Who would have guessed that you could purchase the best this city has to offer within one building in the heart of this fair city. Local foods, beverages, artists, music and…. did we mention the on-site roaster of fair trade, organic coffee? Homegrown Hamilton has a wide selection of wholesome, locally sourced organic breakfasts, lunches and dinners, including lot of vegan/vegetarian/gluten free options. We also offer free delivery of lunch to local businesses!

Artists, musicians, poets, comedians, public speakers, educators, activists, farmers and even concerned citizens now have a place to meet, grow and prosper. Stay tuned to our facebook page and website to see the wide array of events going down at Homegrown Hamilton.

And we almost forgot to mention….we have a great selection of amazing local craft beers! Selection changes as the season moves, but we always have a delectable brew on tap for you!

Check out Homegrown Hamilton at: www.homegrownhamilton.com (website coming soon) And on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Homegrown-Hamilton/107124789391782

Want to book an event? Email Tim at booking@homegrownhamilton.com

Unfortunately the outage temporarily knocked out our email access, so if you have tried emailing anybody @skydragon.org recently that mail will have bounced. Email access has been restored, so please try again if you weren’t able to get through. We apologize for the inconvenience.

So as the end of July comes along it is time for me to post something on the Bread & Roses page.

I was just asked the other day what my tag line from my emails means for me – it is what I strive for each day I get up. I have always tried my utmost to live the tag line in my email: Live Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly… Though I do fall short of that from time to time. For those who don’t know where this comes from, it is a biblical phrase from the Old Testament where a prophet is asked : “What does your God require of you?” and he responds with: “To live justly, love mercy and to walk humbly before my God”. This quote was brought home to me when my Father passed away a few years back. At the visitation for him – there were many people who came through that told me how much my dad impacted their lives, but what hit me the most were the ones who cam through who never actually met my father, but their parents knew my dad or someone else they knew, knew my dad and they had to come because what they were told about how he impacted their lives…

You see my father would do almost anything for anyone – he one time was stopped by some guy on the street who asked if my dad would spare some change so he could get a bus fare to Sudbury to see his dying father – my dad said to him “I will take you to the bus station and buy the ticket for you – if you want…” and the guy was stunned and questioned my father about it – and in the end accepted the gift, He said he was grateful for this. My father said he never saw the guy again… but that didn’t matter… He showed mercy and compassion to someone in need.

I realized that day at the visitation and then at the funeral that everything we do and say will impact someone’s life in some way either positive or negative, whether we know them or not, whether directly or indirectly… That what we do is seen by someone. I concluded that day that I would do my utmost to live as my father ~ Live Justly ~ Love Mercy ~ Walk Humbly… and in this way not only do I honor my father’s legacy he passed on, I also honor everyone around me and myself.

I am far from perfect and sometimes I mess up good… yet who on this planet we call earth is perfect and without faults… We are a contradiction – we say one thing and do another etc… yet I am learning to have mercy for myself and others…

I have learned so much about myself while managing Bread & Roses Cafe and Catering taking that with me as I move forward. This brings me to the Cafe portion of this posting… as most of you know the Bread & Roses Cafe, effective August 1st, is no longer going to exist. This was hard decision to come to and regarded a lot of thought, It was becoming apparent that the Cafe as is was reaching it’s limit. I have been able to take the cafe as far as I could in it’s present structure. So for Kevin, Mike, and myself it became very clear that the cafe needed to be restructured and that something different needed to take it’s place. We came up with turning it over into a for-profit privately owned business (which actually would fulfill one of the mandates of the Coop – small business incubator ). I said I would think about this a possibility for me to take on. After much thought I came to the conclusion that I had taken the cafe as far as could and that I would not be able to have the type of food establishment I really want to have in this physical location, as well as some other issues I would have to overcome and therefore decided that I was not the one to take this project on.

It is with great fondness on my time here that I hand off the Cafe to those who will take it over and I look forward to see where Mike (board member) & Beth Pattison and Tim Lidster (board Member and mortgage holder) will take on the new cafe, I am not going to say much here as I want them to explain their vision for their venture is going to be.

I am moving on to new ventures one of which will be a catering company called “Cloud 9 Cookery” it’s focus will be on Local Organic food, and will push environmental and food security issues. I am also looking forward to getting back into some activism as well, this has been an area of my life that was shelved for awhile. It will center around food security issues.

I will be staying on the Board for Sky Dragon, this is an important organization and I want to stay connected. You will see me around from time to time as my schedule will allow…

Live Justly ~ Love Mercy ~ Walk Humbly

Marg Ann

The good news is that the city will try it’s best to minimize disruption to local businesses. So the Sky Dragon Center will remain open and we’ll do our best to work around the construction. Hopefully you can bear it with us.

• Monday: Closed – EXCEPT for ‘Edu-macation mondays’, from 5:30-9pm. See the events page for more information.
• Tuesday: 11am – 8pm
• Wednesday: 11am – 8pm
• Thursday: 11am – midnight
• Friday: 11am – midnight
• Saturday: 10am – midnight
• Sunday: closed

If you are interested in booking the space on a Monday, and for events inquiries in general please contact us at events@skydragon.org for more information.

The board minutes from November and December are now posted, sorry for the delay in getting these up. January minutes are forthcoming.

We’ve also created a page for volunteer opportunities and volunteer information in general.

Awesome jazz and a magnificant three course meal prepared by Chef Marg Ann, and featuring local wines, a silent auction, and a great time to be had by all. This event is by reservation only. Please contact 905-777-8102 or email dinnerjazz@skydragon.org for more details.

• Saturday January 22nd, 2011.
• Doors open at 6pm
• Dinner at 7pm

Pricing:

• $70 per person
• $120 with guest

• $70 per person
• $120 per couple

Saturday December 4, 2010
Cocktails at 6PM, dinner at 7PM

Bread and Roses Cafe
27 King William Street, Hamilton

Some much-needed floor to ceiling cabinets were installed in the blue-room on the second floor. A little more work still needs to be done there – those cabinets need doors and a few finishing touches. Already though it’s really helped clear up that room a lot and it’s (almost) usable again as a meeting space.

The maintenance committee plans to meet this coming Sunday to work on a bunch of projects. We’ll keep you posted on the progress as it happens. Also, if you’re interested in helping out email us at maintenance-at-skydragon-dot-org. We always appreciate the help!

Hope to see you there!

You can read more about co-operative structures here.

We’ll be regularly posting our minutes to keep people up to speed on our progress. Click through below to read the minutes from our first meeting.

Policy Committee August Minutes

Attending:

• Meaghan, Kevin, Sandy, Julia, Peter

Agenda

1. Suggest committee priorities
2. Create priorities list workplan

It was agreed that the main task of the policy & procedures committee will be to draft new organizational bylaws and create policies in alignment with the bylaws that cover all aspects of the organization’s functioning.

What follows is a list of Policy Committee priorities, along with their priority ranking by those in attendance.  The number beside each priority indicates its ranking:

1. Review the existing Cooperative Bylaws (Kevin has sent out) (1)
2. Review the existing Cooperative Articles (Kevin sends out) (1)
3. Review existing policies and procedures manual (Marg Ann sent out) (1)
4. Create a policy blog (Peter will do) (1)
5. Address interim board decision-making process (1)
6. Address interim board conflict-resolution process (1)
7. Create an interim board confidentiality agreement (1)
8. Research bylaws from similar organizations (2)
9. Check for previous policy work done by Janet and other interns (2)
10. Re-define membership stakeholder groups and board representation (3)
11. Establish new board decision-making process (4)
12. Look into employment practices, draft employment policies (5)
13. Establish new board conflict resolution process (5)
14. Draft anti-oppression policy (5)
15. Specify how new board committees will work (5)
16. Discuss and define new board liability (6)
17. Develop organizational mission statement and statement of values (6)
18. Draft list of other policies to be created (6)
19. Specify how the advisory council will work (7)

Direction from main board meeting, August 11:

It was decided that for the next main board meeting that the policy and procedures committee will draft a confidentiality policy and collect information on variants of consensus decision-making.  Both will be presented to the main board at its September meeting.

Next meeting:

The next meeting of the Policy & Procedures committee is on Thursday Sept. 2 at 5 pm at Sky Dragon.  Julia R. has committed to bringing consensus decision-making information from McMaster OPIRG to the meeting.

Greetings!

It has been a few months since our last official update, and there is much to relate  since the Sky Dragon Coop first experienced an acute financial crisis in March.  Today I’m very relieved to say the situation is better than we could have hoped for, and the Coop is engaged in an inspiring renaissance and revitalization.

The major challenge facing the Coop in March was the Teacher’s Credit Union pulling out as first mortgage holders.  This necessitated the Coop finding alternative financing at very short notice, and prompted a community-wide call-out for support.  Thankfully, the community responded with vigor, and suggestions for financing, donations and community bonds came flooding in.  In the midst of all of the offers of help, one particularly incredible offer stood out, and we’re excited to officially announce Sky Dragon’s new mortgage-holder – Lidster Financial Services.

Lidster Financial Services has come onboard with a five year term mortgage at an incredible rate.  In addition, Tim Lidster has joined the Coop board, with the goal of fine-tuning our organization’s business practices and operational efficiency.  We’re very excited to have Tim aboard, and owe our continued viability to the generosity and vision of him and his family. With the refinance, Sky Dragon has completely paid off sales tax arrears it had generated from its lean early years, and is in the process of settling all outstanding debts.  The result will be a Coop in better financial shape than it has ever been.

The other very exciting development has been the organizational restructuring process that Sky Dragon has been undergoing in the past two months.  Our new transitional board has now met twice, receiving input from 19 committed individuals representing Coop management and staff, community members, investors and partner organizations.  The new board is tasked with transitioning Sky Dragon from a worker coop into a multi-stakeholder coop.  The structural change will make Sky Dragon more responsive to the diverse community it serves, and will lend the organization more stability and sustainability.

As part of the transitional board process, several committees have been struck and have met to plan policy and action around priority areas of the Coop.  Board committees include: fundraising, café, roastery, finance, diversity, policy, outreach, Mayday and events.  Community members interested in joining a board committee are more than welcome, and it’s a great way to get more involved in the life of the Coop.  For information on how to join a board committee, please contact peter.rogers@gmail.com.

The Sky Dragon Centre building has also been undergoing some much-needed upgrades, with intrepid volunteers Peter Rogers, Gary Ridge, Russel Smith, John Diggins, Melanie Skene, Dan Haartman, Bill, Jeremy, Kris and Joe all lending their skills and energy.  To date the café stage has been expanded, the patio railing fixed (thanks Dan!), the front awning fixed, the back of the building cleared of construction debris (thanks John!), the basement cleared of 5 years of accumulated junk, and fab new storage cabinets installed in the second floor conference room (thanks Gary!).  An upcoming project is installing new outdoor signage.

The new Sky Dragon membership campaign is up and running now, and supporters have been taking out memberships to help sustain the Coop, but also to gain access to a yearly AGM and have a say in how Sky Dragon operates in the future.  Community memberships start at the accessible level of $30 per year, with other levels being $100, $200 and $400.  Upper level memberships are tax deductible, and all memberships give the holder a 10% discount on retail purchases at the Sky Dragon Centre.  $200 and $400 members also get a year’s subscription of Mayday Magazine mailed to their door, along with an annual sustainers appreciation dinner.  For information about memberships, please contact kevin@skydragon.org.

We’ll endeavour to keep the updates coming more regularly in the fall, but would encourage folks curious about the Coop to just drop by and visit us first hand.  There’s a great list of events and classes on our web site (skydragon.org), or you can just pop into the café for a coffee and a quick chat.

To our friends, supporters, customers, sustainers and co-organizers, our heartfelt thanks for all that you do and all that you bring to the Sky Dragon.  Long may she soar!

The new railing still needs to be painted, and some work still needs to be done to better anchor the posts. But on the whole a lot better than it was.

We are guessing the new board will be between 12-15 people with various committees to carve off, analyze and act on specific issues regarding the centre. Ideally, each committee will have one or two board members who can act as a connection to the rest of the board. This probably sounds pretty vague, but much of the details will be filled in by the interim board, so we don’t yet know exactly what the new system will look like.

The nominees have until mid July to accept the position and when that happens we will post some more details.

Although there hasn’t been official word yet about the new financial arrangement, though there were hints in the last email Kevin sent out, people are generally feeling like the Sky Dragon is on much more solid ground. We are more or less Stay tuned (soon, hopefully) for more news about the restructuring and the website redesign.

• Lots more @skydragon.org email addresses to use (currently limited to 10 addresses – bleh)
• Proper mailing lists for the various sub-organizations in the centre
• Subdomains for setting up independently maintained mini-websites
• More server-side scripting options for setting up a volunteer database and more

The change should be more or less seamless. Our website address will stay the same (skydragon.org) and existing email addresses will stay the same. Basically, if all goes well you won’t notice the difference, though there may be a short interruption in accessing the website and email.

Visually, the website on the new host will look exactly the same, but the hope is that further down the road we can better leverage the features offered by our new webhost.

*     *     *

I hope this message finds everyone well and enjoying the glorious spring weather. I have to apologize for the lateness of this update, and want to thank our friends and supporters for their patience over the past few months. Since the last update lots has transpired, and there’s much to relate.

Since we went public with our financial crisis in Mid March, the Coop has been focused on three priorities: securing the financing needed to replace the Teacher’s Credit Union mortgage, fundraising to cover immediate costs and to reduce debt, and planning for a full organizational restructure.

But First, the Festivals…

Before we could engage these priorities, we first had to deal with two big events – the Halton Eco-Fest on April 17 and 18 and the fourth annual Mayday Festival on May 1st. The Bread and Roses Café was the sole food provider at the Eco-Fest, and had to set up and staff an off-site café for two days. This proved to be a huge logistical hurdle, and stretched the small B&R kitchen to capacity. With the help of amazing volunteers and staff (Mark, Jeff, Simon, Natalie, Angela, Holly, Kathryn, Sue, Marg Ann, Mike, Beth, Lisa – you all rock!), the Coop pulled off the event in fine style. Feedback from festival vendors and participants was very positive, and this looks to be a yearly possibility for the Coop.

(click through to read the whole message)

The Fourth Annual Mayday Festival was a similar success for the Coop and its community partners. Working with Steelworkers Local 1005, the Hamilton Wentworth Elementary Teacher’s Local, the Hamilton and District Labour Council, CUPE 3906, IFPTE Local 160, OSSTF District 21 and over 20 other community organizations, the Coop staged an incredible event. This year’s festival included more organizations, more attendees, an outdoor art garden and an outdoor beer garden. In addition, the Mayday march organized by USWA Local 1005 ended up at the festival, swelling the ranks of attendees to several thousand in the late afternoon. Again, incredible volunteers and staff made it possible (Cory, Chris, Meaghan, Sandy, Beth, Valerie, Kaydian, Caroline, Bill, Josh, Alex, Nicole, Scott, Simon, Keisha, Mike, Marg Ann, Lisa, Kathryn, Mark, Charlotte, Peter, Melanie, Russ, Sallo, Terri, Sue, Sean, Joey, Doug – you’re all amazing!). Special thanks also needs to go to all of the incredible performers who shared their music with us and donated their time to the cause.

Addressing Organizational Priorities…

Since our last public meeting at Ricca’s Furniture on March 29, the Coop has made substantial headway in each of it’s three priority areas.

Several friends and supporters gave us contacts and made suggestions as to where we could find financing to cover the first mortgage. After following several of these leads, the Coop is now in the final stages of securing a deal with private financiers. This deal is a significant improvement on the one currently provided by the Teacher’s Credit Union, and allows the Coop to pay down the mortgage principle yearly, with the long-term goal being to buy out the mortgage completely with community bonds. We are excited to be entering this new financial partnership with an integral local family, and will announce the formal closure of the deal when “the ink is dry”. Our sincere thanks for the many suggestions for financing help offered by our friends!

The Coop has also been fundraising through bond sales since our public meeting on March 29th. To date we have sold $10,000 in community bonds, with the expectation of $15,000 more being sold shortly as follow-up contacts are made with interested parties. These monies raised are going immediately to lower the Coop’s debt, and represent a hopeful start to our long-term fundraising campaign to raise enough money through bonds to pay out all mortgage debt. We aim to accomplish this in four years, a goal that is challenging, but doable. An equally important initiative is the launch of our Sky Dragon Membership Campaign. As part of our organization’s transformation into a true community-owned Coop, we are offering memberships to friends and supporters. Memberships are an important and relatively low-intensity way in which people can support the Coop financially and get more involved in its operation. A full breakdown of membership types and benefits is found at the end of this message.

The final goal of organizational restructuring is now underway. The current Coop board has one more meeting scheduled this month, after which we will be announcing the first meeting of the expanded transitional board. This board will oversee the restructuring process over the course of the next twelve months, with the goal of a new, multi-stakeholder cooperative being fully formed by May of 2011. At this point, elections will be held in the different stakeholder groups, and a new board will oversee the organization from thenceforth. Current stakeholder groups being considered for the new organization include Coop managers, Coop staff, investors, community members, and partner organizations.

Community members of the Coop will be invited to several consultation meetings throughout the next year, with an opportunity to contribute input to the restructuring process. We want to have as many voices as possible partake in this important re-visioning work, so don’t hesitate to get your membership now. They also make great gifts for friends!

In closing, as we continue to navigate this process of transformation, the Coop would like to express our sincere thanks to the many incredible individuals who have contributed their time, energy, hope and concern to the Sky Dragon project. From a time of crisis, we are now experiencing an incredible re-birth. This unforeseen outcome would not have been possible without the strength and vision of this City’s progressive community, and we look forward to providing a vehicle for it’s hopes and aspirations for years to come!

SKY DRAGON COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIPS

Level 1 – Community Membership

• $30 for the year
• get 10% discount on all retail purchases at the Coop
• get a vote in the yearly Coop AGM
• can run for election as a Community Member representative on the Coop board

Level 2 – Friend of Sky Dragon

• $100 for the year, receive $100 tax receipt
• get 10% discount on all retail purchases at the Coop
• get a vote in the yearly Coop AGM
• can run for election as a Community Member representative on the Coop board

Level 3 – Sky Dragon Sustainer

• $200 for the year, receive $200 tax receipt
• receive a monthly subscription to Mayday Magazine
• get 10% discount on all retail purchases at the Coop
• get a vote in the yearly Coop AGM
• can run for election as a Community Member representative on the Coop board
• invitation to special yearly Sustainer’s Dinner

Level 4 – Sky Dragon Major Sustainer

• $500 for the year, receive $500 tax receipt
• receive a monthly subscription to Mayday Magazine
• get 10% discount on all retail purchases at the Coop
• get a vote in the yearly Coop AGM
• can run for election as a Community Member representative on the Coop board
• invitation to special yearly Sustainer’s Dinner

To become a member, respond to this email, call Kevin at 905-777-8102, or drop by the Centre and talk to a staff person at the café. Don’t be shy, we’d love to have you aboard!

Thanks again everyone!

The Steelworkers march, featuring a debut by Mr Moneybags, made it into The Hamilton Spectator.

Here is a random sampling of photos from the event. If anyone has Mayday images posted online I would gladly link to them from here.

Click through for more photos…

Mayday is a holiday that stretches back to the earliest times, when rites of fertility and renewal were performed in European pagan cultures. May 1st marked the beginning of summer, and the return of earth’s bounty. Traditions included dancing around the Maypole and crowning the May Queen, who represented the Earth Goddess reborn. With the advent of Christianity, Mayday became associated with the Virgin Mary.

From it’s pagan roots, Mayday symbolizes the rebirth of hope and the possibility of change. The divine feminine and the power and beauty of the natural world are honored, and our connection to the earth is renewed.

May 1st is also a worldwide worker’s holiday commemorating the Haymarket Martyrs. The Haymarket affair occurred during the course of a three-day general strike in Chicago in support of the eight hour work day. After police killed four striking workers, a protest rally was called for the next day at Haymarket Square.

So come out and have a great time!

Above: over 700 of these delicious veggie burgers were prepared in advance of the Eco Fest. While very tasty, we didn’t sell all of them. You can buy packs of 4, 6, 12 burgers at the Bread and Roses counter for $2/patty.

*   *   *

Thanks to everyone who has indicated that they would be willing to help the Sky Dragon out through volunteering their time. We greatly appreciate your offer, and now we’d like to take you up on it!

There are a number of ways in which you could help out the Co-op, including volunteering at two important upcoming events, helping do needed maintenance and organizational work at the Sky Dragon Centre, and helping with Mayday Magazine.

There will be volunteer meetings on 5:30 pm at Ricca’s Furniture (228 James St. N.) on Wednesday April 14, Wednesday April 21, and Wednesday April 28. Any of these meetings are great opportunities to plug in and find out about what needs to be done!

A GENERAL NOTE ON FOLKS WITH VEHICLES

For our upcoming events, and for help with Mayday distribution, we need vehicles and drivers! The Sky Dragon does not have constant access to a car; often times we rely on members of the community to help us move around equipment, staff and volunteers. Got a van or truck? Let us know! We’ll treat it well and treat you to lunch too!

HALTON ECO-FEST

• Friday, April 16, Saturday April 17, Sunday April 18
• We will need 4 people to help in the kitchen (including food prep, cleaning, etc)
• We will need 4 people to help with cash and taking orders from customers
• We will need 5 people to help with serving food and drinks.

On Saturday there are two shifts, on Sunday there is one. Basic training will be provided, but if you have previous food service experience let us know!

• Friday: 1pm meet up at the sky dragon, helping to move stuff to the venue. We just need folks with trucks or vans and folks helping to haul stuff. Ideally four people in total.
• Saturday: Shift 1: 8am at the site, or 7am at the sky dragon if you need a ride, until 1pm. Shift 2: 1pm to 6pm
• Sunday: Shift 1: 10am-1pm. Shift 2: 1 pm to 5 pm

• NOTE * While working at the Eco-Fest you must wear a hat (bring one) or hairnet (provided). No open-toe shoes are allowed. No nail polish or other stuff on your hands No loose clothing Free food and coffee will be provided to all who can help, plus a large sum of gratitude and good karma

MAYDAY FESTIVAL

( Saturday, May 1st)

We need folks to help us out with the 4th annual Mayday street festival happening on Saturday, May 1st. All volunteers get free food and drinks, courtesy of the festival! We need volunteers in the following areas:

• Event set-up: For the early risers out there, we’ll be hitting the street at 7 am to start setting up for the festival. We could use about 10 volutneers to help with this portion, from 7 am to 10 am.Event tear-down: For the night owls, we could use help from 10 pm to 1 am to take down the festival. Again, about 10 volunteers would help.
• Kid’s Area: Folks willing to help staff the Kid’s Craft Tent. These volunteers will work with kids and parents to facilitate crafts on the day
• of the festival. Volunteers with art or face-painting experience are especially welcome, with about three volunteers needed for each of the
• following shifts:
• 10 am to 1 pm / 1 pm to 4 pm / 4 pm to 7 pm
• Stage Crew: We need folks to help run the festival stage, including helping bands load in, minding gear, and helping the sound engineers as needed. Two volunteers for each of the following shifts would help:
• 10 am to 1 pm / 1 pm to 4 pm / 4 pm to 7 pm / 7 pm to 10 pm
• Volunteer / Staff Room: We’ll need people to help manage the volunteer/staff appreciation room that will be stocked with free food and
• drinks for festival performers and volunteers. One volunteer for each of the following shifts would help:
• 10 am to 1 pm / 1 pm to 4 pm / 4 pm to 7 pm / 7 pm to 10 pm
• Runners: We’ll need people to help with running minor errands during the day. Four volunteers for each of the following shifts would help:
• 10 am to 1 pm / 1 pm to 4 pm / 4 pm to 7 pm / 7 pm to 10 pm
• Food Servers: We’ll need people to help serve food in the Bread and Roses Café. Three volunteers for each of the following shifts would help:
• 10 am to 1 pm / 1 pm to 4 pm / 4 pm to 7 pm

SKY DRAGON WORK-DAY VOLUNTEERS

Another way in which we could use volunteer help is for upcoming Sky Dragon workdays. These days take place on Sundays starting on May 8, and go from 10 am to 5 pm. Each work day will have different renovation or organization jobs overseen by Co-op members and skilled workers. You don’t need specific skills or experience to be helpful, but if you do have some knowledge of construction, carpentry, painting or drywall, this would be super-helpful!

MAYDAY MAGAZINE VOLUNTEERS

New Managing Editor Seth Veenstra could use help with various aspects of Mayday Magazine, including distribution, layout, copy-editing, and ad and subscription sales.

HOW TO HELP

In your email please indicate which volunteer opportunity (ies) you can help with, which position, date and shift (if applicable), and any other information you think is relevant. There will also be three volunteer meetings coming up in the following weeks, any one of which you can show up to to get more information.

Thanks for your support!

Now our Action is in Motion

To date approximately $20,000 has been raised in Community Bonds (approximately $8,000 being used for building appraisal and accounting). Serious interest and numbers being shown / examined to multiple investors.

This friday we have a community art installation for the Art Crawl at Ricca’s Furniture building.

Memberships are coming in… (tell us why you have not joined – we want to know!)

Volunteers are through the roof!!! This community is amazing!!!

May 1^st Mayday Festival is going to be huge

• Two patios
• The parking lot
• Labour is coming (2,000-3,000 people)
• You will be here

Note to volunteers – sorry for the delay but we must be fully ready for you as we will NOT waste your time. So that said fill out a true volunteer sheet being made available this wednesday at the counter.

Also a reminder that the Sky Dragon will be setting up a Community Show at Ricca’s Furniture building, for the Art Crawl this friday. Stop by if you can!

http://lornechesal.com/clientgalleries/skydragon/

There is also a follow-up article in the Spectator that nicely highlights the three-month extension to the mortgage:

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/747964

If you come across some other Sky Dragon coverage, feel free to post it here. There is also some great coverage in the April edition of Mayday Magazine, which you can pickup at the Sky Dragon and various other points around town.

* * *

We are starting a Sky Dragon Coffee Club program where people can receive a pound of freshly-roasted , fairly-traded, organically-grown coffee once a week and you take it to them. Our first try at this will begin the week of April 12th and continue for five weeks until the week of May 10th.

HOW TO JOIN:

• Talk to people you know in groups that meet regularly about our weekly coffee club (for example, your yoga class).
• Complete this form. Drop off or fax the order form by April 5th.
• Coffee that has been roasted on Saturday or Sunday will be available for you to pick up at the Skydragon Monday or Tuesday of each week. You can pay for the whole order up front (which we would prefer, of course) or pay for the coffee when you pick it up.

Download the order form and signup today!

BTW, these beans were turned into delicious coffee

When I get a chance I’ll split the recording into individual files to make listening more manageable. If people are interested in helping transcribe the audio to text please contact me via email (peter.rogers at gmail dot com) and I’ll help get that coordinated. Probably the easiest way to do this is to break the recording into 10 minute “chunks”. Before you start into it though, email me the starting and ending time of the chunk you want to transcribe then wait for my confirmation back (just in case somebody is already working on that chunk). I’ll post the pieces as they come to me. Thanks for the help!

[audio:http://skydragon.org/blog/wp-content/Sky Dragon Community Meeting (Mar-29-2010).mp3] Download: Sky Dragon Community Meeting (Mar-29-2010)

The event was well-attended (maybe somebody can provide a better number but I would guess 100+) and there were some excellent presentations made by members of the board and some of the staff. Afterwords, people broke into themed discussion groups to provide feedback and questions on specific topics that arose during the presentations. All kinds of other wonderful things were taking place at the same time that brought a lot of positive energy to the night (a speakers corner video camera, fresh coffee, treats, lots of feedback and portrait shots for the art crawl).

There was definitely not enough time for people to express everything on their minds despite the event running over 3 hours. Integrating community input, participation, will be an on-going process for months to come. The next big target in terms of a public event is the upcoming James Street Art Crawl (April 9th). We have graciously allowed to use the Ricca’s Furniture building (much thanks to the new owners) to setup a Save the Dragon exhibit where we hope to put on display all the community feedback and support we’ve received so far.

We have a recording of the presentations that will be posted shortishly, along with the presentation slides.

Save the Dragon Monday March 29 Ricca’s Furniture Building 228 James St. North, Hamilton 7 pm to 9 pm

Google Maps Link

Presentations by Sky Dragon boardmembers, community consultation, art, music, refreshments.  All are invited, all voices welcome.

http://www.jamesstreetnorth.ca/blog/?p=860

http://stephanievegh.ca/blog/2010/03/23/update-sky-dragon-community-meeting/

Two more articles appeared in the Spectator, which you can find online here. I think these are letters to the editor pieces, and I’m not sure if they appeared in the printed spec or not.

Innovation can save the Sky Dragon

Sky Dragon could use an ‘angel investor’

Also, a Save our Sky Dragon (SOS) discussion forum has been started on the Mayday website. Feel free to drop by and express your thoughts, ideas, criticisms, stories.

http://www.maydaymagazine.ca/forum/SOS

Immediate Financial Needs

• 1st mortgage holder ($270,000)
• Building appraisal ($3,000 to $3,500)
• Year end taxes ($3,000)
• Pro-bono / discounted help
  • legal assistance
  • accounting
• Longer term
  • grant writers
  • center coordinator

Immediate Volunteer Needs

• Halton Eco Fest
• Mayday Festival
• Eco Film Fest
• Public relations
  • postering
  • town criers
  • phone calling
  • lead investigating
• Eco market (artist boxes)

Immediate Public Needs

• Sales agents for
  • coffee
  • catering
  • Mayday ad sales
  • space rentals
  • classes
• Also required
  • T-shirt making
  • button making
  • anything craft promoted
  • computer paper
  • poster paper
  • ink cartridges

Further help is required. Any cash donations (receipts to be issued on $25 or more) will be held in an account now being established. Anybody with time to volunteer can leave their name and contact information for Mike Pattison at the cafe counter.

Additionally, people interested in helping with these specific areas please include your strengths / background when leaving your contact information:

• Anyone interested in helping with PR
• Kitchen / catering volunteers
• Building / repair
• Any other strengths or interests

All legal, accounting, investing opportunities please contact Kevin Mackay by phone (905) 777-8102 or email kevin@skydragon.org

* * *

Apologies for the lateness of this update, and many thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting held last Sunday at the Sky Dragon Centre.  Your concern, passion, emotion and ideas were invaluable, and the meeting went a long way toward buoying the spirits of Coop members and supporters.  Thanks also to all those people who have phoned and emailed with suggested solutions and offers of support.  These communications have been warmly received, and every suggestion is being considered in turn (there’s a lot of them!).

The situation as it stands is that the Coop is still looking for a first mortgage, in the amount of $270,000 (this is the final, accurate figure, not the $260,000 estimate mentioned earlier).  In addition, the Coop needs help with some expenses concerning building appraisal, legal and accounting fees.  The deadline for Teacher’s pulling the mortgage remains April 18^th, which is a tight timeline.

Presented at the meeting on Sunday was the idea that the Coop needs to undergo structural changes in order to ensure its long-term financial viability, to improve its effectiveness, and to better involve the community.  These changes involve modifying the Coop model and opening it up to different stakeholder groups, including community members and partner organizations.  This process will take months to complete, but it needs to start now.

The most significant next step in the campaign will be a larger, more structured community meeting.  At this meeting, the Coop’s vision and operating history will be presented in detail, along with the structural challenges it has faced and continues to face. Coop board members will explain the various aspects of the Sky Dragon project, and reveal a plan for its renewal, growth and sustainability.  Most importantly, community members will be asked to contribute their ideas and to help the board collectively generate solutions.

Immediately, the Save the Dragon Campaign could use the following help:

1. A $270,000 first mortgage (provided by one person, ten people, 20 people, etc….)
2. Pro-bono legal and accounting help
3. Financial Donations (we will be confirming their status for charitable receipts shortly)
4. Help putting up posters and handing out flyers for the Community Meeting
5. Help disseminating update emails
6. Volunteer help for upcoming events, including the May 1^st Mayday Festival, the April 17^th & 19^th Halton Eco-Fest, and other Centre projects as needed
7. Tangible ways in which the Coop can be supported (know anyone who wants to buy some locally roasted Fair Trade / Organic Coffee?
8. Becoming a member of the new Coop! (details TBA at the Community Meeting)

If you are able to help with any of the above items, please don’t hesitate to contact the Coop.  We will return your email or pone message as quickly as we are able.

Right now some of the most important things you could do are to tell as many people as you can about the event below, try to come out to it yourself, or volunteer to help organize it. We need folks to help us set up the event and promote it, artists to decorate it, musicians to play at it, and volunteers to help it run…

Save the Dragon

Monday March 29

Ricca’s Furniture Building

228 James St. North, Hamilton

7 pm to 9 pm

Presentations by Sky Dragon boardmembers, community consultation, art, music, refreshments.  All are invited, all voices welcome.

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/738785

And there’s a writeup over at the James St blog:

http://www.jamesstreetnorth.ca/blog/?p=829

*   *   *

Hello Friends,

Well, this is the kind of message that’s never easy to send.  We here at the Sky Dragon Community Development Cooperative have worked with many of you, entertained many of you, inspired and been inspired by many of you, and pissed off a good chunk of you as well.  We don’t take the last point lightly, but in truth grassroots community development is a tough and gritty business, with inadequate resources, all-to-human protagonists, and intense pressures.  Despite all this, in eight years of the Coop’s existence there’s been a lot accomplished, and also lots left undone.

The Coop, and the community space it has sustained, the Sky Dragon Centre, are under substantial threat right now.  Our current mortgage-holder is no longer willing to finance the project, and we have until April 18th to find new financing to keep the centre open.  At stake is a first mortgage in the building the Coop owns at 27 King William St..  A refinance deal for $260,000 is what’s needed to keep the centre open, and its clear that no traditional financial institution (bank, credit union) will lend us the money.  In four years with our current financier we’ve never missed a mortgage payment.  In truth though, we have also scraped by month to month, and have had periods where we’ve been in the red.

In the face of this existential threat, our little Coop and the community centre it supports need to evolve.  The mud-puddle we’ve been swimming in is fast drying up, and its time to grow some feet and adapt to the changing circumstances.

In this sense, the Coop will change as well.  The project has always been bigger than the individuals involved, and today this is more true than ever.  What has been created is a unique animal – a centre that is open, radically inclusive of diversity, and yet explicitly committed to an agenda of peace, democracy, equality, human rights and political action/organizing.  It was a broad and engaged community that forged the character of this space, and if it is to continue, it must continue as a radically open, transparent, and broadly-supported project.  Always an agent of “the movement”, the Centre now needs to merge with it, fully and completely.

In order for this to happen, we need to find a way to Save the Dragon. This involves brave and committed citizens becoming investors.  This involves even more brave and committed citizens becoming members of a re-structured Coop.  We need these things, and unfortunately, we also need them fast.

For our part, it’s important to mention that the current Coop members aren’t flaky idealists who’ve bungled a good thing.  On our board are very serious, hard-working people with a fair amount of skill and business sense (and horse-sense!).  Without these qualities you don’t get a project like this off the ground and sustain it for five years in one of the worst economic climates in Canada.  This board is still active, has great ideas, and is committed to shepherding the Coop through its transformation into a financially viable, yet truly community-owned organization.  There is real value in the ethical businesses the Coop has incubated.  There is real value in the building we own. With your help, this value, and the collected progressive energy it represents, will not be squandered.

And so, we embark now on a community campaign that I hope you can participate in, even if in a small way.  To start, there will be a meeting at the Sky Dragon Centre this Sunday, March 14, at 7:30 pm.  At this meeting there will be a 100% frank and open discussion of the Centre’s predicament, and an equally frank and open exchange of ideas, strategies, criticisms, etc.  Everyone is welcome to attend, and all ideas are needed.

Of course, a meeting this Sunday is very short notice, so there will be a much larger “town hall”meeting in the next few weeks.  The date and time of the town hall will be announced first thing next week, and again, it will be a completely open session for all who want to attend.

How you can help right now is to forward this message as far and wide as you can, with apologies in advance for cross-postings.

On behalf of the board of the Sky Dragon Co-op, thank you all for your interest and support.  We’ve played our part in bringing the project to this point, now its up to all of us to take it to the next level…

Kevin MacKay, Executive Director