your friends and family will really love! We’ve got all kinds of gifty items for him and her and for every body and body part from feet to lips as well as gift items for the home! Look for finger puppets, Alpaca Hats, Burt's Bees Bay Rum Shaving Products, lovely and good smelling candles, calendars, the Fearless Critic Austin restaurant guide,  and some selections of Putumayo World Music (“Guaranteed to make you feel good!”) Shopping at Wheatsville or other non-chain stores for the holidays is your best community option! Skip the malls and buy local! Some things are selling out and can't be reordered, so if you like it, you should snap it up!

Election Results
Thanks for voting in our annual election. All of our incumbents were swept back into office with Johnny Livesay, Jane Kurzawa Cravey, Rose Marie Klee and Jimmy Robertson all gaining re-election. New board member, Bryan Butler, our meat guy was also voted in. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who ran for stepping up to serve their food co-op!

Wheatsville members have also resoundingly voted to continue our boycott on products tested on animals with 93% of the vote coming in favor of the boycott. (As an aside, we recently stopped carrying POM pomegranate juice when we learned (and had confirmed) that Pom does some animal testing. We really do live up to our boycotts!)

Our Community Action Wednesday groups as chosen by you: (in order by highest vote getters first)
Ecology Action, People's Community Clinic, SafePlace, Capital Area Food Bank, Sustainable Food Center, ACLU Central Texas Chapter, Save our Springs Alliance, Emancipet Mobile Spay/ Neuter Clinic, Meals on Wheels, Tree Folks, Friends of Barton Springs and the Yellow Bike Project. 

This year, we had an unusual event. The write-in groups,  Friends of Barton Springs and the Yellow Bike Project tied as did the last two highest vote getters in the main voting, Meals on Wheels and Tree Folks. We are going to split 2 months between these four groups and let them share in their tie. We thought that was a fair (and simple!) way to deal with this unusual event! Hopefully it sounds good to you, too!

A credit to your co-op...
About 50 members have signed up for our cool new Wheatsville credit card! I imagine that there may be  more of you interested in doing so that haven't done so yet, so I wanted to remind you about it...

We are really pleased to be working with the nice folks at our local financial cooperative, the University Federal Credit Union, on this project.
 If you are interested, the easiest way to apply is on-line (I applied yesterday!) Here is how you do it:
go to https://webapp.myappro.com/webapp/ufcu/LoanSelection.aspx 
In the box labeled "applicant" select "SIngle" or "Joint"
In the box labeled "What kind of loan..." select "Wheatsville Great Rate Visa" and hit "continue"
The rest is pretty self-explanatory!
We are happy for you to pay for your Wheatsville products with any accepted legal tender, but if you are a credit card user, getting a Wheatsville credit card could be a great solution for you and your co-op!

Please let me know if you have any questions about this offer!
Don't forget to be our MySpace Friend http://www.myspace.com/wheatsvillecoop

I hope you have a great week!
Dan
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!